Hi everybody, I hope somebody could answer a few questions I have.

I am leaning towards breeding Pumas, however when I look on the battlefield there doesn't seem to be too many around. Are they not a good pet for battling ?

Also, and this is not just Pumas how do good attack and defence stats hold up against Special abilities? ie would a Puma with say counterstike but average attack/defence be better in battle than a Puma with very good attack/defence?

Thanks.

Pumas are one of the best to build pure stats and damage, since they have access to lionheart (+Courage) along with Quickmind (+Int) or Berserk (+Lots of Str over time), Steel muscles (+Strength), and Steel bones, (+Constitution). I can imagine a statstick puma who also has crit enhancing genes (Sabertooth, acute eye, silent pace) one shotting everyone in arena. Gryphons also get access to lionheart, but without the crit enhancing genes. 

Pumas are not good defensively though, since they don't get access to regeneration. They're really vulnerable to countermoves and misses because of this. Choosing musical larynx over sabertooth helps against countermoves by making your moves a little less predictable - but it'll hurt the damage output a lot. Or you can sacrifice silent pace crit for sharp claws (or agile paws if you take quickmind). The crit chance from stats + acute eye will already be really high without it, and silent pace crit on first move is only useful if you don't get countermoved. Silent Pace and Sabertooth genes make Pumas unique from Gryphons though, getting rid of them also gets rid of the benefits of choosing Puma. 

You can also increase puma defense by getting gracefulness over steel muscles - But the Steel Muscle Lionheart combo is soooo juicy. Damage dealt is based on Str and Courage, so having both those stats buffed up blows through everything. If you're looking for a counterstrike dodger, do unicorns, they're way better for that.

Anothing thing, stat bonuses for damage/damage reduction/crit/anti-crit/etc are capped at 50%. Its not bad though, that is still a lot of bonus.

Thank you for the detailed response. Plenty for me to chew over, there.

No problem, I love this theorycrafting stuff. Good luck with your breeding plans. :D

I'm looking to breed for maximum crit potential with a combination of Saber-toothed, Acute Eyesight, and Silent Pace. I was under the impression that, with such a combination, I could increase the crit rate by 90% (as each of those traits raises crit chance by 30%). If there is, in fact, a cap at 50%, that completely throws off my breeding plans.

But if it really does cap at a 50% bonus, why are there abilities like Fragrance that allow for bonuses of over 50%? Can a bonus exceed the cap if it comes from one gene rather than stacking from multiple genes?

The gene %s affect the rate after its been calculated from stat differences btwn fighting pets. The final value rarely gets over 50%, and its capped if it does. Check out this thread, it has a good explanation of the effects: 

http://beastkeeper.com/thread/1768/1#10910

Thank you.