Is Dusknoir Good in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Playthrough?
Reaper Cloth trade from Dusclops. Physical Ghost with 100 Attack. Handles Fantina and Lucian. The Defense and Sp. Def are strong, but the low Speed means Dusknoir always takes a hit first. Gengar and Mismagius are faster alternatives.
Duskull has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Duskull has the type edge here and should clean up Gardenia's team.
Duskull has the type edge here and should clean up Maylene's team.
Duskull trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Duskull has the type edge here and should clean up Fantina's team.
Duskull has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Duskull trades roughly evenly with Candice's team.
Duskull trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Dusknoir has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Dusknoir trades roughly evenly with Bertha's team.
Dusknoir trades roughly evenly with Flint's team.
Dusknoir has the type edge here and should clean up Lucian's team.
Dusknoir has the type edge here and should clean up Cynthia's team.
Catch Dusclops on Route 224 (Poké Radar, Lv 52-54, common).
Most players are ready to trade before reaching Aaron.
How to Get Dusknoir in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
A trade step sits in Dusknoir's 3-stage chain from Duskull. The step cards below map each stage with catch locations and evolution methods. Duskull shows up at moderate rates, so the starting catch is the easy part.
How to Obtain Dusknoir in BDSP
The path to Dusknoir starts with Duskull at Lv. 23-63 via walking and special encounters. 2 catchable stages total, with locations listed for each one below.
Step 1Catch DuskullRoute 224Lv.23Using PokeRadarRate 2%Dazzling CaveLv.58-63CavePost-gameStargleam CavernLv.58-63CavePost-game
Step 2Catch or Evolve DusclopsRoute 224Lv.52-54Using PokeRadarRate 20%Dazzling CaveLv.58-63CavePost-gameStargleam CavernLv.58-63CavePost-gameor evolve from Duskull (Step 1)
Step 3Dusknoir ✓
Dusknoir Weakness
Ghost and Dark moves hit Dusknoir for super-effective damage. The upside? Normal and Fighting-type moves can't touch it at all. Dusknoir's overall bulk (45/135/135) lets it take a hit or two from most weaknesses before going down.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ghost, Dark |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Poison, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Normal, Fighting |
What is Dusknoir Weak Against
ExcellentBest Pokemon Against Dusknoir
 Haunter GhostPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Haunter builds →Shadow Ball 2x70-83% Dark Pulse 2x46-55% | ||
 Absol Dark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Absol builds →Night Slash 2x67-79% Shadow Claw 2x45-53% | ||
Haunter GhostPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Haunter builds →Shadow Ball 2x70-83% Dark Pulse 2x46-55% | ||
Absol Dark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Absol builds →Night Slash 2x65-78% Shadow Claw 2x44-52% | ||
Haunter GhostPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Haunter builds →Shadow Ball 2x69-81% Dark Pulse 2x45-54% | ||
Absol Dark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Absol builds →Night Slash 2x66-78% Shadow Claw 2x44-52% | ||
 Skuntank PoisonDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Skuntank builds →Sucker Punch 2x50-59% Shadow Claw 2x33-40% | ||
Haunter GhostPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Haunter builds →Shadow Ball 2x66-78% Dark Pulse 2x44-52% | ||
Absol Dark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Absol builds →Night Slash 2x65-76% Shadow Claw 2x43-51% | ||
Skuntank PoisonDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Skuntank builds →Sucker Punch 2x50-59% Shadow Claw 2x33-39% | ||
 Weavile DarkIce | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Weavile builds →Assurance 2x52-62% Shadow Claw 2x39-47% | ||
Haunter GhostPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Haunter builds →Shadow Ball 2x67-79% Dark Pulse 2x44-53% | ||
Absol Dark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Absol builds →Night Slash 2x65-76% Shadow Claw 2x43-51% | ||
Skuntank PoisonDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Skuntank builds →Sucker Punch 2x50-59% Shadow Claw 2x33-39% | ||
Weavile DarkIce | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Weavile builds →Assurance 2x52-62% Shadow Claw 2x39-47% | ||
Haunter GhostPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Haunter builds →Shadow Ball 2x67-79% Dark Pulse 2x44-53% | ||
Absol Dark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Absol builds →Night Slash 2x66-77% Shadow Claw 2x44-52% | ||
Skuntank PoisonDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Skuntank builds →Sucker Punch 2x49-58% Shadow Claw 2x33-39% | ||
 Cacturne GrassDark | C | |
Weavile DarkIce | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Weavile builds →Night Slash 2x61-72% Shadow Claw 2x40-48% | ||
 Banette Ghost | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Banette builds →Phantom Force 2x74-87% Sucker Punch 2x39-46% | ||
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Tyranitar can KO Dusknoir with Crunch (88-104%). Gengar's Shadow Ball hits Dusknoir for 69-82%.
