Horse tiers and crates
Every horse in Padooko is born into a tier and carries it for life: Standard, Noble or Legend. The tier shapes how high a horse can climb, how quickly it recovers and how easy it is to look after. This guide covers the three tiers, crates, and how a tier passes from one generation to the next.
The three tiers
Standard
The horses you buy at the foal counter and find among the market's regular lots are Standard. "Standard" doesn't mean ordinary: their potential is drawn from a wide range, and a good Standard horse can beat an average Noble. Everyone's first horse is Standard, and plenty of championships are won with Standard horses.
Noble
Noble horses draw their limits from a higher slice and start life a little stronger. On top of that, life in the yard gets easier:
- They recover sooner and are ready to race sooner; training waits are shorter.
- They hold the rhythm more easily: every Noble is born with the "Noble poise" talent and a slightly wider rhythm window.
- They get injured less and stay at their peak for longer.
- Their character, the hidden traits, comes to light in fewer runs.
Nobles come from crates, the market's select lots, and breeding.
Legend
Legend is the rarest blood in the game. Its limits are drawn from the very top and it stands out from its first run. Every advantage a Noble has is stronger in a Legend: it recovers much faster, its waits are much shorter, injuries are rarer and shorter, it stays at its peak longer, its character shows in its very first run, and a Legend mare foals more often.
Every Legend belongs to one of fifteen legend lines. The line sets the horse's look (coat, mane, blaze and the color of its aura) and gives it a talent all its own. Legend lines and the album have their own guide: Legend lines.
Legends come only from crates and from breeding; the market's ready lots never include one.
How does tier affect racing?
A tier doesn't add magic speed. A Legend is usually faster because its stats are higher and its talent is strong. But the game knows that: the power value that balances fields takes the talent a horse gets from its tier into account. So your Legend is matched with horses of its own level, and it has no crushing edge over a Standard of equal power. The real payoff of a tier is in the yard: a higher ceiling, faster recovery, fewer injuries, a longer career.
Tier also affects value: a Noble or Legend with the same stats is worth more at the market than a Standard. See Market.
Crates
A crate is a box with a foal inside. You buy it with Doko from the crate section of the shop. When you open it, the foal's tier is drawn, and then you give it a name.
| Crate | What comes out | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Crate | Mostly Standard, sometimes Noble, very rarely Legend | Doko or a voucher |
| Gold Crate | Never Standard: Noble at least; Legend is rare but real | Doko or a voucher |
| Legend Crate | A Legend from a line not yet in your album, guaranteed | Not for sale; only with the album voucher |
What the Gold Crate sells is a guaranteed Noble and a much better Legend chance than Silver. When a crate gives you a Legend, its line is drawn too, and lines missing from your album are favored in that draw, so your collection naturally fills its gaps.
The tier odds are shown openly in the game, on the ODDS sheet behind the small ⓘ on the crate card and on the naming sheet. Check them there before you buy.
Crates have no pity counter: every opening is its own draw. Legends are meant to be rare, and anyone who has had one join their yard knows what that's worth.
Where do crate vouchers come from?
You don't always have to spend Doko on a crate. A crate opened with a voucher is free:
- The daily reward week: visit seven days in a row and the seventh day's reward is a crate voucher (Gold for Padooko Plus members, Silver for everyone else).
- Weekly quests: finishing the weekly quest set earns a Silver Crate.
- The weekly cup: the week's winner gets a Gold Crate voucher.
- Album milestones: six lines in the album earn a Gold Crate voucher, ten lines a Legend Crate voucher.
How tier passes down through breeding
A foal born at your stud takes the tier of the lower of its two parents, but the blood of the higher-tier parent gives it a chance to move up. The higher that parent's tier, the bigger the chance. Even two Standard parents can occasionally produce a Noble foal, so a yard's line can rise on its own.
For a Legend foal, at least one parent has to be a Legend. If a Legend parent's foal is born a Legend, it carries that parent's line; if two Legend parents come from different lines, the foal takes one of them.
Some legend lines have talents that matter at the stud: the Caşkun line, for instance, raises its foal's chance to move up a tier and its potential. More in Breeding.
Which tier is for you?
- Just starting out: begin with Standard foals. They're perfect for learning the rhythm of the game, training and racing, and a good Standard can be the star of your yard for a long time.
- Your yard is settled: a Noble makes care easier and shortens waits, and it's a good breeding prospect too.
- You're a collector: Legends fill the album, grow stronger with Line Stars and carry their line at the stud. See Legend lines.
Whatever the tier, what carries a horse forward is still training, care and good riding. See Training and Race tactics.