Is Dialga Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Sinjoh Ruins event encounter with Arceus. Steel/Dragon with AbilityPressure. If obtained through the event, Dialga handles everything. Event-dependent availability limits access to a small window.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Dialga resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Dialga trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Dialga resists most of Clair's coverage and hits back hard.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Dialga resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Dialga resists most of Janine's coverage and hits back hard.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Dialga has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Dialga resists most of Lance's coverage and hits back hard.
Trade
Dialga cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- LV 28DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Pryce
- TUTORDragonDraco MeteorPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 150Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- After Clair
- TM59DragonDragon PulsePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Given by Clair in the Dragon's Den after the Dragon Shrine test
- LV 42SteelFlash CannonPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 46DragonRoar of TimePower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Dialga in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Dialga is handed to you at Sinjoh Ruins. No encounter rates or random spawns involved, so there's nothing to grind. Check the location details below for the exact conditions to trigger it.
1 location to catch Dialga
Badge 8How to Get Dialga in HeartGold & SoulSilver
How to Get Shiny Dialga in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Dialga is offered at the Sinjoh Ruins through the Arceus event, so soft-reset the gift until it shines. Compare Shiny Dialga odds across every game
Sinjoh Ruins gift (Lv1) triggered by event Arceus. Requires event distribution.
Shiny Dialga Evolution
Does Not EvolveHeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Dialga Calculator
1 MethodThe only route here is Soft Reset, about 1 in 8,192 on each try.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds for Dialga.
Dialga Weakness
Dialga's Steel/Dragon typing leaves it vulnerable to Fighting and Ground. It shrugs off Poison-type attacks completely. 11 resistances give it solid defensive coverage on top of that. Dialga's overall bulk (100/120/100) lets it take a hit or two from most weaknesses before going down.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fighting, Ground |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Normal, Water, Electric, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dark, Steel |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass |
| 0x (Immune) | Poison |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Dialga Weak Against
FortressBest Pokemon Against Dialga
 Gallade PsychicFighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Gallade builds →Focus Punch 2x100-118%KO Earthquake 2x45-53% | ||
 Hariyama Fighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Hariyama builds →Focus Punch 2x97-115%KO Earthquake 2x44-51% | ||
 Breloom GrassFighting | A | |
 Hitmonlee Fighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tyrogue (Mt Mortar Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Hitmonlee builds →Focus Punch 2x97-115%KO Earthquake 2x44-51% | ||
 Blaziken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Silph Co Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Blaziken builds →Focus Punch 2x97-115%KO Earthquake 2x44-51% | ||
 Toxicroak PoisonFighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Toxicroak builds →Focus Punch 2x88-103%KO Earthquake 2x39-46% | ||
 Primeape Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Primeape builds →Focus Punch 2x87-102%KO Earthquake 2x39-46% | ||
 Marowak Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Marowak builds →Earthquake 2x46-55% Focus Punch 2x46-55% | ||
 Machoke Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Machoke builds →Focus Punch 2x83-98% Earthquake 2x37-44% | ||
 Garchomp DragonGround | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Garchomp builds →Earthquake 2x70-82% Brick Break 2x35-41% | ||
 Swampert WaterGround | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Silph Co Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Swampert builds →Earthquake 2x60-71% Focus Punch 2x60-71% | ||
 Gliscor Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Gliscor builds →Earthquake 2x54-63% Brick Break 2x27-32% | ||
 Hippowdon Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Hippowdon builds →Earthquake 2x61-72% Rock Smash 2x17-20% | ||
 Steelix SteelGround | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dialga View Steelix builds →Earthquake 2x49-57% Rock Smash 2x13-16% | ||
Dialga Evolutions
You can't breed Dialga or evolve it into anything else. This Steel/Dragon legendary packs 680 stats and doesn't need a chain to be relevant. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
HGSS Dialga Best Moveset
Steel/Dragon uniquely resisting Dragon moves most legendaries fear, with 150 Sp. Atk and 120 in both Attack and Defense. The moveset combines type advantage over other Dragons with overwhelming special power. Banned from standard play.
Best Build
Dialga best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Sweeper Moveset
- Draco Meteor
- Thunder
- Dragon Pulse
- Stealth Rock
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
STAB runs through Roar of Time and Draco Meteor for the basics, but Dialga's real strength is the 10-type coverage spread. Rock and Normal hit common defensive types, and the movepool keeps going.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
All 32 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
This Pokémon completely controls the flow of time. It uses its power to travel at will through the past and future.
Dialga HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Dialga isn't catchable in HeartGold & SoulSilver. Find it in Diamond or Platinum, then trade it to HeartGold & SoulSilver.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, use Dialga as a pivot. Special attacks are the main output. Speed is middling,
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, build your team around Kyogre, Giratina Origin, and Groudon. These have the highest co-usage rates with Dialga in competitive formats. They cover each other's weaknesses.
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, run Timid on Dialga. +Speed is what matters, and the -Attack cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the pivot role.
Game Availability
Dialga has appeared in 13 games since Diamond & Pearl, spanning 6 generations. As a Legendary, it's typically a one-per-save encounter tied to the story or post-game content.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DPDebut
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
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