How to increase friendship in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is the long-awaited newest entry in this beloved franchise and is Game Freak's answer to Breath of the Wild. The new addition has a truly shocking amount of content for players to experience.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus features over 200 Pokemon from multiple regions as well as a fun new way of catching them. It also gives the players a variety of fun ways to interact with Pokemon.

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Increasing Friendship In Pokemon Legends: Arceus

While there are a couple of ways to increase friendship levels in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the primary method is clearly through the constant use of the desired Pokemon. Players should always keep them in the party, battle with them as often as possible, use a ton of items on them, and use them to gather crafting items. The key is to ensure they are getting maximum playtime. Secondly, players must try to use EXP candy on the Pokemon they wish to become more friendly with and obviously increase the actual level of the Pokemon simultaneously. Players can check their friendship level with the Pokemon shortly after beginning Mission 8 of the main story. An NPC named Bellamy can inform the player of their Pokemon's feelings. To summarize, players should simply use the chosen Pokemon more often and avoid letting them faint in battle to increase friendship quickly.

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Why is Friendship important In Pokemon Legends: Arceus?

A quick look at the game's new ride mechanic (Image via Nintendo)

The primary motivator to gain friendship is that certain Pokemon cannot evolve without it. A handful of Pokemon will not evolve into higher forms until a high enough friendship level is reached. Riolu, for example, will not become the powerful Lucario until it has reached maximum happiness. Fortunately, this isn't too big of a stumbling block since most things that increase Pokemon levels also increase happiness. If a player leaves a Pokemon out of their main party for a long time and then attempts to power level them to evolve, they may find that it's not possible.

While this is the most common reason to seek higher friendship levels, it isn't the only one. Pokemon with higher friendship levels are better able to shrug off status effects like stun or poison. Happiness also makes them more likely to dodge attacks and even more likely to deliver devastating critical hits. For more effective and happier Pokemon, simply win battles, use plenty of items, and use them to gather crafting resources. Through these simple methods, players can more easily evolve their Pokemon while improving their overall performance in the exciting new game.