Is Dusknoir Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Trade Dusclops holding Reaper Cloth. Pure Ghost with AbilityPressure doubling PP consumption. Transfer-only. If imported, Dusknoir tanks everything but can't deal much damage back. Pure attrition. Handles Maylene and Fantina through Ghost immunities.
Dusclops has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Dusclops has the type edge here and should clean up Gardenia's team.
Dusclops has the type edge here and should clean up Maylene's team.
Dusclops has the type edge here and should clean up Crasher Wake's team.
Dusclops has the type edge here and should clean up Fantina's team.
Dusclops has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Dusclops has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Dusclops has the type edge here and should clean up Volkner's team.
Dusknoir has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Dusknoir has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Dusknoir has the type edge here and should clean up 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 Mars's team.
Dusknoir has the type edge here and should clean up Jupiter's team.
Dusknoir has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Dusknoir trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catch Dusclops
Catch Dusclops on Route 224 (Poké Radar, Lv 52-54, common).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 52)
- LV 52FireWill-O-WispPower —Accuracy 75%PP 15
- After Gardenia
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- After Crasher Wake
- TM30GhostShadow BallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Route 210
- After Byron
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- After Candice
- TM85PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Valor Lakefront
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Dusclops to Dusknoir
Dusclops evolves into Dusknoir when traded. Trade it in the post-game, after you beat Cynthia.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- TM29PsychicPsychicPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Veilstone Game Corner
- After Crasher Wake
- TM30GhostShadow BallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Route 210
- After Byron
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- After Candice
- TM85PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Valor Lakefront
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Dusknoir in Diamond & Pearl
Dusclops reaches its final form, Dusknoir, only when traded while holding a Reaper Cloth. Nothing spawns wild, so that eerie cloth plus a friend to trade with is the single route in.
Wild Dusknoir may be holding when caught:
Kasib Berry (5% chance) Held: Consumed when struck by a super-effective Ghost-type attack to halve the damage.Catch Duskull or Dusclops at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Dusknoir.
Badge 8How to Obtain Dusknoir in DP
The path to Dusknoir starts with Duskull at Lv. 23 via special encounters. 2 catchable stages total, with locations listed for each one below.
How to Get Shiny Dusknoir in Diamond & Pearl
Dusknoir takes a Reaper Cloth trade, so chain a shiny Duskull on Route 224 and evolve the line up. Compare Shiny Dusknoir odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Dusknoir Calculator
3 MethodsThe best route is PokeRadar Chain at full boosts, about 1 in 200 on each try. Tune it below.
PokeRadar Chain: Chain shaking-grass patches without breaking the combo. The rate peaks at a chain of 40.
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 | 22-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 58-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 139-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 460-- | -- |
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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Dusknoir in the Diamond & Pearl Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
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 |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Dusknoir Weak Against
ExcellentBest Pokemon Against Dusknoir
 Giratina GhostDragon | S | |
Obtain MethodTurnback Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Giratina builds →Shadow Force 2x88-104%KO Dark Pulse 2x40-48% | ||
 Absol Dark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Absol builds →Sucker Punch 2x74-88% Shadow Claw 2x43-51% | ||
 Drapion PoisonDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Drapion builds →Crunch 2x54-64% Shadow Ball 2x27-32% | ||
 Honchkrow Dark | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Honchkrow builds →Night Slash 2x63-75% Shadow Ball 2x41-49% | ||
 Cacturne GrassDark | B | |
 Weavile DarkIce | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Weavile builds →Night Slash 2x60-71% Shadow Claw 2x40-48% | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Shiftry builds →Dark Pulse 2x54-64% Shadow Ball 2x36-43% | ||
 Skuntank PoisonDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Skuntank builds →Night Slash 2x49-59% Shadow Claw 2x33-39% | ||
 Mismagius Ghost | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Mismagius builds →Shadow Ball 2x62-73% Dark Pulse 2x41-49% | ||
 Spiritomb GhostDark | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 209 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Spiritomb builds →Sucker Punch 2x55-66% Shadow Ball 2x55-66% | ||
 Banette Ghost | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Banette builds →Shadow Claw 2x59-70% Sucker Punch 2x45-52% | ||
 Drifblim Ghost | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Drifloon (Valley Windworks Interact Encounter) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Drifblim builds →Shadow Ball 2x54-64% Payback 2x21-26% | ||
 Gengar GhostPoison | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Gengar builds →Shadow Ball 2x74-88% Dark Pulse 2x49-59% | ||
 Sableye DarkGhost | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dusknoir View Sableye builds →Shadow Claw 2x41-49% Dark Pulse 2x43-51% | ||
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 Amorphous egg group. Notable egg moves include Destiny Bond, Feint Attack, Grudge and 4 more.
DP Dusknoir Best Moveset
100 Attack paired with 135 in both Defense and Sp. Def gives Dusknoir something Dusclops never had: offensive power alongside the defensive anchor. The moveset runs physical Ghost attacks and support moves with enough bulk to take anything. AbilityPressure doubles PP consumption on incoming moves.
Best Build
Dusknoir best EVs are HP and Attack
Physical Tank Moveset
- Shadow Sneak
- Will O Wisp
- Ice Punch
- Pain Split
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Dusknoir misses out on Destiny Bond and Feint Attack. That's 7 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Shadow Ball and Shadow Punch, 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
45 of 48 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
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 Diamond & Pearl Guide
No. Dusknoir is not catchable in the wild. It only comes from trade-evolving Dusclops. The Reaper Cloth must be held during the trade. Bring one over from a sibling Gen 3 game if needed.
Yes. Dusknoir is a post-game Pokemon. You need to defeat the Elite Four and enter the Hall of Fame first. Dusknoir becomes available after the main story is complete in Diamond & Pearl.
In Diamond & Pearl, use Dusknoir as an attacker. Physical side carries the damage. Not the fastest,
For Diamond & Pearl, run Adamant on Dusknoir. +Attack is what matters, and the -Sp. Atk cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the attacker role.
Game Availability
Dusknoir has been available in 13 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 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
Explore
Where to go next after Dusknoir.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List