Pet Refinement Strategy
Revised 09-10: one Wild Mark gives the same stats on any pet; stat color decides failures. F2P roadmap from Cave Hyena, spending tiers, SSR cost table and stat priority.
Revised 09-10 — what changed
- "Skip low-rarity pets, refine SSR only" is dropped. One Wild Mark gives the same stats no matter the pet's rarity.
- What makes marks fail is the stat color, not the pet rarity. Common marks mostly fail on purple stats (Ton: 20 marks → 0 upgrades).
- New F2P order: Cave Hyena to purple → Arctic Wolf / Musk Ox to purple (home for Advanced marks) → everything else gray→green→blue → SSR pets one stat at a time from blue.
- Spending tiers redefined: "every pet to purple on Auto" is a $1,000+/month budget. Below that, adjust how many SSR pets you refine one stat at a time.
- Purple→gold: practically impossible with Common marks on Auto, but possible one stat at a time.
- Stat priority: the trend now is Marksman Lethality before Infantry Health.
The update video on its own: Pet Refining Updated Guide
The premise — refinement is stats, nothing else
- Refinement is not XP and not breakthrough. You spend Wild Marks to add extra stat percentages, full stop.
- One mark gives the same stats on any pet. Rarity only sets the maximum range → low-rarity pets with a short range reach purple fastest.
- Common marks = gray/green/blue stats, Advanced marks = purple and above. Which mark goes on which stat color is the whole game.
Two different "colors" people mix up
The color of the pet itself. Only sets the maximum stat range. No effect on stats per mark.
The color each stat has reached. Sets how often marks succeed — higher color, more failures.
Cave Hyena
Purple 1st
Arctic Wolf
Musk Ox
Purple 2nd
Giant Tapir
Titan Roc
Next up
Giant Elk
Snow Leopard
Next up
Cave Lion · Snow Ape · Iron Rhino · Saber-tooth Tiger · Mammoth · Frost Gorilla · Frostscale Chameleon
Careful from blue
Stat color tiers Common marks fail more as the color rises
| Stat color | Common mark | Mark to use |
|---|---|---|
| Gray | Works very well | Common |
| Green | Works well | Common |
| Blue | Okay | Common |
| Purple | Mostly fails 20 → 0 | Advanced (Common only for one-stat) |
| Gold | Practically impossible | Advanced (Common only for one-stat) |
Important rule: a stat never drops below the color it reached (blue can't fall to green, gold can't fall to purple). That's what makes one-stat-at-a-time work. Completing every stat of a pet at a color also grants extra rewards.
The two Marks
| Mark | Source / cost | Where to use |
|---|---|---|
| Common Wild Mark | 500 gems each (1M gems = 2,000 marks) Weekly packs · 60–120 per $100 | Gray/green/blue stats on Auto / purple and above one stat at a time only |
| Advanced Wild Mark | Treasure Hunter event = best rate Cash packs are expensive | Purple+ stats, always Auto on all stats |
Advanced marks on gray/green/blue stats do progress faster, but they're wasted where Common marks already work. So save Advanced marks until you have a purple pet.
The two refinement approaches no single answer → mix them
Advanced marks: always this way
Everything at once. Nothing to think about and it stays balanced, but marks also go into stats you don't want.
Common marks only
Save only when the target stat rises, otherwise retry. One stat ≈ 300–400 marks vs ≈ 2,000 for all → three stats cost about half.
Careful when mixing
If a pet has 2–3 stats pushed to purple one at a time and the rest low in blue, switching it back to Auto with Common marks is inefficient — the purple stats keep failing. Not broken and fixable, but a loss → decide up front whether each pet is an "Auto pet" or a "one-stat pet".
Cost per color on an SSR pet Ton's estimates · luck varies
| Band | Common marks | Advanced marks | In cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reach green | 200 | or 60 | about $20 |
| Reach blue | 600 | +140 | about $60 |
| Reach purple | 2,000 (1.8–2.2k · ~1M gems) | +260 | about $200+ |
| Unlock gold | No Auto · one stat only | 610 | about $500+ |
| Gold MAX | No Auto · one stat only | 1,900 | about $1,600 |
What the stats actually cost
The first 30% of stats ≈ $300, the last 30% ≈ $2,000 → the early bands are overwhelmingly cheaper. One SSR pet at MAX is $2,000+; seven is ≈ $20,000.
Just blue→purple on Auto for all 7 SSR pets is ~14,000 Common marks (16,000 once an 8th SSR arrives). A low-rarity pet's blue→purple is Ton's guess ~800–1,000 (uncertain — ranges differ).
