There are over 150 Pokemon in Shining Pearl's Brilliant Diamond and Sinnoh Pokedex. You can catch most of them, but some Pokemon need to be battled before joining your team. This BDSP tier list will only rank the best Pokemon in the game.
Our tier list takes into account attack power and defensive coverage. You will also learn which moves are the best, what are their strengths and weaknesses, how to get these Pokemon.
Brilliant Diamond et Shining Pearl Best Pokemon Tier List
SS-tier Pokemon
Garchomp
- Type: Dragon, Earth
- Evolution: Gible / Gabite / Garchomp
Garchomp is the strongest attacking Pokemon and overall the best Pokemon in the game. Its best moves are: Dragon Rush, Dig and Earthquake.
Garchomp is best used against Fire, Poison, Rock, and Electric types, but is a little weaker against other Dragon, Fairy, and Ice type Pokemon.
You can find Gible or Gabite to evolve in the following places:
- capricious cave
- Cavern of Calm Waters
- shore cave
- fountain cave
S-tier Pokemon
Dialga
- Type: Steel, Dragon
- Evolution: none
Dialga has the strongest special attacks of any Pokémon, but its basic attacks are just as good. His best special moves are Roar of Time and Iron Tail.
Dialga is completely immune to Poison damage and highly resistant to Grass damage. Its biggest weaknesses are Fighting and Ground type moves.
The only way to catch Dialga is to fight him at Spear Pillar atop Mount Coronet. Before fighting Dialga himself, you'll also need to defeat Team Galactic and Cyrus.
Palkia
- Type: Water, Dragon
- Evolution: none
Palkia has a very similar power level to Dialga, with Special Attack Damage reaching 438. Palkia's best moves are: Hydro Pump, Special Rend and Aqua Tail.
Palkia is immune to normal damage and highly resistant to Fire and Water damage. However, this Pokemon will take higher damage from other Dragon and Fairy types.
Much like Dialga, you can only catch Palkia after the fight on Spear Pillar atop Mount Coronet.
variety
- Type: Psychic
- Evolution: none
If you like to play with Psychic-type Pokémon, then Azelf would be the best possible choice. His best moves are Future Sight and Psychic.
Much like Palkia, Azelf is completely immune to normal damage and somewhat resistant to other Psychic and Fighting-type Pokémon. But be very careful when fighting Bug, Ghost and Dark types.
Azelf can only be caught after defeating Dialga and Palkia on top of Mount Coronet. Next, travel to Lake Valor and defeat Azelf in combat.
A-level Pokemon
mamoswine
- Type: Ice, Ground
- Evolution: Swinub / Piloswine / Mamoswine
If you're not ready to go to Mount Coronet or evolve Garchomp just yet, then the next best attacker in the game is Mamoswine. He has a lot of cool moves with high damage, but his best ones are Blizzard and Earthquake.
Mamoswine is immune to Electric damage and highly resistant to Poison damage.
You can find and evolve Swinub in the following locations:
- Whiteout Cave
- swamp cave
- Ice cave
- glacial cave
- Bogsunk Cavern
- Route 217
magnesone
- Type: Electric, Steel
- Evolution: Magnemite / Magneton / Magnezone
Although Magnezone has a rather low base HP of only 70 points, its special attacks are really powerful. Magnezone's best moves are Zap Cannon, Discharge, and Flash Cannon.
This Pokémon is immune to Poison damage and extremely resistant to Flying and Steel types. However, keep it away from Ground-type Pokémon.
Magnemite can be located and evolved at the following sites:
- Whiteout Cave
- spacious cave
- Ice cave
- glacial cave
- Fire Ironwork
Rhyperior
- Type : Sol, Roche
- Evolution: Rhyhorn / Rhydon / Rhyperior
Rhyperior is one of the best ground attackers in Pokemon BDSP. His physical attacks are particularly damaging, such as Rock Wrecker and Earthquake.
Rhyperior is immune to electrical damage and extremely resistant to poison types. Its two biggest weaknesses are Water- and Grass-type Pokémon.
You can find Rhyhorn or Rhydon in a variety of places, including:
- Route 227 or 228
- Stark Mountain
- Big Bluff Cavern
- sunny cave
- spacious cave
- Sablear's Cave
- rock cave
B-tier pokemon
Magmortier
- Genre: Fire
- Evolution: Magby / Magmar / Magmortar
The best Fire-type Pokémon in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is undoubtedly Magmortar. His special fire attacks are really fierce, such as Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Lava Plume, and Overheat.
Although Magmortar is immune to normal damage, it can seriously suffer from all other Pokemon types, which is why it's only a B-tier pick.
You can catch Magby at the following locations:
- volcanic cave
- Typhlo's Cave
- Sablear's Cave
Blissey
- Type : Normal
- Evolution: Happiny / Chansey / Blissey
Blissey has the highest base HP in the game of 255 points, which can be maxed out to 744 points. Blissey is also a healer, who can heal any ally in the party.
It is immune to Ghost-types, but keep it away from all Fighting-type Pokemon.
You can catch Happiny or Chansey at these locations:
- Route 209 or 210
- Garden of Trophies
Related Guides:
These are the best Pokémon in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Check out our other Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl guides for more tips and tricks.
