Is Shieldon Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Pearl fossil from Oreburgh Mining Museum. Rock/Steel with AbilitySturdy blocking OHKO moves. Bastiodon at 30 is the defensive counterpart to Rampardos. Available early with solid story timing.
Shieldon has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Shieldon trades roughly evenly with Gardenia's team.
Maylene's Pokemon outpace and outclass Shieldon here.
Shieldon trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Bastiodon trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Bastiodon trades roughly evenly with Byron's team.
Bastiodon has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Bastiodon trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Bastiodon has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Bertha's team hits Bastiodon's weaknesses hard.
Bastiodon trades roughly evenly with Flint's team.
Lucian's team hits Bastiodon's weaknesses hard.
Bastiodon has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Bastiodon resists most of Jupiter's coverage and hits back hard.
Bastiodon trades roughly evenly with Saturn's team.
Cynthia's team hits Bastiodon's weaknesses hard.
Fossil
Shieldon can be revived from a fossil obtained in Oreburgh City. Revive Armor Fossil. Revive from Armor Fossil at the Oreburgh Mining Museum. Armor Fossil is found in the Underground (Pearl only).
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lake Verity
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- After Fantina
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 150Accuracy 75%PP 15Iron Island
- After Byron
- TM91SteelFlash CannonPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Byron
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- After Candice
- TM80RockRock SlidePower 113Accuracy 90%PP 10Mt. Coronet
- LV 43SteelIron HeadPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Volkner
- TM71RockStone EdgePower 150Accuracy 80%PP 5Victory Road
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Shieldon to Bastiodon
Shieldon evolves into Bastiodon at Level 30. Your Shieldon should hit Level 30 before you reach Fantina, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lake Verity
- After Fantina
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 150Accuracy 75%PP 15Iron Island
- After Byron
- TM91SteelFlash CannonPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Byron
- After Candice
- TM80RockRock SlidePower 113Accuracy 90%PP 10Mt. Coronet
- After Volkner
- TM71RockStone EdgePower 150Accuracy 80%PP 5Victory Road
- LV 52SteelIron HeadPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Shieldon in Diamond & Pearl
Shieldon comes from the Armor Fossil, which is dug only in the Pearl Underground. Revive it at the Oreburgh lab to get the shield Pokemon at level 20, so Diamond players trade for theirs instead.
1 location to catch Shieldon
How to Obtain Shieldon in DP
- Step 2Evolve into BastiodonBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Shieldon egg.
How to Get Shiny Shieldon in Diamond & Pearl
Shieldon restores from the Armor Fossil, though a shiny is quicker to breed via the Masuda Method. Compare Shiny Shieldon odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Shieldon 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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your Diamond & Pearl shiny odds for Shieldon.
Shieldon Weakness
Type-wise, Shieldon takes extra damage from Fighting, Ground, and Water. Watch out for Fighting and Ground attacks, those deal 4x damage. Poison moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. It resists 9 types, so it can switch into a lot of moves safely. Shieldon's physical bulk (base 118 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Fighting, Ground |
| 2x (Weak) | Water |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Ice, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Normal, Flying |
| 0x (Immune) | Poison |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Shieldon Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Shieldon
 Cubone Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Cubone builds →Focus Punch 4x122-144%KO Bone Club 4x83-100%KO | ||
 Bibarel NormalWater | C | |
 Geodude RockGround | C | |
 Psyduck Water | D | |
Obtain MethodCelestic Town Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Psyduck builds →Focus Punch 4x122-144%KO Water Gun 2x42-50% | ||
 Piplup Water | C | |
Obtain MethodLake Verity Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Piplup builds →Brick Break 4x64-78% Bubble 2x28-33% | ||
 Onix RockGround | C | |
 Surskit BugWater | D | |
Shieldon Evolutions
Shieldon is the base form in a two-stage line leading to Bastiodon. Check the evolution method below. Plenty of partners for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are slow to hatch. Evolving adds up to 145 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Shieldon with 63 breeding partners from the Monster egg group. Pass egg moves like Body Slam, Curse, Double-Edge and 6 more to offspring.
DP Shieldon Best Moveset
118 Defense and Rock/Steel typing make Shieldon physically tough, but 42 Attack at 30 Speed leaves the moveset unable to threaten or act first. AbilitySturdy guarantees surviving one hit. Evolve to Bastiodon.
Best Build
Shieldon best EVs are HP and Sp. Def
Wall Moveset
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Toxic
- Curse
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Body Slam and Curse aren't available any other way for Shieldon, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Iron Tail and Stone Edge for solid options.
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
39 of 40 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
A Pokémon that lived in jungles around 100 million years ago. Its facial hide is extremely hard.
It habitually polishes its face by rubbing it against tree trunks. It is weak to attacks from behind.
Shieldon Diamond & Pearl Guide
Revive from Armor Fossil at the Oreburgh Mining Museum. Armor Fossil is found in the Underground (Pearl only). Shieldon is revived at level 5. Give it Rare Candies or experience-share if you want it ready for the late-game.
In Diamond & Pearl, for a casual playthrough, Shieldon works as a placeholder. Rock/Steel coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Bastiodon. That's where the stats start mattering.
In Diamond & Pearl, Shieldon plays as a balanced. It's slow, so Trick Room or priority moves are key. so pick your spots carefully. Set up with Curse when you get a free turn.
In Diamond & Pearl, Serious is the go-to nature for Shieldon. Pair it with 252 HP / 252 SpD EVs. Fits the balanced role.
Game Availability
Debuting in Diamond & Pearl, Shieldon appears in 12 games across 6 generations. A reliable presence in a solid number of games, typically found through catching or hatching as a base form.
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 Shieldon.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List