Physical
Trick Room
325Low
28Very Slow
DTier

Mid-stage Pokemon like Honedge rarely see competitive play outside of special formats. It's a waypoint on the road to Aegislash, which is where the real potential kicks in. Known as the Sword Pokemon. The stat spread favors raw physical power.

Defense and Attack carry most of Honedge's stat budget. Speed's the obvious dump stat. Common in the wild and yields 1 Defense EV. Follows a medium-fast 1M XP curve.

Base Stats
325Avg
HP45
D
Attack80
C
Defense100
B
Sp. Atk35
F
Sp. Def37
F
Speed28
F
Total325
Low <60
Avg 60-89
High 90-149
Top 150+
EV YieldDefeating Honedge yields +1 Def
HPAtkDef+1SpASpDSpe
Details
Catch180ModerateMedium Fast1M XP0.8m / 2'07"2kg / 4.4 lbs65Base XP
Pokedex Entries

Honedge’s soul once belonged to a person who was killed a long time ago by the sword that makes up Honedge’s body.

Sword

The blue eye on the sword’s handguard is the true body of Honedge. With its old cloth, it drains people’s lives away.

Shield

Honedge Weakness

Fortress

Honedge's Steel/Ghost typing leaves it vulnerable to Fire, Ground, Ghost, and Dark moves. It shrugs off Normal, Fighting, and Poison-type attacks completely. With 9 resistances, the defensive profile is strong. Honedge's physical bulk (base 100 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.

4Weak
9Resist
3Immune
Scorei+11
SpikesGrounded — up to 25%
Abilities
No GuardEnsures all moves used by and against the Pokémon hit.

Three stages ahead. Honedge grows into Doublade, then pushes on to Aegislash. Check the evolution methods below. For breeding, average hatch time with plenty of partners via one egg group. The evolved forms gain up to 175 total stats over Honedge.

How to Evolve

3 Forms
Stat Comparison 3 Stages
Honedge
SteelGhost
Doublade
SteelGhost
Aegislash
SteelGhost
HP
45
59+14
60+1
ATK
80
110+30
50-60
DEF
100
150+50
140-10
SP.ATK
35
45+10
50+5
SP.DEF
37
49+12
140+91
SPE
28
35+7
60+25
BST
325C-Tier
448C-Tier+123
500A-Tier+52
ROLE
Trick Room
Attacker
Balanced
TYPE
Physical
Physical
Utility
Breeding
Very Easy

Breed Honedge easily with 60 breeding partners from the Mineral egg group. Pass egg moves like Block, Destiny Bond, Wide Guard to offspring.

Egg Groups
Mineral
Gender
50.0%50.0%
Hatch Time
20 cycles·5,140 steps
Quick~5 min with Flame Body
Egg Moves
3moves
Breed With (best first)
avaluggglaliefroslasscrustleferrothorndwebblesnoruntferroseedcarbinkbergmitecofagrigusyamask

Best Build

No build content available for this Pokemon in Gen 8.

Try selecting a different game/generation filter, or check back later.

The natural movepool does the job, but Block and Destiny Bond from the egg pool give Honedge something extra. Pair those with Iron Head and Flash Cannon for STAB and coverage across 8 types for reach, and the kit fills out nicely.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1
Fury Cutter
409520Bug
Lv 1
Tackle
4010035Normal
Lv 4
Shadow Sneak+1
4010030Ghost
Lv 8
Autotomize
15Steel
Lv 12
Aerial Ace
6020Flying
Lv 16
Metal Sound
8540Steel
Lv 20
Slash
7010020Normal
Lv 24
Night Slash
7010015Dark
Lv 28
Retaliate
701005Normal
Lv 32
Iron Defense
15Steel
Lv 36
Iron Head
8010015Steel
Lv 40
Power Trick
10Psychic
Lv 44
Swords Dance
20Normal
Lv 48
Sacred Sword
9010015Fighting

TM Moves

Src
TM31
Attract
10015Normal
TM43
Brick Break
7510015Fighting
TM97
Brutal Swing
6010020Dark
TR53
Close Combat
1201005Fighting
TR26
Endure+4
10Normal
TM39
Facade
7010020Normal
TM94
False Swipe
4010040Normal
TR70
Flash Cannon
8010010Steel
TR52
Gyro Ball
1005Steel
TR46
Iron Defense
15Steel
TR74
Iron Head
8010015Steel
TM25
Protect+4
10Normal
TM69
Psycho Cut
7010020Psychic
TM33
Rain Dance
5Water
TM18
Reflect
20Psychic
TM21
Rest
10Psychic
TM79
Retaliate
701005Normal
TR21
Reversal
10015Fighting
TM22
Rock Slide
759010Rock
TM76
Round
6010015Normal
TM16
Screech
8540Normal
TM65
Shadow Claw
7010015Ghost
TR27
Sleep Talk
10Normal
TM24
Snore
5010015Normal
TM12
Solar Blade
12510010Grass
TR20
Substitute
10Normal
TM
Swords Dance
20Normal

Egg Moves

Src
Egg
Block
5Normal
Egg
Destiny Bond
5Ghost
Egg
Wide Guard+3
10Rock

Tutor Moves

Honedge can't learn any Tutor moves

A handful of locations for Honedge with high spawn rates across mid-game routes. The sort toggle below swaps between best odds and earliest access, so you can approach it based on where you are in the game.

Best Locations

4 walking encounters at Lv. 28-31 for Honedge across Shield and Sword. A few locations are version-exclusive, so your copy of the game affects what's available.

Hammerlocke Hills
ShieldOverworldLv.29-3144%MidHeavy Fog
EFFORTLESS
Hammerlocke Hills
SwordOverworldLv.29-3144%MidHeavy Fog
EFFORTLESS
Hammerlocke Hills
ShieldGrassLv.28-3015%MidSnowstorm
EASY
Hammerlocke Hills
SwordGrassLv.28-3015%MidSnowstorm
EASY
  • Honedge is meant to evolve into Doublade. At 325 BST, the stats aren't there for competitive play yet. Pre-evolution Pokemon rarely hold up against fully evolved threats.

  • Watch for Volcarona (Fire), Swampert (Ground), and Misdreavus (Ghost) when using Honedge. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Dark-type attackers are also a problem. At base 28 Speed, Honedge won't outrun any of these threats so switching to a resist is usually the safer play.

  • Honedge evolves into Doublade at level 35. Honedge is the base form in a 3-stage evolutionary line.

  • No Guard ensures all moves used by and against the Pokémon hit — that's the one you want on Honedge. It's the only ability Honedge has.

  • Base 28 Speed is low. Priority moves or Trick Room are the way to go. On offense, Honedge is a physical attacker with base 80 Attack. Best used as a trick room.

  • Honedge appears in 6 games, including X & Y, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, and Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon.

Honedge joined the series in X & Y and has been available in 6 titles so far. With 4 generations of appearances, it's established itself despite the later start.