New Pokemon Sword & Shield Shiny method discovered over a year after release

A Pokemon Sword & Shield player has discovered a new Shiny hunting method involving a Pokedex feature. The incredible trick was uncovered over a year after the RPG released. 

The Pokemon franchise was ushered into its eighth generation with the debut of Sword & Shield in 2019. The Nintendo Switch title introduced fans to the Galar region for the very first time.

Despite having been out for over a year, a dedicated player discovered a new method which makes Shiny hunting easier than ever. The trick substantially boosts spawn rates for ‘mon.

New Shiny method found in Pokemon Sword & Shield

Since its release, there have been multiple Shiny methods found in Sword & Shield. The latest one used the Dynamax Adventures mode in The Crown Tundra expansion. While it features a wide variety of ‘mon and Legendaries you can catch, it doesn’t include all of them.

In late December, Pokemon enthusiast ‘Sibuna_Switch’ uncovered a new trick which can be used for monsters not in the DLC mode. Surprisingly, it uses the basic ‘Dex Recommendation’ feature that has been in the Gen 8 game since launch.

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“Route 2 shiny Feebas! Dex recommendation boosted the rate from 1% to 13.16%. Dex recommendation can [also] be rerolled using den date skip if Pokedex is full,” the player explained. Below, we will go over the steps on how to make it work.

Shiny Pokemon Dex Recommendation method

• Step 1: Go to a spot on the Galar map, pause, and then click the Pokedex menu. Once here you will see a “Current Recommendations” screen on the bottom, and a list of four Pokemon being recommended. These ‘mon will have a boosted spawn rate which means getting a Shiny faster by encountering them over and over.

• Step 2: If you don’t like the characters listed, you can force the feature to re-roll if you have a complete Pokedex. Simply hop on your bike and ride over to the closest Raid Den.
• Step 3: Once at a Den, click “Invite Others” and then hit the Home button on your Switch. Go to System Settings, then scroll down to the bottom settings tab. Click Date & Time and turn Synchronize Time off. Now skip your system date a day forward and go back into your game.

• Step 4: Once back in, cancel your Den search, pause, and re-open the Pokedex. The recommended list should now feature new monsters. Simply repeat steps 2-4 over and over again until the right Pokemon are listed.

It should be pointed out that although the Dex Recommendation method doesn’t boost Shiny variants, it does drastically increase a specific monsters encounter rates, which speeds up the the hunting process substantially.

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While Dynamax Adventures and other methods are technically quicker, this new trick helps out Trainers looking for characters that can’t be caught using the other strategies. Not to mention it’s just a cool feature in general. Any player who spent hours to catch a 2% Feebas would love to have had a 13% spawn chance.