F2P & low-spender roadmap same up to roughly the $500 level, per Ton
- Cave Hyena: every stat to purpleCommon · Auto
Shortest range = finishes fastest
- Save Advanced marks until thenDon't use
No purple stats means nowhere to use them at full value
- Spend Advanced marks on the HyenaAdvanced · Auto
Purple → gold
- Arctic Wolf or Musk Ox (1–2 pets) to purpleCommon · Auto
The next home for Advanced marks
- All other pets gray→green, then green→blueCommon · Auto
Cheapest, highest-value range. Takes a very long time (Ton's F2P farm: 2.5–3+ years)
- When the Advanced-mark pet nears gold, prep the next pet to purpleCommon · Auto
Don't keep using Common marks on Auto past gold
- Keep every other pet at least blueCommon · Auto
Practically enough forever for F2P; purple if you want to be extra safe
- Once all SSR pets are blue, refine key stats one at a timeCommon · One stat
About 2 stats per pet → next pet
F2P sweet spot: SSR pets almost all one stat at a time, non-SSR pets Auto with Common marks + home for Advanced marks. No blue→purple Auto on SSR pets for F2P.
Strategy by spending level find your spot between two extremes
| Tier | Approach |
|---|---|
| F2P / light | 3–5 (minimum), up to 7 non-SSR pets to purple on Auto + Advanced marks / SSR pets one stat at a time from blue (roadmap above) |
| Mid | The more you spend, the fewer SSR pets you do one stat at a time from blue, and the more you Auto to purple. There's no "$500 → do this" formula — it depends on your gem use and speed-ups |
| Big spender $1,000+/month | Every pet to purple with Common marks on Auto → some pets one stat at a time purple→gold / some stay on Auto / Advanced marks go weakest pet first, all the way to gold (Ton's current approach) |
| Whale every pet MAX | $2,000+ per pet, ≈$20k for seven. Concentrate on Treasure Hunter for the discount. Some whales even push gold stats one at a time with Common marks (little data) |
Not sure which side you're on? Test it
- Put 3–5 non-SSR pets to purple on Auto + Advanced marks (everyone does this)
- Try Auto blue→purple on just one SSR pet and measure how long your mark supply takes
- Too slow → stop that pet and switch the other SSR pets to one stat at a time
- Worst-case hedge: leave 2–3 SSR pets untouched at blue so you can still change strategy later
Stat priority one stat at a time · troop Lethality & Health
| Goal / style | Stats to focus |
|---|---|
| Bear Trap damage only | Marksman Lethality — the same stat on many pets |
| Lancer-ratio players | Infantry Health + Lancer Lethality (2 stats per pet) |
| Marksman-ratio players | Infantry Health · Marksman Health · Marksman Lethality · Lancer Lethality (order by goal) |
| Max damage | ① Marksman Lethality → ② Lancer Lethality → ③ Infantry Health |
| City burning / PvP | ① Marksman Lethality → ② Infantry Health → next pet |
| Rally leader | Many main stats — Infantry Health · Marksman Lethality · Lancer Lethality · Marksman Health |
Recent trend: unlike the old infantry-first consensus, more dolphins now raise Marksman Lethality before Infantry Health (and keep marksman charms a level higher). It helps Bear Trap too — as long as infantry doesn't fall too far behind. Alternating per pet is fine.
The "I'm ruining my pet" myth
One stat at a time leaves stat colors uneven, but the pet isn't ruined. Lower-color stats rise faster, so with enough marks time evens it out. No reset needed.
However, running Common marks on Auto on a pet with some purple stats is inefficient — not broken, just a loss. That's why you pick each pet's method up front.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| Ignoring low-rarity pets as not worth refining (old advice) | Same stats per mark — Hyena to purple first |
| Advanced marks on gray/green/blue stats with no purple pet | Build a purple pet first and spend them there |
| F2P Auto-refining an SSR from blue to purple | ~2,000 marks per pet — switch to one stat at a time |
| Common marks on Auto on purple/gold stats | Advanced marks from purple; Common only one stat at a time |
| Advanced marks one stat at a time | Advanced marks: always Auto, all stats |
| Advanced-mark pet about to hit gold with no next target | As it nears gold, prep the next low-rarity pet to purple |
| Buying Advanced marks whenever | Get them from Treasure Hunter (best rate) |
| Resetting because stat colors are uneven | No reset needed — but fix each pet's method up front |
Source: Ton (TontonYouTube) — Pet Refinements (07-15) · Refining Pets Updated Guide F2P & Spenders (09-10)
Revised 2026-09-10 from the update video: low-rarity pets, spending tiers, purple→gold and stat priority corrected.