A Nuzlocke run is a special way to play a Pokemon game,and it’s been used for generations. The idea is to give yourself an extra challenge and play a familiar series in a new way! There are new rules (self-imposed by the player) that ask you to get outside your comfort zone. However,Pokemon Scarlet and Violetarethe first open-world games in the main series, and they consequently complicate the Nuzlocke rules.That’s where we come in!
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Each of our tips and tricks willeach solve one of three problems:
The first problem you’ll need to solve is the fact thatyou’re only supposed to catch one Pokemon on each route.In Scarlet and Violet, there are no routes, since that wouldn’t really be an open-world! Instead, the game is broken up intoareas or regions, each of which are scaled differently.This rule is meant to restrict the number of, and species of, Pokemon you catch, but it’s definitely hit a roadblock in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
In a Nuzlocke, you’rerestricted to catching the first Pokemon you come acrossin the tall grass. Like the one-Pokemon-per-route rule, it’s meant to limit the species of Pokemon you can get, andencourage you to use species that don’t necessarily have the best stats, or which you might not have ever gravitated towards naturally. This is both a challenge and a fun new way to shake up the series! However,in Scarlet and Violet, unlike previous Pokemon games, you can see all the Pokemon in the world.You have to actually run into them to catch them, so it’s not random like it’s supposed to be for a Nuzlocke.
The final major hurdle you’ll face when trying to do a Nuzlocke run of these games is that the setup is too freeform. That sounds like a weird complaint, we know, but theNuzlocke system is based on the idea that you’ll progress steadily from one Gym to the next,passing through areas where the Pokemon slowly become more and more challenging to face. In a game where you’re free to travel to the hardest possible area whenever you want,you might wind up facing Pokemon who are much higher-level than you.You’re much more likely to lose your Pokemon in that kind of situation, when they’re permanently dead.
7Routes: One Pokemon Per Area
Since the game doesn’t have routes, you cancount each area within the provinces as a route!Of course, this isn’t clear-cut, given the open-world layout of the game, but it’s the closest you can come to the original intent behind a Nuzlocke.
Theareas are listed below:
Province
Subdivisions (each counting as a route for the purposes of a Nuzlocke)
None, count the entire area as a Route
6Catching Pokemon: Run Around Blind
Once you have the routes all translated into areas, you need to face the next aspect of a Nuzlocke: catching only the first Pokemon you encounter on the route. As mentioned above, that’s a little complicated. The simplest, most intuitive solution is to justrun around blindly and count the first Pokemon you run into as your first encounter!
This is agreat method, but it has its drawbacks.The open-world setup allowed these games to put Pokemon in their natural environments more, so you might know in advance what kind of Pokemon you’re going to get based on where you start. There are also Pokemon you just couldn’t encounter that way, like ones that hang from trees.
5Catching Pokemon: Tera Raids
Another method that’s been suggested is that,instead of catching Pokemon in the open world, you’re able to just run to the first Tera Raid Battle you seeand let whichever Pokemon is automatically generated be the Pokemon you catch for that area! It’s a way to ensure you genuinely won’t know what Pokemon you’re getting.
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There area couple potential problemswith this method that you should weigh. First, it can behard to decide which Tera Raid is “first.“Two might be equidistant from you or, if you don’t start in the area you’re going to a Raid in, you’ll need to choose one from the map and just make claims about which one you saw first. Plus, theTera Raid Pokemon are different than the kind you’d find in the wild;they have a unique Tera type. You might argue this gives a player using this method an advantage.You can always change a Tera type with Tera shards, but it’s a pain. It also adds a level ofsuspicion about which Tera Raid you visit;did you see a Dragon-type Raidand a Normal-type Raid and opt for the Dragon-type one? Of course, no one is policing your Nuzlocke (unless you’re a streamer)… butyou’ll always know.
4Catching Pokemon: Random Number From Full List In An Area
This method is probably the fairest,but also the most anal. First, you need to find a full list of the Pokemon that spawn in the given area. Next, use a random number generator to pick one of those Pokemon species. When you have one, journey to the area and catch the first Pokemon of that species you find! If you landed on a second- or third-stage evolution, like Houndoom, you might allow yourself to catch one of the earlier evolution stages, like Houndoor.
By catching Pokemon this way, youbypass most of the problems of the other methods, like the fact that blindly running around won’t allow you to catch a Pokemon that spawns in trees, or that some Pokemon might only spawn in caves.
3Routes & Catching Pokemon: Catch One Of Everything And Roll A Die
One Redditorsuggested an alternative method that solves two problems in one. They don’t really differentiate the routes or areas from one another at all, they justcatch every Pokemon they come across, so long as they don’t already have it in their Pokedex.
Once they have caught six new Pokemon, they roll a six-sided dieand let fate decide! The Pokemon chosen by the die becomes what the player calls an “eligible” Pokemon, and they can add one eligible Pokemon to their party after each completed raid (or catch one from the first random Tera Raid the internet connects them to).
We can have tons of debates about how true it is to the intent behind a Nuzlocke but, when all’s said and done,it’s a pretty concise system.
2Fainting Pokemon: Use Auto Battling
Regarding the fainting problem, one new mechanic in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will help you avoid unnecessary deaths. The games allow you to throw out Pokemon to walk alongside you, and theycan auto battle with nearby wild Pokemonwhile they do!Pokemon battling this way will never faint,they only become exhausted at 1 HP and return to you. you’re able to easilytest if an area is too high levelfor you by sending out a Pokemon to auto battle and seeing how quickly they return.
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There’s an argument to be made here that this defeats the purpose of a Nuzlocke,which is to a) challenge the player and b) force them to become more attached to the Pokemon in their party. It’s up to the player whether this mechanic breaks their personal rules, but it’s a resource at your disposal if you want it.
1Fainting Pokemon: Which Areas Have Which Level Of Pokemon
Though the game doesn’t force you to follow a set path, there’s a general suggestion abouthow to progress based on what level the wild Pokemon and major bosses are.If you were going strictly by level, this is the order in which you should take on the challenges:
1
15
2
16
3
17
4
19
5
21
6
24
7
27
8
29
9
30
10
32
11
35
12
42
13/14
45
47
50
55
18
56
Team Star Base
Fighting
Thisdoesn’t suggest a straight-forward path,like going around to the east or west and circling Area Zero until you return to the academy, but you can generally say that the east and west are middling difficulty, south off the academy is the easy area, then the far north is the most challenging.
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