One Odd Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Feature Makes Tera Raids…

Summary

Tera Raids in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet provide a challenging post-game activity for players, allowing them to test their skills alone or in co-op.
Hunting for shiny Pokemon in Tera Raids can be complicated due to a design choice that makes it difficult to distinguish shiny variants from regular ones.
Some Pokemon have shiny variants that barely change their color palette, making it even harder to identify them as shiny in Tera Raid battles.

Tera Raids are the primary post-game activity for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players, and they offer a great challenge for those looking to test their skills, whether alone or with others in co-op. While Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players have seen a steady stream of 7-Star Tera Raid events over the past year, granting them access to special mons as rewards for completing the raids, there is one problem that these raids pose for certain players. Hunting for shiny Pokemon via Tera Raids can get complicated, and it's largely due to an unfortunate design choice present in the games.

Players looking to catch special Tera Type mons in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet can take on Tera Raids, which present the opportunity for players to battle against powerful Terastallized versions of these critters with the option to capture them if they can successfully defeat the Tera Pokemon before time runs out. Although being rewarded with a uniquely Tera-Typed creature is alone a worthy reason for taking on these battles, some players utilize the availability of Tera Raids to hunt for certain shiny mons. However, some of these shiny variants can be difficult to see due to a combination of visual elements involved with Tera Raid shinies.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Tera Raid Battles Make Certain Shinies Hard to See

Some Pokemon Don't Have Unique Enough Shiny Variants

Shiny hunting in the Pokemon series has become a popular pastime among players thanks to the rarity of these alternate-colored variants and the appeal of seeing familiar critters with a different color palette from their original form. In the quest to obtain these shiny variants, players have discovered a variety of ways to manipulate the odds of encountering one to work in their favor, like obtaining the Shiny Charm, utilizing the power of sandwiches, or hunting via the Masuda method. However, there is always the off chance that players encounter a full-odds shiny while playing the game as usual, and this can occur in Tera Raid battles.

Unfortunately, there are a few mons in the series that are infamous for how little their shiny variant changes in color from its original form. Mons like Gengar, Blaziken, and Garchomp are fan favorites that are notable for having some of the worst shinies in the Pokemon series since they look nearly identical to their base color palette. To make matters worse, shinies like these are even harder to tell apart from their regular forms when shiny hunting, so the reward for hunting them often doesn't outweigh the hassle of finding one.

Terastallization Makes a Pokemon's Base Color Harder to See

While trying to distinguish the slight differences between some mons' shinies and their regular forms is hard enough, they can be even harder to identify in Tera Raid battles. When a Pokemon Terastallizes, it gains a crystal-like coating around its body that reflects different colors depending on the Tera Type, making it even more difficult to tell if certain critters are shiny. In these instances, players can often be unaware that a Tera Raid mon is shiny until after they defeat it and can see it without the added Terastallization effects.

Some creatures that have distinguishable shinies are still hard to see because of this problem. For example, some mons like Jigglypuff or Wingull only have one element of their design recolored in their shiny variant, which can be easily missed among all the other design elements critters gain when they Terastallize. While the concept of Terastallization and its implementation through Tera Raids in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet offered interesting new gameplay opportunities, the execution of the visual elements associated with the mechanic ends up bogging down Tera Raids and can even cause players to miss a coveted shiny.

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