What is the difference in pokeball catch rates?

Question

For example, on staryu's pokedex page it says, Catch Rate 225 (29.4% with PokéBall, full HP). So that's a regular pokeball, but what about the rest of the pokeballs? What's the difference in the quick ball on the 1st turn and the second? What about the dusk ball? Nest Ball? Timer Ball? I would like a list or a link to a list of all of them. Thanks!

Comments

15 minutes and still no answer! This has to be my record XD

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45 minutes holy crap!

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Bulbapedia has all the info you need to answer this, i just cbf.

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Are you asking, for a Pokemon with a 255 catch rate, what is the chance (in %) to catch it in full health with each Pokeball? if so, please rephrase the question since it's really hard to understand

Answer 1

Well, there are many variables in deciding what the actual catch rate is exactly. There is a formula deciding what the likeliness is of catching a Pokemon will be. I'll just do the Generation III-IV formula.

There are slight alterations in Generation V to this formula, but none of those alterations will affect this alteration. This includes the maximum HP the Pokemon can have, current HP the Pokemon has, the capture rate of the Pokemon, the type of ball being used, and the status. You've basically gave all that information except for the maximum HP, so I'll make it 100. The type of ball being used and the status have a specific number to use in that place, but in this case, the formula and answer is:

Poke Ball, Friend Ball, Premier Ball, Luxury Ball, Heal Ball and Cherish Ball (x1)
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 1) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 75

Great Ball, Safari Ball and Sport Ball (x1.5)
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 1.5) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 112.5 = 112

Ultra Ball (x2)
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 2) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 150

Master Ball, Dream Ball and Park Ball (x255)
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 255) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 19,125
(There is actually a chance that the Master Ball can fail, believe it or not. It is an incredibly rare chance, but due to storage limitations it actually is possible.)

Level Ball (x1 if opponent and player are at same or lower level, x2 if higher, but not double the player's level, x4 if more than double but less than quadruple the player's level, x8 if more than four times large than player's level)

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 1) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 75
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 2) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 150
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 4) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 300
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 8) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 600

Lure Ball (x3 if opponent is encountered while fishing, otherwise x1)

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 1) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 75
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 3) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 225

Moon Ball (x4 if used on Nidoran, Clefairy, Jigglypuff or Skitty families, otherwise x1. Interestingly, in GSC the ball was accidentally programmed to always have a x1 catch rate)

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 4) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 300

Love Ball (x8 only if the opponent is the same species as the player's Pokemon, but different genders. Otherwise, x1)

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 8) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 600

Heavy Ball (It's -20 if it's used on a Pokemon weighing less than 451.5lbs,+20 if it's used on a Pokemon weighing from 451.5lbs to 677.3lbs, +30 for 677.3lbs-903.0lb Pokemon, and +40 for 903.0lb+ Pokemon. Apparently it's directly added to the Pokemon's default catch rate. They need a diet.)

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x (225 - 20)) / (3 x 100)) x 1 - 20 = 68
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x (225 + 20)) / (3 x 100)) x 1 + 20 = 81
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x (225 + 30)) / (3 x 100)) x 1 + 30 = 85
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x (225 + 40)) / (3 x 100)) x 1 + 40 = 88

Fast Ball (x4 if the Pokemon has a base Speed stat more than 100)

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 4) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 300

Net Ball and Repeat Ball (x3 if the opponent is either Bug- or Water-type. Surskit, the only Bug-Water type, is still x3)

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 3) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 225

Nest Ball (This is dependent on the Pokemon's level. The formula for the catch 'BonusBall' rate is ((41 - Pokémon's level) / 10) in Gen V and Gen VI, while it's ((40 - Pokémon's level) in Gen IV. L is the pro-numeral used for the level formula in the following equation)

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x L) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = ?

