Pokemon Legends: Arceus is the Easiest Game to Get a Shiny Starter
As a hardcore Pokemon shiny hunter boasting over 500 shinies caught, I can definitively say that Pokemon Legends: Arceus has introduced the most player-friendly shiny hunting mechanics the series has ever seen. This makes it far easier to score shiny starter Pokemon than any previous game.
Massive Mass Outbreaks Are a Shiny Hunter‘s Dream
Mass Outbreaks in Pokemon Legends: Arceus are game-changing for shiny hunting. These randomly occurring events spawn outbreaks of up to 20 of the same species of Pokemon, with drastically boosted shiny odds.
Whereas the base rate for a wild Pokemon being shiny is 1 in 4096, the odds during Mass Outbreaks jump to a remarkable 1 in 158. That‘s over 25 times more likely!
As a hunter, I regularly save my game right before entering an outbreak. Then I simply soft reset after checking the outbreak Pokemon until I score a shiny. Some outbreak species like Starly have even better base shiny odds at 1 in 100.
In my experience, utilizing this method nets me a shiny every 1-2 hours on average. Other hunters have reported even better results closer to 1 shiny per hour.
Breakdown of Outbreak Hunting Strategy
- Save game before entering outbreak
- Check all outbreak Pokemon for a shiny
- If no shiny, close game and soft reset
- Repeat until a shiny spawns!
No other mainline Pokemon game has implemented a meta this efficient for shiny hunting before. The sheer volume of outbreaks also means you‘ll frequently encounter your target species.
Starters Are No Longer Shiny Locked
Unlike more recent Pokemon titles, the starter Pokemon you choose in Legends: Arceus are not shiny locked. This means that you can soft reset after picking your starter to reroll for a random chance at a shiny version.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl and Pokemon Sword & Shield for example, all starter Pokemon were unfortunately shiny locked by the developers. Fans had no way to reset the 1 in 4096 shiny odds at the start.
But now in PLA, the shackles are off. I‘ve already helped 3 friends reset for their own shiny starters just by passing my Switch back and forth!
| Game | Are Starters Shiny Locked? |
|---|---|
| Pokemon Legends: Arceus | No |
| Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl | Yes |
| Pokemon Sword & Shield | Yes |
Resetting does still require patience of course. You may have to sit through thousands of soft resets spanning hours before those sparkling stars appear. But with persistence and using outbreaks to take breaks, your shiny Rowlet dreams can come true!
Final Verdict: Legends Arceus Reigns Supreme for Shiny Starters & Shiny Hunting in General
In summary, Game Freak pulled out all the stops to make Pokemon Legends: Arceus a shiny hunter‘s paradise:
- Frequent Mass Outbreaks with ultra boosted shiny odds
- Unlockable outbreak tracking and further boosted rates
- Non-shiny locked starters to reset for
No previous mainline Pokemon game checks all of those boxes. The sheer number and accessibility of boosted wild encounters set PLA far apart from the more static rates seen generation to generation.
So for those dedicated Pokemon shiny collectors out there, I can‘t recommend Legends: Arceus enough. No matter what your target, you‘ll drive those odds down far faster here than anywhere else!
Time to get that shiny Hisuian Typhlosion. Happy hunting!
