Is Qwilfish Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Transfer-only Water/Poison. AbilityPoison Point poisons on contact. Qwilfish doesn't evolve in Gen 4 and can't compete with Sinnoh's native Water options. AbilitySwift Swim in rain is the niche, but rain isn't reliable during the story.
Qwilfish resists most of Roark's coverage and hits back hard.
Gardenia's typing presses Qwilfish's defenses.
Qwilfish trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Qwilfish trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Qwilfish has the type edge here and should clean up Fantina's team.
Qwilfish has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Qwilfish has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Qwilfish trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Qwilfish has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Qwilfish trades roughly evenly with Bertha's team.
Qwilfish has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Qwilfish trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Qwilfish has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Qwilfish has the type edge here and should clean up Jupiter's team.
Qwilfish has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Qwilfish trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catchable
Catch Qwilfish on Iron Island (Super Rod fishing, Lv 20-40, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM64NormalExplosionPower 250Accuracy 100%PP 5Given by the coin clerk at the Veilstone Game Corner once you string together ten bonus rounds in a row on the slot machines
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Celestic Town
- LV 33WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Candice
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Galactic HQ B2F in Veilstone City
- LV 45WaterAqua TailPower 135Accuracy 90%PP 10
- LV 49PoisonPoison JabPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Volkner
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sunyshore City
- LV 57WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Diamond & Pearl Qwilfish Locations
Qwilfish bites the Super Rod off Iron Island, uncommon from level 20 to 40. That island water is its only home in Sinnoh, so the puffer stays out of reach without the best rod.
Wild Qwilfish may be holding when caught:
Poison Barb (5% chance) An item to be held by a Pokemon. It is a small, poisonous barb that ups the power of Poison-type moves.1 location to catch Qwilfish
Encountered via fishing with a Rod
Badge 5Best Locations to Catch Qwilfish in Diamond & Pearl
How to Get Shiny Qwilfish in Diamond & Pearl
Qwilfish comes from breeding, so pair it with a foreign Ditto for a real shiny chance per Masuda egg. Compare Shiny Qwilfish odds across every game
Shiny Qwilfish Evolution
Does Not EvolveDiamond & Pearl Shiny Qwilfish 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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your Diamond & Pearl shiny odds for Qwilfish.
Qwilfish Weakness
Qwilfish's Water/Poison typing leaves it vulnerable to Electric, Ground, and Psychic. With 7 resistances, the defensive profile is strong. Qwilfish leans offensive (base 95 Atk) rather than trying to tank its weaknesses.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Ground, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Bug, Steel |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Qwilfish Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Qwilfish
 Marowak Ground | C | |
 Torterra GrassGround | C | |
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | C | |
 Quagsire WaterGround | C | |
Obtain MethodGreat Marsh Surfing | ||
 Gastrodon WaterGround | C | |
 Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
 Gliscor Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Qwilfish View Gliscor builds →Earthquake 2x98-116%KO Thunder Fang 2x42-50% | ||
 Sandslash Ground | B | |
 Donphan Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Qwilfish View Donphan builds →Earthquake 2x117-138%KO Thunder Fang 2x51-61% | ||
 Hippowdon Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Qwilfish View Hippowdon builds →Earthquake 2x112-132%KO Thunder Fang 2x49-58% | ||
 Manectric Electric | C | |
 Kadabra Psychic | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Qwilfish View Kadabra builds →Dream Eater 2x149-176%KO Shock Wave 2x61-72% | ||
 Luxray Electric | C | |
 Grumpig Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Qwilfish View Grumpig builds →Dream Eater 2x119-141%KO Shock Wave 2x49-58% | ||
Qwilfish Evolutions
No evolution chain to worry about here. Qwilfish is a standalone Pokemon with a decent partner pool for breeding through one egg group. Its eggs take an average time to hatch. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Qwilfish easily with 19 breeding partners from the Water 2 egg group. Pass egg moves like Astonish, Bubble Beam, Flail and 4 more to offspring.
DP Qwilfish Best Moveset
Rain doubles Speed through AbilitySwift Swim, and Qwilfish combines that with MoveSpikes, MoveToxic Spikes, and MoveExplosion for a fast hazard-setting moveset that goes out with a bang. 95 Attack adds real physical damage between hazard turns.
Best Build
Qwilfish best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Setup Sweeper Moveset
- Waterfall
- Explosion
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
You'll want to breed for Astonish and Bubble Beam on Qwilfish. These egg moves aren't just nice to have. Combined with STAB from Hydro Pump and Aqua Tail, they expand what Qwilfish can actually threaten in practice.
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
31 of 33 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
It shoots the poison spines on its body in all directions. Its round form makes it a poor swimmer.
Qwilfish Diamond & Pearl Guide
Yes. Wild Qwilfish in Diamond & Pearl can hold Poison Barb (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Poison Barb.
In Diamond & Pearl, Qwilfish is one of the stronger picks around. It rates A-Tier for this generation, and the Water/Poison typing with 430 BST covers a lot of matchups.
Yes. Qwilfish is a post-game Pokemon. You need to defeat the Elite Four and enter the Hall of Fame first. Qwilfish becomes available after the main story is complete in Diamond & Pearl.
Qwilfish has a Hisuian form that swaps the typing and reshuffles the stats. Introduced in Gen 8. Worth checking if the original version doesn't fit your team.
In Diamond & Pearl, use Qwilfish as a balanced. Physical side carries the damage. Speed is middling, Waterfall is the primary attack.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Gold & Silver, Qwilfish has appeared in 19 titles over 8 generations. Along the way, it received a Hisuian form in Generation 8, 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 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 8PLAHisuian
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
Explore
Where to go next after Qwilfish.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List