[EDITOR’S NOTE: In response to concerns found on Reddit, I published this article with the help of colleagues and my own research while playing Octopath Traveler for 30+ hours, but it’s clear that I messed up in not properly sourcing OhRichard’s video. OhRichard was one of the first to make this discovery and deserves attribution for helping inspire this article. For not linking to him I sincerely apologize. We’ve embedded OhRichard’s video front and center, and made corrections to the bulk of the text based on your feedback. – Kevin T]
H’annit, the Hunter — one of the eight characters you can select in Octopath Traveler — is all about beast taming. She has the ability to capture and tame enemies in random encounters. She can grab some pretty powerful beasts, but most don’t compare to her hunter special attacks. Here, we’re going to talk about some of the best captures you can find for when you reach that mythical post-game.
Naturally, it’s going to be awhile before you can access this area and even hope to capture the monster. There are other high-level monster captures you probably don’t realize you can grab — most areas, even as low as the Chapter 1 zones — have optional dungeons you can explore. At the end of these dungeons, you’ll encounter a giant monster that isn’t quite a boss, but is way too tough to be a standard enemy. These can’t be captured — until you defeat them once, that is.
After a single defeat, these tough enemies will start to appear in standard battles. Now you can capture them for real. That’s how you can get some of the best animal captures in the entire game. The best one the Octopath community has found so far is the Dreadwolf.
More Octopath Traveler guides on Gameranx:
- Octopath Traveler: Beginner’s Guide | 8 Tips To Help You Get Started
- Octopath Traveler: How To Unlock 8 Sub-Jobs & 4 Advanced Jobs | Secret Classes Guide
- Octopath Traveler: How To Unlock The True Ending | Secret Ending Guide
- Octopath Traveler: How Earn Money, XP & JP Fast | Easy Farming Guide
- Octopath Traveler: How To Get The Best Post-Game Weapons | Battle-Tested Locations Guide
How To Get The Best Animal Capture | Dreadwolf Location
The Dreadwolf, and other high-level tough enemy “sub-bosses” will spawn normally after completing difficult dungeons. Dungeons begin to appear in Chapter 2 areas — explore them and defeat the encounter at the end. These tough enemies will then spawn in standard battles where they can be captured. That’s how you can get some of the best possible animal captures in the game.
- NOTE: To increase random encounter rate, you’ll need the Alluring Ribbon. Get this accessory by completing a sidequest in Stillsnow. Also, don’t forget to remove Cyrus’ Evasive Maneuvers if you have it equipped.
H’annit, or any other Hunter class, can capture animal-like enemies and monsters that appear in random encounters. Boss encounters or humans cannot be captured. To improve your capture chances, you’ll need to Break enemies — you can also boost Capture like any other ability. Generally, every charge of Boost gives you a 10% higher chance of capturing your target.
To capture the Dreadwolf, one of the best animal captures in the game, follow these steps. The Maw of the Ice Dragon is a Level 45 optional dungeon.
- Travel to Northreach in the Frostlands. Go south into the and left to the dungeon, the Maw of the Ice Dragon. Go to the very end of the cave to encounter Dreadwolf. Defeat him!
- After you’ve defeating the Dreadwolf once, equip any skills / items to increase your encounter rate, then get into random battles until the Dreadwolf appears. It will only appear in random battles if you’ve defeated it once.
- The Dreadwolf is a Level 10 monster, with Wild Scratch (Sword, Hits All) — it attacks all enemies, multiple times. It spawns extremely rarely. It may take an 1+ hour just to get a single battle with the Dreadwolf to spawn.
- Flee battles that don’t have the Dreadwolf to speed things up — there are multiple support skills you can equip to help. Equip the Cleric’s Evil Ward to increase your chances of successfully fleeing. You can also use the Hunter’s Heightened Sense to attack first, or the Scholar’s Percipience to avoid surprise attacks.
While the Dreadwolf isn’t the very best animal summon, he’s much easier to actually get than the best possible capture. The very best animal capture might be the Chubby Cait — these are random enemies that spawn extremely rarely, and only in Chapter 3+ zones. If you can beat the Dreadwolf, you can probably capture it with a little luck and persistence. Not so for the Chubby Cait, but if you get lucky enough, Chubby Caits are said to be the best possible animal summon in the game.
Source: [u/NeilGoldmen]
