The Thorn Seed Pokemon. Ferroseed has Iron Barbs damaging anything that touches it. With Eviolite, Ferroseed is surprisingly tanky as a Grass/Steel hazard setter.
Ability 1Iron BarbsAbility 1Damages attacking Pokémon for 1/8 their max HP on contact.
305HP44Attack50Defense91Speed10Sp.Def86Sp.Atk24
Ferroseed
Ferrothorn
Weak to
Immune to
Physical
Balanced
10Speed · Very Slow

Ferroseed Best Moveset

Grass/Steel typing resisting 9 types and AbilityIron Barbs damaging anything that makes physical contact give this pre-evo a defensive identity. 91/86 defenses on 44 HP give some bulk. The moveset sets MoveStealth Rock and previews Ferrothorn's S-tier dominance.

Evolution family tier history
SABCDEFBCE-EBlack & White / B2W2VBW/B2W2PEAKX & Y / ORASVIXY/ORASSun & Moon / USUMVIISM/USUMTHE FALLSword & Shield / BDSPVIIISS/BDSPCURRENT
★Gen V — Black & White / B2W2B

Iron Barbs plus Eviolite from Ferrothorn's pre-evolution in Gen V (Black & White). Spikes, Stealth Rock, and Leech Seed from a bulky wall that punished contact.

Hidden Abilities became available

Best Moves

SRCMOVETYPECATPWRPOPROLE
Egg
Stealth Rock
Rock—POPULARUtility
Egg
Spikes
Ground—COMMONHazard
Egg
Leech Seed
Grass—COMMONSTAB
TM73
Thunder Wave
Electric—COMMONUtility
TM17
Protect
Normal—RAREPriority
Tutor
Endeavor
Normal—RARECoverage
Lv 21
Gyro Ball
Steel—RARESTAB

Best Build

Experimental
Wall
Ability
Iron Barbs
Item
EvioliteBULK
Best Nature for Ferroseed
Sassy+SPD

Ferroseed best EVs are HP and Sp. Def

EVs

Wall Moveset

  • Stealth Rock
  • SpikesHazard
  • Leech SeedSTAB
  • Thunder Wave
↓Gen VI — X & Y / ORASC

Dropped in Gen VI (X & Y). Ferrothorn was readily available and strictly better in every format. Eviolite couldn't close the gap the way it did for Dusclops.

Fairy type added to the gameMega Evolution became available
SRCMOVETYPECATPWRPOPROLE
Egg
Leech Seed
Grass—POPULARSTAB
Lv 21
Gyro Ball
Steel—COMMONSTAB
Lv 9
Curse
Ghost—COMMONSetup
TM6
Toxic
Poison—COMMONUtility
Egg
Stealth Rock
Rock—COMMONUtility
Experimental
Wall
Ability
Iron Barbs
Item
EvioliteBULK
Best Nature for Ferroseed
Sassy+SPD
EVs

Wall Moveset

  • Leech SeedSTAB
  • Gyro BallSTAB
  • CurseSetup
  • ToxicUtility

Recommended Teammates

↓Gen VII — Sun & Moon / USUME-

Two gens of decline by Gen VII (Sun & Moon). Ferrothorn overshadowed it completely. Knock Off removed Eviolite, and without it Ferroseed was paper.

Z-Moves became available
SRCMOVETYPECATPWRPOPROLE
Egg
Stealth Rock
Rock—POPULARUtility
TM73
Thunder Wave
Electric—POPULARUtility
Egg
Leech Seed
Grass—POPULARSTAB
Egg
Spikes
Ground—POPULARHazard
Experimental
Wall
Ability
Iron Barbs
Item
EvioliteBULK
Best Nature for Ferroseed
EVs

Wall Moveset

  • Stealth Rock
  • Thunder Wave
  • Leech SeedSTAB
  • SpikesHazard
→Gen VIII — Sword & Shield / BDSPE

Three gens of decline in Gen VIII (Sword & Shield). The pre-evolution that never escaped its evolution's shadow. Ferrothorn did everything better with higher stats.

Gigantamax became availableDynamax became available
SRCMOVETYPECATPWRPOPROLE
Egg
Leech Seed
Grass—POPULARSTAB
TR23
Spikes
Ground—COMMONHazard
TM14
Thunder Wave
Electric—COMMONUtility
TR76
Stealth Rock
Rock—COMMONUtility
Egg
Knock Off
Dark65RARECoverage
Experimental
Wall
Ability
Iron Barbs
Item
EvioliteBULK
Best Nature for Ferroseed
Impish+DEF
EVs

Wall Moveset

  • Leech SeedSTAB
  • SpikesHazard
  • Thunder Wave
  • Stealth Rock

Ferroseed Weakness

Fire and Fighting moves hit Ferroseed for super-effective damage. Fire hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. The upside? Poison-type moves can't touch it at all. 9 resistances give it solid defensive coverage on top of that. With 44 HP and balanced defenses, Ferroseed can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.

Ferroseed Weakness and Resistance Chart
DamageTypes
4x (Critical)Fire
2x (Weak)Fighting
0.5x (Resist)Normal, Water, Electric, Psychic, Rock, Dragon, Steel, Fairy
0.25x (Resist)Grass
0x (Immune)Poison

What is Ferroseed Weak Against

Excellent
2Weak
9Resist
1Immune
Score+7

What is Ferroseed Strong Against

5Strong
2Resisted
0Immune
Score+3
½xResisted
0xImmune
None

Best Pokemon Against Ferroseed

Blaziken can KO Ferroseed with Flare Blitz (186-219%). Lucario's Close Combat hits Ferroseed for 80-95%.

