Pokemon Sword and Shield came out back in November 2019. This was a significant retake on how they had gone for with the recent Pokemon games: The Pokemon Let’s Go series. This was a little different. Not only was it unlike the last game which was based on Pokemon Go, but it also paid homage to the original games. While the games, its graphics and so on had quite the oomph but lacked any story distribution. This is something that made the classics the amazing games they were.
Talking about the game. You play the game through in regular fashion, you beat the gym challenge. Instead of taking part in a Pokemon League with Elite Four, you battle against trainers and ultimately go against Leon, the Champion. After beating him, catching the two legendary Pokemon available, you’re done. That’s about it. Imagine spending about $60 and having such an anticlimactic ending.
Now, in January, the company announced its expansion packs for the two games: The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. While the latter is set for a release in November, The Isle of Armor was made available earlier this month.
The DLC introduced by the company not only brings new stories and arcs to the existing games but it also manages to add new Pokemon and ensure hours of extended gameplay.
This guide would cover all the bases one would need in order to go into the new DLC. Not only will it help guide the players but also allow people to decide on why this may be an excellent addition to your current game.
The New Area
Now, after having bought and downloaded the additional content for the Isle of Armor Expansion Pass, users will need to go to the nearest train station. This train station may be the one found in Wedgehurst Town. If you have trouble recalling this one, had you purchased the Expansion Pass before the release, Nurse Joy, at the Pokemon Centre, would tell you that a rare Pokemon at Wedgehurst Station can be seen. You may choose to go there and find that this is the all-new Galarian Slowpoke. It is a water and poison type. Over there, you also meet your rival for this new expansion pass, Klara (if you have Sword) or Avery (if you have Shield). These two would be your rivals during this expansion pass, and you’d find yourself battling them quite often.
Now, moving to the new area. From the train station, you’d be going on a flying taxi to the East of the current Galar Region. This is an Island, the Isle of Armor.
The Isle of Armor map isn’t really a small one either. The map offers some distinct locations such as mountain tops, a desert area, the sea area, canals running through the map, passing through caverns, a forest, the Dojo and finally the two towers which the users can opt for to change the move-set of their Urshifu. All-in-all, the entire map is quite beautiful as the rest of the Galar region in the game. It is perhaps the superior graphics of the Switch system compared to its predecessors from Nintendo that gives the game an edge as well.
Just like the former part of the game, the Isle of Armor showcases different weather conditions and a bunch of dens as well. The area reminds one of the Wild Area at times, and sometimes it just feels like the Wild Area on steroids (with so much more happening). The forest area does feel congested though since the wild pokemon spawns are literally on your face. Unlike the Wild Area, dodging these babies would not be that easy.
The Story
Coming to the expansion pack’s story. Now, while the basic game offered a new perspective with its story, the different style of gym challenges, there wasn’t much depth to it. It was all too straight forward. Going back to the times of Pokemon Fire Red/ Leaf Green and Emerald, we saw a lot of story depths. Not to mention, some after game content was always welcome. Pokemon Sword and Shield didn’t really offer that before. Even right now, unless you’re ready to unload $29.99 on the expansion pass, there isn’t much you can do in the game. You could train your Pokemon, try to complete the Pokedex and battle at the Frontier. That’s about it.
The isle of Armor expansion pass adds more depth to the story as well. We start by coming to the island and face our rival (mentioned above). This interaction leads us to the Dojo. At the Dojo, we meet the master who inducts us in, gives us a flare of the new Dojo attire and asks us to complete certain tasks and challenges. Not to mention, we fight our rival a couple of times again. During this time, depending on our choice, we get to pick out a Kanto starter as well. My suggestion would be to go for the type which complements your starter and the rest of your team. If not that, then go for Charmander. Always go for Charmander (Just kidding). The final task in passing out from the Dojo is to have a final battle (with Dynamxing) against your rival. Beating your rival results in the master giving you the flagship Pokemon for the expansion pack: Kubfu. Ultimately, the goal is to choose between the Tower of Darkness and the Tower of Waters.
