Should you pick Sword or Shield path in Pokémon Go Legendary Heroes?

The Pokémon Go Legendary Heroes event is another opportunity to get your hands on Zacian and Zamamenta as they return to five-star raids. It starts with a Timed Research where you must choose between the Sword or Shield path.

There are benefits to choosing one over the other. Not only do you get exclusive rewards for this Timed Research based on your decision, but the type of Pokémon and tasks you can work on will also change. Thankfully, your decision does not prevent you from getting a Zacian or Zamamenta raid.

Here’s what you need to know about if you should go with the Sword or Shield path in Pokémon Go‘s Legendary Heroes event.

Is the Sword or Shield path better in Pokémon Go Legendary Heroes?

Based on how the Sword and Shield paths work during the Legendary Heroes event, we recommend going with the Sword path. The Pokémon featured in the Sword path are more desirable to a broader audience of Pokémon Go players and provide benefits that exceed the Shield path. However, the answer depends on the Pokémon you have in your collection, and reviewing it will be a good idea to determine if you should go with the Sword and Shield path.

The big differences between the Sword and Shield paths are the Pokémon incense spawns you get and the Collection Challenge you have to complete. The Collection Challenge is focused on the incense spawns you get. You’ll want to have a few stacks of incense in your inventory before the Legendary Heroes event begins on Sept. 26 at 10am in your local area in Pokémon Go.

If you go with the Shield path, you get Larvitar, Lotad, Croagunk, Solosis, Spritzez, and Oranguru to spawn when you use incense. When you choose the Sword path, you have Seedot, Scraggy, Gothita, Deino, Swirlix, and Passimian spawning with the help of incense while playing Pokémon Go.

Given you get the Dragon-type Pokémon, Deino, for going with the Sword path, this feels like a better option for anyone who needs to add a reliable Dragon-type to their collection. Larvitar is a solid choice, as it evolves into Tyranitar, a reliable Dark and Rock-type Pokémon, but Deino is much more difficult to find in Pokémon Go. It’s not featured in as many events, whereas Larvitar has a better chance of spawning far more often.

All wild encounters and raids during Pokémon Go‘s Legendary Heroes event are the same for all Go players, regardless of your chosen path. Going with the Sword path is the better choice if you want to get the most out of this event. If you review your collection and Deino’s not quite an appealing choice, going with the Shield path isn’t wrong, especially if the featured Pokémon are better for you and what you need while playing the mobile game.