Do you need to beat Pokemon Scarlet and Violet to play The Teal Mask DLC?

Video DLCs and expansions often want you to finish the base game before you start the new content, and that's led some to wonder if Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will need story completion to access The Teal Mask. The DLC has been one of the game's most anticipated updates for quite some time now, and with it finally releasing, fans of the Nintendo title are quite curious about some of the things that they might need to do before getting access to the expansion.

The Pokemon Scarlet and Violet base games take hours to complete. Players will often need to grind their Pokemon’s levels to 60 and above and work on their IVs to be able to clear some of the harder late-game content, like the Elite Four and the final Rivals battle.

Hence, it's hardly surprising that Pokemon fans are worried that the game may require them to complete the main questline again before they can play the Teal Mask DLC.

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Can you access the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Teal Mask DLC only after completing the main story?

Fortunately, you will not be required to complete the main storyline of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet to be able to enjoy the Teal Mask DLC. However, you will have to make a fair bit of progress in the campaign to start the new content.

You will need to play for around four hours (or longer, depending on how much you are exploring) and reach levels 10-20 when the Treasure Hunt mission will unlock in the main campaign.

During the Treasure Hunt, a lot of branching paths will open up, which will allow you to explore Paldea and make your way to the end game. There is no single win condition, and the Teal Mask expansion is another set of quests that open up once the Treasure Hunt is unlocked in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

Additionally, the new expansion brings with it a new quality-of-life feature called Level Scaling. So, irrespective of where you are in the game, you will not have too many problems completing the new content.

However, the best time to start them will be when you are around level 60, if you have completed the Victory Road, or level 10-20 if you are starting a new game.

But if you want to have an easier time and have spent hours in the base game, then feel free to use your level and IV-maxed Pokemon to breeze through the new Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Teal Mask encounters.