Recruitment
Recruitment is the process of convincing enemy Pokémon to join the player's team.
The data for all recruitment data can be generated into a HTML table by running PMDO with the -guide argument. On Windows, it is run like PMDO.exe -guide.
Mechanics
Unlike the original Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, enemy Pokémon are not recruited by defeating them. Instead, you can recruit enemy Pokémon to join the team by throwing an apricorn at them. This is similar to the use of Poké Balls in main series Pokémon games.
Recruited Pokémon do not give experience points. Recruitment also will automatically fail if the target is 5 or more levels higher than the Apricorn user.
Failure Message
The message given upon failing to recruit a Pokémon explains why that Pokémon was not recruited.
| Message | Reason |
|---|---|
| [Pokémon] seems hesitant to join the team... | The Pokémon has a chance of being recruited, but the player didn't succeed the attempt. |
| But it wasn't enough for [Pokémon]! | The player currently has no chance of recruiting the Pokémon, but would be able to gain a chance by boosting their recruitment rate. |
| This Pokémon cannot be recruited! | The Pokémon cannot be recruited under any circumstances because it is flagged as unrecruitable. |
Formula
The formula for recruitment is as follows:
Where:
b= The target Pokémon's base recruit rate.a= The boost from the Apricorn used and the Recruit Boost status effect (see below).m= The target Pokémon's maximum HP.h= The target Pokémon's current HP.
In effect, this means that using better Apricorns and depleting the target Pokémon's HP will result in a better recruit chance. Unlike main series Pokémon, status conditions do not increase the recruit chance.