Dive Ball and Dusk Ball (x3.5, if diving, surfing or fishing/catching in a cave or at nighttime, otherwise x1)

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 3.5) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 262.5 = 262.5

Quick Ball (x4 (Gen IV) or x5 (Gen V) only on the first turn, otherwise x1)

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 4) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 300 (pre-HGSS)
(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x 5) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 375 (post-HGSS)

Timer Ball (the catch rate is dependent on this formula Gen IV: ((number of turns passed in battle + 10) ÷ 10) )

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x 225 x a) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = ?

Surely, that is all the Poke Balls.
If you want me to change anything to suit you, just ask in the comments.

Hope I helped. :)
Source, Google Calculator and Dragonfree. :P

Comments

Can someone help me with Heavy Ball's equation please?
http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Catch_rate#Pok.C3.A9_Ball_effectiveness_rates
I don't really know what to do. :/

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I think you've got it wrong. I keep seeing x225, but it is actually:

χ(Pokemon's catch rate)÷225 + other factors

If the result is higher than 1 then it is an assured catch.

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I'm probably wrong, I was looking at the same source before and came to that conclusion.

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No Indi's right I think
The 225 is the catch rate if you go with the equation

Also Indi, you might want to calculate percentages rather than just the modified catch rate

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No, 225 is not the catch rate, χ is the catch rate. The maximum catch rate for a Pokemon is 225. Say χ was 3(the catch rate for most legendary Pokemon). Divide χ by 225 and you get 0.013. Say you used a Quick Ball on the first turn.
Because you used it on the first turn the chance is now 5x.
0.013 x 5 = 0.065
So the chance to catch the Pokemon would be 6.5%. In what I understand anyway.

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No... that's wrong
In Indi's equations, the "225" bit matches where the "rate" should be, in the original equation provided by Bulbapedia. By that, that '225' should be the initial catch rate.

The "rate" shuld be the base catch rate
The "a" in the equation is the modified catch rate

After that, what you say makes no sense.
You have to calculate "b" which is the shake probability, which should be able to be expressed in terms of "a"

Then after that you sub it into the ROUGH equation p = a/(2^8 - 1), where a is the modified probability and "p" is the final percentage of catching the pokemon.

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I realized it isn't χ ÷ 225, but χ ÷ 255. Oh well, it's probably still wrong anyway. I'll just leave it now.

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The Heavy Ball (and all other Apricorn balls in HG/SS) modify the Pokémon's base catch rate (the "rate" variable) directly, before it is plugged into the formula. However, the rate variable is also capped at 255 after this modification has been applied, so your results for the catch rates of the Apricorn balls are wrong.

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Also, there is no chance whatsoever for a Master Ball to fail. The first thing every game does when you throw a ball is check if it's a Master Ball and go straight to a successful capture if so. It does NOT apply a multiplier of 255. Many sites say this, but they are wrong.

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Just 1 thing you missed, good job btw.  The timer ball you mentioned, but skipped over.  After this is corrected I will select as BA.  Thanks!

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I've found out how to do the Heavy Ball.
And sorry - I've done the Timer Ball now. :P

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No, that's not how the Heavy Ball works. You're doing that modification right at the very end, but actually you should subtract 20 (or add 20, or whatever) *from 225*, the Pokémon's base catch rate, *before* you plug it into the rest of the formula. Like so:

(((3 x 100 - 2 x 100) x (225 - 20) x 1) / (3 x 100)) x 1 = 68

Answer 2

!'•-Indigo-•'!'s answer gives the basic idea and the multipliers it lists for the balls are the correct multipliers (which means in gens 3-4 you really are approximately twice as likely to catch something with an Ultra Ball as a Poké Ball), but is wrong or inexact in several specifics, as it is missing some roundings and caps the game applies and does not include the final step of shake calculation.

The best way to figure out exactly how likely you are to catch a given Pokémon with a given type of Pokéball is to use a calculator that accurately simulates the calculation the game performs, such as this one for the fifth generation (full disclosure: that is my website).

Comments

Wait, you're the person that owns that site? :o

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Yeah, I am. Sorry to butt in on a question you answered like that; I just see a lot of people being confused about catch rates on this site. (And I don't blame you - the Bulbapedia article was kind of hopeless.)