
Is Shieldon Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Fossil revival. Rock/Steel with AbilitySturdy. Bastiodon at level 30 has enormous Defense. The defensive counterpart to Rampardos. Fossil timing limits story contribution.
Shieldon trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Shieldon resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Shieldon has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Shieldon trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Chuck's Pokemon outpace and outclass Shieldon here.
Shieldon trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Shieldon trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Shieldon trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Shieldon trades roughly evenly with Brock's team.
Misty's team hits Shieldon's weaknesses hard.
Shieldon trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Shieldon trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Shieldon has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Bastiodon trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Bastiodon has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Bastiodon trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Bastiodon has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Bastiodon has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Bruno's team hits Bastiodon's weaknesses hard.
Bastiodon trades roughly evenly with Karen's team.
Bastiodon has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Fossil
Shieldon can be revived from a fossil obtained in Pewter City. Revive Armor Fossil. Revive an Armor Fossil at the Pewter Museum of Science.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- LV 28RockAncient PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 5
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 150Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 43SteelIron HeadPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Shieldon to Bastiodon
Shieldon evolves into Bastiodon at Level 30. Your Shieldon should hit Level 30 before you reach Sabrina, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 150Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 52SteelIron HeadPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Shieldon in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Shieldon is handed to you at Pewter City. No encounter rates or random spawns involved, so there's nothing to grind. Check the location details below for the exact conditions to trigger it.
1 location to catch Shieldon
How to Obtain Shieldon in HGSS
Step 2Evolve into Bastiodon
How to Get Shiny Shieldon in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Shieldon restores from the Armor Fossil in Pewter City, but breeding it Masuda-style is the quicker route to a shiny. Compare Shiny Shieldon odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver 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 HeartGold & SoulSilver 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
Breloom GrassFighting | A | |
Hariyama Fighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Hariyama builds →Focus Punch 4x331-390%KO Earthquake 4x147-173%KO Surf 2x39-46% | ||
Gallade PsychicFighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Gallade builds →Focus Punch 4x342-403%KO Earthquake 4x155-182%KO | ||
Blaziken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Silph Co Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Blaziken builds →Focus Punch 4x331-390%KO Earthquake 4x147-173%KO | ||
Hitmonlee Fighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tyrogue (Mt Mortar Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Hitmonlee builds →Focus Punch 4x331-390%KO Earthquake 4x147-173%KO | ||
Marowak Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Marowak builds →Earthquake 4x160-189%KO Focus Punch 4x159-187%KO | ||
Toxicroak PoisonFighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Toxicroak builds →Focus Punch 4x299-352%KO Earthquake 4x133-157%KO | ||
Primeape Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Primeape builds →Focus Punch 4x296-348%KO Earthquake 4x133-157%KO | ||
Machoke Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Machoke builds →Focus Punch 4x285-336%KO Earthquake 4x128-151%KO | ||
Garchomp DragonGround | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Garchomp builds →Earthquake 4x238-281%KO Brick Break 4x121-143%KO Surf 2x64-76% | ||
Steelix SteelGround | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Steelix builds →Earthquake 4x167-197%KO Rock Smash 4x48-56% | ||
Rhydon GroundRock | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Rhydon builds →Focus Punch 4x238-280%KO Earthquake 4x238-281%KO Surf 2x43-50% | ||
Swampert WaterGround | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Silph Co Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Swampert builds →Earthquake 4x206-243%KO Focus Punch 4x204-241%KO Waterfall 2x83-99% | ||
Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Shieldon View Feraligatr builds →Focus Punch 4x197-232%KO Earthquake 4x133-157%KO Aqua Tail 2x89-105%KO | ||
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, Counter, Curse and 7 more to offspring.
HGSS Shieldon Best Moveset
Rock/Steel at 118 Defense with AbilitySturdy guaranteeing one hit survived from full HP. 4x weaknesses to Fighting and Ground hit from the two most common physical coverage types. 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 Counter aren't available any other way for Shieldon, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Iron Tail and Iron Head 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
All 28 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It was generated from a fossil dug out of a layer of clay that was older than anyone knows. It has a sturdy face.
Shieldon HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Revive an Armor Fossil at the Pewter Museum of Science. Shieldon is revived at level 5. Give it Rare Candies or experience-share if you want it ready for the late-game.
Yes. Shieldon is not available during the main story. It can only be obtained after entering the Hall of Fame. Shieldon becomes available after the main story is complete in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Shieldon has 350 BST and evolves into Bastiodon. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, 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 HeartGold & SoulSilver, 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
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