Smallest List of Raid Dens for Dex Completion in Sword and Shield

The Raid system in Pokémon Sword and Shield has proven to be one of the easiest ways to get shiny Pokémon. Random Number Generation Manipulation coupled with the ability to determine the raid den seeds allows players to know exactly when a den is shiny. Since a player can host these raids to others while maintaining the state of the den through soft resetting, it’s easy to catch as many Pokémon from the raids as desired.

However, there are 197 programmed nests or pools of Pokémon in each game (when the DLC is included) that can appear in the raid dens. A significant number of those nests have repeated Pokémon and many of the “baby” raids (one to two star raids available only with a small number of gym badges) can be evolved into many of the Pokémon in the “adult” raids (three to five star raids available after a point in the story). It’s inefficient to just power through each of the 197 nests

Unfortunately, there are also some dens in the games that cannot be reached without the Water Rotom Bike upgrade. So, a few Pokémon are impossible to get from raid dens. These three are Shellos (West Sea), Horsea, and Mantyke. Happiny is also not available in raid dens since the Happiny, Chansey, and Blissey nest was never assigned a location. All other Pokémon available in raids are possible.

To make this easier on individuals looking to complete their shiny living dexes (or even just looking to knock out a good chunk of their regular living dexes), this list was determined. There are still a significant number of nests that need to be hosted between both games and the DLC, so it’s recommended to tackle these raids as a community rather than as an individual.

linkAdditional Strategy

While many Pokémon with differing forms are included directly in the raid dens (such as Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist sizes, Rockruff forms, and Sinistea forms), others may not be. Please be aware of the following:

• Espurr needs both genders caught for Meowstic
• Toxel evolves into Low Key or Amped Toxtricity based on nature
• Darumaka requires a different ability for Zen Mode Darmanitan
• Koffing can be evolved in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (BDSP) to Kantonian Weezing
• Mime Jr. can be evolved in BDSP or Legends: Arceus (PLA) to Kantonian Mr. Mime
• Petilil can be evolved in PLA to Hisuian Lilligant
• Rufflet can be evolved in PLA to Hisuian Braviary
• Goomy can be evolved (twice) in PLA to Hisuian Sligoo and Hisuian Goodra
• Bergmite can be evolved in PLA to Hisuian Avalugg
• Scyther can be evolved in PLA to Kleavor

Additionally, it may be possible to evolve Cubone, Pikachu, and Exeggcute into their Alolan evolution forms in the future.

linkList of Dens to Host

Here is the optimal listing of dens to host. If you’re curious how this listing was found, read up in the methodology section below.

linkListing – Not Including Gigantamax Forms

This first listing assumes that you do not want to include Gigantamax Pokémon as “uniques,” as Gigantamax Pokémon are difficult to catch and be given Gigantamax status through the Max Soup item available in the Isle of Armor DLC.

Without Gigantamax, there are 555 unique Pokémon (including forms) that can be caught in Sword and Shield raid dens (this is out of the approx. 840 different Pokémon and forms that exist in the games). This set of 107 nests covers them all.

linkBaby Dens

Host the one-and-two-star version of these raid dens.

linkAdult Dens

Host the three-to-five-star version of these raid dens.

linkListing – Not Including Gigantamax Forms

This list assumes that Gigantamax Pokémon should be hosted. This might be useful for communities where many individuals do not have the DLC to use Max Soup in the Isle of Armor.

With Gigantamax, there are 579 unique Pokémon (including forms) that can be caught in Sword and Shield raid dens. This set of 126 nests covers them all.

linkBaby Dens

Host the one-and-two-star version of these raid dens.

linkAdult Dens

Host the three-to-five-star version of these raid dens.

linkMethodology

Stay tuned!