Capture a weakened monster.
Description
Catch is a Beastmaster command ability in Final Fantasy V. It enables the player to capture a weakened monster, and then release it later for the monster to execute certain abilities. It is innate to Beastmasters, and is the final ability unlocked leveling the job to job level 4.
Final Fantasy V was the first Final Fantasy game to include an ability to capture monsters and use them in battle.
Obtained[]
Catch is innate to Beastmasters, and available to anyone equipping the job. At job level 4, unlocked for a total of 460 AP (300 AP from job level 3), the ability can be equipped in the ability slot for any job.
Mechanics[]
The player must have weakened the monster to 1/8 or less of its max HP to capture it. If the character is equipped with a Kornago Gourd, the player will only need to reduce the monster's HP to 1/2. If the player wants a particular monster, one can try Gravity or the Blue Magic spells Missile or Death Claw, as all of these reduce the health of the enemy without killing it, allowing the character to catch it more easily.
The Catch bug exists in all versions of the game with the enemies Gel Fish and Moss Fungus.
When a character catches a monster in the Super Famicom version, the enemy name should be displayed in the Status menu under the Catch header, but the field is left blank for the version 1.1 of the RPGe fan translation. The reason is because the enemy names table was stored in another location within the data. Also, the length of the monster names was originally 8 bytes, but was expanded to 10 bytes.
Captured monsters can be released to have them attack once, summon style. If the party catches a summoned monster, most will do a Strong Attack when released (which does thousands worth of damage, even in the First World).
The damage formula for Strong Attack is as follows:
List of catch and release abilities[]
The following table lists the abilities that can be used by releasing caught monsters. In the now discontinued Matrix Software versions, several Release effects were ineffective on enemies with the Heavy flag. With the exception of ???? and Self-Destruct, which use the summoner's current HP in the damage equation, all Release abilities use the summoned monster's stats for determining damage or healing.
| Name | Effect | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| ???? | Inflicts damage to one enemy equal to difference in caster's Max HP and current HP. | Reflect Knight, Tunneller (in battle with Zephyrus) |
| 1000 Needles | Inflicts 1000 unblockable damage to one enemy. Ignores defenses. | Lamia, Cactus, Hedgehog |
| Aera | Inflicts moderate Wind elemental damage to one or all enemies. | Moldwynd |
| Aeroga | Inflicts major Wind elemental damage to one or all enemies. | Ziggurat Gigas (fight with Zephyrus), Baldanders |
| Almagest | Heavy holy-elemental damage and sap to the enemy party. | Shield Dragon, Vilia, Hades |
| Aqua Breath | Inflicts moderate water-elemental damage to all enemies. | Dhorme Chimera (Normal and from fight with Zephyrus), Moogle Eater, Rajiformes, Aquagel |
| Atomic Ray | Moderate fire-elemental damage to all enemies. | Red Dragon, Istory Lythos |
| Banish | Inflicts instant death to one target. | Page 32, Black Warlock, Zephyrus, Chrono Controller, Gel Fish, Moss Fungus |
| Beak | Inflicts Petrify to one target. | Cockatrice, Tot Aevis, Sea Ibis |
| Berserk | Inflicts Berserk to a target, making them only use their attack command. | Mammon |
| Bio | Inflicts moderate poison-elemental damage and sap to one or all enemies. | Bio Soldier |
| Blaster | 50% chance to either inflict paralyze or instant death. | Bandersnatch, Bandercoeurl, Oiseaurare (Exdeath's Castle) |
| Blaze | Inflicts Fire-elemental damage to all enemies equal to 25% of the target's Max HP. | Magic Dragon, Bio Soldier (battle with Zephyrus) |
| Blizzaga | Major Ice-elemental damage to one or all enemies. | Dark Elemental(Blizzard-element variant) |
| Blizzara | Moderate Ice-elemental damage to one or all enemies. | Ice Soldier |
