Is Kingdra Good in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Playthrough?
Trade Seadra with Dragon Scale. Water/Dragon has one weakness (Dragon) and strong offensive coverage. AbilitySniper boosts critical hits. If you can complete the trade, Kingdra is excellent. Dragon Scale is postgame though, limiting story use.
Horsea resists most of Roark's coverage and hits back hard.
Horsea trades roughly evenly with Gardenia's team.
Horsea trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Crasher Wake's typing presses Horsea's defenses.
Fantina's team hits Horsea's weaknesses hard.
Horsea has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Horsea trades roughly evenly with Candice's team.
Volkner's team hits Horsea's weaknesses hard.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Kingdra resists most of Bertha's coverage and hits back hard.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Kingdra trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Kingdra trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catch Seadra on Route 226 (Super Rod fishing, Lv 30-55, common).
Most players are ready to trade before reaching Aaron.
How to Get Kingdra in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
The chain to Kingdra requires a trade evolution through a trade. Catch Horsea at solid rates and level through the stages, but line up the trade first. The rest of the chain runs on levels alone.
How to Obtain Kingdra in BDSP
To get Kingdra, start by catching Horsea through walking and fishing encounters at Lv. 10-63. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
Step 1Catch HorseaRoute 226Lv.10-25Good RodRate 35%Fountainspring CaveLv.58-63CavePost-gameRiverbank CaveLv.58-63CavePost-gameStill-Water CavernLv.58-63CavePost-game
Step 3Kingdra ✓
Kingdra Weakness
Type-wise, Kingdra takes extra damage from Dragon and Fairy. Not many exploitable gaps in the Water/Dragon typing defensive chart. With 75 HP and balanced defenses, Kingdra can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Dragon, Fairy |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Steel |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Fire, Water |
What is Kingdra Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Kingdra
 Granbull Fairy | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kingdra View Granbull builds →Outrage 2x76-89% Dazzling Gleam 2x46-54% | ||
 Mr. Mime PsychicFairy | B | |
 Clefairy Fairy | C | |
 Gabite DragonGround | C | |
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Zapdos's Hurricane hits Kingdra for 34-41%.
S | ||
Recommended Build AbilityFlashfire ItemLeftovers NatureTimid Moves View Heatran builds →
| ||
A | ||
Recommended Build AbilityStatic ItemHeavy-Duty Boots NatureBold Moves
Damage vs Kingdra View Zapdos builds →Hurricane34-41% Volt Switch22-26% Heat Wave7-9% | ||
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilityRegenerator ItemHeavy-Duty Boots NatureRelaxed Moves
Damage vs Kingdra View Slowbro builds →Scald5-6% | ||
Kingdra Evolutions
Kingdra evolved from Horsea's chain using a trade. It's a non-standard trigger, so check the details below. Breed this form to get Horsea eggs (average hatch time). The evolution from Horsea pushed Kingdra to 540 total stats. Sp.Def saw the largest single gain at +70. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Kingdra to get Horsea eggs easily using 30 partners from the Dragon and Water1 egg groups. Notable egg moves include Aurora Beam, Clear Smog, Disable and 6 more.
BDSP Kingdra Best Moveset
Crashed from S-tier as AbilitySwift Swim doubling 85 Speed in rain couldn't carry without the permanent rain that Gen 4 provided. Dragon/Water TermStab at 95/95 mixed offenses gives the moveset balanced output. C-tier because the rain dependency that was S-tier in Gen 4 became inconsistent with 5-turn weather limits.
Best Build
Kingdra best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Sweeper Moveset
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Surf
- Flip Turn
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding's the move. Aurora Beam and Clear Smog give Kingdra options it can't learn any other way, and Ice and Normal coverage and more already covers a decent range on top of Draco Meteor and Outrage. 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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It lives in caves on the seafloor and creates giant whirlpools every time it moves.
Kingdra Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Guide
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Kingdra looks average on paper at 540 BST. But Swift Swim is why it sees play. Build around that and it pulls its weight. B-Tier on our tier list. Draco Meteor with Choice Specs is the standard set.
Kingdra is obtained by trade-evolving Seadra. Catch or evolve a Seadra first, then trade. Trade needs a Game Boy Advance link cable and a second GBA running another Gen 3 game (FireRed, LeafGreen, Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald). Trade Seadra to a friend, then have them trade it back. The 2026 Switch re-release supports the same trade through local wireless on the Pokemon Center 2F Wireless Club, with no cables required. The Dragon Scale must be held during the trade. Bring one over from a sibling Gen 3 game if needed.
Kingdra gets Swift Swim, Sniper, and Damp. But Swift Swim is the one that matters. It's the centerpiece of every viable set. Build around that.
Kingdra is a mixed attacker with base 95 Attack and 95 Sp. Atk. Enough bulk to take a hit or two, too. Speed tells the real story. Base 85 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many.
Game Availability
Since Gold & Silver, Kingdra has been in 17 games. Requiring a trade evolution to obtain means it's consistently available but requires more effort than simply catching it in the wild.
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 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7LGPE
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