How to catch and breed stronger Pokémon in Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor DLC

By Giovanni Colantonio March 9, 2021

Pokémon Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor DLC gave players a good reason to jump back into the game when it launched, and is still worth experiencing if you held out until the Crown Tundra DLC launched as well, but returning to Pokémon can be daunting. The most dedicated, competitive players have kept up with the game consistently since its launch, so it’s easy to feel like you’re behind the curve.

Contents

Max Raid Battles
The Ditto den
New Gigantamax forms

If you’re jumping back into Pokémon Sword and Shield and want to keep up with fans who never stopped playing, here’s how you can use the Isle of Armor features to get stronger monsters.

Further reading:

Max Raid Battles

If you bounced off of Sword and Shield after beating the game, you’ll want to focus on getting more powerful Pokémon on your team. Max Raid Battles are a great starting point for building a new team. Any Pokémon you catch in four- and five-star raids will have high base stats, known as IVs. These values determine how high a Pokémon’s stats can go.

To check a Pokémon’s IVs, you’ll need to complete the game and reach rank 4 at the Battle Tower. Once you do that, you’ll get the IV Checker function in your Pokédex. This will allow you to select any Pokémon and see its base stats. If a stat says Best, that means that it is the highest it can go.

Actually making sure a Pokémon reaches its full potential is a different rabbit hole, but Max Raid Battles will at least give you Pokémon that are inherently stronger than ones you’d catch in the wild. Since Isle of Armor introduces tons of raid dens, try catching some Pokémon around the new island to rebuild your party from scratch.

Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass—Announcement Trailer

The Ditto den

Speaking of raids, Isle of Armor introduces a new area that’s dedicated to Ditto. Go to the southeast section of the Workout Sea and you’ll find an island filled with Dittos. There’s a raid den in the center of the island, which is guaranteed to have a high-level Ditto battle.

Why does that matter? Ditto is essential for Pokémon breeding. Usually, you need to put a male and female Pokémon of the same “egg group” in day care to produce a child. It’s complicated, but there’s an easier method: You can put a Ditto and a Pokémon of any gender in day care instead. When you do this, you’ll get an egg containing a type matching the non-Ditto parent.

Parents will pass down some of their IVs to children, so if you have a powerful Ditto in the mix, your children will inherit a few of its stats. If you give one of the parents a Destiny Knot, the number of IVs they pass down will increase to five. Destiny Knots can be purchased from the Hammerlocke Pokémon Center for 10 Battle Points (BP).

So, say you catch a Ditto with perfect special attack and speed stats and want to pass that along to a Pikachu. Give Ditto a Destiny Knot and put it in day care with a Pikachu. You’ll notice that their children will inherit some of its parents’ IVs. You would keep hatching eggs until you get a Pichu that has inherited Ditto’s perfect special attack and speed.

Breeding gets a lot more complicated as you get into factors like abilities and natures, but the new Ditto den will make your life easier. Try catching a few and experimenting with breeding to make stronger Pokémon.

Pokemon Blastoise — Image used with permission by copyright holder

New Gigantamax forms

Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing are key parts of Sword and Shield’s battle system. Isle of Armor doubles down on that by adding new Gigantamax Pokémon. Rillaboom, Cinderace, Intelleon, Venusaur, and Blastoise all have new Gigantamax forms that will make them temporarily stronger in battle.

You’ll need to raise their Gigantamax power to do this, but fortunately Isle of Armor makes this easier. You can cook Max Soup at the new island’s dojo, which will raise a Pokémon’s Gigantamax power. You can use this to feature to give some of your new Pokémon — or old favorites like Machamp — an added boost in battle

Between new Pokémon, Gigantamax forms, and raid dens, Isle of Armor gives players more options for catching and creating a powerful party before heading into the Crown Tundra. Take advantage of the DLC’s new features to get a leg up in battle.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

Gaming

How to play Attackers in Pokémon Unite: Pikachu, Greninja, Decidueye, and more

Pokémon Unite's key art.

Pokémon Unite is the latest MOBA to hit the market, featuring many of the same tropes seen in League of Legends and Dota 2 -- but with less toxicity and more adorable Pokémon. Nineteen characters were playable at launch, but subsequent updates have radically expanded its roster. Jump into the game today, and you'll find a Pokémon suitable for just about every type of player style.

If you're looking to deal big damage to the opposing team and stop their march toward victory, you'll want to take a close look at the Attacker group. What they lack in Endurance and Support skills they more than make up for with devastating ranged attacks, capable of taking out the strongest of foes in just a few seconds.

Gaming

How to play Defenders in Pokémon Unite: Snorlax, Crustle, Greedent, and more

Blastoise using Surf in Pokémon Unite.

Pokémon Unite gives you plenty of ways to customize your gameplay experience. Whether you're slotting items before heading into battle or customizing your Blastoise with a flashy outfit, there's no shortage of entertaining ways to change up your play session. The most exciting way to mix things up, however, is by picking a new character -- with more than a dozen iconic Pokémon up for grabs, you've got plenty of choices when it comes to picking a main.

If you have a penchant for being a team player and don't mind being the center of attention, consider opting for one of three Defender Pokémon. These characters excel at taking a beating and play very differently from the four other groups available in the Pokémon MOBA.

Gaming

How to level up fast in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

The player battles two members of Team Galactic.

The RPG mechanics in the Pokémon series have always had some odd balancing. The core systems of each Pokémon type having strengths and weaknesses is usually solid, but it's the areas around this base that seem to change from game to game. Leveling up your Pokémon is one of these areas. Originally, leveling up a Pokémon was as simple as using it in battle enough times to gain enough XP to level up, but by the time we hit Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, things have gotten a bit more complex.

Leveling up your team is in some ways much easier, but also more difficult. From the start, all your Pokémon will benefit from full XP share, meaning even the pocket monsters you have sitting on the bench will still earn XP as though they were in the fight themselves. However, getting new Pokémon in the late and post game, when even more Pokémon become available, will leave new catches potentially dozens of levels behind without many obvious ways to earn good XP. Fear not, because there are a few ways you can level up your team fast in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl to cut down on the grind.