1. go through a couple scries to see what you are really into. like really into. test out several colors nearby, genes, etc. if you know what kind of aesthetic you're into, this is going to be easier.
2. consider your resources. are you able and willing to change all their genes? use gem genes/breeds? is the final result an imperial? depending on the answer, this tightens up your search.
3. i go to the auction house and pick my range. i start out using a range of 3. let's say i wanted to breed a flaxen - flaxen - ivory dragon. so i would go to the auction house, and search for dragons with the range of sanddollar through ivory for the primary and secondary, and flaxen through buttercup for the tertiary.
4. now, let's say i want this dragon to be an imp. so this tightens my range--i'm looking for imperials, coatls, and wildclaws. or i want glimmer without having to gene it myself. so then i add gem genes to the search: circuit, glimmer, opal, stained, filigree. this goes for any kind of specific end result. want skydancers without using a skydancer scroll? search for sds, imps, wcs, coatls, nocs--the breeds other than sds have a higher rarity, so odds will be biased in the skydancer's favor.
5. if it doesn't have dragons at the time, i widen the search. so instead of sanddollar through ivory, i search for banana through buttercup. i keep on widening it until i get results.
6. save the search as something you'll remember. check it often.
7. when you have a potential breeding pair, make sure to assay bloodlines! you don't want to buy dragons that turn out to be related.
8. use the
hatchling probability calculator to calculate your odds.
9. buy the dragons. if they're ready to nest, do so. if not, stick them in your den/lair until they are.
10. want a specific eye color? check out nest rentals.
11. if the range is far apart, you may want to slowly tighten it across multiple breeding attempts. this is what saving your search is also for--you'll want to buy stock to keep on hand.
12. really having trouble with it? use dragon search (same principles as searching, though you can't save a search) to look for dragons. POLITELY pm owners asking if you can buy or stud them.
13. cry as you get one offs and wrong genders.