The Towers of Two Fists
In the game, after getting the Kubfu from Master Mustard, you have to train and battle with Kubfu to increase your friendship. After which, Master Mustard guides you to the two towers and tells you that you have to choose between the two.
The first is the Tower of Waters. Here, the user has to go through 5 levels of the Tower, facing an opponent on each level. The final opponent is Master Mustard himself. Now, before going for the Tower, it is advised that the player should train his/her Kubfu well. Since you can only take Kubfu in your party and to beat the Tower, the user has to do it in one go; there is a good chance that you may have to try and try again.
Now, how much training are we talking about here? Well, let’s look at the trainer levels at the Tower of Waters.
- First floor: a Psyduck at level 65
- Second floor: a Krabby at level 66
- Third floor: a Marill at level 67
- Fourth floor: a Poliwhirl at level 68
- Fifth floor: Dojo Master Mustard’s Kubfu at level 70
Given the high levels at the Tower, it is advised that players should train their Kubfus to at least level 70 and above. Now, while the rest of the floors are relatively easier to beat, the final battle isn’t. It should be noted that the Master’s Kubfu also knows the same moveset at yours and while an Arial Ace may sound like an easy way to go, remember that if you’re at a lower level, the opponent will outspeed you. Upon winning, your Kubfu will evolve into an Urshifu, which is a Fighting and a Water-type.
The second option is to go to the Tower of Darkness. The Tower also follows the same layout as the one in the Tower of Waters. Here, we also have five flours, but the trainers and their Pokemon are different.
- First floor: Zorua, level 65
- Second floor: Scraggy, level 66
- Third floor: Inkay, level 67
- Fourth floor: Krokorok, level 68
- Fifth floor: Kubfu, level 70
Now, here we see dark type Pokemon, as the name for the Tower suggests. Again, fighting against Master Mustard, the same advice as before should be followed.
How to train your Kubfu though? Well, the easiest way would be to go to the unapproached dens and fight/defeat the Dynamax Pokemon. Upon defeating them, the player can get Rare Candies and other similar items to boost the level really fast in the beginning. Users can use their main team to fight in the Pokemon League again to get Wishing Pieces. These can be used to reawaken dormant dens.
Another approach would be to grind the Pokemon the old fashion way. If you’re a veteran Pokemon player, you’d know the fun that is behind some grinding session. While it may take hours at a single sitting, grinding the Pokemon would level it up too. Going through the region, according to the level would help. Then, after it is at a high enough level, the user can battle it against the roaming Pokemon in the Wild Area or even at the Pokemon League. Make sure to add Leon or Hop to the tournament as they both have higher level Pokemon which can result in more XP.
Other Missions
The fun doesn’t quite end there. After beating either one of the Towers, players can evolve their Kubfu into Urshifu. Since it is the Galar region, and Gigantamaxing is a thing, users can acquire a Gigantamax form for their newly acquired Pokemon.
For the rest of the Pokemon, it is quite simple. Get three Max Mushrooms for the Max Soup, and you’re good to go. For Urshifu, you go to the Master, and he tells you that Urshifu doesn’t like the taste of the soup without the secret ingredient: Sticky Honey.
To acquire the Sticky Honey, players have to have beaten the game before. Then, you go to the Forest of Focus (Hop is there too). There, you run into a baby Petilil who is looking for its mother. You then look for its mother, Liligant. You walk it to its child and get the Liligant nectar.
The next Pokemon top go to is an Applin. This Pokemon would be close to a berry tree where you found the Liligant. Go to it, and it would climb up the tree. Shaking the tree would make it fall to get the nectar.
Finally, you need the nectar from Vespiqueen. Vespiqueen can be found on Honeycalm Island, which is to the North of the map. There, after battling and defeating Dynamax Vespiqueen, you acquire the Max Honey needed for Urshifu’s Max Soup. Simply take all the ingredients (including the three Max Mushrooms) to the Dojo Kitchen, and you can acquire Gigantamax Urshifu.
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