Pokemon Legends Arceus changes make finding Shiny Pokemon way easier

Zackerie Fairfax

Shiny Hunting has become an integral part of some players’ experience. Thanks to some major changes the formula in Pokemon Legends Arceus, finding Shiny Pokemon is way easier.

We don’t know the Shiny Odds in Pokemon Legends Arceus just yet, but it’s safe to assume it’ll be around 1 in 4096. This means every time a ‘mon spawns in the overworld, it has a 1 in 4096 chance of appearing Shiny.

Shiny Pokemon aren’t more powerful than their original forms, and they don’t have unique abilities. To put it simply, a Shiny is an extremely rare color variant that every Pokemon has.

In previous games, players would spend days, weeks, and even months hunting for a single Shiny. However, Pokemon Legends Arceus’ encounter methods make finding them a breeze. Spoiler warning: this article will contain leaked information regarding major changes to the series’ core mechanics.

Pokemon Legends Arceus catching gameplay screenshot
Catching any Pokemon could pose a challenge in Legends Arceus.

Overworld Pokemon Shinies and their sparkles

For the first time in Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, Shiny Pokemon will appear in the overworld. And with wild ‘mon appearing in droves in wide-open areas, players can “encounter” quite a few at a time. Think Sword & Shield’s Wild Area with overworld Shinies.

You might be thinking that this sounds like an easy way to fail a Shiny. What if they appear off-screen or while you’re riding past on a Wyrdeer? Luckily, the new Shiny sparkles make it very obvious when one is nearby.

And if they happen to spawn off-screen, the sparkles are also very loud when one appears. This makes it a lot easier to know when they’re in the area so you can search for them.

So, even if the odds are 1/4096, you’re encountering ‘mon at an incredibly high rate and their visual/audible effects make them easy to spot.

A screenshot of the bad graphics in Pokemon Legends Arceus
Riding on Pokemon will allow players to see a lot more Pokemon at one time.

Pokemon Legends Arceus Shinies are nearly impossible to fail

In one of the most recent trailers for Legends Arceus, viewers saw a Starly take flight when a trainer got too close. This led a lot of players to believe that it would be easy to fail skittish Shiny Pokemon.

However, Game Freak’s game design has also countered this argument. According to one brave tester on Reddit, they saved before killing a wild Shiny to see if it would be there if they restarted their game.

This is similar to soft-resetting which is a Shiny hunting method where players restart their game over and over until a Shiny appears. To the tester’s surprise, the Shiny they had just killed reappeared when they rebooted.

This makes failing encounters nearly impossible. We say “nearly” because you can fail if you forget to save beforehand. But if you save and happen to kill one or it runs away, you can restart your game and it will be there waiting for you.

Pokemon Legends Arceus screenshot of Arc phone
One of the game’s missions rewards players with a Shiny Ponyta.

With that being said, that doesn’t mean everyone is going to be finding Shiny Pokemon every time they step into the wild. There will be some unlucky players who spend hours and hours roaming around and not finding a single one.

But hey, if that’s you, there’s a guaranteed Shiny Ponyta waiting for you behind a quest.

About The Author

Zackerie is a former Senior Writer for Dexerto who covered a wide variety of games and entertainment. He has a degree in Creative Writing and was previously the editor of The LaRue County News. Zackerie switched to games media in 2020 writing for outlets such as Screen Rant, Fortnite INTEL, and Charlie INTEL.