Pokemon Sword & Shield Isle of Armour & Crown Tundra discussion

[Siggu]

Doesn't it have Outrage and Grass Knot?

... fair enough. So I thought of another EV distribution.

Since I don't have mints, changing EVs to 76 HP / 240 Atk / 192 SpD, and equipped with a Float Stone, Golurk avoids the 2HKO from a minimum Special Attack Grass Knot (assuming it doesn't have Special Attack EVs), and even a max Attack Outrage (I guess it doesn't have max Attack, but...).

 

[GeneralNameless]

Did I ever mention that MAROWAK GETS BELLY DRUM NOW?! TR sweep time???

Marowak has had Belly Drum since Gen 2

 

[Earthflax]

Marowak has had Belly Drum since Gen 2

Well.... um..... um.. i knew that lol i was just checking if you were paying attention? I'm sorry, I've only just entered the competitive scene and I have no idea what's happened in any past generations (although I do pretty well in gen 7)

It's gonna be p fresh when people set up on anything physical that doesn't have Knock off with A-Marowak in TR. I know for a fact that I'm building a TR team simply because Marowak and Clawitzer, which is also coverage nuke master now due to Terrain Pulse being a thing.

 

[R_N]

Mustard's rare card has a neat bit of lore
"He remained popular even after losing the mantle of champion, but decided to retire after the league chairman at that time asked him to win in a rigged match"

To be clear this isn't Rose, he became chairman much later than when Mustard was champion. But I just find it funny when remembering the speculation that Rose was trying to (or actively was) rigging Leon's matches.

In general I like learning about what's gone on over the years in Galar's league, tell us more about this shitty chariman please

 

[MelonZealot]

I'll admit my boomer self entered Excadrill against a shiny Zeraora raid without realizing it has Max Knuckle. That's what I deserve considering I don't know much or use legendaries. Would've had a better chance using Conkeldurr.

That Golurk set looks promising. Time to breed.

 

[mewwww]

Hmm so, out of curiosity, has anyone found a a post-game Klara/Avery battle?

Internally one seems to exist https://pastebin.com/jvYpru13

But I dunno where the battle would be. Klara's kind of disappeared from the Dojo as far as I can tell? Maybe I just missed her?

I just talked to the girl in the back left corner of the dojo and she gives you a shirt and says Klara disappeared but sometimes shows up covered in sand. I'm heading to check out the desert now.

Update: She just gave me a rare league card and ran off. If you return to the dojo though, you can battle her. Seems like you can battle once a day.

 

[R_N]

I just talked to the girl in the back left corner of the dojo and she gives you a shirt and says Klara disappeared but sometimes shows up covered in sand. I'm heading to check out the desert now.

Update: She just gave me a rare league card and ran off.

Yeah I figured it out. Once she runs off she goes back to the Dojo and you can fight her again.

 

[pokemon4eva]

Cool, thanks. Going to check out the desert later.

 

[Magcargo]

Isle of Armor's overworld is actually a huge step up from the Wild Area. Has a much wider variety of environments between caves, islands, forests, etc., incorporates Pokemon into the level design much better (stuff like Emolga flying from tree to tree, Sharpedo chasing you), lets you do some interesting things that, at a glance don't seem possible (fighting the level 80 (!) Wailord, exploring a cave that goes directly into the main island) and has a mini version of the korok seed side-quest with the Alolan Digletts. Despite all these improvements, it still gets boring to travel here after a while.

 

[GeneralNameless]

Isle of Armor's overworld is actually a huge step up from the Wild Area. Has a much wider variety of environments between caves, islands, forests, etc., incorporates Pokemon into the level design much better (stuff like Emolga flying from tree to tree, Sharpedo chasing you), lets you do some interesting things that, at a glance don't seem possible (fighting the level 80 (!) Wailord, exploring a cave that goes directly into the main island) and has a mini version of the korok seed side-quest with the Alolan Digletts. Despite all these improvements, it still gets boring to travel here after a while.

That's good to hear. I hope they'll continue to improve and refine their ability from here. They'll never reach the size and scope and detail of something like, say, the Elder Scrolls; but I think they'll be able to find a peak that works for them and their development time. Hopefully that peak is still somewhere down the road...

 

[mewwww]

Hmm OK so the Diglett finding guys gives you:

5 Diglett: Alolan Meowth
10 Diglett: Kanto Slowpoke with a Kings Rock/Regenerator
20 Diglett: Alolan Vulpix
30 Diglett: Alolan Sandshrew
40 Diglett: Alolan Raichu
50 Diglett: Alolan Marowak

Appear to be random natures, but they all have atleast 3x31 IVs (which may or may not also be random). 75 is the next step, but I presume it'll be other Alolan mons.

