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How to catch wild Aniimo
A break pushes your catch rate above 90 percent, and a sleeping Aniimo hit from behind is close to free. Here is how to stack the odds before you throw.
The short version
- Aiming an Aniipod shows you the exact catch chance before you throw, and anything below 100% can still fail after the pod shakes.
- Inflicting a break raises your capture success rate above 90 percent, and filling the break gauge counts toward the catch just as lowering HP does.
- Lowering HP or stunning a wild Aniimo raises its capture rate, and the hardest creatures need weakening before a throw has a realistic chance.
- Approaching from behind boosts the catch rate whether the Aniimo is awake or asleep, while letting it spot you and engage lowers the rate.
- Higher tier Aniipods have higher base capture rates, though specialised models such as Aniipod Track and Tumbler trade catch power for utility.
You catch wild Aniimo in the open world by aiming and throwing Anipods, also spelled Aniipods, the standard catching capsules. The throw itself is the easy part. What decides whether the pod holds is everything you did before you let go.
There are two routes to a better catch rate. You can fight: lower its HP, stun it, or break it. Or you can avoid the fight entirely: sneak up, stay unseen, come in from behind, or find one asleep. Both routes stack the odds in your favour, and the game shows you the result as a number before you commit a pod.
Read the catch chance before you throw
When you aim an Aniipod at a wild Aniimo, the capture UI shows the exact percentage chance of catching it. Use it. The common mistake is throwing the moment combat begins, when a few more seconds of work would have moved that number a long way.
The number is honest in both directions. Any throw below 100% can still fail after the pod shakes, so a high figure is a good bet rather than a promise. Treat everything below as ways to push that figure up before you spend a pod.
What is break in Aniimo
Break is the strongest single thing you can do to a wild Aniimo you are trying to catch. Alongside its HP, a creature has a break gauge, and dealing break damage to that gauge increases your capture success just as depleting its HP does.
Fill it and you inflict a break. That opens a vulnerability window during which the capture rate climbs above 90 percent. How far above is build-dependent: in some versions of the game a break makes the catch guaranteed even with basic Aniipods. Either way, a broken Aniimo is the best target you will get in a fight, so the window is when you throw.
If you are asking which Aniimo is best for breaking, the facts here do not settle it. What is settled is that break damage matters for capture, so a team that can fill the gauge is a team that catches well.
90 percent
Capture rate after a break
Weakening and stunning in battle
Engaging a wild Aniimo and weakening it raises the chance of capturing it with an Anipod. For the tougher creatures this is not optional. Wild Aniimo that are harder to catch generally need to be weakened before a capture attempt has a realistic chance at all.
Lowering HP before you throw improves your odds, and that holds during bloom events too. Stuns work the same way. Throwing a pod at a stunned Aniimo gives a significantly higher capture chance, which makes stun windows ideal moments to catch. The order of play is simple: wear it down, wait for the stun or the break, then aim and check the number.
Stealth, backstabs and sleeping Aniimo
You do not have to fight at all. Wild Aniimo can be captured without battling by sneaking up on them, and staying undetected raises your chance of a successful capture. The reverse is also true: if an Aniimo spots you and engages, its capture success rate drops. Getting noticed costs you.
Position matters. Attacking an Aniimo or throwing a pod at it from behind grants a back attack bonus that greatly increases the catch rate, and approaching from behind helps whether the creature is awake or asleep.
Sleeping Aniimo are the softest targets in the game. You can walk up and catch them while they sleep, and the capture is much easier. Whether it is guaranteed is not settled. In some cases the displayed chance rises to 100% even with the cheapest capture pod; in others it is only almost guaranteed, or improved without reaching a certain catch. Check the number before you throw rather than assuming.
You can also shape the encounter. Traps can be set in the terrain, such as in a wild Aniimo's path, to raise the likelihood of a capture. Thrown decoy items such as duckies attract and distract nearby Aniimo, which helps when you want one looking somewhere other than at you.
Battle first
- Lowering HP before throwing improves capture odds
- Stunned Aniimo give a significantly higher capture chance
- A break raises capture success above 90 percent
Sneak up undetected
- Wild Aniimo can be captured without battling
- Approaching from behind raises the capture chance
- Sleeping Aniimo are much easier to catch, though whether it is guaranteed is unsettled
- Being spotted and engaged lowers the capture rate
Aniipod tiers and where to get them
Aniipods come in multiple tiers, and higher tiers carry higher base capture success rates. For difficult captures, bring the stronger pods. The exception is the specialised models: Aniipod Track and Tumbler trade raw catch power for utility effects, so they are not simply better versions of the basic pod.
Capture items come from quest rewards and the free shop, and you can craft them at your Homeland base. Joff also sells capture pods for gold, which is the route when you run short mid hunt.
Where to start
Never throw blind. Sneak in from behind if you can, find one asleep if you can, and if it comes to a fight, lower its HP and fill the break gauge before you aim. Then read the percentage, and save your higher tier Aniipods for the creatures that still show a low number after all of that.
Parts of this page were re-checked against the released game on 4 October 2026. The rest has not been re-confirmed since release.
