Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Shiny Hunting Guide: Mass Outbreaks and Other Shiny Pokemon Methods

Unlike previous Pokemon titles where trainers relied on wild spawns and encountering Pokemon in long grass, shiny hunting in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is much more accessible for every player. Shiny hunting can be done from the moment you step foot into Paldea. There are several events to make the process a lot easier, which should be optimized since the odds of finding a shiny Pokemon are usually one in 4’000. So, if you’re desperate to find a shiny version of your favorite species, read on to discover the methods you should optimize.

Best Ways to Shiny Hunt in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

The first method players will probably encounter when it comes to shiny hunting is a mass outbreak. In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, mass outbreaks felt like a one-stop shop for shiny Pokemon, and in Scarlet and Violet, the process is very similar. Once you have located a mass outbreak, save your game immediately. After this, send your Pokemon out to K.O. 30 Pokemon currently on the field, which increases your chances of encountering a shiny to 1/2048 opposed to the original 4’000+. If you continue to knock out an additional 30 Pokemon, totaling a chain of 60, your odds will increase to 1/1’365.

Following this chain of knockouts, you will need to do a Picnic Reset. Essentially, stand in the middle of the outbreak and pitch a Picnic. This will remove every current spawn on screen until you pack up the picnic, and a new batch of Pokemon will spawn. Mass outbreaks usually result in around 20 same-species Pokemon spawnings simultaneously, which will quickly chip away at the odds. Continue to pitch and pack up your picnic until a shiny Pokemon spawns. There’s no guarantee how many times you will have to pitch and pack up a picnic until shiny spawns, but it’s a pretty guaranteed method without any buffs from a Shiny Charm or a sandwich.

However, if you don’t want to utilize mass outbreaks to encounter shiny Pokemon, you can also use the tried and true Masuda Method to hatch a shiny Pokemon from eggs. To use this method, you must breed Pokemon via a picnic to collect eggs. However, one of the Pokemon breeding will need to be from a country with a different language to your own. This method increases the chances of finding a shiny from 1/4’096 to 6/4’096 but requires a lot more time and effort. While there are ways to speed up egg-hatching times, you will constantly need to change your party to make room for more eggs and repeat yourself a lot.

Of course, this method can be improved through a shiny charm, which increases the odds of finding a shiny Pokemon in the wild or through breeding. For players following the Masuda method, the odds of hatching a shiny Pokemon are increased to 8/4’096, and for wild encounters, 1/1365. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet offer a new way of shiny hunting through its sandwich craft.

To increase your odds further, create a sandwich filled with Herba Mystica. However, each type of Pokemon has a different requirement of ingredients to optimize, so the ingredients you will need depend on which species of Pokemon you are looking to hunt for. The table below lists every Pokemon type and its ingredients required to optimize the sandwich method.

These recipes will guarantee effects for 30 minutes of shiny hunting time and can be repeated for as many types as necessary. Paired with the shiny charm and a mass outbreak, you will have increased your odds of finding a shiny Pokemon as high as possible. Before you start shiny hunting, you should ensure that the Pokemon you have in battle knows the move False Swipe. Once you have caught 30 species of Pokemon, Mr. Jacq will give you the recipe for the T.M., and you can teach it to your preferred Pokemon. This move will allow you to continue to hit Pokemon but never go past 1HP, resulting in an almost guaranteed catch.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available on Nintendo Switch.