Every trainee in Umamusume: Pretty Derby is influenced by the racers that came before them, and selecting the right Legacy characters at the start of a career run can drastically enhance your trainee's performance. Legacy bonuses can transform any Umamusume into a top-tier runner right from the get-go, but building the best possible Legacy Umamusume is a huge time sink.
At the start of every Umamusume career, you have to choose two Legacy characters that serve as your trainee's "parents," so to speak. Your trainee will receive additional boosts to their stats and unlock various skills depending on their parents and their grandparents, but the system goes a lot deeper than just adding a few points here and there. Here's what you need to know about Legacy Umamusume and Affinity scores to prepare for your next career.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Complete Training Guide
For those wondering how to train Umamusume: Pretty Derby and complete their careers, here’s a simple guide that walks you through each step.
What Do Legacy Umamusume Do?
Your chosen Legacy Umamusume will improve your trainee's starting stats and aptitudes depending on the Sparks that the Legacies obtained during their careers. You'll see the initial stat bonuses above your trainee's stat line with blue numbers representing the buffs from Legacy 1 and pink numbers denoting the buffs from Legacy 2.
Aptitudes — like track type, distance, or racing style — can also be improved by Legacy Umamusume. If any of your trainee's aptitudes are upgraded by Legacies, they'll be highlighted in yellow.
Only blue and pink Sparks (stats and aptitudes) affect the initial bonuses at the start of a career. The other Spark types come into play later during Inspiration events.
You can use this system to your advantage to cover for certain weaknesses or create unique builds that an Umamusume wouldn't be able to have otherwise. Remember that the initial stat and aptitude bonuses are affected by the Sparks of your chosen Legacy Umamusume, so you shouldn't just pick your highest-rated horse girl as a Legacy simply because they've won the most races. Take some time to evaluate the Sparks on your roster to determine the best Legacy choices for your next run.
What Does Affinity Do in Umamusume?
Each Legacy Umamusume also has an Affinity rating that determines their compatibility with your trainee. There are three Affinity ranks in total: a triangle, a single circle, and a double circle. The triangle is the worst of them all, so you want to ensure that you always have at least a circle when choosing a set of Legacy runners.
The Affinity rating of your Legacy Umamusume affects the likelihood of them passing down their other Sparks to your trainee. Each career run has two Inspiration events where your trainee stops by the Three Goddesses statue and runs after their Legacy Umamusume. When these happen, your trainee will receive stat boosts from any blue Sparks, but there's also a random chance for the other Sparks to trigger and grant them even more bonuses.
The RNG from Inspiration events is determined by your Legacy Affinity rating. With higher Affinity, you'll be more likely to trigger pink Sparks to raise your trainee's aptitude even further or trigger white/green Sparks for even more bonuses like skill hints and stat gains. If you have good Affinity with your Legacies, Inspiration events can become huge boons that put your trainee ahead of the competition.
Every character has a set compatibility rating with every other horse girl that determines how they'll contribute to Affinity. Generally, Umamusume that share the same aptitudes and racing styles will have higher compatibility than horses that have nothing in common. Keep that in mind when selecting your Legacy Umamusume at the start of your next career run.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Critics Rec: 100%
- Released
- June 26, 2025
- Developer(s)
- Cygames
- Publisher(s)
- Cygames, Kakao Games, BiliBili
