Guide: Obtaining Shiny Pokemon More Easily In Pokemon Sword And Shield

Guide: Obtaining Shiny Pokemon More Easily In Pokemon Sword And Shield

Aside from their unique colorations, one of the biggest draws of owning a Shiny Pokemon is the fact that they are extremely rare and difficult to find.

Although Shiny Pokemon are difficult to come across, it is not always necessary for players to go to extreme lengths in order to find the Shiny Pokemon they want. Pokemon games have always had a number of in-game mechanics to make catching Shiny Pokemon easier, and Pokemon Sword And Shield is no different.

Below, we will go over some useful tips and pointers for Shiny Hunting, some of which are unique to Pokemon Sword And Shield.


What Is The Base Shiny Rate?

As reported previously, the base rate of finding a Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon Sword And Shield is about 1 in 4096, the same as in past games. This means that on average, players will only encounter a Shiny Pokemon once in 4069 encounters. This is of course a very daunting figure, and many players may never come across a Shiny Pokemon during normal gameplay.

Furthermore, Pokemon Sword And Shield also add an additional layer of rarity with different types of “Shiny Sparkles”. As covered in another article, Shiny Pokemon in the new games may have the regular “star” sparkles, or rarer “square” sparkles. For easier reference, we have included the latest rates as listed on Pokemon fansite Serebii below:

  • When breeding Pokémon, static encounters and Max Raid Battles
    • 15/16 chance of being a Pokémon with the Stars sparkle
    • 1/16 chance of having the Squares sparkle.

 

  • When you encountering a shiny Pokémon as a standard wild encounter
    • 15/16 chance of the Pokémon having the Squares sparkle
    • 1/16 chance of it having the stars one.
    • Note: This may be due to a programming error

In this guide, we will only be focusing on improving the base rate of obtaining a Shiny Pokemon (1 in 4096), as current methods to improve Shiny Rates only affect this base figure.


Method 1: Shiny Charm

The first method to improve your shiny rates across the board is to obtain the Shiny Charm. This is a key item that has appeared in many Pokemon games, which increases the chance of running into a Shiny Pokemon by 300%. Using the Shiny Charm alone, the chances of encountering a shiny rise to 1 in 1365.33.

Similar to the previous games, players can only receive the Shiny Charm after completing the Galar Regional Dex. Once they have, the Shiny Charm can be picked up from the Game Director NPC in Circhester City’s Hotel Ionia.


Method 2: Shiny Hunting With “Chaining”

The second method to improve shiny encounter odds is through a form of “Chaining” that is somewhat unique to Pokemon Sword And Shield. Previous games would allow you to raise shiny odds by catching or encountering many of the same Pokemon in a row, with the odds resetting after this “chain” is broken.

In Pokemon Sword And Shield however, the players do not have to catch or encounter their target Pokemon in a row to increase their odds. Instead, the game keeps track of how many of that Pokemon players have encountered throughout the course of their journey, and raises the rates accordingly:

Without Shiny Charm

  • 50 Encounters > 1 in 2048 chance of shiny
  • 100 Encounters > 1 in 1365.333 chance of shiny
  • 200 Encounters > 1 in 1024 chance of shiny
  • 300 Encounters > 1 in 819.2 chance of shiny
  • 500 Encounters > 1 in 682.6667 chance of shiny

These rates of course improve dramatically when combined with the shiny charm.

With Shiny Charm

  • 50 Encounters > 1 in 1024 chance of shiny
  • 100 Encounters > 1 in 819.2 chance of shiny
  • 200 Encounters > 1 in 682.6667 chance of shiny
  • 300 Encounters > 1 in 585.1429 chance of shiny
  • 500 Encounters > 1 in 512 chance of shiny

Should you choose to use this method of obtaining shinies, we recommend referring to our Catching Pokemon Guide for added tips and tricks to ensure a successful capture.


Method 3: Breeding with Masuda Method

The final and perhaps most effective method to obtain a desired Shiny Pokemon is to breed using the Masuda Method. The Masuda Method is a technique attributed to Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda, who was the first to hint at its existence on his blog during the release of Pokemon Diamond & Pearl.

This method basically involves breeding two Pokemon that come from games with different languages (e.g. a Japanese Ditto with an English Grookey). Breeding Pokemon using this method increases the odds of encountering a Shiny by 600%, whereby:

Without Shiny Charm > 1 in 682.7 chance of shiny hatched from an egg.

With Shiny Charm > 1 in 512 chance of shiny hatched from an egg.

You may have noticed that these are the same odds as the final result of the “Chaining” method explained previously. However, what makes the Masuda Method more effective is that it does not require players to clock 500 encounters of the same Pokemon before it works. Once players get their hands on a Japanese Ditto, they will be able to breed any shiny Pokemon they want just by heading to the Nursery.

Should you choose to use this method of obtaining shinies, we recommend referring to our Catching Pokemon Guide for added tips and tricks to make breeding quick and simple.


What do you think of this guide? Let us know in the comments below.

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