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Steel/Dragon or Dragon/Steel dual-typing is an excellent combination since it allows the Pokemon to shrug off moves that would leave most Dragon-type vulnerable. A Steel-typing negates its weaknesses to Fairy, Dragon, and Ice-type moves. Naturally, useful dual-typing is often exclusive to legendary and pseudo-legendary Pokemon, and one example is Gen 8’s Duraludon, who makes a return toPokemon Scarlet & Violetthanks to the Indigo Disk DLC.
Starting in Gen 9, Duraludon can evolve into Archaludon. With amazing Defense, Attack, and Special Attack, it’s a good candidate if you want a pseudo-legendary on your team. However, you’re not going to be able to get Archaludon by leveling up Duraludon. You’ll need an evolution item called a Metal Alloy to use on Duraludon to trigger its evolution. Since Duraludon and the Metal Alloy are locked to Terarium in Indigo Disk, you will needScarlet/Violet’s expansion pass if you want to get the Steel/Dragon-type Pokemon without trading.
Where to Find Duraludon
Duraludon roams the cliffs in thePolar BiomeofTerarium. Two of them spawn on thecliffs west of the Polar Biome Classroom, so use Koradion/Miraidon to scale the walls.It’s a rarer spawnthan Pokemon such as Snubbull, who also spawns on this same mountain, and since it’s a higher level and pseudo-legendary, it can be tricky to catch, too.
Refer to the orange circle in the above image for the exact location.
Your best bet when catching Duraludon is tobring a Pokemon that can withstand its Attacks/Movesanddoesn’t specialize in its type weaknesses(i.e, Fighting and Ground-type). Chip away at its HP to yellow/red before throwing a Poke Ball.
If it’s nighttime in-game when you’re catching Duraludon, you should use a Dusk Ball. A Dusk Ball has a 3.5x catch rate if used at night or in caves.
You can also find Duraludon in5/6-star Tera Raids in Terarium. You’ll automatically unlock 5-star Tera Raids once you complete “The Way Home”, which is a necessary step into unlocking Terarium. As for 6-star Raids, these unlock once you’ve cleared theAcademy Ace Tournamentand receive a call from Jacq about “mysterious black Tera Crystals” in Paldea.
How to Evolve Duraludon (Metal Alloy Location)
Once you have Duraludon, you will want to find a Metal Alloy. This is an evolution item that works the same as Sinistea’s Chipped/Antique Pot and evolution stones (ex: Fire Stone). There arethree ways you can get a Metal Alloy in Indigo Disk:
Between these three choices, your best option is toget the Metal Alloy in Chargestone Cavern. TheBlueberry Points (BP) are needed for attempting the Elite Four trialsand are only earned through completing Blueberry Quests (BBQs). Furthermore,your BPs are better spent on improving the League Club and unlocking more gameplay featuresthan purchasing items.
Use the images below for the exact locations of Chargestone Cavern’s entrance and the Metal Alloy:
More Information About Archaludon
As a pseudo-legendary, Archaludon has abase stat total of 600. Its strengths are its Attack, Defense, and Special Attack, which are 105, 130, and 125 respectively (base stats only). It’s not a fast Pokemon, but a base Speed of 85 can work with a speed-enhanced nature.
Upon evolving, Archaludon will want to learn its signature move:Electro Shot. This is a “two-turn move” where Archaludon willcharge/store up electricityfor one turn, and thenunleash the move on its next turn. Electro Shot will alsoraise Archaludon’s Special Attack by one stage, similar to the Electric-type move, Charge. Electro Shot willnot need to charge if its raining, allowing it to be used in one turn instead of two.
Electro Shot is aspecial movewith the following:
Since Archaludon’s base Special Attack is its second-best strength, you may want to make room in Archaludon’s moveset for Electro Shot. While it won’t gain Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) from Electro Shot, it will give Archaludon coverage against most Water and Flying-type Pokemon.
