Conservation: capturing animals in the open worlds

Lots of wild animals live in the open worlds. In Conservation you track them, put them to sleep with a Tranq Rifle and have them picked up. It is a calm activity without combat, similar to Fishing in the open worlds and Mining in the open worlds. In return you get standing, tags to trade, decorations for your Orbiter and mods for your beast companions. In the Cambion Drift you can even catch new companions this way.

The most important terms in short:

Tranq Rifle

A silent rifle from your gear. It puts animals to sleep without hurting them. You need it for every capture.

Echo-Lure

A call for exactly one species, e.g. “Kuaka Echo-Lure”. It shows tracks on the map and calls the animal. You buy it once and use it as often as you like.

Pheromone

A consumable you use before the call. It makes rare variants more likely. Depending on the world it is called Pheromone Oota, Pheromone Synthesizer or Pheromone Gland.

Calling point

The spot at the end of a trail. There you use the Echo-Lure and the animal comes to you.

Capture quality

Perfect, Good or Bad. It depends on whether the animal noticed you. A perfect capture gives the most rewards.

Tag

A reward for every capture, e.g. “Plains Kuaka Tag”. You trade tags at the vendor for Floofs, emblems and mods.

Floof

A plush toy to decorate your Orbiter. There is one for every animal variant.

Every open world has its own Conservation vendor. Important: only The Business and Son sell the Tranq Rifle. Master Teasonai in Cetus only has Echo-Lures and pheromones. For the Plains of Eidolon you therefore pick up the rifle in Fortuna or the Necralisk first.

1. 01

   Earn standing

   Do a few bounties in Fortuna or the Necralisk until you have 500 standing. More in Syndicates, open worlds and standing.

2. 02

   Buy the Tranq Rifle

   Buy it from The Business or Son. You only need it once, it works in all three areas.

3. 03

   Buy an Echo-Lure

   Buy your first lure from the vendor of the area you want to hunt in. The lure for the most common species costs 500 standing and is available from rank 0.

4. 04

   Equip it

   Put the Tranq Rifle into your gear wheel in the Arsenal under Gear. One Conservation item is enough: every Echo-Lure and pheromone you own can then be picked from the Conservation menu.

Animals also roam the world on their own. You usually hear them before you see them. Hunting with an Echo-Lure is more reliable though, and the rarest variants on the Orb Vallis can only be found that way.

1. 01

   Find a starting point

   Take the Tranq Rifle in hand. Animal icons appear on the map at the starting points of trails. If you select a specific Echo-Lure, you only see the starting points for that species.

2. 02

   Follow the trail

   Interact with the starting point. Footprints appear and lead you to the calling point. If you wander too far away, the trail is canceled.

3. 03

   Use a pheromone (optional)

   If you want a rare variant, use a pheromone at the calling point first.

4. 04

   Call the animal

   Use the Echo-Lure. After a moment the animal answers and a pitch meter appears. Follow the line by aiming up and down with the mouse. The more accurate you are, the better.

5. 05

   Hide

   The animal comes from the direction it calls from. Find a spot with some distance and cover. Watch the wind: if it blows from you toward the animal, it smells you. You can see the wind direction on plants, dust or your Syandana.

6. 06

   Tranquilize

   Aim through the scope and shoot before it notices you. The darts fly slowly, so lead moving animals a bit. A miss does not give you away, because the rifle is silent.

7. 07

   Call for pickup

   Walk up to the sleeping animal and interact with it. From then on it is invulnerable and gets picked up. The sleep does not last long, so do not wait too long.

How good your capture is depends on what the animal noticed:

On the Plains of Eidolon and the Orb Vallis every capture gives standing with the local syndicate directly, plus tags. In the Cambion Drift there is no standing per capture, only tags (3 for a perfect capture, 2 for good, 1 for bad).

Plains of Eidolon (Master Teasonai, standing with the Ostrons):

Orb Vallis (The Business, standing with Solaris United):

Cambion Drift (Son, tags instead of standing):

Every species has three variants: common, rare and very rare. The rarer ones give more standing and their own tags. A pheromone shifts the odds a lot:

• The Vasca Kavat only shows up at night on the Plains of Eidolon.
• In the Cambion Drift it depends on the cycle: for Vulpaphyla, Predasite, Avichaea and Undazoa only one of the two rare variants appears during Fass and only the other during Vome. Example: Panzer Vulpaphyla only during Fass, Crescent Vulpaphyla only during Vome.
• The rarest animals on the Orb Vallis, like the Subterranean Pobber and the Kubrodon Incarnadine, do not roam freely. You only get them with an Echo-Lure.

• Standing: with the Ostrons on the Plains of Eidolon, with Solaris United on the Orb Vallis. Big animals like the Kubrodon give a lot per capture.
• Tags: every capture gives tags for that variant. A Resource Booster and companion mods like Loyal Retriever or Resourceful Retriever increase the amount.
• Floofs and emblems: all three vendors trade Floofs of every variant and a Conservation emblem, e.g. “Orb Vallis Conservation Emblem”, for tags.
• Mods for beast companions: tags also buy mods for Kubrows, Kavats and other beast companions.
• Son Tokens: in the Cambion Drift you trade tags through Son’s tasks for Son Tokens. These tasks change every hour. Each token is worth 1,000 Entrati standing at Grandmother.

Vendor	Mods for tags
Master Teasonai	Elusive Posture, Balanced Posture, Loyal Retriever, Precision Conditioning, Cull the Weak, Bloodthirst
The Business	Assassin Posture, Protector Posture, Persistent Posture, Shocking Claws, Chilling Claws, Burning Claws, Disabling Conditioning, Brute Conditioning, Prosperous Retriever
Son	Resourceful Retriever, Sepsis Claws, Frenzied Posture, Magnetic Strike, Immunity Resistance, Bell Ringer

What makes the Cambion Drift special: Vulpaphyla and Predasites can be attacked by the Infested and become “Weakened”. If you capture a weakened animal, Son can revive it for you. That is how you get companions like the Sly Vulpaphyla or the Vizier Predasite. Everything about it is in Companions: Sentinels, Kubrows, Kavats, MOAs and more.

Duviri has its own version without a Tranq Rifle. Some animals there (Krubie, Kexat and Tamm) are corrupted by the Void. They watch around like sentries and flee when they see you. If you sneak up unseen, you can touch one directly. If you are spotted, you first destroy the three orbs around the animal. Then you cleanse it with a short button prompt. The rescued animal leads you to a chest with Intrinsics points for the Drifter, Duviri resources and a Decree.

• Clear nearby enemies before you call the animal. Otherwise they attack it or scare it off.
• On the Plains of Eidolon there are far fewer Grineer at night. That makes hunting calmer.
• With groups like Kuaka or Pobbers, hit the one at the very back first. The others do not flee as long as they do not see the sleeping one. With three darts in the magazine you can get three perfect captures this way.
• Some abilities do not ruin a perfect capture: Ivara with Quiver, Navigator and Prowl, Baruuk with Lull and Equinox with Rest & Rage in night form. Ivara can even steer the tranq dart with Navigator.
• Mods with enemy radar, e.g. Animal Instinct for your companion, also show animals on the minimap.
• In the settings under Accessibility, the ally highlight option also highlights animals. That makes them easier to spot.
• Helios automatically scans tracks, calling points and animals for the Codex with its mod.