Palia: The Best Bug Catching Tools

Bug Catching is one of eight unique Skills players can utilize and level up through exploration and quests in Palia. This Skill, led by Auni, lets players enjoy their time in the field and near water, catching bugs and crabs to level up this Skill, gain XP, and make various items and recipes available.

While not the most rewarding Skill to master in terms of income sources, farming various bugs can be valuable as they drop loot that can be used in crafting items, equipment, and Furniture. If you wish to learn which tools are tailor-made for Bug-Catching, we’ve detailed some of the best tools players should prioritize acquiring and using for Bug Catching in Palia.

What Are The Best Tools For The Bug Catching Skill In Palia?

By now, players have been actively exploring Kilima Village and Bahari Bay, progressing with the main storyline, befriending villagers, constructing their homes, and uncovering secrets to understand better what happened to humans who vanished from the world. During their adventures, players can utilize eight unique Skills, with Bug Catching being one such Skill that can further their in-game experiences and become proficient at it.

As Auni is the Guild Master of this specific Skill and boasts a Guild Store to acquire various items and blueprints using Gold and Skill Medals, players have wondered what tools of the trade would be worth investing in. Other than having a Belt that can be upgraded once they’ve obtained the recipes, there are other tools players can prioritize acquiring to make the most of their Bug-Catching hunts, especially when hunting for Rare-type bugs and displaying their rare catches in terrariums at home.

The Buzzy Jar

The Buzzy Jar is one of the most efficient tools players can acquire and utilize in Palia, especially for hunting Rare and higher types of bugs, as mentioned before. This tool is equivalent to the Tuning Fork for the Fishing Skill and the Ore Compass for the Mining Skill, which, once consumed, allows players to track Rare critters throughout the world for 15 minutes in real-time, which appears on the map when hitting the M or P key on their keyboard or the directional buttons on the controller.

The Buzzy Jar unlocks once players have reached Level 8 with the Bug Catching Skill, as the blueprint can be bought from Auni for 2,500 Gold, or they can get the tool itself for 70 Skill Medals each after reaching Level 10 with the aforementioned Skill. We advise using the Buzzy Jar during the morning (between 3 am and 6 am) and at night (between 9 pm and 3 am) as these are the hours when Rare and Epic quality bugs typically spawn.

Don’t forget players can get Buzzy Jars as rewards for completing quests and other in-game content, like completing various bug-related vault bundles. So, stock up on the Buzzy Jars or craft them once players have the resources and use them for Rare Bug Catching hunts.

The Honey Lure

Another tool that can be used in conjunction with the Buzzy Jar is the Honey Lure trap, which can significantly be beneficial when farming Silk Threads, completing quests and tasks that require quantities of bugs, or looking to get Star-Quality bugs to display at home. According to its in-game description, the Honey Lure, once consumed, emits a scent that lures bugs to a player’s location “for a short period of time.”

When using a Honey Lure, the best strategy is to use this with a Party as the wealth of bugs is shared between all Party members and conserves their Smoke Bombs as they only need to tag a bug once to secure the loot. We also suggest placing a Honey Lure at popular bug spawning spots, especially for Rare and Epic quality bugs, like Pulsewater Plains, Hideaway Bluffs, and Pavel Mines during the morning and night hours as they typically spawn during these times.

Lastly, consider the field biomes of Bahari Bay, as some bugs spawn on Sapwood and Heartwood trees, and we may consider looking out for them when Flow Tree Groves spawn in the world. The Ancient Amber Beetle and Spitfire Cicada are Epic and Rare-type bugs found on these trees in Bahari Bay, with the latter needed for a vault bundle while the Ancient Amber Beetle drops Silk Threads.

Smoke Bombs

In terms of which Smoke Bomb is the most efficient one to use during Bug Catching hunts, the Standard Smoke Bombs are the most feasible to have on hand. Indeed, players can burn through their Smoke Bombs relatively fast when trying to secure a successful catch; however, we recommend having a few Sticky and Supreme Smoke Bombs as they can help catch higher rarity bugs.

The Standard Smoke Bomb will be immediately available to players when starting the game and can be crafted at the Worktable with some Clay and Sundrop Lilies. As for the Sticky and Supreme Smoke Bombs, however, the blueprints can be obtained from Auni for 500 and 3,000 Gold before crafting the bombs at the Worktable once they have the resources needed to craft them.

The strategy to use, especially for Rare and Epic-type bugs, is to equip the Sticky or Supreme Smoke Bombs and use a few at first to stun the bugs before switching to the Standard Smoke Bombs for a successful catch. But if the bug is proven to be more challenging to catch, then utilize the Sticky and Supreme Smoke Bombs until they’re confident they will catch it before switching to the Standard Smoke Bombs.

Smoke Candle

A reason why we didn’t mention the Sneaky Smoke Bomb is the very reason why the Smoke Candle is listed here instead. The Sneaky Smoke Bomb, when used, prevents bugs from being alerted; however, the Smoke Candle has a longer duration and is, therefore, more valuable to have than the Sneaky Smoke Bomb.

This item prevents bugs from being alerted by the player’s movement for up to ten minutes, which can be used for bugs that tend to fly, dash, or jump away from them when fleeing. These include the Jewelwing Dragonfly, Brighteye Butterfly, Rainbow-tipped Butterfly, Azure Stonehopper, Fairy Mantis, Scintillating Centipede, and the Ancient Amber Beetle, which has caused players plenty of grief when attempting to catch and can be minimized using the Smoke Candle.

It can be used similarly to the Honey Lure; however, the Smoke Candle follows the player, so we advised using this on singularly targeted bugs that tend to flee once hit with a Smoke Bomb. The Smoke Candle works best when hunting solo and during the morning and nighttime when Rare and Epic bugs spawn, mainly when a Buzzy Jar has been used to make their time hunting more efficient.

While Bug Catching may not be worth investing in due to this Skill generating one of the lowest incomes, it does give players valuable resources, like Silk Threads, that are heavily used in crafting higher rarity Furnishing items. This can be done while engaging in other activities that provide higher income, like Fishing, Foraging, Hunting, and Mining, so always come prepared with some Buzzy Jars, Honey Lures, and Smoke Bombs to make farming runs more productive.

Palia is currently available via the Epic Games Store and in Open Beta for PC, as players can install the game launcher detailed in this guide. The game is now available to download for Nintendo Switch as of 14th December 2023.