Two jobs, shown in sequence
You cannot catch without an equipped instrument. The encounter then splits into tuning and holding.
- Start the instrument. A timing prompt can show Good! or Perfect! Click on PC, or tap on mobile, when it asks you to start tuning.
- Hold and drag the frequency slider until it matches the creature. Tune Speed shortens this part. The official description says a faster tune speed makes tuning quicker.
- When the catch bar appears, stop chasing the waveform. Drag the creature marker and keep it inside the moving zone until the bar fills.
The slider and the marker are different controls. Dragging during the wrong stage does not finish the catch.
Read the bar
| What you see | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency display is still up | You are still tuning | Match the slider |
| The bar rises | The creature is inside the zone | Keep making small corrections |
| The bar falls | The creature left the zone | Move it back in |
| The bar fills | The capture can complete | Wait for the result |
Touching the zone once is not a catch. A nearly full bar can still empty if the creature slips out. Small corrections are safer than a long swipe that carries the marker through the zone and out the other side. That is control advice, not a hidden bonus.
Match the miss to a stat
- Tuning takes most of the attempt: compare Tune Speed.
- You cannot reach the frequency on the card: compare Resonance. A number remembered from another creature, or from a pre-launch clip, is not this target's range.
- The bar drains after you are already catching: look at Precision (wider zone), Harmony (the zone moves less), and Tension (the creature follows the marker more closely). Luck does not explain a drag failure.
- You can finish common catches and you are hunting rarer encounters: Luck is the attraction stat. It is not a published catch percentage.
Practice the miss on a familiar Grove creature before you treat it as a shopping problem. The instrument guide compares the early cards.
Give the catch a job
Check the quest log before you sell. Marina's Fungstone, Fenna's Koroom, and Iblis's Runic set are hand-ins. A filled Index entry does not replace a creature the NPC still wants in your pack.
Open the Index on hotbar slot 3 when you want a new species instead of another familiar one.