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The Fifth Generation ofPokemonintroduced a total of 156 brand-new Pokemon, a very ambitious feat since the Hoenn region in Gen 3. Among these 156 are Roggenrola and its evolutions: Boldore and Gigalith. Instead of recycling the Geodude family,Pokemon SwordandPokemon Shieldbrought the Roggenrola-line to Galar alongside many other Rock-type Pokemon.
Roggenrola, Boldore, and Gigalith are all pure Rock-type Pokemon. Unfortunately, Roggenrola’s stats aren’t the greatest, but if players are willing to wait, they can get its second evolution, Boldore, instead. Evolving Boldore into the mighty Gigalith can be impossible if players don’t have anyone to trade with inPokemon SwordandPokemon Shield. However, there is one way around the trading method.
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Finding & Evolving Boldore
Boldore’s pre-evolved form, Roggenrola, can be found as early as theGalar Mines, which players will need to travel through in order to get to the first Gym Battle. It only has a 5% appearance rate, so it may take a while to find one.
If players choose to catch Roggenrola, they’ll need toget it to level 25 in order to evolve it into Boldore. After this, Boldore needs to betraded with anotherSword/Shieldplayer to evolve.
The other option is to catch Boldore in the wild. Boldore’s lowest level is around level 26. It can be found in most of the areas of thenorthern section of the Wild Lands, particularly Giant’s Mirror, Stony Wilderness, and Giant’s Cap.
In Stony Wilderness, it has a 20% chance of appearing as a random encounter during a sandstorm. At Giant’s Mirror, it’s around level 34 as a visible Pokemon with a 10% appearance rate.
There’s alsoRoute 8, where Boldore can be spotted in tall grass. It’ll be anywhere from level 39 to level 41. Finally, Boldore willoccasionally spawn in a Max Raid Battleas a 2 or 4-star boss.
Trading Boldore
To trade locally, do the following:
To trade via the internet, do this instead:
If evolving Boldore, donotselect Surprise Trade. This guarantees a random Pokemon in return for Boldore, thus defeating the purpose of getting Gigalith.
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Catching Gigalith in the Wild and Max Raid Battles
If players are lucky, they’ll find Gigalith wandering about in theDusty Bowl area of the Wild Lands. Gigalith will be level 51, unless players have received all Gym Badges, in which case it’ll be level 60 instead. It also has a chance of appearing as a 5-star boss in a Max Raid Dungeon in Dusty Bowl, Stony Wilderness, Rolling Fields, and Giant’s Seat.
Those that purchased the Isle of Armor DLC can find a level 42 Gigalith in the Brawler’s Cave. Like the Wild Lands, Gigalith and Boldore will occasionally appear in Max Raid Dungeons around the Isle of Armor, particularly in Potbottom Desert, Training Lowlands, and Fields of Honor.
Gigalith’s Typing makes it weak to Grass, Fire, Steel, Ground, and Fighting-type moves. However, it has abase stat Defense and Attack of 135to make up for its poor Speed and Special Attack. This means choosing to whittle its HP with Physical-damaging moves is going to stretch out the battle.
If players are hoping to knock out Gigalith in a Max Raid Battle, they’ll be better off using Special Moves like Aura Sphere and Flash Cannon. Putting Gigalith to Sleep or Paralyzing it may help as well. However, as a 5-star, it’ll set up shields more frequently - especially when it loses chunks of health. So, try not to bring a Pokemon that’s weak to Rock-type moves.
Gigalith knows Rock Slide, which can hitall of its opponents. Furthermore, if Gigalith chooses to use Max Rockfall, it’ll spawn a sandstorm for five turns. Sandstorm not only inflicts damage on non-Ground/Rock/Steel-type Pokemon, but it’ll also raise theSpecial Defense of Rock-type Pokemonby one stage.
If players want to avoid the Max Raid Battle with Gigalith, they can just search Dusty Bowl or Brawler’s Cave (Isle of Armor) for the wandering Gigalith instead.
Pokemon Sword & Shieldare available now on Nintendo Switch.
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