Stages of a Guardian Yumi
The stages explained correspond to the following Guardian Yumi hierarchies: Abundant, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary and Artifacted. A Nether Crystal is only needed if you wish to convert your Yumi to Nether form (a.k.a. 1 Prim form or Crystal Form) for the purpose of Transcoding (see Transcoding) You may keep a Yumi in Crystal form in-world or in your inventory. While Yumies are in Crystal Form, they gain an attribute called 'Nether'. It takes on an average 6 days for a Yumi to gain 100% nether while in Crystal form. When 100% nether, a Yumi is ready to transcode.

In order to transcode, a Yumi must first gain Nether by converting into Crystal form. This is done by using a Nether Crystal. A Nether Crystal can be manufactured by the Crystal Crafting Artifact. Touch the spawned Crystal and click OpenNether. Then 'Touch and Hold your mouse button on the Yumi you wish to place in the Crystal. Then, select NetherForm. Once the crystal has gained 100% nether, the crystal will turn purple; you can touch the purple crystal to turn the Yumi back into Elemental form to transcode! Each time the Yumi transcodes, it must gain nether before transcoding again. A Yumi can only transcode for a certain amount of days during which the Yumi is 'attuned' with its dimension.

Attunement means that a Yumi can telepathically contact members of its tribe lost in the nether. As time passes, the telepathic connection weakens. Once the attunement days have passed, a Yumi will lose all of its attunement and can no longer transcode. However, this process can be paused by placing the Yumi in hibernate state by touching the Crystal they reside in and clicking Hibernate. There is no way to gain Attunement, it can only be paused.

NOTE: If the Crystal is in Hibernate mode, the Yumi does not gain Nether and does not lose Attunement.

Stages of an ELE Yumi
The stages explained correspond to the following ELE Yumi hierarchies: Splendor, Abyss, Cosmic, Intrepid and Ancient. These Yumies can only pass through the Portal II and not Portal I.

Affinity
Affinity is how long a Yumi remains attuned to the Nether. A Yumi with a stronger Affinity can transcode more times than a Yumi with weaker Affinity. Yumies can possess stronger Affinity with the help of your ELE puzzle solving techniques. The better your score, the stronger the Affinity can become. The strengths of Affinity can vary from Very Weak, Weak, Strong, Very Strong to Ultra.