Anyone looking to complete their Pokedex in Pokemon Legends: Arceus will need to get their hands on a Cranidos and Shieldon, but that’s not necessarily going to be easy. Even so, players will be very familiar with how to get Shieldon and Cranidos in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus gates a lot of content behind the player’s Pokedex progression, which forces players to catch, battle, and evolve many more Pokemon than they might typically. Naturally, Cranidos and Shieldon are among them, but Pokemon Legends: Arceus breaks from tradition in terms of how to get these Pokemon.
Fossil Pokemon are traditionally caught by finding a fossil during the game, bringing it to an NPC, and having them resurrect it. In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Pokemon from the past, present, and future are all brought together through Space-Time Distortions. Meanwhile, BDSP players need to get fossil Pokemon the old fashioned way.
Players can find and catch Cranidos and Shieldon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus by jumping into Space-Time Distortions in the Coronet Highlands.
Each Space-Time Distortion in Pokemon Legends: Arceus has a set of Pokemon that will spawn and roughly half of the ones in the Coronet Highlands have Shieldon and Cranidos. Within the right Space-Time Distortion, Shieldon and Cranidos are both uncommon spawns, with Bastiodon and Rampardos being rare spawns.
Not all Space-Time Distortions will include these Pokemon. They’re not exceptionally rare though, so players shouldn’t have to grind too hard before finding one.
Players can get Shieldon and Cranidos in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl by reviving a Shield Fossil or Skull Fossil, respectively.
Both the Shield Fossil and Skull Fossil are rare finds that can be obtained by mining in the Grand Underground. Unfortunately, while players can freely revive both fossils in either game, they can only find them in one version or the other. The Skull Fossil is exclusive to Pokemon Brilliant Diamond, while the Shield Fossil is exclusive to Shining Pearl.
As a bit of consolation, both games can get fossils from previous generations including Aerodactyl’s Old Amber, the Helix and Dome Fossils of Red and Blue, and the Root and Claw Fossils of Ruby and Sapphire.
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