Best capture strategy with effigies
Capture success comes from three multipliers: capture power from effigies, sphere tier, and how low the target's health is. Improve all three rather than throwing better spheres at full-health Pals.
Updated for the current Palworld patch
- ✓Weaken first
- ✓Use status effects
- ✓Match sphere tier to target
- ✓Back attacks
Weaken first
Reduce the target to a sliver of health with non-lethal pressure. Health remaining is the largest single factor in a throw.
Use status effects
Sleep and other status effects raise the practical odds and make risky captures survivable.
Match sphere tier to target
Do not waste high-tier spheres on common Pals or throw base spheres at alphas. Tier up as the target's rarity and level rise.
Back attacks
Throwing from behind an unaware target improves the outcome. Approach quietly rather than sprinting in.
Know when to breed instead
For a specific Pal with specific passives, breeding is usually faster than farming captures. The Pal Stars breeding calculator maps the parent pairs.