Shiny Hunting Is Much Easier In The Pokemon Legends: Z-A DLC, And Some People Aren’t Happy
Sam (He/Him) is the former Managing Editor of DualShockers and is now Senior Reporter at TheGamer. He’s been in and around games media for six years now and has held a variety of roles within the industry, including staff writer, SEO editor, managing editor and global head of gaming content.
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Shiny hunting has been a staple of the Pokemon series for almost as long as it’s existed, but it’s not always been easy. The earlier games had odds of 1/8192, compared to today’s 1/4096, and there weren’t necessarily specific methods for quickly hunting them down. This made shinies feel extra special.
As time has passed, Game Freak has introduced new ways for players to hunt down these elusive Pokemon, reducing the odds in the process, and Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Mega Dimension DLC has taken things to the next level. While great news for many, these changes have upset parts of the shiny-hunting community, leaving them feeling their hard work in previous games was for nothing.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Dimension s New Shiny Hunting Has Split The Community
Up until Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, aside from a few extremely awkward methods, players were stuck with the base 1/8192 rate. Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum then introduced the famous Masuda Method for breeding, and the Poke Radar, which could reduce odds to 1/638 and 1/200, respectively.
Black and White came along and slashed the Masuda Method odds further, and Black and White 2 introduced the Shiny Charm. Ultra Sun and Moon then drastically cut the odds of shiny Legendary encounters, and it continued to spiral to where we are today, with Mega Dimension’s combination of the Shiny Charm, Sparkling Power, and the ease of refreshing spawns, proving the perfect catalyst for abundant shinies. This has become a divisive issue among players.
Since Mega Dimension’s release, multiple threads have popped up on the Legends Z-A subreddit with players showing off their shiny hauls. A recent thread featured a video of a player running through a Hyperspace Wild Zone with seven shiny Dragon-type Pokemon (including three Alphas), visible within the first 9 seconds. These have served as perfect breeding grounds for the divide.
The thread, created by Mean_Violinist5759, was titled “It’s disgusting how easy they made shiny hunting,” and they’re not particularly wrong. One player commented, “Yeah, it’s not even a flex anymore,” while another added, “I loved the loooong hunt for shinies, always remember resetting for regidrago.”
Although some complained, many of the comments were overwhelmingly in favor of these new methods. “They’ve always been out of reach for me, so I’m having a blast,” said Manditobandito. Another commenter added, “Thank god. I’ve never had time to shiny hunt in my life. This will make it fun for me, finally.”
It was ultimately summed up by DryBones907, who, when commenting on the RNG to create donuts, said, “The grind is still there, and has more steps now beyond the Pokémon itself.”
I’ve never had time to shiny hunt in my life. This will make it fun for me, finally.
Personally, I’m all for these improved shiny rates. It’s one of the reasons Legends: Arceus resonated with me so well, and I’m having a blast wasting my evenings creating donuts and surveying Hyperspace Wild Zones. It’s a little frustrating that I spent so long creating the now-defunct spawn overloads or hunting for things like Froakie and Fennekin in the base game, only for them to be a doddle now, but it certainly feels more rewarding getting multiple shinies in an hour than potentially zero across multiple hours.
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