Resource management is an immensely important part of any RPG, and managing your money in Pokemon Legends: Arceus is no exception.
While Pokedollars may not be the focus during the introduction to the game, you’ll find them becoming more and more important as you get stuck into the main storyline.
Earning money as you go is plausible, of course, but if you’re looking to spend larger amounts (for example, on increasing your satchel space) then it’s good to have a few tricks up your sleeve.
Here’s my top tips on how to earn money fast in Pokemon Legends: Arceus while still having fun.
Keep An Eye Out For Sparkles
One of the most important things to do in this game is to make sure that you’re always picking up resources.
They seem trivial when you start off, but it quickly becomes vital to make sure that you’ve always got plenty of minerals, veggies and berries on hand. Being able to make a potion or a revive on the go can be an absolute lifesaver if you run into an Alpha pokemon or boss fight unprepared.
When you’re out and about looking for materials, keep your eyes peeled for any sparkles. I’ve popped a screenshot of a sparkly tumble stone source below- it doesn’t quite encapsulate how vivid they are, so do keep an eye out for the glittering animation. You can see it from a fairly long distance.
These magical minerals will give you a bag of stardust when you break them, which is a brilliant way to get a little extra money. Each bag of stardust can be sold to the shop for 1K Pokedollars, which racks up nicely if you’re constantly keeping an eye out for them.
Get Stuck Into Space-Time Distortions
Space-time distortions are regularly occurring rifts that take place across the map.
If you come across one of these rifts, prepare to tackle some hefty Pokemon and deal with almost as much neon lighting as a bad 80s nightclub. They’re quite odd, but do offer up some incredible rewards that can help with your moneymaking schemes.
Aside from the rewards that you can nab from battling the higher level Pokemon and Alpha Pokemon in the space-time distortions, there’s some brilliant items to watch out for, too.
One of the most important categories of items that you’ll be able to find in space-time distortions is evolution items. These rifts offer lots of handy items that’ll help your Pokemon evolve, ranging from dawn stones to thunder stones. If you’ve already achieved the evolution that these items offer, though, they go for a decent lump of cash at vendors.
There’s a number of other handy items, like razor claws, linking cords and reaper cloths, too.
Space-time distortions offer lots of boost items for Pokemon that come with the tag ‘ it’s loved by a certain Pokemon ‘ and these can be sold to vendors, too. If you’re looking to evolve a Pokemon like Gengar without trading it to a friend, make sure to keep these items on hand.
Of course, evolution items and boost items are not the two most lucrative item categories that you can get to spawn in the rifts.
Some space-time distortion drops exist simply to be sold to shops. These include stardust, nuggets and star pieces. These items will help you to rack up Pokedollars quickly and are worth battling with the higher level rift Pokemon for.
Interestingly, you can purchase a recipe for star pieces for 10K from the recipe vendor. Here’s a screenshot of the map to help you find the right location easily.
When you’re headed towards this direction, keep an eye out for the house with a green roof and a stack of logs outside it. The NPC you need is Anvin, and he’s got plenty of handy recipes on offer. There’s also a crafting table right next to him, so you can start immediately with your star piece crafting.
It’s quite the upfront investment to purchase this recipe, but considering that star pieces sell to vendors for 5K a pop , it’s a worthwhile investment for anyone looking to make more money at a steady pace in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
All the ingredients that you need for star pieces can spawn in space-time rifts, too. I’ve already noted that you can find stardust within these rifts, and you can find various colored shards, too. In order to make a star piece, you’ll need:
- One bag of stardust
- Three green shards
- Three blue shards
- Three red shards
These all spawn very regularly within space-time rifts, and can even be picked up when you’re on a Pokemon’s back. Keep an eye out for them next time you’re near a space-time rift.
The space-time rifts can take a while to spawn depending on a number of in-game factors, so make sure to interact with the world around you as much as possible to prompt the system.
Make Sure You’re Ranking Up
There are 10 different star ranks in the Pokemon Legends: Arceus world, all correlating to your success with the Pokedex, requests and other research tasks. Ranking up requires you to hit a certain amount of experience points, which you can track in your Pokedex.
Ranking up quickly is a brilliant way to make sure that you’re getting as much money as possible when travelling around the world. Each star rank will steadily increase the amount of money that you’re obtaining from certain tasks, and it racks up over time.
If you’ve got enough experience points for the next rank and you’re not sure where to head next, speak to the Professor at any nearby camp and get him to review your work. After he looks at the new Pokemon that you’ve caught and reviews your Pokedex tasks, he’ll mention ranking up and suggest that you should head back to Jubilife Village to speak to the Captain.
It doesn’t automatically take you to Jubilife Village though, so you’ll need to select the return option when speaking to the Professor. Then, head back to Captain Cyllene in the Galaxy Hall and ask her to review your Pokedex.
If you’ve got enough experience points, this will trigger the ranking up process.
Once you’ve gone through the dialogue section with Captain Cyllene, you’ll be given any new recipes, told about which Pokemon will now obey you and be informed about the boost to your Pokedollar earnings from research tasks, too.
