Aniimo Beginner's Guide: What to Know Before You Start

Aniimo throws a lot at you in the first few hours: five team roles, nine elements, branching evolutions, two kinds of rare forms, a Homeland to run and a world map with hundreds of markers. None of it is hard, but some of it is easy to get wrong early. This page is the short tour. Each section explains one system in plain terms and then points you to the MetaBot page that covers it in depth.

Quick start: your first hour

The early main quests, Institute Initiation, Setting Out Again and Chasing the Clouds, all take place in Nimbus Fields, whose first sub-areas start at level 3 or 4. Our recommendation for that first session:

1. 1
   Pick your Guardian and follow the story

   The main quests teach catching, battling and the Homeland in order. Let them unlock systems for you rather than wandering off before the tutorials finish.

2. 2
   Catch a wide spread, not a favourite

   Nimbus Fields already holds all five roles. Catch one of each (see the role table below) so you have an answer to every early fight. The early-game team page lists the strongest picks you can catch at low level.

3. 3
   Unlock Transporters as you pass them

   The game files place 88 Transporters across Idyll. Touching one as you walk by saves a long trek back later.

4. 4
   Throw at sleeping or eating Aniimo

   A sleeping, eating or chatting target doubles your catch chance. That is as big a boost as an Aniipod Mega, and it costs nothing. The catching guide covers the details.

5. 5
   Set up the RV early

   Your RV is the Homeland. Its second level needs only 140 Home Coins, four farmland plots and one quest, and it unlocks 8 Aniimo slots. The Homeland guide walks through the first upgrades.

Helion or Lunara: the Guardian choice

Early in the story you are widely reported to choose one Guardian, Helion or Lunara, and outlets report that you can't catch the other one later. The game files list both, along with Soleon and Fennelun in their families, but they don't record the choice itself. For a side-by-side look, see Helion vs Lunara. Beyond that page, treat it as a preference pick rather than something to agonise over.

MetaBot Desktop

Every spawn, boss and chest on one live map

MetaBot Desktop maps all of Idyll (spawns, bosses, transporters and chests) and remembers what you've already collected, so you never sweep the same area twice.

• Every spawn point & boss
• Mark pins as collected
• Search & nearest transporter

Download for WindowsMore InfoFree download

Region collected63%

How a balanced team works: the five roles

Every Aniimo form has one role in the game files, and each role leans on a different stat. DPS has the highest ATK. BREAK cracks enemy shields with the BREAK stat. HEAL brings high HP and M.DEF, SUPPORT buffs allies with balanced defences, and REGEN outlasts fights with the REGEN stat. Every role shows up in Nimbus Fields, so you can build a full spread before you leave the starting region.

HEAL and REGEN are the scarce roles. Only 5 and 8 of the 95 species' default forms fill them, so when you find a good one, keep it. DPS is the most crowded role, which makes it easy to fill later. Our recommendation is to lock in your healer and your breaker first. When you want to test a lineup, the team builder shows role and element coverage, and the tier list ranks the roster.

Elements and weaknesses, without overcomplicating it

The retail game files hold a 9-element chart: Fire, Water, Grass, Lightning, Ice, Earth, Wind, Light and Dark. It uses only three multipliers. A super-effective hit deals 1.6×, a neutral one 1×, and a resisted one 0.625×. There are no immunities. Every element resists itself except Dark, and Light and Dark counter each other. Six elements to learn first:

Catching basics

The game files define catching as three numbers multiplied together: the species' base catch rate × your Aniipod's multiplier × the target's state multiplier. Most catchable forms have a base rate of 0.56 (63 forms) or 0.28 (106 forms), and 25 forms have no wild catch rate at all. The standard Aniipod is 1×, the Aniipod Pro is 1.5× and the Aniipod Mega is 2×.

• ×2: the target is sleeping, eating, chatting, baited, drunk, hypnotised or stunned.
• ×0.9: the target is alert or staring at you.
• ×0.8: the target is leaving.
• Refused: some states block the catch outright, such as a rampaging or owned Aniimo.

Here is MetaBot's calculation for a worked example. Stellarys has a 0.28 base rate. An Aniipod Pro while it sleeps gives 0.28 × 1.5 × 2 = 84%. The same throw at an alert Stellarys with a basic Aniipod gives about 25%. To run your own numbers, use the capture calculator.

Evolution basics

The game files sort species into three growth stages: Lumin (29 species), Gamma (9) and Nova (44). Some lines go Lumin → Gamma → Nova, while many jump straight from Lumin to Nova. Evolution levels run from 12 to 52. Most of the early Nimbus Fields catches evolve at 18 or 21. Thirteen entries, including Helion and Lunara, have no evolution recorded at all.