Serebii has all of the Diglett info. up now:
https://serebii.net/swordshield/diglett.shtml

Just found Bede out in the Forest of Focus with his Hatterene. Any other gym leaders around?

 

[R_N]

Just found Bede out in the Forest of Focus with his Hatterene. Any other gym leaders around?

I found Hop out on the beach near the tower with his Dubwool, but I didn't see Bede in the forest. Maybe it's just a randomly daily thing?

 

[RocketSurgery]

Marnie & Morpeko were near the Tower of Darkness for me last night; gone today, so sounds like another random daily thing. Too bad they don't battle you.

 

[Kurona]

Yeah, I had Raihan and his Duraludon on the beach with all the Staryu. Seems just a neat thing.

 

[Worldie]

I ran into Milo with sightseeking his Tsareena (he he he...)

I assume all the big NPCs from the base game can show up somewhere

 

[MelonZealot]

Collecting 150 Diglett before getting a Diglett is cruel. As is the exclusion of Grimer and Muk.

 

[McCoolDude]

Apparently the evolutionary stone recipes do not care about the final three slots. Whatever stone is first determines what you get. Sun stone in the first slot + 3 random items returned flame orbs 5 times in a row. Water Stones were Surf TR, Grass was Seed Bomb, Shiny was misty seed, Dawn was Future Sight, Dusk was adrenaline orb.

 

[Kanburi]

I've had issues registering pokemon that I've transferred from bank that appear in the armor dex. I wonder if you have to manually catch them all :(

It's now a confirmed bug. You can register them in your Isle of Armor dex if you put them in daycare and retrieve them, but I'd just wait on a fix.

EDIT: We have an update for the Zeraora raid. 272,335 trainers have won as of Thursday, June 18th.

 

[PokePoindexter]

Random opinions on things I've experienced so far after completing the story:

Returning/New Pokemon

• First off, I'm over the moon about the return of my two favorite Gen 5 Pokemon - Volcarona and (Shiny) Zoroark. Both are back in my party where they belong now, hallelujah!
• Remember how much fun Sharpedo could be to have when you could blast through the water at lightning speed on it? Yeah, it still does blast through it, but sadly it does so towards you instead of with you now. Still, it's one of my favorites from Gen 3, so I'm happy to see it back.
• So NOW I can catch wild Scizor, huh? Would have been awesome to be able to do that during the past 6 generations when the only way to get one was to trade, but I guess better late than never.
• Other things I'm happy to see come back: Palossand, Luxray, Azumarill, Starmie, Scolipede, Alolan Sandslash and Marowak, and Lycanroc.
• #TeamRapidStrike. I love both versions of Urshifu and the Tower of Darkness certainly has a more picturesque view from its location, but we already have a Dark/Fighting bear mon, so I personally went with the Tower of Waters. Plus, Rapid Strike isn't burdened with a 4x Fairy weakness, and has a better typing for competitive matches (although I think either one could be a mainstay in OU with BSTs of 550).
• Galarian Slowbro seems... bizarre. It's a combination of a bad offensive type (Poison) and a bad defensive type (Psychic), with base stats and a movepool that are all over the place. It's really hard to pick a role that it should play, or if it would play it all that effectively. Perhaps a mixed sweeper in TR or Assault Vest set could be fringe options, but I don't see it excelling in competitive matches. Potentially amazing Abilities in Quick Draw and Regenerator will only get it so far.

New Items/Moves/Characters

• Max Mushrooms/honey: All I can say is thanks to them, I no longer feel guilty about using the Masuda Method to get a Shiny Orbeetle before realizing it had a Gigantamax form. And yeah, the Starters look pretty awesome when Gigantamaxed as well.
• Apricorns: I kinda wish the Aprijuice were brought back, even if the Pokeathlon didn't come with it. It could at least provide a more practical use than relying on pure dumb luck with the Cram-o-matic in order to hope to get something good.
• Of the new Move Tutor moves, I'd say the two I'm liking most are Flip Turn and Burning Jealousy. Pivot moves are always useful to have available, and punishing Dragon Dancers with a burn to render their attack boost null is hilarious (at least on paper). The one thing I'd knock the latter for is that there really aren't many Pokemon who learn it that setup sweepers like to set up on (the closest I can think of off the bat probably being Ninetales). I think it'd be a lot more effective in the hands of something like Umbreon or Toxapex. Scorching Sands is starting to grow on me as well, since it provides some coverage for a handful of Fire-types out there. And it's an interesting STAB option for Palossand (one has to wonder if it was the mon Game Freak had in mind when they came up with this move).
• Klara is a showboating phony (can't speak for Avery since I don't have Shield, but it wouldn't surprise me if he's the same).
• Mustard is essentially a goofball, a gamer, and a sensei all rolled into one. Not the combination you'd typically expect to see, but it works. At least he can put up a good fight (unless you go at him with a team full of level 100 beasts like I did).

