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Shiny Pokemon are the stuff of legend, special variants that are the rarest monsters of in the entire series. You can tell a Shiny by its special color, but it’s not uncommon for even the most dedicated of Pokemon fans to go entire games without finding one. That incredible rarity continues in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but there are a few ways to boost your odds including seeking out Mass Outbreaks. Here’s how to catch Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
How to catch Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Shiny Pokemon are distinguished by their special coloring, but you’ll need to be familiar with what a certain Pokemon’s regular color looks like to identify a Shiny. You’ll also hear a distinct “sparkle” sound when a Shiny Pokemon appears in the world.
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Now Playing: Pokémon Legends: Arceus Video Review
Pokemon Legends: Arceus does explain the basic concept of a Shiny through an early side quest, called “A Peculiar Ponyta.” That quest will guarantee you a Shiny Ponyta, as well as show you the types of visual distinctions you can expect. The Shiny Ponyta in that quest burns with a blue flame instead of red.
Any other Shiny Pokemon will need to be discovered organically, and as you might expect, this is much more difficult.
The odds are stacked against you
The standard Shiny odds in any Pokemon game, including Arceus, is 1 in 4096, according to Serebii. That’s an extremely low chance, but Arceus gives you a few ways to boost your odds. Your odds are referred to as Shiny checks, meaning the statistical chances that the game will spawn a Shiny when encountering a wild Pokemon.
First, if you reach Research Level 10 (which completes a Pokedex entry) for a specific Pokemon, you’ll get another Shiny check, so that will double your chances to spot a Shiny version of that Pokemon. You’ll have a 2 Shiny checks in 4096 or 1 in 2048 chance. If you perfect the Pokedex entry by completing absolutely every entry, you’ll double your odds again to 4 Shiny checks in 4096 or a 1 in 1024 chance.
Finally, if you complete the Pokedex by reaching Research Rank 10 with all 242 Pokemon, you’ll get the Shiny Charm, which will boost you by three more checks. Those stack with your Research Level or Perfect Dex bonuses, for a 5/4096 or 7/4096 chance, or about 1 in 820 and 1 in 586, respectively.
Check out Mass Outbreaks for your best chance
Once in a while you’ll see an icon on the map notifying you of a Mass Outbreak event. If you’re aiming to catch Shiny Pokemon, make a beeline for those, because they’re your absolute best chance to spawn a Shiny. Even without the multipliers listed above, a Mass Outbreak adds an additional 25 Shiny checks, the biggest boost of any method.
Those additional checks also stack with your other multipliers. So a Mass Outbreak event will have 26 Shiny checks as standard, 27 with a Research Level 10 bonus, and so on. The absolute maximum odds you can achieve, with all multipliers achieved and the Shiny Charm active, is 32/4096 or 1 in 128.
In a Mass Outbreak event, only four Pokemon will spawn at a time. If you defeat those, more will spawn in, so just keep defeating the non-Shiny ones to increase the odds that a Shiny will appear in the next batch. You can also save just before facing off against a Shiny and retry in case you accidentally defeat it or otherwise fail to catch it.
For more about Pokemon Legends: Arceus, check out our beginner’s tips, how long it takes to beat and how missions work, how to release multiple Pokemon, and tips to raise your star ranking quickly. Plus, be sure to read our Pokemon Legends: Arceus review.
