Mechanics
The Runic Breeding Cave appears in various DragonVale events and allows the player to breed their dragons for extra event currency. It functions similarly to regular breeding caves, except that instead of granting the player a dragon egg upon finishing breeding, it conjures it into event currency. The amount of event currency depends on the resulting dragon bred in the Runic Breeding Cave. Rare, epic, and limited dragons award more event currency than common dragons when bred.
In order to activate a Runic Breeding Cave, the player must use a runestone, which are obtained through the event tutorial, event daily gifts, or can be purchased with real money. Once activated, a cave will stay activated for one week until the effect of that runestone ends. Over the course of an event, more caves will be activated as the player gathers more runestones and as the event begins to feature double/triple days. On a double currency day, one extra Bonus Runic Breeding Cave will be activated, and on a triple currency day, two extra Bonus Runic Breeding Caves will be activated. When a player is given a runestone in any way, it is highly recommended to activate a cave that has not yet been activated, as it gives the player the ability to claim one extra egg per different cave used.
During the course of an event, the Runic Breeding Cave allows the player to obtain one dragon from those which have been bred by viewing the egg history of that cave. It is important to note that the player is only able to claim only one dragon for each cave that has been activated, and it is advised to wait until the end of an event to ensure the best dragons possible. When a cave is claimed, the dragon type is rewarded in the standard Egg of Mystery order: regular if the player does not have that dragon, a twin if the player already has a regular variant of that dragon, or a twin rift variant (if possible) if the player already has a twin variant of that dragon. It is important to note that a claim can be used at any time, even if that cave is inactive (as long as it had been activated previously).
In the case that a dragon's breeding time exceeds that of the time until a Runic Breeding Cave becomes inactive, the dragons that are breeding will instantly finish when the Runic Breeding Cave stops being active.
If the player forgets to use his/her claim by the time the event market closes, the game will pick a random dragon from those that were bred, and gift it to the player. These dragons follow the same variation patterns as if a player claims an egg themselves, going from regular, to twin, to rift twin (if possible). If a player never uses the Runic Breeding Cave throughout the entire event (so that there are no eggs in the cave's egg history), the game will automatically give the player one Motley Dragon per cave that was activated during the event. The exact reason for this is unknown, but could revolve around how the Motley Dragon can be bred using any two dragons, no matter the element(s) or species of the parent dragons.
Runestones
Runestones are used to activate a Runic Breeding Cave.
A Runestone is usually used to activate an additional cave for 7 day during the tutorial portion of the event.
Once a Runestone is activated on a Runic Breeding Cave that cave is active for 7 days.
Usually during an event, at least one Runestone is given to a player as one of the event Daily Login Gifts.
Cave Activation Strategy
A possible strategy to obtain the most amount of dragons from Runic Breeding Caves during an event it is present in is to activate a cave that hasn't been used before each time the opportunity to use a Runestone is available.
Runic Breeding Caves to be aware of in each event are the "Active Entire Event Cave", "Tutorial Cave", and "Double Event Currency Days Cave" in the caves surrounding the event island.
In the image to the right:
- The "Active Entire Event Cave" is lit up and is usually beneath and center of the event island.
- The "Tutorial Cave" is usually to the left of the "Active Entire Event Cave" and is activated during the tutorial portion of the event for seven days.
- The "Double Event Currency Days Cave" is usually placed to the right of the "Active Entire Event Cave" and automatically becomes activated on Double Event Currency Days.
For events with a "Triple Event Currency Day Cave" it is usually placed to the right of the "Double Event Currency Day Cave" and automatically becomes activated on Triple Event Currency Days.
In recent events, the "Double Event Currency Day Cave" and the "Triple Event Currency Day Cave" are identified as "Bonus Runic Breeding Cave" within the game.
When presented with a new Runestone to use it is suggested to not activate it on any of these cave positions, but to open it on a cave not yet used.
- For example, each time an opportunity is presented to use a Runestone, activate to the next cave to the left of the "Tutorial Cave" that has never been used before during the current event.
By strategically, activating the most amount of different Runic Breeding Caves during an event, the player will be able to select more dragons from the Runic Breeding Caves per event from all of the caves' Egg History.
- Each individual Runic Breeding Cave activated during an event will allow the player to return to its Egg History to choose a dragon.
