Is Salamence Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
600 BST with AbilityIntimidate lowering Attack on switch-in. Dragon/Flying with massive Attack and Speed. Salamence handles most of the E4 and dominates Steven's team. RS's native pseudo-legendary and one of the best Pokemon in the game. The grind to level 50 is worth every battle.
Bagon trades roughly evenly with Roxanne's team.
Bagon has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Bagon trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Bagon has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Bagon trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Bagon trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Tate & Liza's typing presses Bagon's defenses.
Bagon trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Shelgon has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Shelgon trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Salamence has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Salamence has the type edge here and should clean up Drake's team.
Salamence trades roughly evenly with Steven's team.
Catch Bagon
Catch Bagon on Meteor Falls (walking, Lv 25-35, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Mauville Game Corner
- After Wattson
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Rusturf Tunnel
- After Norman
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- LV 33DragonDragon BreathPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 41DarkCrunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Tate & Liza
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- LV 49DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 53NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Bagon to Shelgon
Bagon evolves into Shelgon at Level 30. Your Bagon should hit Level 30 before you reach Sidney, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Mauville Game Corner
- After Wattson
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Rusturf Tunnel
- After Norman
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- LV 38DragonDragon BreathPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Tate & Liza
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- LV 56DarkCrunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 69DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 78NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Shelgon to Salamence
Shelgon evolves into Salamence at Level 50. Your Shelgon should hit Level 50 before you reach Glacia, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 50)
- LV 50FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15
- After Brawly
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Mauville Game Corner
- After Norman
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Winona
- TM40FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Winona
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 79DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 93NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Salamence in Ruby & Sapphire
No map encounter exists for Salamence. Shelgon reaches it at level 50, a steep grind that pays off the deep-cave hunt for the original Bagon.
Wild Salamence may be holding when caught:
Dragon Scale (5% chance) A strange scale held by DRAGON- type Pokemon.Catch Bagon at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Salamence.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 3How to Obtain Salamence in RS
- Step 2Evolve into ShelgonBREEDINGAvailableLeave Salamence with a compatible partner at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Bagon egg.
- Step 3Salamence ✓
How to Get Shiny Salamence in Ruby & Sapphire
Salamence caps the Bagon line, so track down a shiny Bagon in Meteor Falls and raise it up through Shelgon into Salamence. Compare Shiny Salamence odds across every game
Ruby & Sapphire Shiny Salamence Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
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 Ruby & Sapphire with Salamence preloaded.
Salamence Weakness
Ice, Rock, and Dragon moves hit Salamence for super-effective damage. Ice hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. The upside? Ground-type moves can't touch it at all. 5 resistances help offset the weaknesses. With 95 HP and balanced defenses, Salamence can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Ice |
| 2x (Weak) | Rock, Dragon |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Fighting, Bug |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Salamence Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Salamence
 Latios DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodRoaming Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Latios builds →Ice Beam 4x126-149%KO Dragon Claw 2x80-95% | ||
 Latias DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodRoaming Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Latias builds →Ice Beam 4x110-130%KO Dragon Claw 2x70-82% | ||
 Rayquaza Dragon | S | |
Obtain MethodSky Pillar Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Rayquaza builds →Ice Beam 4x144-169%KO Outrage 2x102-121%KO Ancient Power 2x46-54% | ||
 Walrein IceWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Spheal (Shoal Cave Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Walrein builds →Ice Beam 4x146-172%KO Rock Tomb 2x23-27% | ||
 Regice Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 105 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Regice builds →Ice Beam 4x153-179%KO Ancient Power 2x19-23% | ||
 Glalie Ice | C | |
 Aggron SteelRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Aggron builds →Ice Beam 4x68-80% Rock Tomb 2x44-53% Dragon Claw 2x29-34% | ||
 Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter Available Move Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Regirock builds →Ancient Power 2x49-58% | ||
 Altaria Dragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Altaria builds →Ice Beam 4x77-91% Dragon Claw 2x49-58% | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Rustboro City Gift) Available Move Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Armaldo builds →Ancient Power 2x59-69% | ||
 Cradily RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Lileep (Rustboro City Gift) Available Move Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Cradily builds →Ancient Power 2x41-49% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Rhydon builds →Rock Tomb 2x51-60% Ice Beam 4x55-65% | ||
 Flygon GroundDragon | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Salamence View Flygon builds →Dragon Claw 2x54-64% Rock Tomb 2x27-32% | ||
 Magcargo FireRock | C | |
Salamence Evolutions
End of the line. Salamence caps a three-stage chain that started at Bagon. Breeding produces the base form, and eggs take forever to hatch. Sp.Atk grew the most through evolution (+70 over Bagon), and Salamence peaks at 600 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Salamence to get Bagon eggs using 27 partners from the Dragon egg group. Notable egg moves include Dragon Dance, Dragon Rage, Hydro Pump and 2 more.
RS Salamence Best Moveset
MoveDragon Dance boosts Attack and Speed for devastating sweep setup, and AbilityIntimidate drops opponent Attack on every switch-in to compensate for the Ice weakness. 135 Attack and 110 Sp. Atk hit from both sides. MoveEarthquake, MoveFire Blast, MoveRock Slide cover everything. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Intimidate Dragon Dance at the top of the format.
Best Build
Salamence best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Sweeper Moveset
- Brick Break
- Hidden Power Flying
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Salamence misses out on Dragon Dance and Dragon Rage. That's 5 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Fly and Dragon Claw, with coverage across 8 types rounding things out.
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
All 27 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
SALAMENCE came about as a result of a strong, long-held dream of growing wings. It is said that this powerful desire triggered a sudden mutation in this POKéMON’s cells, causing it to sprout its magnificent wings.
By evolving into SALAMENCE, this POKéMON finally realizes its long-held dream of growing wings. To express its joy, it flies and wheels all over the sky while spouting flames from its mouth.
Salamence Ruby & Sapphire Guide
Salamence is obtained in Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire by evolving Shelgon under specific conditions.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Ruby & Sapphire, Salamence has appeared in 16 titles over 7 generations. Along the way, it received a Mega form in Generation 6, keeping it relevant across different competitive metas.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RSDebut
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 6ORASMega
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 Salamence.
Keep playing · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List