Other New Things

• New clothes: Another classic case of the male character getting far fewer items to choose from than the female. So far the only one I've bought is the red suit jacket in Wyndon, and I daresay it looks pretty good even with my less-formal look, but honestly, I don't care much for most of them; certainly not worth blowing your money to get all of them IMO.
• Diglett hunting: So I collect 150, only to get an Alolan Diglett at the end... yay? At least you can get several Alola forms this way, including both Vulpix and Sandshrew with their far superior Hidden Abilities.
• Following Pokemon: It's back, and it's... something I've always been indifferent to. No difference this time, although I have caught myself responding to it in a variety of ways, such as: "Hey Slowpoke, why can't you be like the ones Mustard trained and speed it the fuck up?", "Hey Morpeko, could you maybe be about six inches taller so you don't just vanish into the grass", "Hey Alolan Ninetales, with how fast you run when racing in Pokemon Camp, how is it that hard for you to keep up with my bike?", or just marveling at how awesome various Shiny Pokemon I've caught look when I'm standing next to them. So it's a bit of a charming (and occasionally entertaining) feature, but I'm not going to gush over its return the same way a lot of other people invariably will.

My overall opinion of the Isle of Armor is a net positive. So far, it has breathed new life into a game that was starting to feel pretty stale (once I start magically finding the patience to do a moderate amount of Shiny hunting, that's a sign the game needs a shakeup), and I like most of what it introduced (even if I ridicule it). Here's to hoping the Crown Tundra, which I've been even more hyped for since the DLC was first announced, manages to be even better.

 

[Rarycaris]

It's now a confirmed bug. You can register them in your Isle of Armor dex if you put them in daycare and retrieve them, but I'd just wait on a fix.

EDIT: We have an update for the Zeraora raid. 272,335 trainers have won as of Thursday, June 18th.

Huh. Maybe we'll get that million comfortably after all. When I made my post, I'd found a level 5 raid and hadn't realised it could appear at lower levels.

Has anyone tried Marshadow? It's not particularly bulky, but it can stop Zeraora from using Hone Claws and Max Knuckle to snowball, which should keep it in check.

 

[Worldie]

Has anyone tried Marshadow? It's not particularly bulky, but it can stop Zeraora from using Hone Claws and Max Knuckle to snowball, which should keep it in check.

Anything that isnt a ground type tends to get flat out murdered by plasma fist or max electric hit

 

[P3DS]

It's now a confirmed bug. You can register them in your Isle of Armor dex if you put them in daycare and retrieve them, but I'd just wait on a fix.

EDIT: We have an update for the Zeraora raid. 272,335 trainers have won as of Thursday, June 18th.

Had another friend tell me that... Completed the dex yesterday after a tedious time registering 105 pokemon...

 

[McCoolDude]

Anything that isnt a ground type tends to get flat out murdered by plasma fist or max electric hit

I had someone use it and with screens support it does a good job of keeping the team alive.

Shiny zera needs something that deals with the boosts (spectral thief/clear smog both work) and dual screens or all ground types with reflect to be done effectively (the only special move shiny zera uses is discharge).

So the ideal teamcomp for shiny Zera I've found so far was clear smog Gastrodon (you just need it to bust shields and clear stats) + Dual Screens Claydol (just use reflect if you only have ground types) + gmax Sandaconda (the sandblast periodic goes through shields). 4th slot can be anything, preferably a special ground type.

 

[MelonZealot]

Catching a wild Volcarona and Alakazam. Never thought I'd see the day.

 

[Mega-Pokebattlerz]

Pros/cons so far:

+ The new moves are fun, even if not all of them are exactly practical
+ With the EV Reset person, the Cram-o-Matic letting you get competitively relevant items, the Max Soup, and the ability to buy vitamins cheaply, not to mention being able to instantly make old mons usable in ranked, getting a competitive team is even easier this time around.
+ Mustard is hilarious and Klara isn't that bad a rival. Not sure about Avery.
+ Alolan Form/Kantonian Form trades. All the yes.
+ Nice variance in scenery, even if it's mostly just caves, oceans and meadows. A step up in area design from the Wild Area at least.
+ Following Pokemon are back. All the yes.
- One Kubfu per save file is still bullshit.
- Level scaling turned out to be a big fat lie.
- I know it's more of a sidequest than anything, but the story is still a bit too short.
- Not too much new stuff. We got 2 new Pokemon (one of which has 2 forms), only 1 new Galarian form, 2 new abilities, and 6 new Gigantamaxes (7 is you count both Urshifu Gigantamaxes separately). Yes, we got a fuckload of new moves, but it's still somewhat disappointing.
- The new moves are fine and all, but couldn't you add some old moves to the tutors as well? Come on, I want my Knock Off tutor back.