| Bone | Reduce one target's HP to single digits. | Bone Dragon (normal encounter/when fighting Alchymia), Dinozombie |
| Break | Inflicts petrify to one or all enemies. | Undead Husk, Ra Mage, Objet d'Art |
| Breath Wing | Inflicts wind-elemental damage equal to 25% of target's Max HP to all enemies. | Zu, Lesser Lopros, Wyvern, Rukh, Dragon Aevis |
| Chain Detonation[note 1] | Normal Attack command | Crystal Dragon |
| Comet | Inflicts random damage to one target. | Page 256 |
| Confuse | Inflicts confuse to one or all enemies. | Mindflusher, Imp, Mini Satana |
| Curaga | Restores major HP to one or all allies. | Fairy Orc, Cure Beast |
| Dark Spark | Halves target's level. | Black Flame |
| Death | Instantly KO's one target. | Mani Wizard, Aquathorn, Tonberry |
| Death Claw | Reduces target's HP to single digits and inflicts paralyze. | Strapparer |
| Delta Attack | Inflicts moderate non-elemental damage and petrify to one enemy. | Mover |
| Digestive Acid | Inflicts non-elemental damage, slow, and sap to one enemy. | Mandrake, Slug, Unknown (Worm) |
| Doom | Inflicts doom on one target. | Jackanapes, The Damned, Unknown (Skull), Death Dealer |
| Drain | Absorb HP from target to restore own HP. | Poltergeist |
| Earthquake | Inflicts high earth-elemental damage to all enemies. | Stone Golem, Tunneller, Undergrounder, Ghidra (during fight with Alchymia), Ankheg |
| Earth Shaker | Inflicts moderate earth-elemental damage to all enemies. | Ghidra (normal), Zombie Dragon (during Golem battle), Iron Muscles |
| Electrocute | Lightning-elemental damage to all enemies. | Defeater |
| Embrace | Inflicts petrify on one target and fully restores all HP. | Calcruthl |
| Encircle | Removes target from battle and is flagged as knocked out. | Druid |
| Entangle | Inflicts paralyze to one target. | White Serpent, Weresnake, Python |
| Entice | Inflicts confuse to one enemy. | Lamia Queen, Lemure, Medusa |
| Evil Eye | Inflicts petrify to one enemy. | Orukat |
| Firaga | Major fire-elemental damage to one or all enemies. | Mini Magician, Dark Elemental(Fire-element variant), Exoray |
| Flare | Heavy non-elemental damage to one target. | Goblin, Flaremancer, Fury, Claret Dragon |
| Flash | Inflicts darkness to all enemies. | Headstone, Crew Dust, Ushabti |
| Float | Nullifies all earth-elemental damage and avoid damage floors on overworld. | Gaelicat, Poison Eagle |
| Frost | Inflicts ice-elemental damage and sap to the enemy party. | Mythril Dragon, Archeosaur |
| Gamma Ray | Inflicts stop to one enemy. | Magnetite |
| Giga Flare | Massive non-elemental magic damage to all enemies. Ignores defenses. | King Behemoth |
| Graviga | Reduces all enemies HP by 75%. | Gravitator |
| Holy | Inflicts major holy-elemental damage to one enemy. | Mini Dragon |
| Hurricane | Reduces an enemy's HP to single digits. | Ziggurat Gigas, Elm Gigas, Belphegor |
| Ice Storm | Moderate ice-elemental damage to the enemy party. | Enchanted Fan, Blue Dragon, Frost Bull, Achelon |
| Level 3 Flare | Casts Flare on all enemies whose level is a multiple of 3. | Dechirer, Level Checker |
| Level 4 Graviga | Casts Graviga on all enemies whose level is a multiple of 4. | Level Tricker |
| Level 5 Death | Defeats all enemies whose level is a multiple of 5. | Executor |
| Lightning | Inflicts 25% Max HP lightning-elemental damage to the enemy party. | Hydra, Yellow Dragon |
| Maelstrom | Reduces enemy party's HP to single digits. | Sandcrawler, Landcrawler |
| Magic Hammer | Reduces one enemy's MP by 50%. | Cursed Being, Drippy |
| Mega Flare | Major non-elemental damage to all enemies. Ignores defenses. | Prototype |
| Mighty Guard | Inflicts protect, shell, and float to the party. | Crystelle |
| Mind Blast | Inflicts minor non-elemental damage, paralyze, and sap to one enemy. | Mindflayer |
| Mustard Bomb | Inflicts moderate non-elemental damage and sap to one enemy. | Gobbledygook |
| Needle | 50% chance to either inflict darkness or silence to one target. | Killer Bee, Silent Bee |
