Stealth captures, backstab bonuses and sleeping Aniimo

Capture chance goes up when you approach an Aniimo without alerting it. That is the base of everything else on this page: staying undetected raises the chance of a successful capture by itself, before any other bonus is applied.

Foliage is your main tool here. Throwing a capture pod from hiding inside foliage increases your chances, so move through cover rather than across open ground and take the throw from where you are. If the creature spots you, you lose the advantage you were building.

Throwing a pod at the back of an unaware Aniimo applies a 1.5x backstab catch bonus. Note the two conditions. It has to be the back, and the creature has to be unaware of you.

The back attack bonus is not limited to pods. Attacking an Aniimo from behind also grants it, and the catch rate goes up either way. So if you do open with a hit, open from behind.

This stacks naturally with hiding. Sneak up through foliage, circle to its back, and throw. That is the cleanest capture the game offers on an awake target.

Wild Aniimo can be caught while they sleep, and this is the best window you will get. Attempting a catch on a sleeping Aniimo significantly improves the success rate, and sneaking up behind one helps most of all while it is asleep.

What is not settled is whether sleep makes a capture guaranteed. The displayed catch chance is given both as rising to 100% and as improved without reaching a certain capture. Treat a sleeping target as your best odds, not a sure thing, and still come in from behind.

Capturing involves more than throwing pods. You can set traps in the terrain to help, pick your positioning, and use the environment in your favour. All of these improve your capture chance alongside stealth.

Put together, they let you skip combat entirely. Wild Aniimo can be caught outside of battle by combining stealth, traps and pod throws, completing the capture without attacking the target at all. If a creature is unaware, asleep or both, there is little reason to start a fight you do not need.

Some creatures make stealth close to mandatory. Hummins burrow into the ground when startled, so a careless approach sends them underground instead of into your pod. For these two, come in quietly or not at all.

If you want to control who can see what, Smoke Screen is a support skill that covers an area in smoke and blocks targeting through it. It works as an escape, and it can also be used to catch enemies off guard.

06Where to start

Approach through foliage, get behind the target before it notices you, and look for sleeping Aniimo first. Use traps and the terrain so the pod throw finishes a capture you have already set up. With Hummins, never let them see you coming.