Top 10 Strongest Legendaries in "Pokémon: Legends Arceus"

Author:
Jeremy Gill
Updated date:
Jun 1, 2022

Jeremy casts spells in between his careers as a chemical analyst and campus manager.

Gameplay in Legends: Arceus

Legends: Arceus evolves the franchise in notable (and usually beneficial) ways. Its open 3D world encourages exploration, speed can provide consecutive attacks, and while no new Pokémon are added (and many existing aren't in the game), several receive new regional variants. Your trainer also plays a much more active role as they're now able to be directly damaged and actively participate in battles.

These exciting changes make Legends: Arceus familiar enough to appeal to classic players yet innovative enough to garner new interest. With an admittedly limited roster, which mythical creatures reign supreme? These are the 10 best legendary Pokémon in Legends: Arceus!

10. Shaymin (Sky Forme)

Type: Grass/Flying

Shaymin is admittedly a glass cannon, largely due to poor typing with several weaknesses (including a quad to Ice) and mediocre defensive stats. However, it wields great special attack and speed, letting you often hit twice in a row. and is one of few worthwhile Grass-types in the game.

9. Darkrai

Type: Dark

Darkrai offers an excellent special sweeper thanks to impressive speed and special attack. Ideally you'll find one with a nature that sacrifices attack for one of these, such as modest (boosting special attack) or timid (boosting speed).

With the changes to turn order, if you get an agile enough Darkrai, you can potentially attack twice in a row, often enough to defeat an opponent before they can counter.

8. Heatran

Type: Fire/Steel

Heatran isn't the fastest but compensates with excellent special attack plus strong defense and special defense. This makes it quite tanky despite a quad weakness to Ground moves, especially alongside its numerous resistances and immunity to Poison. Its signature attack, Magma Storm, works slightly differently than in the main games, inflicting strong damage with a guaranteed burn status, dealing more over time.

7. Cresselia

Type: Psychic

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6. Thundurus (Therian Forme)

Type: Electric/Flying

Hard to say which of Thunduru's forms is better; Incarnate is more balanced while Therian trades some attack and speed for fantastic special attack. Either way, it's an aggressive Pokémon who can quickly deal out damage. While its defensive stats aren't great, Thundurus bears nice elemental matchups since its Flying type negates Electric's weakness to Ground.

5. Landorus (Therian Forme)

Type: Ground/Flying

Here's another useful type combo, with Ground shielding Flying from Electric moves, albeit at the cost of a quad Ice weakness. Both of Landorus's forms are useful, with Therian taking the edge for phenomenal attack while Incarnate is slightly faster and has better special attack.

Either way, Landorus is fast and one of the best physical sweepers, especially considering his useful Ground STAB (same-type attack bonus).

4. Giratina (Origin Forme)

Type: Ghost/Dragon

A balanced fighter, Giratina's Altered form has better defenses while Origin has slightly superior attack stats. Either way, it's an impressive all-rounder with more resistances and immunities than weaknesses, no quad weaknesses, and a helpful Ghost STAB.

3. Dialga (Origin Forme)

Type: Steel/Dragon

Dialga's two forms are similar stat-wise, but I prefer the new Origin because it trades some attack for special defense (and Dialga favors special attack anyway). Either way, it's relatively balanced, with its lowest stat (speed) still being a respectable 90. Dialga's best quality is its excellent typing, bearing only two weaknesses (Fighting and Ground) with ten immunities/resistances!

2. Origin Palkia

Type: Water/Dragon

Palkia's Origin form trades a bit of attack for some speed, granting fantastic agility and special attack. While it doesn't have as many resistances as Dialga, its weaknesses (Dragon are Fairy) are less commonly seen, making Palkia difficult to type-trump.

1. Arceus

Type: Normal

Arceus is the strongest non-mega Pokémon in terms of base stats at a whopping 720, holding 120 in each. As if that weren't enough, its signature attack, Judgment, has become far better in this game. While its PP was reduced to 5, Judgment not chooses a type based on the opposing Pokémon's biggest weakness and attacks as that type (also making Arceus into that type and providing STAB). Throw in amazing base power and accuracy of 100/100 and you've got a devastating move for the creator god of Pokémon.

Non-Legendary Pokémon

Powerful as today's legendaries are, most won't be available for the majority of your journey. So you'll want to start things off with non-legendary yet still powerful creatures like Hisuian Arcanine and Garchomp (who evolves from early-game Gibles), but until we review the best non-mythics, vote for your favorite and I'll see you at our next Pokémon countdown!