| Old | Slowly decreases one or all enemies' stats over time. | Metamorph, Jackanapes (Exdeath's Castle) |
| Osmose | Absorb MP from target to restore user's MP. | Farfarello |
| Panacea | Removes status ailments. | Pao |
| Poison Breath | Inflicts moderate poison-elemental damage and poison to all enemies. | Zombie Dragon (normal encounters) |
| Pond's Chorus | Inflicts toad to one target. | Elf Toad, Archeotoad, Kornago |
| Quicksand | Minor earth-elemental damage and sap to all enemies. | Desert Killer, Desertpede, Ammonite |
| Rainbow Wind | Inflicts darkness, silence, and sap to one target. | Aegir, Galajelly, Oiseaurare |
| Reaper's Sword | Inflicts non-elemental physical damage and instant death to one enemy. | Numb Blade, Yojimbo |
| Reflect | Bounces back magic spells at user's party. | Stone Mask, Neon, Sorcerer |
| Ribbit | Toggles status of all enemies between normal and toad. | Alchymia |
| Rocket Punch | Inflicts confuse and reduces HP by 50% to one enemy. | Steel Fist, Ironclad |
| Self-Destruct | Inflicts 440 damage (if used via Bomb) to target. If used via Grenade, deals damage equal to caster's current HP. Does not kill the user like the Blue Magic spell would otherwise do. | Bomb, Grenade |
| Sleep | Inflicts sleep onto a target | Sleepy |
| Slimer | Inflicts slow and sap to one target. | Rock Slug, Unknown (Spore1) |
| Spore | Inflicts poison. | Stroper, Sandboil, Coral, Thunder Anemone |
| Strong Attack | Regular physical attack to one target. Stronger than a normal Attack command. | Devil Crab, Nutkin, Stray Cat, Black Goblin, Big Horn, Tatou, Wild Nakk, Grass Tortoise, Page 64, Page 128, Doublizard, Sand Bear, Ronkan Knight, Shell Bear, Treant, Devourer, Kuza Beast, Acrophies, Lycaon, Land Turtle, Twin Lizard, Blind Wolf, Adamantite Golem, Iron Fist, Triffid, Bulette, Sekhmet, Shadow Dancer, Dueling Knight, Berserker, Unknown (Blob), Ironback, Cherie, Sahagin, Water Scorpion, Sea Devil, Great Dragon, Ninja, Sword Dancer, Assassin, Soul Eater, Duelist |
| Tail Screw | Reduces one enemy's HP to single digits. | Corbett |
| Thundaga | Major lightning-elemental damage to one or all enemies. | Reflect Mage, Tiny Mage, Dark Elemental(Thunder-element variant) |
| Thundara | Moderate lightning-elemental damage to one or all enemies. | Skeleton |
| Tidal Wave | Major water-elemental damage to all enemies. | Stingray, Gorgimera |
| Time Slip | Inflicts sleep and old to one enemy. | Traveler, Mykale |
| Transfusion | Sacrifices user to fully restore all HP/MP to one ally. | Devilfish, Birostris |
| Vampire | Absorbs HP from target to heal user's HP. | Steel Bat, Blood Slime, Dark Aspic, Shadow, Mercury Bat |
| Web | Inflicts slow to one enemy. | Tarantula, Gloom Widow |
| White Wind | Restores HP to the party equal to caster's current HP. | Hellraiser, Parthenope, White Flame, Necromancer |
| Wind Slash | Inflicts moderate wind-elemental damage to all enemies. | Harvester, Spizzner, Nix |
All bosses are immune to Catch. The following enemies are immune to Catch:
| ???, Abductor, Aspis, Bandercoeurl (Phoenix Tower), Crew Dust (Metamorph version), Death Claw, Elf Toad (Metamorph version), Enchanted Fan (Metamorph version), Exdeath's Soul, Flying Killer, Gaelicat (Metamorph version), Garula, Grand Mummy, Iron Giant, Kuza Beast (Phoenix Tower), Little Chariot, Magic Pot, Merrow, Motor Trap, Mummy, Neo Garula, Octokraken, Pas de Seul, Ricard Mage, Sergeant (Iron Claw), Sucker, Wyvern, Wyvern (Metamorph), Zombie Dragon (Metamorph) |
|---|
Use[]
One good use of Catch is to defeat Catoblepas quickly by catching an Ironback near or in the cave at the Northern Lake, and then releasing it, dealing over 5,000 HP damage that will kill the Catoblepas instantly in most game versions.
The party can also get access to the instant death moves Break and Death much earlier than their Black Magic forms with Catch and Release, which even work on some bosses.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Removed in the defunct mobile and Steam versions