Sword & Shield Pokemon Catch Rate Calculator

In Sword & Shield, every wild Pokemon has a hidden number called its catch rate, somewhere between 3 and 255. The higher that number, the more likely the Pokeball is to stay closed when you throw it. Common Pokemon like Caterpie sit at 255. Legendary Pokemon like Mewtwo are stuck at 3, which is why they take so many tries.

Three things change your odds the most: how low the wild Pokemon's HP is, what status condition you put it in, and which Pokeball you throw. Drop HP first, apply Sleep or Freeze for a 2.5x bonus (Paralysis, Burn, or Poison gives a smaller 1.5x boost if Sleep is not an option), then throw the situational ball.

How to Increase Your Catch Chance

Multipliers compound. The standard sequence is weaken HP, apply Sleep, throw the right ball. That sequence routinely turns a 5% per-shake chance into 30% or higher.

1Weaken HP with False Swipe. Knock the wild Pokemon to 1 HP without knocking it out. False Swipe caps damage at exactly 1 HP when the hit would otherwise faint the target. For Ghost-types (immune to Normal moves), use Night Shade instead and watch the HP bar.

False SwipeNormal

Power

40

Accuracy

100%

PP

40

Always leaves opponent with at least 1 HP.

How to get it. Available as TM54 in this game. Most Bug, Normal, and Fighting-type Pokemon can learn it.

Top users in this game

EscavalierSirfetch'dFalinksZacian

Night ShadeGhost

Power

—

Accuracy

100%

PP

15

The damage of Night Shade is equal to the user's level.

How to get it. Level-up move on most Ghost-types. Damage equals the user's level. That gives you predictable chip damage against Ghost-type wild encounters where False Swipe fails.

Top users in this game

MimikyuPolteageistRunerigus

2Put the target to Sleep for a 2.5x catch bonus. Sleep is the strongest status multiplier in the catch formula. Four primary sleep moves, ordered by accuracy:

SporeGrass

Power

—

Accuracy

100%

PP

15

Spore puts the target to sleep.

How to get it. Level-up move on a small set of Grass-type Pokemon. Cannot be learned via TM in any game. 100% accuracy makes it the gold standard.

Top users in this game

AmoongussShiinotic

Sleep PowderGrass

Power

—

Accuracy

75%

PP

15

Sleep Powder puts the target to sleep, if it hits.

How to get it. Level-up move on Grass-type Pokemon with leaves or pollen. Most Bulbasaur-line, Oddish-line, and Hoppip-line evolutions learn it. Cannot be learned via TM.

Top users in this game

ButterfreeVileplumeVictreebelJumpluff

HypnosisPsychic

Power

—

Accuracy

60%

PP

20

Hypnosis puts the target to sleep, if it hits.

How to get it. Level-up move on Psychic and Ghost-type Pokemon. Often the first sleep move you can access mid-game. Cannot be learned via TM.

Top users in this game

GrimmsnarlHattereneMorpeko

SingNormal

Power

—

Accuracy

55%

PP

15

Sing puts the target to sleep, if it hits.

How to get it. Level-up move on Normal-type Pokemon (Jigglypuff line, Lapras, etc). Lower accuracy but easier to access early.

Top users in this game

WigglytuffAltariaLaprasMr. Rime

3Throw the right ball. The right ball depends on the situation, not on rarity. Walk through the questions below in priority order. Stop at the first YES.

Walk through these questions in order and stop at the first YES — that is your ball. If none of the questions apply, throw an Ultra Ball.

1

Is it turn 1, before any other action?

YES→Quick Ball5x bonus

Throws on the first turn of battle only. After turn 1 the bonus disappears.

2

Have you already caught one of this Pokemon (registered in your dex)?

YES→Repeat Ball3.5x bonus

Triggers on species you have already added to your Pokedex as caught.

3

Is the wild Pokemon a Water-type or Bug-type?

YES→Net Ball3.5x bonus

Active against Water-type or Bug-type targets, secondary types count too.

4

Are you battling while surfing or fishing?

YES→Dive Ball3.5x bonus

Triggers when the encounter is on water tiles or via a fishing rod.

5

Is the in-game clock at night, or are you inside a cave?

YES→Dusk Ball3x bonus

Active during nighttime hours and inside dark interior areas.

6

Has the battle dragged on for many turns?

YES→Timer Ball~4x bonus

Multiplier climbs each turn and reaches its 4x cap near turn 30. At turn 10 the bonus is only around 2x, so this is a long-stall tool rather than an early-fight pick.

★

If no question above applied

DEFAULT→Throw the strongest plain ball in your bag

Ultra Ball2x bonus

Great Ball1.5x bonus

Poke Ball1x (no bonus)

Use the strongest tier you have. Ultra Ball is best, Great Ball is mid-tier, Poke Ball is the basic fallback when nothing else is available.

Skipping any step costs you catch odds. The full sequence is weaken HP, apply Sleep, then throw the situational ball. With the modern ball lineup, even a 3-shake legendary catch attempt becomes routine when every multiplier is doing its job.

Once your Pokedex completion is high enough, you will occasionally trigger a critical capture. The ball does just one shake check instead of three, and it is much more likely to succeed. Filling out the dex pays off in future catch attempts.

Sword and Shield split the TM machine into two pools: standard TMs are infinite-use, while TRs (Technical Records) are single-use and need to be looted from Max Raids or bought with Watts. False Swipe is TM54 (infinite-use). The Master Dojo on the Isle of Armor adds the Cram-o-matic, which lets you trade in 4 items to receive Apricorn balls (and other rewards) based on the item types you submit — this is the only path to Apricorn balls in SwSh. Lure Ball drops back to 4x in Gen VIII after its 5x peak in Gen VII. Max Raid Battles use a separate catch system from the standard formula: the raid concludes with a single guaranteed catch attempt where ball type still matters but turn count and most multipliers do not apply.