Blaziken
Blaziken
FireFighting
B
Lucario
Lucario
FightingSteel
B

Evolution

Ferroseed evolves into Ferrothorn. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. Plenty of partners for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs take an average time to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 184 total stats over Ferroseed. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

2 Forms
Stat Comparison 2 Stages
Ferroseed
GrassSteel
Ferrothorn
GrassSteel
HP
44
74+30
ATK
50
94+44
DEF
91
131+40
SP.ATK
24
54+30
SP.DEF
86
116+30
SPE
10
20+10
BST
305C-Tier
489B-Tier+184
ROLE
Balanced
Trick Room
TYPE
Physical
Physical

Breeding

Very Easy

Breed Ferroseed easily with 89 breeding partners from the Grass and Mineral egg groups.

Egg Groups
GrassMineral
Gender
♂50.0%♀50.0%
Hatch Time
20 cycles·5,140 steps
Quick~5 min with Flame Body
Breed With (best first)
venusaurmeganiumtorterraroseradeserperiorludicoloshiftryabomasnowwhimsicottglaliefroslasscrustle

Shiny Ferroseed

Dull gray-green turning golden-bronze gives Ferroseed a treasure chest vibe. For a spiky metal seed, looking like buried gold is a major upgrade. A tier.

Normal vs Shiny
Normal FerroseedNormal
Shiny Ferroseed Shiny
Color ShiftGraytoBlue
Shiny TierA Tier Shiny

Shiny Ferroseed Evolution

2 Forms
Showing shiny artworkView Full Evolution Chart

Shiny Ferroseed Odds & Hunting Methods

7 of 7 Verified
GameBest MethodOddsDifficulty
More dots = harder hunt1/200 Green = best verified rate
How do we research these odds?

We check every game where a shiny is possible, then rank each one by the best method available in that game, so the row at the top is the fastest route overall.

Odds marked verified are cross-checked against multiple independent sources before we publish them. Where a rate is not yet confirmed we mark the row pending rather than guess a number.

Read our full methodology

How to Get Ferroseed

All 7 games

A solid number of locations for Ferroseed with moderate rates across early-game routes. The sort toggle below swaps between best odds and earliest access, so you can approach it based on where you are in the game.

Where To Catch Ferroseed in SwSh

Ferroseed is where the line starts, caught through walking encounters at Lv. 13-65. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.

  1. Ferroseed
    Step 1Ferroseed ✓
    Route 4
    Lv.13-15Grass
    Rate 1%
    All Weather
    Motostoke Riverbank
    Lv.26-28Grass
    Rate 10%
    Snowstorm
    Bridge Field
    Lv.26-28Grass
    Rate 5%
    Snowstorm
    Bridge Field
    Lv.26-28Grass
    Rate 5%
    Normal Weather
    Bridge Field
    Lv.26-28Grass
    Rate 5%
    Overcast
    Bridge Field
    Lv.26-28Grass
    Rate 5%
    Heavy Fog
    Bridge Field
    Lv.26-28Grass
    Rate 5%
    Raining
    Bridge Field
    Lv.26-28Grass
    Rate 5%
    Sandstorm
    Bridge Field
    Lv.26-28Grass
    Rate 5%
    Snowing
    Bridge Field
    Lv.26-28Grass
    Rate 5%
    Intense Sun
    Bridge Field
    Lv.26-28Grass
    Rate 5%
    Thunderstorm
    Stony Wilderness
    Lv.28-30Overworld
    Rate 5%
    Snowstorm
    Stony Wilderness - 2
    Lv.28-30Overworld
    Rate 5%
    Snowstorm
    Stony Wilderness - 3
    Lv.28-30Overworld
    Rate 5%
    Snowstorm
    Lakeside Cave
    Lv.60-65Overworld
    Rate 10%
    All Weather
  2. Ferrothorn
    Step 2Catch or Evolve into Ferrothorn
    Dusty Bowl
    Lv.40-45Grass
    Rate 10%
    Snowstorm
    or evolve from Ferroseed (Step 1)

Not landing the catch? Calculate Ferroseed catch rates for Sword & Shield by ball, status, and HP.

Base Stats

Ferroseed's all-in on Defense at the expense of Speed. The physical lean is obvious from the bars. Yields 1 Defense EV and follows a medium-fast 1M XP curve.

Base Stats
Avg
HP44
D
Attack50
D
Defense91
B
Sp. Atk24
F
Sp. Def86
C
Speed10
F
Total305
Details
Catch Rate
Guaranteed255 / 255
Growth Rate
Medium Fast1M XP
Height0.6 m
Weight18.8 kg
Base XP61
Abilities
Iron Barbs
Damages attacking Pokémon for 1/8 their max HP on contact.
EV Yield
HPAtkDef+1SpASpDSpe
Defense training source
Pokedex Entry

Mossy caves are their preferred dwellings. Enzymes contained in mosses help Ferroseed’s spikes grow big and strong.

Pokemon Shield

Ferroseed Guide

  • Ferroseed does the job early-game if you need a Grass/Steel type on your team. Evolve it into Ferrothorn before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.

Game Availability

Introduced in Black & White, Ferroseed has appeared in 7 games across 5 generations. Later debuts mean fewer total appearances, but it's been a consistent presence since its introduction.

Explore

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