It’s worth noting that ranking up will take more and more effort as you progress throughout the game. Make sure to always catch any new Pokemon that you see in order to keep on top of your star rank, and complete research tasks whenever possible.
Research tasks in Pokemon Legends: Arceus can include anything from catching a certain number of a specific Pokemon and seeing them use particular moves, to evolving Pokemon and catching them within a space-time distortion. Completing a certain number of research tasks for one Pokemon will mark the Pokedex entry as completed.
Tangle With Alpha Pokemon
Battling Alpha Pokemon can seem somewhat intimidating when you first start the game (especially the Alpha Rapidash with the demonic head tilt) but they’re absolutely worth tracking down, fighting and capturing for a number of reasons.
Not only are they great for gaining experience, they also offer a nice sum of money when you turn them in with your Pokedex to the Professor. As you’ll see if you manage to snag one and turn it in, they can offer up a huge monetary bonus.
They can be pretty difficult to battle and capture in some cases, though. The alpha Steelix in Coronet Highlands gave me a lot of grief when I was trying to catch it. I’d suggest having some Pokemon on your team that can inflict status conditions, like poison Pokemon.
This is even more relevant if you’ve been boosting your rank, too. Pokedex appraisals can lead to a lot of extra Pokedollars, and a handful of other bonus like recipes from the Captain, too. These recipes can in turn lead to you saving money and earning with your crafting, too.
Alpha Pokemon also drop some items that can be sold for a decent amount of Pokedollars, too. If you’re planning to go hunting for Alpha Pokemon, make sure to clear out plenty of space in your satchel to avoid having to go back and forth between your nearest camp.
If you’re struggling with your satchel space in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, remember it can be upgraded and expanded by speaking to one of the NPCs in the Jubilife Village Galaxy Hall. These upgrades can get pretty costly quickly, though.
Don’t Forget About Your Requests
Requests are not part of the main storyline in Pokemon Legends, but they’re worth keeping up with. They can offer up item rewards, like Pokeballs, Dazzling Honey or potions, which can be incredibly useful to have in your satchel while you’re travelling.
Some requests can even help you track down legendary Pokemon or rare spawns.
Moreover, some requests – like number 26 ‘Aim for the Big Leagues’ – even offer items that can be sold for a lucrative amount of Pokedollars, like nuggets. You can also get stardust, comet shards and star pieces from requests.
If you’re ever unsure about the rewards that you can get from a request, open up the Arc Phone by hitting the – button. Then, press the Y button to open the request menu and hit R to skip to the request tab. You’ll be able to scroll up and down the menu to see each request that you’ve got going on right now with the rewards, NPC name and location, along with the ones you’ve completed.
I personally find it very handy to use the pin feature on the map to track down the NPCs or locations that I need for my requests, especially if I’ve got a fair few on the go.
There are some specific requests that open up other things in Jubilife Village, as well. You can unlock everything from more farming space and clothes to change into in Pokemon Legends: Arceus too.
Get Crafty Whenever You Can
Finally, this is less of an earning trick and more of a saving trick. Make sure to craft whenever possible, to save yourself the hassle of having to buy Pokeballs, healing items and trinkets in the game.
While 100 Pokedollars may seem like a small amount to pay for a Pokeball, it does stack up over time. This is especially true if you’re going on a catching spree to boost your star rank, too.
Some crafting recipes can help you to earn more money, as seen above with the star piece method for farming money in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Head over to Anvin (scroll back up for the map screenshot if you need) and review what recipes he’s got for sale, and remember you can get other recipes from boosting your star rank, too.
Pokeshi dolls are a great example of other items that can be made easily in return for a decent Pokedollars sale price. You obtain the Pokeshi doll recipe by getting request 18 ‘Please Make Me a Pokeshi Doll’ from Anvin, and you’ll get this request decently early on in the game.
This quest requires you to obtain 3 pieces of wood to craft a Pokeshi doll, and you’ll find the wood pieces quickest in Obsidian Fieldlands. They spawn under trees at random (they’re a little hard to spot, I’d recommend hunting for them in the daytime) and can be picked up directly. I had the most luck looking in the Aspiration Hill area.
Pokeshi dolls don’t have any value in battles right now, but they are throwable and can be sold to any vendor for 1K Pokedollars each time. They’re not the most lucrative item to craft in the game, but can be a solid way to get extra money during your play through.
Look For Treasure With Ursaluna
Finally, this is a trick that I stumbled upon lately by accident. While hunting for treasure with the Pokemon Ursaluna can lead to fairly mundane treasures and items like balls of mud, it can also help you find incredible items that can be sold for a lot of money.
These items vary from time to time, but the best thing that I’ve found so far is a star piece. As discussed above, these star pieces can be sold to vendors for 5K Pokedollars a pop.
It’s not the most consistent method by any means, but I would recommend using Ursaluna in every zone that you’re in at least once to make sure that you’re not missing out on any extra money.
