How Weather and Time of Day Affect Spawns in Aniimo

Every creature has a designated habitat, so your location and biome set the basic pool. On top of that sit the environmental conditions: the time of day through the day-night cycle, the real-time weather, and limited-time climatic events such as blooms. Certain special species, rare variants and weather forms appear in their zone only under specific weather or at specific times of day.

Forms are not fixed either. An Aniimo's look and form can vary with its region, local terrain and climate, the weather and the time of day. So you can catch a species you already own and still be holding something new.

To see which creatures belong to which biome, open the map and use the Habitats section. It sits behind the Aniimo silhouette icon in the side menu and lists the creatures found in each biome. Start there when you are hunting a specific Aniimo, then work out what conditions it needs.

Bad weather is good news. Rain, snow and thunderstorms trigger rare Aniimo spawns and outbreaks, and some Aniimo only spawn at all under specific weather such as rain or thunderstorms. Those weather variants, the rain and thunderstorm versions of a species, exist only while that weather lasts. The species list, how they unlock and what moves they carry are covered in our full guide to Aniimo weather forms.

You do not have to stare at the sky to know when one is out. A small blue map icon marks a region where the weather has brought out a weather variant Aniimo. Check the map whenever the weather turns.

Better still, plan ahead. Aniimo has an active weather system with a forecast. Zoom the map fully out and click the sun icon in the side menu. It shows upcoming regional weather changes up to 24 hours in advance, along with a timer. If the creature you want needs a thunderstorm, the forecast tells you where and when to be.

Some Aniimo change their form or appearance with the day-night cycle, and some only appear at certain times. Waiting for the real clock is slow, and you do not have to. The time of day can be changed manually at any time, from morning through to late night.

Where the control lives is not settled. It is given as a day and night toggle on the map screen, and also as an option in the start menu (the ESC menu): a tab with a sun and moon icon on the right of the menu, offering early morning, dusk and night. The start menu is also said to change the weather. If you cannot find it in one place, try the other.

The forecast lets you wait for weather. Progression lets you make it. Higher-level area cultivation tiers and badges unlock weather-changing benefits that can spawn rare weather variants, so investing in an area pays off in what you can catch there.

A region's weather can also be switched to Prismana to spawn rare Prismana Aniimo, using a weather-changing stone you get through normal story progression and currency. A prismatic crystal or rainbow stone can force a Prismana spawn in a zone, for example at the Breezy Plains tree.

Prismana Flow is a weather event that lets Prismana Aniimo spawn. The clearest route is the area's prismatic energy meter: max it out and Prismana Flow weather starts, a Prismana creature spawns, and a path to it is revealed automatically. You do not have to search for it.

Beyond that, exactly what triggers the event is not settled. It is given as prismatic vein energy, either building up as that energy accumulates or rolling a fixed chance on every gain in it. It is also given as a flat base chance of about 3% on each nurture attempt, catch attempt or bloom release, whatever the regional energy level. A Lucky Strike catch is given a 0.6% chance to trigger one immediately. And activating a Prismana Crystal starts the event in that area straight away.

The practical reading is simple. Normal play in a zone, catching, nurturing and releasing blooms, feeds your chances, and a crystal skips the wait.

Rare conditions produce rare catches, and the easiest way to lose one is to auto-release without looking. Doing that can discard weather forms, along with evolutions and forms you need for split evolutions and the homestead. After a storm or a Prismana Flow, review your catches before you clear them out.

07Where to start

Open the Habitats section to find your target's biome, then check the 24-hour forecast for the weather it needs and set the time of day yourself. Keep an eye out for the blue map icon. Work up area cultivation so you can change the weather on demand, and review every catch from a rare spawn before anything gets auto-released.