After months of anticipation, the second part of the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass has been released. The Crown Tundra has got trainers everywhere chomping at the bit to catch ‘em all once again. The Isle of Armor, the first part of the Expansion Pass which came out earlier this year, allowed trainers to get their hands on Urshifu, a brand-new Legendary Pokémon. Well, they’ve really gone all out with The Crown Tundra: almost all Legendaries from previous games are available to catch here, alongside a smattering of new ones.
47 of the returning Legendaries are available through a new mode called Dynamax Adventures. Dynamax Adventures put you up against a series of four Max Raid dens, culminating in a Legendary encounter for the final one.
You’ll want to get to grips with this mode as it offers a great chance to catch lots of rare and powerful Pokémon. There’s a high chance to get shiny Pokémon if that’s your sort of thing, as well.
Okay, yeah.
— Michael (@SciresM) October 24, 2020
Pokemon from dynamax adventures are rolled to be forced shiny.
Odds are exactly 1/300 without shiny charm, exactly 1/100 with shiny charm.
This uses cryptographically secure randomness, so no RNG.
All shinies found this way will be stars (xor result = 1).
However, bear in mind that you can only catch the Legendary Pokémon once. If you’re a shiny hunter, don’t catch non-shiny Legendaries if you’re planning to get a shiny version down the line. The Legendaries you can pick up are as follows:
- Articuno (Kanto form)
- Zapdos (Kanto form)
- Moltres (Kanto form)
- Mewtwo
- Raikou
- Entei
- Suicune
- Ho-Oh
- Lugia
- Latios
- Latias
- Groudon
- Kyogre
- Rayquaza
- Uxie
- Mesprit
- Azelf
- Dialga
- Palkia
- Heatran
- Giratina
- Cresselia
- Tornadus
- Thundurus
- Landorus
- Reshiram
- Zekrom
- Kyurem
- Xerneas
- Yvetal
- Zygarde
- Solgaleo
- Lunala
- Tapu Koko
- Tapu Lele
- Tapu Bulu
- Tapu Fini
- Nihilego
- Buzzwole
- Pheromosa
- Xurkitree
- Celesteela
- Kartana
- Guzzlord
- Necrozma
- Stakataka
- Blacephalon
I’ve seen some reports that your selection is different if you’re playing on Sword or Shield, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I’ve fought against Solgaleo and Lunala, for example. Either way, that list should keep you occupied for some time!
Pokemon Crown Tundra - How Dynamax Adventure Works
The process of doing Dynamax Adventures is pretty simple. You can either battle alongside AI teammates or real players over the internet. I’d recommend going online if you can, as the AI can be pretty stupid (we’re looking at you, Martin and Solrock). Having said that, real players can be pretty stupid as well so it’s not vitally important.
You can’t use your own Pokémon; instead, you get a choice of three rental Pokémon to pick from. Once everyone’s chosen, you’ll fight through four raid battles, the last of which is a Legendary. Any Pokémon that you defeat can be subbed in for what you’re currently using. This can be really useful when your health is low or the Pokémon in question is particularly strong.
If you’ve already fought a Legendary that you didn’t catch, you can try to beat it again. Otherwise, it’s randomly selected. If you beat and catch all the Pokémon you come across, you can choose one to take away with you. It’s not always that simple, though.
If you and your teammates’ Pokémon faint four times in total, you get kicked from the den. The same happens when 10 turns elapse in a single battle. In this scenario, you can still take away one of the Pokémon you’ve caught thus far, if any.
Pokemon Crown Tundra Legendaries - The Road to Victory
Dynamax Adventures gives you the choice of which route to take through the dens. If you’re with other people, the path with the most votes is taken. You can see which primary type each den is, and this should influence your thinking. Use the right thumbstick to scroll up and see what type the Legendary is. For example, if it’s Psychic, make sure to try and pick up a strong Dark, Bug, or Steel Pokémon along the way.
There are also helpful folk who you can bump into on the way:
- The backpacker gives you a choice of items for your Pokémon to hold.
- The scientist allows you to swap your current Pokémon for a random one.
- The berries heal your Pokémon for around half of their max health.
Which is best? It depends on the circumstances. The berries are always nice when your team has been through a few tricky battles. Personally, I just use the scientist when my Pokémon is weak or low health. Sometimes you luck out and get a Mimikyu, but you can equally get something totally useless. It’s important to remember that your Pokémon don’t get healed in between fights, so healing or swapping your Pokémon is often the difference between victory and defeat. You only get four "lives," after all.
Having said that, I think the backpacker is actually the most useful one. If you can, pick up a Life Orb or Leftovers. Other than that, anything that heals your Pokémon or increases their strength is a safe bet.
Pokemon Crown Tundra Legendaries - Final Tips
If you’ve done any max raid battles before, Dynamax Adventures should be straightforward enough. Still, victory isn’t guaranteed by any means. There are a few more things you can do to maximize your chances.
Make sure your Pokémon has at least one super-effective move against the Legendary if possible. As we’ve discussed, you can scroll up with the right thumb stick to see the primary type of the Legendary straightaway. If you haven't memorized the type chart like your times tables, give it a quick Google; you get plenty of time in between rounds.
There are a few moves which you should look out for which give your team more staying power. Light Screen and Reflect halve the damage taken from special and physical attacks respectively. Life Dew heals all the Pokémon on your team for a little bit.
Inflicting status conditions, particularly Freezing and Paralyzing opponents, can be very handy. Bear in mind that Legendaries will recover quite quickly from their status conditions, so it’s not always something you can rely on.
Stat-boosting moves are very circumstantial. Legendary Pokémon will neutralize any stat changes at various intervals, and this is worth keeping an eye on. There’s nothing worse than getting off a Swords Dance on your Scyther only to have its attack boost nullified before it can move again.
Finally, Dynamax when you can. You don’t always know what your teammates have in mind, so, unless your Pokémon is completely useless, it’s never a bad idea to Dynamax it when it’s your turn. This allows you to select super-powerful moves with added effects. It’s worth setting Grassy Terrain where you can as this heals up all Pokémon for a small amount.
Well, that’s your lot! Got any other tips for budding Dynamax Adventurers or disagree with anything we’ve got here? Let us know in the comments.
Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net
A steady hand and a Bloodborne fan.
Pronouns: he/him.
