There’s more under the surface
Pokemon Sword and Shield: Isle of Armor launched yesterday, and although the critical path storyline is only a few hours long, there’s more ways you can spend your time in the new area.
Here are a few ideas you may not have thought of yet, beyond the obvious: catching more Pokemon!
Finish the main questline
You’ll start the main quest after reaching the dojo mere minutes into the DLC.
After embarking upon three trials, you’ll end up having to take your new Kubfu creature to various locales on the island to raise your “friendship level.” You do not need to be “friendly” with Kubfu to progress this quest: so there’s no need to give it a Soothe Bell or anything like that.
Once those areas are in the bag, raise your Kubfu to roughly level 70 so you can smash one of the two challenge towers. After finishing five floors of solo fights you’ll be able to evolve your Kubfu. That’s pretty much the end of the main quest!
Read on for how to kick off the postgame story.
Enjoy the free hidden Pokemon Center
You may not have noticed it at first, but that door inside of the dojo is actually a micro-Pokemon Center.
You can change your look by knocking on it as is explained in the game, but you can also restore your Pokemon there. Visit it regularly!
Go on raids
The Isle of Armor itself is like one giant Wild Area, so go nuts. Touch every Pokemon den for Watts (more on how to spend those later), as is customary for the regular Wild Area.
You can also engage in Max Raid Battles if you wish, just note that you can’t actually capture the Zeraora yet (even a shiny one if you encounter it). “One million players” will need to conquer that task, then everyone gets a shiny Zeraora.
Upgrade the dojo
Talk to Honey near the entrance to start upgrading the dojo.
To do so, you’ll need to spend increments of 5,000 or 10,000 Watts to get new features for the hub. These are things like hiring a hair stylist, or getting a Rotom station installed. The game will guide you through what each upgrade does and how much it costs.
Synthesize items in the vacuum cleaner
For a few hundred Watts you can use the dojo’s vacuum cleaner-like creation, which resembles a Cramorant. The concept is simple: put items in, get an item out.
The NPC next to the vacuum cleaner has “recipes” you can buy for 100 Watts that will help you get started. Also don’t forget to grab the free Porygon when you’re done with the story! Just talk to it: it’s right next to the vacuum cleaner device.
Find all 150 Digletts
In what is arguably the most expansive quest in the DLC, you’ll have the opportunity to locate 150 errant Digletts that are hiding on the island.
Each time you find one in any given area, the game will tell you how many that location has left. Make sure to keep a note of areas that are “dry” of Digletts: the easiest way is to screenshot when the prompt tells you that the zone is clear.
The rewards for this seemingly tedious quest are actually pretty rad: every 10 turn-ins or so, you’ll get a free Pokemon/gift for your troubles.
Feed Pokemon soup to teach them how to Gigantamax
One of the new mechanics in the expansion is a soup that teaches specific Pokemon how to Gigantamax (those creatures are listed in the book above the sink in the picture right here).
You’ll need to locate three mushrooms (found in caves/wet areas) first: then just speak to the NPC above to initiate the process. Kubfu will need a special soup from the postgame quest (almost there, keep reading).
Customize your bike
Isle of Armor offers new bike customizations with shiny trails, for something a little different aesthetically.
To get these free upgrades, speak to the NPC to the left of the dojo leading to Soothing Wetlands
Dig for Watts
Remember the diggers from the main game? Well this time you can call upon two more diggers: Digging Pa in the north (at the cave in the Training Lowlands, leading to the desert) and his daughter in the forest.
To dig with Pa you’ll need to spend Spend seven Amorite ore (obtained from the island), who rewards you with tons of Watts. Spend those Watts on dojo upgrades (see above) or items (the main Watt salesman is in front of the dojo).
Finish the very brief postgame story
After Kubfu evolves and the story wraps up, head back to the dojo to start a short questline that involves Hop.
You’ll go on a guided quest that ends in a rematch with Mustard, the dojo’s leader. After that’s all said and done, head to the Potbottom Desert (in the north) for a very quick scene that serves as a cap for the postgame storyline.
From there, you can re-challenge Mustard by talking to him in his room or spar with other dojo members (or do anything listed above, of course!).
