Is Piplup Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Water starter that becomes Water/Steel at Empoleon. The unique typing gives Empoleon ten resistances. Handles Flint and Roark. Doesn't solve the Fire drought though. Picking Piplup means you need Ponyta or an import for Fire coverage.
Piplup has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Gardenia's team.
Prinplup has the type edge here and should clean up Maylene's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Empoleon resists most of Aaron's coverage and hits back hard.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Empoleon resists most of Jupiter's coverage and hits back hard.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Starter
Piplup is available as a starter at Lv 5.
Recommended Moves
- LV 22WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Gardenia
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Lake Acuity
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- LV 29WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Celestic Town
- After Fantina
- TM03WaterWater PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Ravaged Path
- LV 43WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- After Volkner
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sunyshore City
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Piplup to Prinplup
Piplup evolves into Prinplup at Level 16. Your Piplup should hit Level 16 before you reach Gardenia, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Lake Acuity
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- LV 24WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Celestic Town
- LV 33WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Fantina
- TM03WaterWater PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Ravaged Path
- After Volkner
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sunyshore City
- LV 51WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Prinplup to Empoleon
Prinplup evolves into Empoleon at Level 36. Your Prinplup should hit Level 36 before you reach Byron, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Celestic Town
- After Byron
- TM91SteelFlash CannonPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Byron
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- After Volkner
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sunyshore City
- LV 59WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TUTORWaterHydro CannonPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Route 228
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Piplup in Diamond & Pearl
Piplup is the water starter Professor Rowan offers at Lake Verity, yours at level 5 if you choose it. Pick the penguin and the fire and grass options close off for that save.
1 location to catch Piplup
How to Obtain Piplup in DP
- Step 1Piplup ✓
- Step 3Evolve into Empoleon
How to Get Shiny Piplup in Diamond & Pearl
Piplup is the gift at Lake Verity, but a shiny is quicker to breed via the Masuda Method. Compare Shiny Piplup odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Piplup 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.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
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 Diamond & Pearl with Piplup preloaded.
Piplup Weakness
Electric and Grass moves hit Piplup for super-effective damage. It resists 4 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Only 2 weaknesses makes it relatively easy to build around defensively.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Grass |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Steel |
Piplup Evolutions
Piplup is the start of a three-stage chain. It evolves into Prinplup first, then eventually reaches Empoleon. For breeding, average hatch time with a massive partner pool via two egg groups. The evolved forms gain up to 216 total stats over Piplup. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Piplup easily with 131 breeding partners from the Field and Water 1 egg groups. Pass egg moves like Agility, Aqua Ring, Double Hit and 7 more to offspring.
DP Piplup Best Moveset
Water starter with 61 Sp. Atk as the highest stat. The moveset has basic Water attacks at low power. Evolve for the Water/Steel combination.
Best Build
Piplup best EVs are Speed and Sp. Atk
Utility Moveset
- Stealth Rock
- Surf
- Hidden Power Grass
- Icy Wind
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Don't skip the egg moves. Piplup picks up Agility and Aqua Ring only through breeding, and both fill gaps the natural movepool can't. STAB runs through Hydro Pump and Surf while coverage across 8 types adds range.
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
33 of 34 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Because it is very proud, it hates accepting food from people. Its thick down guards it from cold.
It lives along shores in northern countries. A skilled swimmer, it dives for over 10 minutes to hunt.
Piplup Diamond & Pearl Guide
In Diamond & Pearl, Piplup does the job early-game if you need a Water type on your team. Evolve it into Prinplup before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Piplup first appeared in Diamond & Pearl and has been available in 12 games across 6 generations. Obtainable through catching or hatching as a base form in most titles where it appears.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DPDebut
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
Explore
Where to go next after Piplup.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List