Is Taillow Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Transfer-only Normal/Flying from Hoenn. AbilityGuts turns status into Attack boosts. Swellow at 22 outperforms Staraptor in one way: Guts. But Staraptor's AbilityIntimidate and higher stats win everywhere else.
Roark's Pokemon outpace and outclass Taillow here.
Taillow has the type edge here and should clean up Gardenia's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Maylene's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Fantina's team.
Byron's team hits Swellow's weaknesses hard.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Bertha's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Flint's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Lucian's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Jupiter's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Hatch
Hatch Taillow from an Egg you breed in Solaceon Town.
Recommended Moves
- From Start
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- LV 13FlyingWing AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 35
- After Roark
- TM88FlyingPluckPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Floaroma Town
- After Gardenia
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Amity Square
- After Maylene
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15Inside the Galactic Warehouse in Veilstone City
- LV 34FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 53FlyingAir SlashPower 113Accuracy 95%PP 20
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Taillow to Swellow
Taillow evolves into Swellow at Level 22. Your Taillow should hit Level 22 before you reach Maylene, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- From Start
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- After Gardenia
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Amity Square
- After Maylene
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15Inside the Galactic Warehouse in Veilstone City
- LV 38FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 61FlyingAir SlashPower 113Accuracy 95%PP 20
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Taillow in Diamond & Pearl
Taillow has no wild encounter in these games. Breeding a Swellow is the way to one, since the swallow never spawns on a route and the evolved form holds the only appearances.
Wild Taillow may be holding when caught:
Charti Berry (5% chance) Held: Consumed when struck by a super-effective Rock-type attack to halve the damage.Catch Swellow at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Taillow.
- 1Catch Taillow
- 2
Badge 3How to Obtain Taillow in DP
How to Get Shiny Taillow in Diamond & Pearl
Taillow starts in the Day Care, so run the Masuda Method with a foreign parent for a 1 in 1,638 egg. Compare Shiny Taillow odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Taillow Calculator
1 MethodThe only route here 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.
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 Taillow preloaded.
Taillow Weakness
Taillow is weak to Electric, Ice, and Rock. On the flip side, it's immune to Ground and Ghost-type moves entirely.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Ice, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground, Ghost |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Taillow Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Taillow
 Rhydon GroundRock | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Rhydon builds →Stone Edge 2x300-354%KO Avalanche 2x121-143%KO Thunderbolt 2x82-97% | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | C | |
 Kabutops RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Kabuto (Oreburgh City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Kabutops builds →Stone Edge 2x271-319%KO Ice Beam 2x108-127%KO | ||
 Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
 Armaldo RockBug | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Oreburgh City Gift) | ||
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Hearthome City Gift) | ||
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
 Abomasnow GrassIce | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Abomasnow builds →Ice Beam 2x213-250%KO Rock Slide 2x112-132%KO | ||
 Solrock RockPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Solrock builds →Stone Edge 2x231-271%KO Charge Beam 2x50-60% | ||
 Plusle Electric | B | |
 Probopass RockSteel | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Probopass builds →Thunderbolt 2x120-141%KO Stone Edge 2x149-176%KO | ||
 Weavile DarkIce | B | |
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Aerodactyl builds →Stone Edge 2x250-294%KO Thunder Fang 2x109-129%KO Ice Fang 2x109-129%KO | ||
 Manectric Electric | C | |
Taillow Evolutions
Taillow evolves into Swellow. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A decent partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are quick to hatch. Evolving adds up to 185 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Taillow easily with 31 breeding partners from the Flying egg group. Pass egg moves like Brave Bird, Mirror Move, Pursuit and 5 more to offspring.
DP Taillow Best Moveset
85 Speed and AbilityGuts for an Attack boost when statused, but 55 Attack and 30 in every defensive stat make the moveset unplayable. Evolve to Swellow.
Best Build
Taillow best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Sweeper Moveset
- Facade
- Quick Attack
- Brave Bird
- U Turn
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Taillow gets Brave Bird and Mirror Move exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Steel and Dark coverage and more rounds out the picture alongside Sky Attack and Brave Bird.
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
25 of 26 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
It has a gutsy spirit that makes it bravely take on tough foes. It flies in search of warm climates.
Taillow Diamond & Pearl Guide
In Diamond & Pearl, Taillow does the job early-game if you need a Normal/Flying type on your team. Evolve it into Swellow before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Taillow first appeared in Ruby & Sapphire and has been available in 13 games across 7 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 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 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 Taillow.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List