Pokémon Legends Arceus guide: Dialga and Palkia boss fight

The final boss of the main story in Pokémon Legends: Arceus is Dialga or Palkia, depending on which clan you end up siding with. You’ll catch one and go to battle with the other, using balms to soothe it until it’s ready to be caught. Our Pokémon Legends: Arceus guide will explain how to catch Dialga and Palkia, their weaknesses, and counters to make their battles go easier.

How do I pick which Legendary I battle?

During the climax of the game, you will be tasked with choosing which clan to side with: the Diamond Clan or the Pearl Clan. If you go with Adaman, the Diamond Clan leader, you’ll catch Dialga and fight against Palkia. If you go with Irida, the Pearl Clan leader, you’ll catch Palkia and fight against Dialga. Worry not, though, as you will end up with both Pokémon, so it doesn’t make much difference.

If you knock out the chosen Legendary when you are tasked to battle it, they will note that you were supposed to catch the dang thing and that you need to try again. There’s no need for a hard reset or anything like that.

Dialga and Palkia weaknesses and counters

Dialga is steel- and dragon-type, giving it only two weaknesses: fighting- and ground-type moves. Palkia is water- and dragon-type, and it also only has two weaknesses: dragon- and fairy-type moves. They’ll both be level 65 when you encounter them, so make sure you’re not underleveled.

By the time you get to this point in the game, you should have a plethora of Pokémon at your disposal, but if you’re having trouble against the Legendary Pokémon, you can pick up fighting-type Riolu or Lucario and dragon-type Gible and Garchomp in Alabaster Icelands.

Once you catch the initial one, you should use it in battle against the remaining Legendary, as they’re both extremely powerful.

Fighting Dialga and Palkia

Just like the Noble fights, you will need to dodge and throw balms at the rampaging Pokémon. When there’s an opening, you can choose to battle and stun it. At this point, you should be able to throw everything you’ve got at either Pokémon to take it down as quickly as possible.

In terms of attack patterns, Dialga and Palkia both do the same thing. They use a combination of attacks we’ve seen from the Noble Pokémon, like Liligant’s ring-shaped move or Arcanine’s fire on the floor. Again, dodge quickly and make use of the invincibility period that dodge rolling gives you in order to successfully take out Dialga and Palkia.

Once the respective Legendary gets soothed, that’ll wrap up the fight. There’s no need for you to select a Poké Ball or anything, so just sit back and enjoy the cutscene.

As with the other fights, if you black out, you can choose to start the fight from the beginning or start at a checkpoint.