Is Murkrow Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Safari Zone encounter during mid-Johto or Route 7 in Kanto. Dark/Flying with AbilitySuper Luck boosting crits. HGSS gives Murkrow a Gen 4 evolution into Honchkrow through Dusk Stone. Dark/Flying handles Morty and Will's E4.
Murkrow has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Murkrow has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Murkrow trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Murkrow has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Murkrow trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Jasmine's team hits Honchkrow's weaknesses hard.
Honchkrow trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Honchkrow trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Honchkrow trades roughly evenly with Brock's team.
Honchkrow has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Lt. Surge's team hits Honchkrow's weaknesses hard.
Honchkrow resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Honchkrow has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Honchkrow resists most of Sabrina's coverage and hits back hard.
Honchkrow trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Honchkrow trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Honchkrow resists most of Will's coverage and hits back hard.
Honchkrow has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Honchkrow has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Honchkrow has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Honchkrow trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Murkrow in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 15-17, common).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 15)
- LV 15FlyingWing AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 35
- After Morty
- TM88FlyingPluckPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 40
- TM30GhostShadow BallPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Morty
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15From Chuck's wife outside Cianwood Gym
- LV 35DarkFeint AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Clair
- TM79DarkDark PulsePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sold by the TM clerk on 3F of the Celadon Department Store
- TM40FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Mt. Mortar
- LV 45DarkSucker PunchPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 5
Evolve Murkrow to Honchkrow
Murkrow evolves into Honchkrow with a Dusk Stone. Post-Game: You can pick up the Dusk Stone in Cerulean Cave. Requires Rock Climb.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 31)
- LV 31FlyingWing AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 35
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- After Morty
- TM88FlyingPluckPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 40
- TM30GhostShadow BallPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Morty
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15From Chuck's wife outside Cianwood Gym
- After Clair
- TM40FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Mt. Mortar
- LV 45DarkNight SlashPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 55DarkDark PulsePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Murkrow in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Murkrow only comes out at night, turning up on a couple of Kanto routes and around the Safari Zone in both games. Daytime hunting is a waste, this one keeps strictly to the dark hours.
3 locations to catch Murkrow
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8Where To Catch Murkrow in HGSS
The line opens with Murkrow at Lv. 15-29 via walking encounters. 1 catchable stage total, with locations listed for each one below.
- Step 2Evolve into Honchkrow
Not landing the catch? Calculate Murkrow catch rates for HeartGold & SoulSilver by ball, status, and HP.
How to Get Shiny Murkrow in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Murkrow haunts Route 7 and Route 16 at night, though a shiny comes faster from Masuda breeding with a foreign parent. Compare Shiny Murkrow odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Murkrow 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.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in HeartGold & SoulSilver with Murkrow preloaded.
Murkrow Weakness
Type-wise, Murkrow takes extra damage from Electric, Ice, and Rock. Ground and Psychic moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Ice, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Ghost, Dark |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground, Psychic |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Murkrow Weak Against
ExcellentBest Pokemon Against Murkrow
 Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Ampharos Electric | C | |
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Murkrow View Lapras builds →Ice Beam 2x134-159%KO Thunderbolt 2x90-106%KO | ||
 Luxray Electric | C | |
 Plusle Electric | B | |
 Minun Electric | C | |
 Rhyhorn GroundRock | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Murkrow View Rhyhorn builds →Rock Tomb 2x72-86% Ice Beam 2x45-53% Thunderbolt 2x45-53% | ||
 Pupitar RockGround | C | |
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 36 Interact Encounter | ||
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
 Pichu Electric | D | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Interact Encounter | ||
 Onix RockGround | C | |
 Shuckle BugRock | B | |
Obtain MethodCianwood City Gift | ||
Murkrow Evolutions
Evolving Murkrow into Honchkrow takes an evolution item. It's not a simple level-up, so check the chain details below. Evolving adds up to 100 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Murkrow easily with 31 breeding partners from the Flying egg group. Pass egg moves like Brave Bird, Confuse Ray, Drill Peck and 9 more to offspring.
HGSS Murkrow Best Moveset
Dark/Flying at 85 Attack and 91 Speed with AbilitySuper Luck boosting critical hit rates. The moveset fires fast physical Dark and Flying damage with occasional crits. 60 HP and 42 in both defenses fold to one solid hit. Evolve to Honchkrow for power.
Best Build
Murkrow best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Sweeper Moveset
- Heat Wave
- Dark Pulse
- Icy Wind
- Brave Bird
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding's the move. Brave Bird and Confuse Ray give Murkrow options it can't learn any other way, and coverage across 7 types already covers a decent range on top of Sky Attack and Brave Bird. 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
24 of 25 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Feared and loathed by many, it is believed to bring misfortune to all those who see it at night.
It is said that when chased, it lures its attacker onto dark mountain trails where the foe will get lost.
Murkrow HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
- How do I catch Murkrow in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Safari Zone?
See the Locations section above for where to find Murkrow in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
Safari rules: You can only use Safari Balls. No battling. Two tactical items shift the catch/flee trade-off:
- Throw bait to keep Murkrow from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Murkrow easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Murkrow does the job early-game if you need a Dark/Flying type on your team. Evolve it into Honchkrow before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Murkrow plays as a balanced. Speed is middling, so pick your spots carefully.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Naive is the go-to nature for Murkrow. That's +Speed / -Sp. Def. Pair it with 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe EVs. Fits the balanced role.
Game Availability
Murkrow has been available in 17 games since Gold & Silver, though obtaining it requires an item-based 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 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 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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