Physical
Attacker
STier
45Speed · Slow

Stats & Training

Dusknoir's all-in on Defense at the expense of HP. The physical lean is obvious from the bars. Yields 3 Defense and Sp. Def EVs and follows a fast 800K XP curve.

Base Stats
High
HP45
D
Attack100
B
Defense135
A
Sp. Atk65
C
Sp. Def135
A
Speed45
D
Total525
Details
Catch Rate
Challenging45 / 255
Growth Rate
Fast800,000 XP
Height2.2 m
7'03"Average
Weight106.6 kg
235.0 lbsHeavy
Base XP236
High Yield
Abilities
Pressure
Increases the PP cost of moves targetting the Pokémon by one.
FriskHATop Pick
Reveals an opponent's held item upon entering battle.
EV Yield
HPAtkDef+1SpASpD+2Spe
Strong Special Defense training target
Pokedex Entries

The antenna on its head captures radio waves from the world of spirits that command it to take people there.

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.

Dusknoir Weakness and Resistance Chart
DamageTypes
2x (Weak)Ghost, Dark
0.5x (Resist)Poison, Bug
0x (Immune)Normal, Fighting
Type ChartExcellent
2Weak
2Resist
2Immune
Score+4
4xCritical
None
2xWeak
GhostDark
½xResist
PoisonBug
¼xResist
None
0xImmune
NormalFighting
STAB (2)
PsychicGhost
How to Beat Dusknoir in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl (Best Counters)

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Tyranitar can KO Dusknoir with Crunch (116-137%). Gengar's Shadow Ball hits Dusknoir for 47-55%.

Tyranitar
Tyranitar
RockDark
A
Recommended Build
AbilitySand Stream
ItemChoice Band
NatureAdamant
Moves
  • CrunchSTAB
  • Stone Edge
  • Earthquake
  • Stealth Rock
Damage vs Dusknoir
Crunch 2x
116-137%KO
Stone Edge
72-85%
Earthquake
48-57%
View Tyranitar builds →

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Evolution

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

3 Forms
Duskull
#355Duskull
37
Level 37
Dusclops
#356Dusclops
Trade + Reaper Cloth
Trade + Reaper Cloth
Dusknoir
#477Dusknoir
Stat Comparison 3 Stages
Duskull
Ghost
Dusclops
Ghost
Dusknoir
Ghost
HP
20
40+20
45+5
ATK
40
70+30
100+30
DEF
90
130+40
135+5
SP.ATK
30
60+30
65+5
SP.DEF
90
130+40
135+5
SPE
25
25
45+20
BST
295C-Tier
455C-Tier+160
525B-Tier+70
ROLE
Balanced
Balanced
Attacker
TYPE
Utility
Physical
Physical

Breeding

Easy

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.

Egg Groups
Indeterminate
Gender
♂50.0%♀50.0%
Hatch Time
25 cycles·6,425 steps
Moderate~6 min with Flame Body
Egg Moves
6moves
Breed With (best first)
gardevoirgalladegastrodonshelloskirliacastformraltsmukgengarweezingswalotrotom
12 of 31·

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Dusknoir Best Moveset

Bulk and offense in one package. Dusknoir runs Assault Vest for a special bulk boost with no status moves allowed with a Adamant nature, so it survives long enough to threaten with Poltergeist. Max HP and Attack EVs and Ground coverage make it hard to safely switch into.

Best Build

Experimental
Ability
Frisk
Item
Assault VestBULK
Best Nature for Dusknoir
Adamant+ATK

Dusknoir best EVs are HP and Attack

EVs

Physical Tank Moveset

  • Shadow SneakSTAB
  • PoltergeistSTAB
  • Power Up Punch
  • EarthquakeCoverage

Moves

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.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1
Astonish
—3010015Ghost
Lv 1
Bind
—158520Normal
Lv 1
Disable
C—10020Normal
Lv 1
Fire Punch
C7510015Fire
Lv 1
Gravity
D——5Psychic
Lv 1
Ice Punch
C7510015Ice
Lv 1
Leer
D—10030Normal
Lv 1
Shadow Punch
C60—20Ghost
Lv 1
Shadow Sneak+1
S4010030Ghost
Lv 1
Thunder Punch
C7510015Electric
Lv 12
Confuse Ray
D—10010Ghost
Lv 16
Night Shade
D—10015Ghost
Lv 20
Payback
D5010010Dark
Lv 24
Will-O-Wisp
A—8515Fire
Lv 28
Mean Look
D——5Normal
Lv 32
Hex
C6510010Ghost
Lv 36
Curse
C——10Ghost
Lv 42
Shadow Ball
C8010015Ghost
Lv 48
Future Sight
C12010010Psychic
Lv 54
Destiny Bond
C——5Ghost

