Pokémon GO Choose a Path: Sword or Shield?

As part of the Legendary Heroes event in Pokémon GOTrainers are asked to “choose a path” between sword or shield, just as they did when deciding whether to play Pokemon Sword Or Pokemon Shield On the Nintendo Switch. This decision will primarily affect the incense spawns you can meet during the event, so it is important to make the right choice.

Branching paths have become quite common Pokémon GO In recent years, with many timed research and special research quests now requiring trainers to make a decision between multiple paths. Sometimes this leads to different tasks and rewards, other times it decides what Pokemon you will learn about, such as the latest Galar profession quest. For the Legendary Heroes quest, however, your decision will affect which Pokemon you can catch.

Should you choose the sword or shield path?

Decide which version exclusives you want to grab

There will always be an element of personal preference with branching paths, but if you’re looking for a concrete answer, I’d recommend Choosing the shield path In the Legendary Heroes timed research quest.

The main reason for selecting the shield path is that Larvitar is one of the exclusive spans What can appear when using incense. Larvitar’s final evolution, Tyranitar, is one of the best Pokemon in the game right now, and it gets even better when mega-evolved. Mega Tyranitar is currently the top Dark-type attacker for raid battles and one of the best Rock-type attackers as well. Even without the mega-evolution, regular Tyranitar is still a top-tier attacker for both types.

On the other hand, if we take a look at the sword path, the Standout incense spawn is Deino. Deino’s final evolution is Hydreigon, a powerful Pokemon that is almost as good as Tyranitar when used as a Dark-type attacker in raid battles. However, it lacks a mega-evolution to boost its power and it doesn’t excel at being an attacker of any other type, so it doesn’t have as much versatility as Tyranitar. It’s still an excellent Pokemon, it just isn’t Complete How good.

Outside of the two pseudo-legendary Pokemon, the rest of the incense spawns for both the Sword Path and the Shield Path aren’t particularly exciting. Still, if Hydreigon and Tyranitar don’t interest you, check out the list of version-exclusives below and see what you’re missing from your Pokédex, or what evolutions you’re missing. For example, if you just need a little more candy to evolve a Solosis into Duosion and Reuniclus, the shield path might be best for you.

If you’re still not sure, a final way to decide might be to see which shiny versions you like the most. All of the incense spawns for both sword and shield paths have the potential to be shiny when encountered in the wild. The chances of this happening are low, but if you plan to play a lot during the Legendary Heroes event, it might be worth trying your luck!

Legendary Heroes: Sword Path Explained

Get encounters with Deino, Scraggy, Gothita and more

If you choose the Sword Path in the Legendary Heroes Timed Research, you will be able to meet some Pokemon that are exclusive to Pokemon Sword On the Nintendo Switch when you use incense. You can see these below:

• Seedot
• scraggy
• Gothita
• Deino
• swirls
• Passimian

As well as the Pokemon you can encounter when you use incense, choosing the Sword Path will also influence the reward encounters you will receive for completing various Legendary Heroes Timed Research tasks, as well as the Collection Challenge you will need to complete.

Legendary Heroes: Shield Path Explained

Get encounters with Larvitar, Croagunk, Lotad and more

If you choose the Shield Path in the Legendary Heroes Timed Research, you will be able to meet some Pokemon that are exclusive to Pokemon Shield On the Nintendo Switch when you use incense. You can see these below:

• Larvitar
• Lotad
• croagunk
• Solosis
• splash
• Oranguru

As well as the Pokémon you can encounter when using incense, choosing the Shield Path will also influence the reward encounters you will receive for completing various Legendary Heroes Timed Research tasks, as well as the Collection Challenge you will need to complete.

Ultimately, the path you choose will depend on the Pokémon encounters that are most important to you. Whichever path you decide on, make sure you grab as many of the featured incense spawns as you can, and get ready to take on Zacian as he makes his long-awaited return to Pokémon GO In 5-star raid battles. Who knows, you might even find a shiny one!