Shiny Pokemon are the absurdly rare white whales that the Captain Ahabs of the Pokemon community desperately want — and the Crown Tundra DLC includes a new method that both increases your Shiny hunting chances, but also gives you tons of other rewards in the process. Basically, this is the best way to hunt shiny Pokemon, and it isn’t immediately obvious.
It’s all about using the new Max Lair system. In the Crown Tundra, you’ll find a cavern with a new activity that sends you through four Dynamax battles with four players. At the end, you’ll always encounter a special Legendary Pokemon — but these lairs can be pretty tricky. They give tons of rewards, and if you’re especially lucky, they can give you Shiny Pokemon. But you won’t know until after you’ve completed a run. Make sure to bring plenty of Pokeballs.
More Pokémon Sword & Shield: Isle of Armor guides:
All New, Returning & Legendary Pokémon | Isle of Armor Pokedex | How To Access The Isle of Armor | How To Use The Cram-O-Matic | Recipes List | How To Make Max Soup | Gigantamax Enhancement Guide | How To Complete All Three Master Dojo Trials | Walkthrough | How To Earn & Evolve Kubfu | Legendary Irshifu Guide | How To Evolve Galar Slowpoke Into Slowbro | Evolution Guide
How To Hunt Shiny Pokemon In Max Lairs | Best Shiny Hunting Method
Max Lairs are found in a cave, in the first snowy area before reaching Freezington in the Crown Tundra. A wide variety of Legendary Pokemon can be captured inside — and if you complete all three Legendary Quests for Peony, you’ll unlock Ultra Beasts and even more rare Pokemon for the Max Lairs.
So, how do you increase your chances of earning a shiny? It’s really simple, but difficult to notice if you don’t know the trick already.
- How To Hunt Shiny Pokemon In Max Lairs
- Capture all 4 Dynamax Pokemon in a Max Lair.
- At the end, review the four Pokemon you’ve captured — you’ll only see if they’re a shiny in the end screen.
That’s the big trick. Pokemon will NOT appear as Shiny Pokemon in their Dynamax form during a raid battle while you’re adventuring in a Max Lair. The only way to tell is to capture all four and check again.
The chances of spotting a Shiny Pokemon are ridiculously increased — it’s far, far more common. You can even “farm” specific Pokemon by memorizing a legendary Pokemon location and hunting it over and over again.
Why is this the best method? Not only are your chances of finding a random rare Pokemon higher, and not only can you farm specific Pokemon for a Shiny, but you’ll also earn valuable dynite ore that you can use on extremely rare items at the dynite ore trader. This method is less repetitive, but also a little random — you’ll need a good team of Pokemon trainers. If your team is terrible and you don’t catch all four, it ruins a run.
To increase your Shiny chances even more, don’t forget to collect the Shiny Charm. Capture 100% of the Pokemon in the Galar Pokedex (the Isle of Armor / Crown Tundra aren’t required) and talk to the Game Director in Hotel Ionia in Circhester. He’ll give you the Shiny Charm, which significantly increases your chances of finding a Shiny.
More Pokémon Sword & Shield guides:
How To Evolve All The New Galar Region Pokémon | Evolution Guide | What’s Exclusive To Each Version? | How To Catch Shiny Pokémon | Pick This Starter Pokémon For An Early Advantage | How To Easily Evolve Farfetch’d Into Sirfetch’d | Brilliant Aura System | How To Catch Improved Pokemon | Combo & Ultimate Moves | Move Tutor Locations | How To Catch Pokemon Easier | False Swipe & Hypnosis Guide | Easter Eggs, Secrets & References Guide