TM Moves

TM
TM45
Attract
B—10015Normal
TM14
Blizzard
D110705Ice
TM31
Brick Break
S7510015Fighting
TM83
Bulldoze
C6010020Ground
TM04
Calm Mind
C——20Psychic
TM57
Charge Beam
D509010Electric
TM79
Dark Pulse
D8010015Dark
TM32
Double Team
———15Normal
TM85
Dream Eater
C10010015Psychic
TM26
Earthquake
S10010010Ground
TM58
Endure+4
C——10Normal
TM42
Facade
C7010020Normal
TM70
Flash
——10020Normal
TM56
Fling
——10010Dark
TM52
Focus Blast
D120705Fighting
TM01
Focus Punch-3
B15010020Fighting
TM68
Giga Impact
B150905Normal
TM15
Hyper Beam
C150905Normal
TM13
Ice Beam
D9010010Ice
TM66
Payback
D5010010Dark
TM17
Protect+4
C——10Normal
TM77
Psych Up
S——10Normal
TM29
Psychic
D9010010Psychic
TM18
Rain Dance
C——5Water
TM44
Rest
C——10Psychic
TM80
Rock Slide
C759010Rock
TM98
Rock Smash
D4010015Fighting
TM39
Rock Tomb
D609515Rock
TM30
Shadow Ball
C8010015Ghost
TM48
Skill Swap
C——10Psychic
TM82
Sleep Talk
C——10Normal
TM96
Strength
—8010015Normal
TM90
Substitute
C——10Normal
TM11
Sunny Day
C——5Fire
TM87
Swagger
D—8515Normal
TM12
Taunt
B—10020Dark
TM46
Thief
C6010025Dark
TM41
Torment
D—10015Dark
TM92
Trick Room-7
S——5Psychic
TM61
Will-O-Wisp
A—8515Fire

Egg Moves

Egg
Egg
Destiny Bond
C——5Ghost
Egg
Grudge
———5Ghost
Egg
Haze
C——30Ice
Egg
Imprison
D——10Psychic
Egg
Memento
C—10010Dark
Egg
Pain Split
C——20Normal

Tutor Moves

Dusknoir can't learn any Tutor moves

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 decent rates, so the starting catch is the easy part.

Trade Evolution Required — Requires trading with another player

How to Obtain Dusknoir in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

The path to Dusknoir starts with Duskull at Lv. 16-63 via walking and special encounters. 2 catchable stages total, with locations listed for each one below.

  1. Duskull
    Step 1Catch Duskull
    Dazzling Cave
    Shining PearlGrass Lv.16-63 Cave
    25%Mid
    Unique encounter
    Stargleam Cavern
    Shining PearlGrass Lv.16-63 Cave
    25%Mid
    Unique encounter
    Dazzling Cave
    Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.16-63 Cave
    20%Mid
    Unique encounter
    Stargleam Cavern
    Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.16-63 Cave
    20%Mid
    Unique encounter
    Route 224
    Shining PearlUsing PokeRadar Lv.23 Route
    2%Mid
    Route 224
    Brilliant DiamondUsing PokeRadar Lv.23 Route
    2%Mid
    Dazzling Cave
    Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
    Post
    Post-game
    Dazzling Cave
    Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
    Post
    Post-game
    Stargleam Cavern
    Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
    Post
    Post-game
    Stargleam Cavern
    Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
    Post
    Post-game
  2. Dusclops
    Step 2Catch or Evolve Dusclops
    Route 224
    Brilliant DiamondUsing PokeRadar Lv.52-54 Route
    20%Post
    Route 224
    Shining PearlUsing PokeRadar Lv.52-54 Route
    20%Post
    Dazzling Cave
    Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
    Post
    Post-game
    Dazzling Cave
    Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
    Post
    Post-game
    Stargleam Cavern
    Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
    Post
    Post-game
    Stargleam Cavern
    Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
    Post
    Post-game
    or evolve from Duskull (Step 1)
  3. Dusknoir
    Step 3Dusknoir ✓

Dusknoir Guide

  • In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Dusknoir has a 525 base stat total and ranks as S-Tier: one of the best picks in the Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl meta. It works best as an attacker. Shadow Sneak with Assault Vest 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.

  • 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 physical attacker with base 100 Attack. 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.

  • For Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Dusknoir has answers, but so do you. Faster attackers outpace it. Anything with a super-effective STAB move and decent speed can revenge kill.

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

Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
Want to tell us more?
What was most useful?
What could be improved?
Thanks for your feedback