Is Heracross Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Headbutt trees in various Johto locations. Bug/Fighting with AbilityGuts boosting Attack when statused or AbilitySwarm for Bug boost. Enormous Attack makes Heracross one of the hardest physical hitters available. Handles Whitney, Pryce, and Karen. Worth hunting headbutt trees for.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Heracross trades roughly evenly with Bugsy's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Chuck's team.
Heracross resists most of Jasmine's coverage and hits back hard.
Heracross resists most of Pryce's coverage and hits back hard.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Clair's team.
Heracross resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Heracross resists most of Lt. Surge's coverage and hits back hard.
Heracross resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Heracross trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Heracross trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Heracross resists most of Karen's coverage and hits back hard.
Heracross trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Heracross on Route 33 (Headbutt, Lv 3-5, limited).
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM52FightingFocus BlastPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- LV 19FightingBrick BreakPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- LV 37FightingClose CombatPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 5
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 55BugMegahornPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 10
HeartGold & SoulSilver Heracross Locations
Heracross is a Headbutt-only catch, spread across a long list of routes in both regions but never in plain grass. Thump trees from the early Johto towns all the way up to the Mt. Silver trunks to find one.
14 locations to catch Heracross
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Badge 8Best Locations to Catch Heracross in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Heracross won't take long. 15 headbutt spots from Lv. 2-48 with solid rates across most of them. The top locations at each game stage are listed first.
How to Get Shiny Heracross in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Heracross shakes out of headbutt trees near Celadon City, but breeding it Masuda-style is the quicker route to a shiny. Compare Shiny Heracross odds across every game
Shiny Heracross Evolution
Does Not EvolveHeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Heracross 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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Heracross in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Heracross Weakness
Type-wise, Heracross takes extra damage from Flying, Fire, and Psychic. Watch out for Flying attacks, those deal 4x damage. 5 resistances help offset the weaknesses. With 80 HP and balanced defenses, Heracross can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Flying |
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Fighting, Ground, Bug, Dark |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Heracross Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Heracross
 Gliscor Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Heracross View Gliscor builds →Aerial Ace 4x106-126%KO Fire Fang 2x40-47% | ||
 Altaria Dragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Heracross View Altaria builds →Fly 4x126-149%KO Fire Blast 2x47-56% | ||
 Scyther Bug | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Heracross View Scyther builds →Wing Attack 4x122-144%KO | ||
 Golbat Poison | C | |
 Skarmory Steel | B | |
 Dodrio Normal | C | |
 Farfetch'd Normal | C | |
 Ninjask Bug | C | |
 Fearow Normal | C | |
 Vespiquen Bug | C | |
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
 Pidgeot Normal | C | |
 Yanmega Bug | B | |
 Murkrow Dark | C | |
Heracross Evolutions
What you see is what you get. Heracross sits outside any evolution chain, so focus on the egg moves and a decent partner pool from one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Heracross easily with 48 breeding partners from the Bug egg group. Pass egg moves like Bide, Double-Edge, False Swipe and 4 more to offspring.
HGSS Heracross Best Moveset
Bug/Fighting at 125 Attack and 85 Speed firing MoveClose Combat and MoveMegahorn for devastating physical damage. AbilityGuts boosts Attack when statused, turning burn and poison into power gains. The moveset hits hard from turn one. 80 HP and 95 Sp. Def add real bulk.
Best Build
Heracross best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Revenge Killer Moveset
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Sleep Talk
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding's the move. Bide and Double-Edge give Heracross options it can't learn any other way, and Normal and Dark coverage and more already covers a decent range on top of Focus Punch and Close Combat. The egg moves push it further.
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 26 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
This powerful Pokémon thrusts its prized horn under its enemies’ bellies, then lifts and throws them.
It is usually docile, but if it is disturbed while sipping honey, it chases off the intruder with its horn.
Heracross HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Mega Evolution isn't available in HeartGold & SoulSilver, but Heracross does have a Mega form in Gen 6-7 games (X/Y, ORAS, Sun/Moon). Mega Heracross hits 600 BST.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Heracross plays as a wallbreaker. Speed is middling, so pick your spots carefully. Megahorn is the primary attack.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Jolly is the go-to nature for Heracross. That's +Speed / -Sp. Atk. Pair it with 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe EVs. Fits the wallbreaker role.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Gold & Silver, Heracross has appeared in 19 titles over 8 generations. Along the way, it received a Mega form in Generation 6, keeping it relevant across different competitive metas.
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 6ORASMega
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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