It’s already a significant task to catch all of the Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, or any of the games for that matter, but GameFreak introduced one other factor completionists might want to account for starting in Generation 2 , and it affects Shiny Pokémon. These are a really rare type of Pokémon that feature alternate colours of their regular, non-shiny forms. They never have any numerical or mechanical differences from their regular versions and are only differentiated based on their color and rarity.
Shiny hunting has been around since shiny Pokémon were introduced, however the methods and odds of encountering them at all times change from game to game. They make a return in Scarlet and Violet, however the open-world format has made hunting them barely different. If you would like to know the best way to get the most effective odds of finding these rare Pokémon, here’s every thing it’s essential learn about shiny hunting.
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Shiny hunting basics
Let’s get the fundamentals out of the way in which since even experienced shiny hunters might want to acclimate to just a few differences with Scarlet and Violet. First up, the bottom odds of encountering a shiny in these games, with no other aspects, is 1 out of 4096. So, pretty poor possibilities, but about on par with the previous few entries. Nonetheless, this being an open world where you possibly can see all of the Pokémon around you on the map means that you may at all times see a shiny from a distance without battling it first.
Apart from seeing one together with your own eyes, you won’t ever be told of the situation or existence of a shiny as was the case in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. You’ll must depend on your personal observations to note and catch it yourself. In case you do spot a shiny, make certain you save before attempting to catch it. If something goes fallacious and also you lose, unintentionally knock it out, or it flees, reloading your save will let you’ve gotten one other attempt at catching it.
You don’t have to worry about using the Let’s Go mechanic where you let a Pokémon roam around and battle things by itself, either. Mercifully Scarlet and Violet won’t let a Pokémon auto-battle a shiny. The truth is, this could be a handy option to tell if a Pokémon is shiny since your Pokémon will refuse to battle it.
Shiny locked Pokémon
One very last thing to notice before entering into the true meat of shiny hunting is to know that Scarlet and Violet have what are called shiny locked Pokémon. These are Pokémon that, regardless of what, can’t appear as shiny, so that you shouldn’t even trouble attempting to get one to spawn. Here’s which Pokémon are shiny locked:
- All three starter Pokémon
- Koraidon and Miraidon
- All Titan Pokémon
- Galarian Meowth
- Johtonian Wooper
- Snom
- Gengar
- Chest form Gimmighoul
- Ting-Lu
- Chien-Pao
- Wo-Chien
- Chi-Yu
Ways to extend shiny Pokémon spawn rates
As we stated in the beginning, your normal likelihood of encountering a shiny Pokémon is a measly 1/4096. Even for probably the most dedicated hunter, that’s far too low if you happen to intend to catch even just a few shiny Pokémon. That’s where the following pointers turn out to be useful — they’ll dramatically boost your odds at finding them.
Get the Shiny Charm
The Shiny Charm is a returning item that’s made specifically for shiny hunters. It’s a vital tool for anyone seriously intent on grinding out shiny encounters, but is at all times a grind in itself to get. As a way to get the Shiny Charm in Scarlet and Violet you’ll first need to finish your Pokédex by catching all 400 species of Pokémon in the sport. It will require you to do some trading, since there are a handful of version-exclusive Pokémon that count toward this total.
Once your Pokédex is complete, you possibly can check with Professor Jacq within the Academy’s biology room and he’ll present you with the Shiny Charm. It is a key item that robotically increases your odds of encountering a shiny by 3x, bringing it down from 1/4096 to 1/1365. It’s an enormous commitment, but the best option to permanently increase your possibilities of encountering shiny Pokémon going forward by a substantial amount.
Make sandwiches
Sandwiches, as try to be quite conversant in, provide various buffs depending on the recipe. Certain recipes provide you with a buff called Sparkling Power that may increase the percentages of shiny Pokémon spawning for so long as the buff lasts. The best level of Sparkling Power is level three, which alone can increase your shiny odds to 1/1024. That is already barely higher than the Shiny Charm alone, but requires spending ingredients and only lasts half-hour at a time. Also, Sparkling Powers only apply to specific Pokémon types, so you might be only really boosting your odds of finding a shiny of 1 type at a time as a substitute of across the board.
To make sandwiches with level three Sparkling Power, you will have to incorporate Herba Mystica as an ingredient, which is hard to get because it only drops from five and 6 start Tera Raids. For a full list of sandwich recipes for every type, try this amazing list put together by The Time is Nigh.
The Masuda Method
The Masuda Method has been around for just a few generations at this point, and still works for Scarlet and Violet. This method doesn’t involve running around hoping to search out a wild shiny, but as a substitute exploits some breeding mechanics to create your personal shiny.
Scarlet and Violet have you ever breed Pokémon at picnics to create eggs, which then hatch into latest Pokémon. Just breeding any two regular Pokémon won’t increase the percentages of the egg hatching a shiny, though. What it’s essential do is breed two Pokémon that are usually not only from two different versions of the sport — one from yours and one other traded from the version you don’t own — but additionally originating from a special country than you reside in. For instance, to make the Masuda Method work, a player in America with Pokémon Scarlet could trade with a Japanese player who owns Pokémon Violet.
This is hard to prepare, little doubt, but is incredibly effective. With no other aspects, the egg you get may have a 1/683 likelihood of being shiny.
Mass Outbreaks
Mass Outbreaks were introduced in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and so they proceed to extend shiny odds in Scarlet and Violet. Nonetheless, the way in which wherein it really works has modified. Mass Outbreaks still show up in your map, and only last for a day, or until you’ve gotten caught or knocked out all of the Pokémon within the outbreak. You never know where an outbreak will spawn, nor what Pokémon will populate that outbreak.
Mass Outbreaks themselves have regular shiny odds, but clearing them will regularly increase those odds. After clearing out between 30 and 59 Pokémon, the percentages go all the way down to 1/2048. Clearing 60 or more further improves your possibilities to 1/1365. This will look like lots, but you possibly can do that quite easily simply letting your Pokémon auto-battle them in Let’s Go mode knowing that they won’t unintentionally KO a shiny should one appear.
Shiny odds breakdown
Those are all of the ways known to extend shiny odds, however the formula for a way these methods can work in conjunction is a bit complex. Thankfully, Anubis on Twitter has done all the maths in determining what your shiny odds will probably be with each combination of the above methods. Here’s a basic breakdown from lowest to highest odds:
- Normal shiny odds: 1/4096
- 30-59 Pokémon cleared in Mass Outbreak: 1/2048
- 60-plus Pokémon cleared in Mass Outbreak: 1/1365
- Shiny Charm: 1/1365
- Level three Sparkling Power: 1/1024
- Shiny Charm + 30-59 Pokémon cleared in Mass Outbreak: 1/1024
- Shiny Charm + 60-plus Pokémon cleared in Mass Outbreak: 1/819
- 30-59 Pokémon cleared in Mass Outbreak + level three Sparkling Power: 1/819
- 60+ Pokémon cleared in Mass Outbreak + level three Sparkling Power: 1/683
- Masuda Method: 1/683
- Shiny Charm + level three Sparkling Power: 1/683
- Shiny Charm + level three Sparkling Power + 30-59 Pokémon cleared in Mass Outbreak: 1/585
- Shiny Charm + level three Sparkling Power + 60+ Pokémon cleared in Mass Outbreak: 1/512
- Shiny Charm + Masuda Method: 1/512
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