Catch rate (GO)

Among the several mechanics that differ in Pokémon GO compared to the core series is the calculation of catch rate. Every species of Pokémon is assigned a "base capture rate" that is applied to every member of that species, usually a value between 0% and 100%, which determines how difficult that species is to capture. The highest possible Power Up level a wild Pokémon can have is 30 under normal conditions, but if the Pokémon's type is boosted by weather, it can go up to level 35.

Calculation

Upon a thrown Poké Ball successfully hitting a wild Pokémon, the game will calculate P, the probability of a successful capture.^[1]

File:GO Catch formula.png

where

• baseCaptureRate is the base capture rate of the wild Pokémon's species
• CPM is the CP multiplier of the wild Pokémon's Power Up level

and multiplier is

File:GO Catch multiplier.png

where

• Ball is
  • 1 if a Poké Ball or Premier Ball is thrown
  • 1.5 if a Great Ball is thrown
  • 2 if an Ultra Ball is thrown
• Berry is
  • 1.5 if a Razz Berry is used
  • 1.8 if a Silver Pinap Berry is used
  • 2.5 if a Golden Razz Berry is used
  • 1 if otherwise
• Throw is 2 - r if the Ball hits within the target ring, and 1 otherwise
  • where r is target ring size / maximum ring size, hence 0 < r ≤ 1
  • for a Nice! Throw, 1 ≤ Throw < 1.3
  • for a Great! Throw, 1.3 ≤ Throw < 1.7
  • for an Excellent! Throw, 1.7 ≤ Throw < 2
• Curveball is 1.7 if the Ball is spun before being thrown, and 1 otherwise
• Medal is based on the player's type-specific Medals pertaining to the wild Pokémon's type and is
  • 1 if none
  • 1.1 if bronze
  • 1.2 if silver
  • 1.3 if gold
  • if the wild Pokémon is dual-type, Medal will be the average of the above for each type

When capturing Pokémon using a peripheral device, such as the Pokémon GO Plus or Poké Ball Plus, a regular Poké Ball will always be used with no bonus multipliers applied, except from type medals if applicable.

The highest theoretical multiplier that can be attained is ×22.1, which includes:

• Using an Ultra Ball (×2.0)
• Feeding a Golden Razz Berry (×2.5)
• Throwing a Curveball (×1.7)
• Making a perfect Excellent throw (×2.0)
• Having a gold type medal bonus (×1.3)

Target ring colors

Colored target ring of Rattata at different sizes

The color of the target ring allows players to gauge the probability of a successful capture, factoring in all bonuses for multiplier except for Throw and Curveball. Switching Poké Balls or feeding Berries may change the color of the ring. The more green the ring, the higher the catch rate; the more red it is, the lower the probability.

Critical capture

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Chance of critical capture?

A critical capture is a rare phenomenon that was first observed in Pokémon GO in February 2017, alongside the release of Generation II Pokémon. Occasionally, a thrown Poké Ball will bypass catch rate checks and guarantee a capture. Instead of shaking three times, a throw Poké Ball will only shake once, and the Pokémon will be confirmed caught. No additional XP bonuses are awarded for critical captures, but other bonuses, such as from a Great! Throw, will still be rewarded.

Examples

Poké Balls and Berries

Consider a wild Pikachu with 343 CP, with an estimated Power Up level of 14. Pikachu has a base capture rate of 20% and a CP multiplier of 0.49985844 at level 14. Without any bonus multipliers, the catch rate will be 20% / (0.49985844×2) = 20.01%.

The following table shows what this Pikachu's catch rate would be if bonuses for Poké Balls and Berries were applied, assuming no bonuses from throws or medals.

	20.01%	28.45%	36.01%
	28.45%	39.48%	48.81%
	31.58%	43.40%	53.18%
	42.77%	56.70%	67.24%

Throw technique

Consider a wild Tauros of 1252 CP, with an estimated Power Up level of 18. This means it will have a base capture rate of 30% and a CP multiplier of 0.56675452. Without any additional bonuses, the capture rate will be 30% / (2 × 0.56675452) = 26.47%.

The following table shows how the capture rate will be affected by throwing techniques, assuming no additional bonuses and only regular Poké Balls are used; throw bonus multipliers will be averaged between the highest and lowest possible values.

Medals

Let's now consider a wild Abra that has 670 CP, estimated to be Power Up level 20. Given that Abra has a base capture rate of 50% and its CP multiplier is 0.59740001, the catch rate without bonuses will be 50% / (2 × 0.59740001) = 41.85%.

The following table shows the effect on catch rate via medals for each Poké Ball type, assuming no other bonus multipliers.

	41.85%	55.65%	66.18%
	44.92%	59.12%	69.66%
	47.82%	62.31%	72.78%
	50.58%	65.25%	75.57%

References

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.