Watch out for branches. Chirpi can become Tromber, Cornet or Tubster at level 18: Tubster needs a BREAK Potential of 6 or higher, and Tromber needs HP Potential 6+ plus a passive talent. Nimbi turns into Turbo or Dreaple at 21, and Dreaple only if Nimbi rests with you from night to day and has learned the passive talent Dreamsong. In total, 23 evolutions carry an extra condition or an item such as a Roar Stone. Check the evolutions page before you level a line, and the leveling guide for how to get there.

Exploring Idyll: regions, Transporters and the map

Idyll is split into 14 explorable regions, and each has a level band in the game files. The bands overlap, and Echoback Landing, Beast Fang Ridge and Blitzwood span unusually wide ranges, so treat them as a rough order rather than a strict path. The first eight, by starting level:

The interactive map plots everything the files record, including 88 Transporters, 11 Bonfires, 4 RV Parks, 890 chests and 85 caves and portals. Use it to plan a sweep through a region. Some Aniimo won't appear on a normal walk, though. The game files give 83 forms a spawn condition, such as a particular weather, time of day, quest, title or Prismana Flow. The weather guide explains how to line those up, and region progression lists what each region still holds.

Prismana and Sparkling: what they mean

New players often mix these two up, but the game files keep them completely separate.

Homeland basics: your RV

Your base is an RV, a gift from Fannie at the start. The game files list 20 RV levels. Each upgrade costs Home Coins (earned from Home Orders and by selling Home produce) and raises the number of Aniimo you can place, from 8 at RV level 2 to 45 at RV level 20. Most of the gates are Homeland milestones. RV 2 needs 4 farmland plots and the quest The Wondrous RV. RV 3 adds woodland plots, RV 4 adds mines and RV 5 adds a well. From RV 7 on, some levels also need a title, and from RV 10 a Habitability score. Browse every facility on the Homeland hub and sketch a layout in the Homeland planner.

Bosses: Alpha vs Omega

The game files hold 20 bosses: 17 Alphas, from Alpha Irisal at level 15 up to Alpha Luminelle in the 53–60 Tideblossom Coast, and 3 Omegas: Omega Tuckin at 25, Omega Sherro at up to 40 and Omega Infergon at 40. Where a boss has no level of its own in the files (Luminelle and Sherro among them), MetaBot uses its region's cap. The files record scripted fight prompts for 11 of the 20, which hint at a mechanic you need to solve. Alpha Turbo floats until you lure it into sticking to two Nimbis, and Omega Tuckin summons Hummins that pass their HP back to it. Alpha Magmarex (Lv. 57, Zephyrus Landbridge) builds heat until it overheats, so cool it down with Water or Ice attacks, and Alpha Grizbo holds Rosetower Woods at level 50. The files don't record boss loot tables, so be wary of anyone quoting exact drops. The boss progression guide suggests an order, the bosses page has each fight, and the boss map shows where they are.

A simple daily progression checklist

The game files don't record a reset time, so treat this as our recommended routine rather than a timer. The daily and weekly checklist goes further.

• Push the next main or journey quest in your current region
• Collect Homeland output and re-queue your facilities
• Check the RV's next upgrade conditions and place any missing plots
• Catch one new species for each role you're missing (see roles)
• Unlock any Transporters and chests along your route
• Try one special encounter whose weather or time of day is active now
• Clear one Alpha your team can beat on elements

Common beginner mistakes

1. Lowering HP before throwing. It does nothing to the catch rate. Target state and Aniipod are the only levers.
2. Throwing at alert or fleeing targets. Alert costs you 10% of your odds and leaving costs 20%. Wait for them to settle, sleep or eat.
3. Running five DPS. HEAL and REGEN are the scarce roles, and a team without a breaker struggles once enemies bring shields.
4. Levelling a branching line blind. Chirpi, Nimbi and others split at the evolution level depending on conditions, so read the evolutions page first.
5. Confusing Prismana with Sparkling. Weather and region don't change Sparkling odds, but Prismana Flow drives Prismana forms.
6. Rerolling for nature. The game files give the 8 natures no stat effect, so a Cheerful Aniimo fights the same as any other.
7. Letting the RV fall behind. More RV levels mean more Aniimo slots and more Homeland output, and the early upgrades are cheap.

What to do next

• Build your first party with the early-game team, then fine-tune it in the team builder.
• Plan your throws with the catching guide and the capture calculator.
• Level efficiently with the leveling guide.
• Chase special spawns with the weather guide.
• Grow your base with the Homeland guide.
• Take on bosses in order with the boss progression guide.
• Keep your currencies flowing with the currency farming guide, and see every Aniimo guide.