Recently here at WK we changed dramatically how furs and levels work for the cats by divorcing levels from fur and then tying levels to breed instead of species. At the same time, we removed levels as a component of the rarity calculator so that higher levels do not have an advantage when calculating trait points. So, just what does this all mean?

First, it means that you can actually breed for fur now and keep that fur going as your cats advance levels. For example, you can now breed for South African lions and in just a few generations have pure South African lions that will produce more lions that are South African every time you breed them. With a little more work and a touch of luck, you can breed for a specific South African lion fur and get it regularly, although not every time as there will always be a touch of randomness in the furs.

Second, it means that if you want South African lions you MUST breed for them. They will no longer show up randomly. If the cat you are breeding is not South African or at least one of its parents is not South African then that cat will not produce South African lions…ever! When two pure South African lions (itself and both its parents are South African) are bred together you will get South African lions every time you breed them! This is huge for those of us that are fond of specific breeds of cats within the species. Breeding for fur is a bit more difficult; however, because even though by breeding purebred cats you will always get that breed the chance for a random drop-in of a different fur from that breed is always possible. Still, it is very possible to develop a pure line of a specific fur and advance that fur in levels.

Third, we all need to rethink levels…a lot. By removing levels from the rarity calculator and by tying levels to breed instead of species everything we thought we knew has changed. For one thing, a high-level cat does not automatically have a higher trait value because of its level as it has in the past. Most importantly as a breeder and a buyer of cats, you need to understand that what may be a low level in one breed of a species might be quite high in another. Here is an example. Tiger breeders know that Amur tigers are at level 30 and beyond at the time of this writing. Have you ever seen a level 30 Sumatran tiger? No, because Sumatran tigers higher than about level 24 are extremely rare. While we understand the importance of levels in unlocking traits, we still need to rethink levels because a level 25 Sumatran tiger should get the same respect a level 30 Amur tiger gets. Most all of the breeds within the species of cats will have different top levels!

In summation, breed is no longer just a name for a family of furs that show up randomly. We can now breed for it and probably should be doing so as some of these breeds will slowly pass out of existence if we do not. Although I have specifically mentioned South African lions and Sumatran tigers, this information works for EVERY breed within any species of the WK Big Cats.