Pokémon Legends: Arceus' Shiny Hunting Is Better Than Sword & Shield
There is good news for Shiny hunters picking up Pokémon Legends: Arceus, thanks to early gameplay showcasing a streamlined Shiny hunting process with good odds. Shiny hunting in Pokémon Sword and Shield was a grind for even the most dedicated Shiny hunters due to issues with Brilliant Aura spawns and convoluted chaining requirements. It was especially frustrating after the streamlined and understandable Shiny hunting methods used in Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! However, it appears Pokémon Legends: Arceus combines the best of past methods, giving players an understandable and satisfying process to find Shiny Pokémon.
Shiny hunting, or the process of finding alternately colored Pokémon species, has become a widely popular side objective in most Pokémon games. Originally introduced in Generation Two during Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Shiny Pokémon are extremely rare. Early games boasted a staggering potential 1 in 8192, and more recent games starting with a base potential rare of 1 in 4096. Players can raise Shiny odds through a range of different tasks including chaining, finding and defeating or catching the same Pokémon continuously, or obtaining a Shiny charm. However, these tricks only increase odds by a small margin, requiring players to work for hours or even days to find a desired Shiny Pokémon.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus has taken the popularity of Shiny hunting into account through a side quest accessible almost immediately in the game. The quest requires players to find and catch a "strange" looking Ponyta that turns out to be Shiny. The quest is designed to show players how Shiny Pokémon will look in the overworld, what they do when they appear, and how to search for them while playing. Additionally, in a graph uploaded by Sibuna_Switch on Twitter, it has been revealed that Shiny odds are improved almost immediately by completing objectives in the new Pokédex. Any Pokémon that reaches a Research Level of 10 immediately gets improved Shiny chances, cutting the odds of a Shiny encounter in half. Because hitting Level 10 isn't particularly difficult, this can give players fantastic odds from a very early point in gameplay.
Additionally, there is also a new mechanic in Pokémon Legends: Arceus that is similar to Community Day in Pokémon GO, where dozens of the same Pokémon species will appear in certain areas of Hisui in a Mass Outbreak. These Mass Outbreaks have a substantially raised Shiny encounter rate, regardless of the Pokédex Research Level for the species. Mass Outbreaks can be found by looking at the Hisui world map before traveling to a region, with the outbreak species appearing as a small icon in the area it is appearing. The outbreaks can be farmed by returning to Jubilife Village and reentering the map for a chance at a new outbreak spawn.
The appearance of Shiny Pokémon in the overworld and the inclusion of stable Shiny hunting methods make Pokémon Legends: Arceus' Shiny hunting mechanics much more enjoyable than Sword and Shield. The only setback is the size of the Hisui Pokédex, which appears to be set at just under 250 species. Hopefully, Pokémon Legends: Arceus will receive DLC and updated content similar to the previous games that could expand the map size and available species, giving players more ways to take advantage of the exciting new mechanics.
Source: Sibuna_Switch/ Twitter