 Tyranitar RockDark | A | |
Recommended Build AbilitySand Stream ItemChoice Band NatureAdamant Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Tyranitar builds →Crunch 2x88-104%KO Stone Edge55-65% Earthquake36-43% | ||
 Gengar GhostPoison | B | |
Recommended Build AbilityCursedbody ItemChoice Scarf NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Gengar builds →Shadow Ball 2x69-82% Sludge Bomb19-23% Giga Drain21-26% | ||
Dusknoir Evolutions
Dusknoir doesn't evolve through normal leveling. You'll need a trade to get here from Duskull's line. Breed this form to get Duskull eggs (average hatch time). Evolving from Duskull gave Dusknoir the biggest boost in Attack (+60), bringing the total to 525 stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Dusknoir to get Duskull eggs easily using 31 partners from the Indeterminate egg group. Notable egg moves include Destiny Bond, Grudge, Haze and 3 more.
BDSP Dusknoir Best Moveset
Crashed from S-tier as 135/135 in both defenses at 100 Attack couldn't justify a slot over Held ItemEviolite Dusclops, which reaches higher effective bulk as a middle evolution. Hidden AbilityFrisk reveals held items. The moveset has physical Ghost TermStab at decent power but D-tier because its own pre-evolution with Held ItemEviolite does the defensive job better.
Best Build
Dusknoir best EVs are HP and Defense
Wall Moveset
- Trick Room
- Will O Wisp
- Poltergeist
- Spite
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Dusknoir misses out on Destiny Bond and Grudge. That's 6 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Shadow Ball and Hex, with coverage across 9 types rounding things out.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The antenna on its head captures radio waves from the world of spirits that command it to take people there.
Dusknoir Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Guide
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Dusknoir has a 525 base stat total and ranks as B-Tier: a solid option in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl for the right team. It works best as an attacker. Trickroom with Leftovers is the standard set.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, watch for Gengar (Ghost) and Absol (Dark) when using Dusknoir. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Only 2 weaknesses means fewer dedicated counters to worry about. Dusknoir has enough bulk to absorb a hit, but don't push the matchup. Pivot to a teammate that resists.
No. Dusknoir is not catchable in the wild. It only comes from trade-evolving Dusclops. Trade needs a Game Boy Advance link cable and a second GBA running another Gen 3 game (FireRed, LeafGreen, Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald). Trade Dusclops to a friend, then have them trade it back. The 2026 Switch re-release supports the same trade through local wireless on the Pokemon Center 2F Wireless Club, with no cables required. The Reaper Cloth must be held during the trade. Bring one over from a sibling Gen 3 game if needed.
Pressure increases the PP cost of moves targetting the Pokémon by one. That's the one you want on Dusknoir. Frisk is the hidden ability. Niche, but it has its uses.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Dusknoir fills the attacker role. It's a mixed attacker with base 100 Attack and 65 Sp. Atk. Base 45 Speed is low. Priority moves or Trick Room are the way to go. And it's tanky enough to absorb a few hits.
Game Availability
Dusknoir has been available in 14 games since Diamond & Pearl, though obtaining it requires a trade evolution. This extra step makes it less common than Pokemon found through standard wild encounters.
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 7LGPE
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