During most events, there is usually a Daily Login Gift at some point containing a Runestone. By using this strategy a player at minimum could choose at least four dragons during an event at no cost.
The player has the option to purchase more Runestones and activate more caves by spending real world currency which would give them more access to more Runic Breeding Caves and more opportunity to choose more dragons. If choosing to purchase additional Runestones it is suggested to continue choosing the next Runic Breeding Cave to the left of the last one ever activated.
Release History
| Release | Removal | Event | Look |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 23, 2019 | October 7, 2019 | Bright Wild Nights | Regular |
| December 19, 2019 | January 27, 2020 | Jolly Jubilee 2019 | Regular |
| April 9, 2020 | May 25, 2020 | The Spring Shellebration | Regular |
| March 11, 2021 | April 26, 2021 | Eggciting Egg Hunt | Regular |
| December 9, 2021 | January 24, 2022 | Season of Goodiness | Snowy |
| March 17, 2022 | April 25, 2022 | Luck of the Vale | Regular |
| December 8, 2022 | January 25, 2023 | Frostivale Yulebration | Snowy |
| March 16, 2023 | May 1, 2023 | A Thawsome Spring | Mixed |
| December 14, 2023 | January 22, 2024 | Snowy Winter Ball | Snowy |
| March 28, 2024 | May 6, 2024 | Bountiful Picnic | Regular |
Gallery
|
|
Notes
- The Runic Breeding Cave first appeared in Bright Wild Nights. It was used so the player could breed dragons and get an egg they chose from all the dragons they bred.
- The Runic Breeding Cave breeding time is 25% of the normal breeding time.
- If a player had unused claims by the time the event market closed, the game would randomly pick a dragon from the list of dragons in the player's egg history.
- If a player never bred any dragons in a Runic Breeding Cave, the game would gift the player with one Motley Dragon per active cave instead.
- The Runic Breeding Cave was reintroduced in Jolly Jubilee 2019.
- Game Description: "Lumi and Santa witnessed Kaleni and Zola messing with these caves and asked Kaleni to utilize his Burcadian Breeding Caves for the Jolly Jubilee. These Runestones can summon another breeding cave during Jolly Jubilee. Longer timers result in more Iceberries and you will receive a bonus for the first time you breed each dragon.
Check your Egg History for a list of results. You can even save ONE egg of choice and hatch it in the Nursery! Choose wisely, as you only get one chance."
- Game Description: "Lumi and Santa witnessed Kaleni and Zola messing with these caves and asked Kaleni to utilize his Burcadian Breeding Caves for the Jolly Jubilee. These Runestones can summon another breeding cave during Jolly Jubilee. Longer timers result in more Iceberries and you will receive a bonus for the first time you breed each dragon.
- The Runic Breeding Cave was reintroduced in The Spring Shellebration.
- The Runic Breeding Cave was reintroduced in Eggciting Egg Hunt.
- The Runic Breeding Cave was reintroduced in Season of Goodiness and had a snowy winter look.
- Game Description in A Thawsome Spring:
- "Blumi and Lumi are at it again! Rumour has it they used the foggy and gray skies of winter to put up the Burcadian Breeding caves for A Thawsome Spring. Go ahead and eggspolre them with the help of the Burcadian Runestones. They can summon another breeding cave during A Thawsome Spring. Longer times result in more Magic Eggs in your basket and you will receive a bonus for the first time you breed each dragon. Check your Egg History for a list of results. You can even save ONE egg of choice and hatch it in the Nursery! Choose wisely, as you only get one chance."
- Game Description in Snowy Winter Ball:
- "Kaleni is at it again! He and Lumi used the foggy and gray skies of winter to put up the Burcadian Breeding caves for Snowy Winter Ball. Go ahead and activate them with the help of the Burcadian Runestones. They can activate more breeding caves during the Snowy Winter Ball. Longer times result in more Iceberries in your basket and you will receive a bonus for the first time you breed each dragon. Check your Egg History for a list of results. You can even save ONE egg of choice and hatch it in the Nursery! Choose wisely, as you only get one chance per cave."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||
| Dragons | Breeding | Eggs | Buildings | Islands | Habitats | Decorations | Quests | Friends |