Shiny Hunting in Pokémon Legends Arceus

How do you find elusive shiny Pokémon in the Hisui region?

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The challenge of shiny hunting in Pokémon Legends Arceus is just as difficult as you’d expect, but – as with previous Pokémon games – there are ways of increasing your chances of finding a rare shiny.

Shiny Pokémon are the rarest catches in any Pokémon title, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus is no different. Some players – probably myself included, with my luck – will go through the entire game without ever coming across one of these super-rare color variants. Some players don’t care about catching shinies, while others spend hours grinding to flesh out as much of their shiny-dex as possible. If you’re here, you’re probably closer to the latter, so let’s look at some ways to increase your odds while shiny hunting in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Pokémon Legends Arceus shiny hunting

Shiny Pokémon will be easier to spot in Pokémon Legends: Arceus than in some other Pokémon titles as they will appear on the map in shiny form without having to interact with them. So the first step to increasing your shiny chances is simply making sure you’re aware of your surroundings as you roam Hisui, so you’ll never miss a shiny variant if one pops up nearby.

Once you do interact with a shiny Pokémon, a different sound will play and shiny particles will appear above its head, just to confirm it is, in fact, shiny. To be fair, some variants are harder to make out than others, so this could come in pretty handy.

While shiny Pokémon may stand out on the map in Pokémon Legends Arceus, there are ways to encourage them to appear more often. Some people might still want to shiny hunt with the lowest odds possible (1/4096), making those sweet shiny finds even more valuable, but read on if you’d rather increase your chances.

Completing Pokédex Entries

Once you’ve encountered a species of Pokémon, you’ll be able to see a list of Research Tasks for it, including catching a specific number of them and seeing them use certain moves. Once Professor Laventon is satisfied that you have completed enough of these tasks for each species, your research level for that Pokémon will increase. Hit Level 10, and that Pokémon’s Dex entry will be considered “complete”. This will immediately double your chances of finding that Pokémon’s shiny variant. You’ll also know you’ve reached this level when there is a Poké Ball next to that Pokémon’s name in the Pokédex.

You can take this even further by completing every Research Task for a Pokémon, which will then change your Research Level for that species to “Perfect”, and stars will appear with the Poké Ball icon. This will then increase your odds of finding a shiny variant of that species to 1/1025.

Getting a Shiny Charm

The Shiny Charm is a well-known item in Pokémon games. Introduced in Black 2 and White 2, the Shiny Charm is a key item which, once obtained, will increase your chances of encountering shiny Pokémon. Simply having the charm in your Key Items automatically increases your odds of encountering a shiny from 1/4096 to 1/820 for Pokémon with Level 10 Dex entries as above. This increases even more with a “Perfect” Research Level.

Find out how to obtain the Shiny Charm in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, here.

Mass Outbreaks

The best way of increasing your chances while shiny hunting in Pokémon Legends Arceus, though, is by heading to Mass Outbreaks. Known in previous games as swarms, mass outbreaks will appear on your map, and will feature multiples on the same Pokémon all congregating together for a short time. Working in a similar way to Pokémon Go Community Days, Mass Outbreaks increase your chances of encountering a shiny, both as a mechanic, and because there are simply more Pokémon to catch.

According to Pokémon dataminers and Serebii.net, your chances of encountering a shiny Pokémon can be significantly increased during Mass Outbreaks, depending on the above additional factors. For example, if you are carrying a Shiny Charm at a Mass Outbreak for a Pokémon species of which you have a “Perfect” Pokédex entry, your chances of encountering a shiny will increase from 1/4096 to 1/129… Quite the improvement.

Shiny hunters will enjoy Pokémon Legends: Arceus! Along with the Shiny Charm, many new mechanics can further improve your chances of finding a shiny from the base 1/4096 rate.

Here are your shiny rates as of version 1.0.1. pic.twitter.com/gw4dswDMHS

— Anubis (@Sibuna_Switch) January 27, 2022

Guaranteed Shiny Ponyta

Finally, if luck is still not on your side with all the above information, there is one guaranteed shiny Pokémon everyone can add to their Pokémon Legends Arceus shiny-dex. Head over to our guide to find out just how to encounter a shiny Ponyta.