Is Heracross Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Safari Zone in Hoenn, native to RS. AbilityGuts turns status into a power boost and AbilitySwarm boosts Bug moves at low HP. Bug/Fighting hits incredibly hard physically. Heracross handles Roxanne, Norman, Sidney, and Steven's Aggron. One of the best catches in RS.
Heracross resists most of Roxanne's coverage and hits back hard.
Heracross resists most of Brawly's coverage and hits back hard.
Heracross resists most of Wattson's coverage and hits back hard.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Norman's team.
Heracross trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Heracross trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Wallace's team.
Heracross resists most of Sidney's coverage and hits back hard.
Phoebe's team hits Heracross's weaknesses hard.
Heracross resists most of Glacia's coverage and hits back hard.
Heracross trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Heracross has the type edge here and should clean up Steven's team.
Catchable
Catch Heracross in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 27-29, rare).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 27)
- LV 27FightingBrick BreakPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Wattson
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Rusturf Tunnel
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- LV 37NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 53BugMegahornPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 10
Ruby & Sapphire Heracross Locations
Heracross is one of the rarest Safari Zone catches, showing up in the high 20s. That gated grass is the only place the single-horn beetle lives in Hoenn, so stock up on Safari Balls.
1 location to catch Heracross
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 6Best Locations to Catch Heracross in Ruby & Sapphire
How to Get Shiny Heracross in Ruby & Sapphire
Inside the Hoenn Safari Zone grass, Heracross turns up only rarely, so stay patient and scan every wild one for a shiny. Compare Shiny Heracross odds across every game
Shiny Heracross Evolution
Does Not EvolveRuby & Sapphire Shiny Heracross Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
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 Ruby & Sapphire 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 |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Heracross Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Heracross
 Blaziken FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Heracross View Blaziken builds →Overheat 2x117-138%KO Aerial Ace 4x89-105%KO | ||
 Golbat Poison | C | |
Obtain MethodMeteor Falls Surfing | ||
 Altaria Dragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Heracross View Altaria builds →Fly 4x101-119%KO Fire Blast 2x47-56% | ||
 Kadabra Psychic | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Heracross View Kadabra builds →Future Sight 2x109-129%KO | ||
 Ninjask Bug | B | |
 Dodrio Normal | B | |
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
 Xatu Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Heracross View Xatu builds →Future Sight 2x90-107%KO Fly 4x109-129%KO | ||
 Camerupt FireGround | C | |
 Skarmory Steel | A | |
 Torkoal Fire | C | |
 Swellow Normal | C | |
 Ninetales Fire | C | |
 Chimecho Psychic | 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 37 breeding partners from the Bug egg group. Pass egg moves like Bide, False Swipe, Flail and 1 more to offspring.
RS Heracross Best Moveset
125 Attack behind MoveMegahorn for Bug TermStab and MoveClose Combat for Fighting, with AbilityGuts boosting Attack by 50% when statused. MoveEarthquake rounds out coverage. Held ItemChoice Band amplifies. Status-powered physical attacker built to dismantle Snorlax and Tyranitar.
Best Build
Heracross best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Setup Sweeper Moveset
- Megahorn
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding's the move. Bide and False Swipe give Heracross options it can't learn any other way, and Normal and Ground coverage and more already covers a decent range on top of Focus Punch and Megahorn. 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 23 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
HERACROSS charges in a straight line at its foe, slips beneath the foe’s grasp, and then scoops up and hurls the opponent with its mighty horn. This POKéMON even has enough power to topple a massive tree.
HERACROSS has sharp claws on its feet. These are planted firmly into the ground or the bark of a tree, giving the POKéMON a secure and solid footing to forcefully fling away foes with its proud horn.
Heracross Ruby & Sapphire Guide
- How do I catch Heracross in the Ruby & Sapphire Safari Zone?
See the Locations section above for where to find Heracross in Ruby & Sapphire.
Safari rules: You can only use Safari Balls. No battling. Two tactical items shift the catch/flee trade-off:
- Throw bait to keep Heracross from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Heracross easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
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
Explore
Where to go next after Heracross.
Keep playing · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List