Pokemon Legends Arceus makes it easier than ever to catch shiny Pokemon

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But getting Shiny starters or Legendaries is impossible

Evolving Sneasel into Sneasler in Pokemon Legends: Arceus
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

Pokemon Legends Arceus makes catching Shinies easier than ever, if you've got the right items.

Just below, you can see a tweet published yesterday by Pokemon dataminer Anubis. This user has put their apparent love for spreadsheets to work in Pokemon Legends Arceus, and has actually managed to determine the base catch rate for Shiny Pokemon throughout the game.

At the start of the game, the likelihood of finding a shiny pokemon is the standard one in 4096, but as you improve your dex research level, you unlock a separate 'roll', meaning the game will check for a shiny twice. That increases the likelihood to just one in 2048. Later on, if you can perfect your research level and equip a Shiny Charm, those odds improve even further, up to one shiny Pokemon for every 586 encounters, making them around seven times more likely to appear.

If all of that stacks up with the returning Mass Outbreak event, which sees large numbers of Pokemon appear in the region, the shiny rate can max at at one in 128. That still means you'll only have roughly a 0.8% chance of finding a shiny in a given encounter, but it's a much better rate than the 0.02% chance normally get.

Unfortunately, however, some Pokemon won't ever appear in their shiny forms. Anubis says that all 'static-encounters' - Pokemon that always appear in the same place, like starter Pokemon and Legendary Pokemon - are "shiny-locked," meaning they'll never appear in their alternate colourings.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus Tips | Pokemon Legends: Arceus Starters | Pokemon Legends: Arceus Pokedex | Who is Arceus in Pokemon? 

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.