Is Donphan Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Phanpy evolves at level 25, or catch wild on Route 45. Ground-type with AbilitySturdy. Strong Attack and excellent Defense. Handles Jasmine, Pryce, Lt. Surge, and Blaine. One of the best Ground-types if you're playing HeartGold.
Phanpy has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Phanpy has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Phanpy has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Morty's typing presses Phanpy's defenses.
Chuck's Pokemon outpace and outclass Phanpy here.
Phanpy has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Pryce's team hits Phanpy's weaknesses hard.
Donphan trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Donphan resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Donphan trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Donphan resists most of Lt. Surge's coverage and hits back hard.
Erika's team hits Donphan's weaknesses hard.
Donphan has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Donphan has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Donphan resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Donphan trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Donphan trades roughly evenly with Will's team.
Donphan has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Donphan has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Donphan has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Donphan trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catch Phanpy
Catch Phanpy on Route 45 (walking, Lv 20, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 20)
- LV 20NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TUTORNormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Ilex Forest
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- LV 37NormalLast ResortPower 130Accuracy 100%PP 5
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 42NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Phanpy to Donphan
Phanpy evolves into Donphan at Level 25. Your Phanpy should hit Level 25 before you reach Clair, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 25)
- LV 25NormalHorn AttackPower 65Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TUTORNormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Ilex Forest
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- LV 46GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 54NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Donphan in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Donphan roams HeartGold only, uncommon to common across Mt. Silver and the Kanto endgame. You can also evolve a Phanpy at level 25, and either way SoulSilver needs a trade since it runs Ursaring instead.
Wild Donphan may be holding when caught:
Passho Berry (5% chance) If held by a Pokemon, it weakens a foe's supereffective Water-type attack.3 locations to catch Donphan2 locations to catch Phanpy
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Catch Phanpy at any of the 2 locations below, then level it up to 25 — it evolves into Donphan.
Badge 8Where To Catch Donphan in HGSS
Available earlier: catch Phanpy (before Badge 8) and evolve it at Lv 25. Wild Donphan first appears at Victory Road (after Badge 8).
- Step 2Donphan ✓Mt. Silver - 1FLv.44CaveHeartGoldRate 30%Victory Road - 1FLv.33CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Victory Road - 2FLv.33CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Victory Road - 3FLv.33CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Route 28Lv.40GrassHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - BaseLv.42CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - 1F Central ChamberLv.47-48CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - 1F Upper ChamberLv.47-48CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - 3FLv.47CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - Upper mountainsideLv.47CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - 2FLv.48-50CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - Lower mountainsideLv.50CaveHeartGoldRate 10%or evolve from Phanpy (Step 1)
To plan your throws, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver catch rate calculator with Donphan preloaded.
How to Get Shiny Donphan in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Donphan lumbers across Route 28 in HeartGold, but breeding it Masuda-style is the quicker route to a shiny. Compare Shiny Donphan odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Donphan Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,639 on each try.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 173-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 472-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 1,136-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 3,773-- | -- |
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.
For time estimates and charm math, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds calculator with Donphan already selected.
Donphan Weakness
Donphan is weak to Water, Grass, and Ice. On the flip side, it's immune to Electric-type moves entirely. Donphan's physical bulk (base 120 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Grass, Ice |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Poison, Rock |
| 0x (Immune) | Electric |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Donphan Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Donphan
 Gyarados Water | S | |
Obtain MethodLake Of Rage Good Rod Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Donphan View Gyarados builds →Aqua Tail 2x64-75% Ice Fang 2x31-37% | ||
 Roserade GrassPoison | B | |
 Carnivine Grass | C | |
 Articuno Ice | C | |
Obtain MethodSeafoam Islands Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Donphan View Articuno builds →Ice Beam 2x94-111%KO Water Pulse 2x40-48% | ||
 Sceptile Grass | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Treecko (Silph Co Gift) | ||
 Cacturne GrassDark | B | |
 Tangrowth Grass | C | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Venusaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Pallet Town Gift) | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Jumpluff Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodSafari Zone Surfing | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Donphan View Jynx builds →Ice Beam 2x110-130%KO Energy Ball 2x62-73% Water Pulse 2x47-56% | ||
 Kingler Water | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Donphan View Kingler builds →Crabhammer 2x74-87% Ice Beam 2x38-45% | ||
Donphan Evolutions
Evolved from Phanpy. Donphan is the final form in this two-stage line. A massive partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. Attack grew the most through evolution (+60 over Phanpy), and Donphan peaks at 500 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Donphan to get Phanpy eggs easily using 131 partners from the Field egg group. Notable egg moves include Ancient Power, Body Slam, Counter and 6 more.
HGSS Donphan Best Moveset
Physical Ground tank at 120 Attack and 120 Defense with AbilitySturdy surviving any single hit from full HP. The moveset fires MoveEarthquake and sets MoveStealth Rock while taking physical punishment. MoveRapid Spin clears hazards. 50 Speed is slow but the role doesn't need it.
Best Build
Donphan best EVs are HP and Defense
Hazard Setter Moveset
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding opens up real options for Donphan. Ancient Power and Body Slam come exclusively from egg moves, and they're worth the effort. The rest of the kit covers basics through Earthquake and Earth Power and coverage across 11 types.
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 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Reminder Moves
Base Stats
It has sharp, hard tusks and a rugged hide. Its tackle is strong enough to knock down a house.
The longer and bigger its tusks, the higher its rank in its herd. The tusks take long to grow.
Donphan HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Yes. Wild Donphan in HeartGold & SoulSilver can hold Passho Berry (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Passho Berry.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Donphan plays as a wallbreaker. Not the fastest, so pick your spots carefully. Earthquake is the primary attack.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Impish is the go-to nature for Donphan. That's +Defense / -Sp. Atk. Pair it with 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD EVs. Fits the wallbreaker role.
Game Availability
Available in 16 titles since its debut in Gold & Silver, Donphan spans 8 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through wild encounters in most mainline games.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GSDebut
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
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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