Appraising catches: Unappraised potential and duplicates

A captured Aniimo's Potential grade is its Attribute Rank, and there are four of them: Common, Good, Elite and Perfect. That rank sets the creature's stat ceiling. Two of the same species can look identical in your storage and end up very differently matched once you push them.

You cannot see any of this in the wild. A newly caught Aniimo's stats and quality are hidden until it has been scanned or researched at an Outpost, and until then the grade reads Unappraised. Its detailed stats stay locked behind the same step. The practical upshot is simple: no amount of looking at a fresh catch will tell you whether to keep it. You have to take it back.

Outpost camps have research consoles, and those are what appraise your catches. Submit a creature in a catch report at an Outpost's Research Console and the console evaluates it, revealing its potential stats and its classification tier. Until you do that, the Unappraised label stays put.

Hatched Aniimo follow the same rule with a different stop. A newly hatched creature goes to the appraisal station near the Hatchinator to reveal its potential and quality grade.

The console is also where you clear space. You can analyse Aniimo and then release or transfer them one at a time or in bulk, which matters once you start catching duplicates in quantity. Reporting at the Outpost also refunds currency, and releasing or cashing in a creature at the research lab pays out too, so a box of rejects is not wasted effort.

Bulk release is fast, which is exactly why it is dangerous. Before you register or release any Aniimo, look at three things: its Alpha status, whether it has a special or weather form, and its potential grade of Common, Good, Elite or Perfect. The aim is to make sure nothing with high innate potential goes out with the batch.

That check is the subject of its own piece on beginner mistakes, so the short version here is enough. Appraise first, read the grade, then decide.

Potential is rolled at capture and fixed from that moment. There is no later step that raises it. If the copy you have is Common, it stays Common, and the way to get a better one is to catch the same species again.

That is why farming multiple wild copies is the standard approach to finding the best potential and the highest quality. For a Perfect roll, the recommended target is around 20 to 30 catches of the base form. Treat that as the normal cost of a top-tier creature, not bad luck.

The odds have been moved in your favour in places. The spawn rate of wild Aniimo with 9/9 and 10/10 potential scores has been increased. Some species also have their own boosts: completing the second set of Research Center quests increases the chance of finding a perfect Dazmand by 200%. If Dazmand is on your list, finish those quests before you start the grind.

Potential is also only one reason to keep catching. Collection goals go well beyond owning a single copy of a species: better Potential, different traits, Sparkling versions, regional or alternate forms, and Prismana forms all reward repeat catches. A duplicate that rolls a poor grade can still be the one with the form you wanted, which is one more reason to appraise before you release.

Catching thirty of anything sounds expensive, but the loop funds itself. Catching and reporting creatures earns Credits, the game's standard currency, and the money from wild catches recoups or exceeds the price of standard Anipods. The full breakdown of earning and spending Credits has its own guide.

Reporting at Outpost terminals also earns Report Cards, which you spend to upgrade your talent passive skills. Uploading research data at the console enriches the Animology Department records as well. Every duplicate you report on the way to a Perfect roll is pushing those along too.

06Where to start

Take every new catch to an Outpost Research Console, or a hatch to the station by the Hatchinator, before you judge it. Check Alpha status, form and grade before releasing anything. If you want a Perfect copy, plan on 20 to 30 catches of the base form, and clear the second set of Research Center quests first if you are after Dazmand.