SCROOMS: How to Get Perfect Catches for the Practice Makes Perfect Quest

Perfect catches are the clean end of catching scrooms in SCROOMS, and Arabella in Songkeeper’s Grove wants 20 of them for her side quest. Any scroom works for the count, so the task is really about steering well rather than hunting a rare target.

Quick answer: A catch is perfect when the white knob you steer stays inside the scroom’s zone for the entire catching phase, from “Go!” until the bar under the track fills, without slipping out once.

What counts as a perfect catch in SCROOMS

The catching phase is the final part of every catch. A moving white knob has to sit over the scroom icon inside a lighter zone that slides left and right along the track. Let it drift out for even a moment and the catch still succeeds, but it will not count as perfect.

A successful perfect catch triggers an orange “Perfect Catch!” beside your character, then gold rings and music notes burst outward. This pop-up alone signals on screen that the catch qualified.

Orange Perfect Catch! text popping up beside the character at the end of a catch in SCROOMS — The orange “Perfect Catch!” pops up beside the character as the catch ends.

Gold rings and music notes bursting around the character after a perfect catch in SCROOMS — A moment later: the burst of gold rings and music notes around the character.

Don’t confuse a perfect catch with the timing ring’s “Perfect!” result. At the very beginning of a song, the timing ring appears as a circle. Click when the white marker reaches the green arc’s centre; “Perfect!” will appear in yellow. This rates only your opening click, not the catch.

How a catch runs from start to finish

Click to start the song and hit the green arc on the timing ring. Landing the marker cleanly on the arc sets up the rest of the catch, and a clean start tends to go with a clean catch.

The tuning screen displays “Hold to find the correct frequency!” and a red “Cancel” button. Hold the mouse button to shift the pin right; release it to let it drift left and settle on the white dot.

Wait out the “3, 2, 1, Go!” count that follows. The catching phase begins the instant “Go!” shows.

Use the same hold-and-release control on the catch bar, keeping the white knob over the scroom icon in the lighter zone as it moves. Continue until the progress bar below the track is full. Keep the knob in the zone throughout this phase for a perfect catch.

The SCROOMS catch bar with the white knob over the scroom icon inside the lighter zone and the progress bar under the track — The catching phase: the white knob over the scroom icon inside the lighter zone, with the progress bar under the track.

The Practice Makes Perfect quest from Arabella

Perfect catches are asked for by Arabella in Songkeeper’s Grove, who carries an ocarina and a lute.

The E Talk prompt on Arabella in Songkeeper's Grove with the Practice Makes Perfect objectives in the quest tracker — Arabella in Songkeeper's Grove, with the quest's objectives in the tracker at the left.

The quest card reads: “Arabella carries an ocarina and a lute, same as me. She won’t say what she’s after until she’s seen what I can do: clean catches and ocarina practice to go with it.” Its objectives are “Land perfect catches. (0/20)”, “Play songs on your ocarina. (0/5)” and “Return to Arabella.” Completing it rewards 3,600 XP.

Quest Log open with Practice Makes Perfect selected, showing its objectives and 3,600 XP reward — The Quest Log with Practice Makes Perfect selected, showing the objectives and reward.

Every scroom contributes to the 20-catch goal, including common grove varieties like Redcap, Toastbud, Gloombell and Bluebell. Find an area with plenty of these scrooms and keep catching them. Ours came on one lawn in Songkeeper’s Grove: 41 catches in 29 minutes gave the 20 perfect ones, so about half of our catches counted, and none of the 41 got away.

How to land perfect catches more often

Steer with short holds and releases rather than long ones, so the knob makes small corrections instead of overshooting.
Begin adjusting while the zone is still clear of both track ends. It reverses direction at either endpoint, which can leave the knob behind.
Keep your eye on the knob and the edge of the zone, not on the scroom out in the world.
Hit the green arc on the timing ring at the start; a clean opening click pairs with a cleaner catch.

How to track progress and confirm the count

A live counter in the quest panel on the screen’s left displays “Land perfect catches. (N/20)”. If the panel is hidden, open it with the small arrow along the screen’s left edge. Each perfect catch increases the count by one.

You are done with this objective when the tracker reads “Land perfect catches. (20/20)”. From there, finish the five ocarina songs and head back to Arabella to hand everything in. She greets the hand-in with “Ha ha! Not bad, [your name]. Not bad at all!”, and the 3,600 XP took our character from level 55 to level 56. A banner reads “Quest Completed: Practice Makes Perfect”. Arabella then says “Anyways, I’ll be moving to the Bluestone Caverns shortly.” and asks you to find her there, and ends with “Take care, [your name].”, so her next request waits in the Bluestone Caverns.

Quest tracker on the left HUD showing Land perfect catches 20 of 20 checked off — The quest tracker reading “Land perfect catches. (20/20)” once all 20 are done.

Arabella saying Ha ha! Not bad at all! when the Practice Makes Perfect quest is handed in — Arabella's first line at the hand-in.