How to Get Arceus in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Given the name of the game, you’re probably expecting to come across the god of Pokemon, Arceus, at some point. And you do! But, like meeting any god should be, getting the opportunity to do so is a monumental task. So here’s how to get Arceus in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

How to Get Arceus in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

To catch Arceus in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, you’ll first need to complete a series of steps that require you to almost 100% the game:

1. Complete the game’s main story (until you see credits roll)
2. Continue to complete main missions through mission #26: Seeking the Remaining Plates
3. Start mission #27: The Deified Pokemon
4. Catch every Pokemon in the game
5. Talk to Professor Laventon
6. Go to the Temple of Sinnoh
7. Defeat Arceus

After credits roll in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, you’ll be placed back in Jubilife Village, starting a series of missions that require you to find a variety of plates associated with Arceus. There are 18 plates to be found, many of which are earned by completing certain story plot points and the rest by catching legendary Pokemon.

After you’ve collected all the plates and completed mission #26, you’ll immediately start the final mission and receive a divine message on your phone to seek out all Pokemon. As you can guess, this means you’ll need to catch every Pokemon in the game before you can meet Arceus. You won’t need to fully survey every Pokemon in the Pokedex up to level 10, nor do you need to catch the mythical Pokemon Shaymin, Darkrai, Manaphy, or Phione. But you will need to catch every other Pokemon, including finding all 107 Wisps scattered around Hisui to encounter Spiritomb.

With every Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus encountered and your Pokedex filled, you’ll finally be able to face and get Arceus. Report your completed Pokedex to Professor Laventon, and he’ll urge you to return to the Temple of Sinnoh at Mt. Coronet. Do so and get ready for a fight. Once you play the Azure Flute, you’ll automatically initiate a very challenging battle with Arceus.

How to Beat Arceus

The battle with Arceus in Pokemon Legends: Arceus plays out like the game’s many boss battles against noble Pokemon: dodge its various attacks while chucking balms at it. But Arceus is by far the most challenging and longest battle in the game, with four phases that you’ll need to survive.  

In your battle against Arceus, you’ll want to prioritize dodging its far-reaching AoE attacks, which will require some precise timing on your part. Pay attention to the ground and be ready to dodge over any radiating pulses or out of the way of a meteor’s fiery shadow. When the floor turns pink, quickly run to the open area around Arceus to avoid this attack’s devastating blast radius. 

When Arceus summons multiple copies of itself, look for the one bowing its head. Pelting this Arceus will give you an opportunity to send in a Pokemon and engage in a more typical battle. Likewise, when Arceus rears up and starts charging itself with purple orbs, pelt it with balms to break the orbs and stun Arceus, giving you an opening to attack it with your Pokemon.  

Arceus is level 75, and you’ll want to make sure you have your strongest high-level Pokemon with you. Arceus will always start as Normal-type, but keep in mind that Arceus can change its type. When you send out a Pokemon, it will use your type-weaknesses against you. For that reason, it’s a good idea to bring a variety of types to switch out Pokemon on the fly and counter Arceus’ type changes. Deplete Arceus’ HP, and you’ll be given a chance to throw a significant number of balms at it.

Once you’ve successfully reduced all four segments of Arceus’s yellow health bar, the battle will end and Arceus will automatically join your team. And that’s it! So now that you’ve caught Arceus in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, it will hopefully return you home to your own time, right? …Right?