The Isle of Armormakes up the first part of the DLC included inSword and Shield’s Expansion Pass, and will be released this June. It introduces a brand-new open-world area that can be explored similarly to the base game’s Wild Area, including more Pokémon Dens (as well as new Max Raid Battles) and a variety of new environments and features – such as several new forms, and a few entirely new Pokémon!The Isle of Armoralso reintroduces many older Pokémon left out ofSword and Shield, which can be accessed even without buying the Expansion Pass.
Isle of Armor Release Date
While we haven’t been given an exact release date yet,The Isle of Armoris planned for June of this year, and can be pre-purchased with the Season Pass right now! You’ll then be able to install and play the new content as soon as it’s released in June, ahead ofThe Crown Tundra’s releasesometime this fall.
Isle of Armor Price/Cost
TheIsle of Armorexpansion can be pre-purchased as part of thePokémon Sword and ShieldExpansion Pass using the Nintendo eShop. The Expansion Pass costs $29.99 / £26.99 and includes bothThe Isle of ArmorandThe Crown Tundra(which will be released later in 2020). These expansions can be downloaded as soon as they launch, and you’ll also receive special outfits for your Trainer in advance. Make sure to get the Expansion Pass that matches the game version you own (i.e. theSwordExpansion Pass if you ownSword, or theShieldExpansion Pass if you ownShield), as the two versions of the Expansion Pass aren’t transferable!
The Legendary Pokémon Urshifu
On the Isle of Armor you’ll enroll in a special dojo led by former champion Mustard, who’ll also give you the new Legendary Pokémon Kubfu. This Pokémon will evolve into one of two forms of Urshifu depending on your in-game choices: you’ll end up with either the Fighting / Dark type “Single Strike Style” or the Fighting / Water type “Rapid Strike Style”. Either form is available no matter whether you’re playingSwordorShield, and both styles of Urshifu also have their own Gigantamax forms.
New Gigantamax Forms
Speaking of Gigantamax forms,The Isle of Armoralso introduces new Gigantamax forms for the Galar region’s fully-evolved starter Pokémon Rillaboom, Cinderace and Inteleon. While we don’t yet have the full details on how to get these, it seems that you’ll be able to Gigantamax your original starter Pokémon fromSword and Shield. There’ll also be new Gigantamax forms added for Venusaur and Blastoise as part of the Expansion Pass (in keeping with their counterpart Charizard), but we don’t yet know whether these will be available inThe Isle of Armoror if we’ll have to wait forThe Crown Tundra.
New Regional Forms
The Isle of Armorfeatures wild Galarian Slowpoke, and will allow you to evolve your current Galarian Slowpoke into a Galarian Slowbro. However, you won’t be able to evolve Slowpoke into Galarian Slowking until the release ofThe Crown Tundra. Check out our guide onhow to get your own Galarian Slowpokeahead of the update!
An Expanded Pokédex
Besides the new forms already confirmed, a whole host of classic Pokémon unavailable inSword and Shieldwill be returning with this update – even to players who haven’t bought the Expansion Pass. This includes Pokémon like the Larvesta, Magnemite and Talonflame families. Catching these will helpIsle of Armorplayers to complete the Isle of Armor Pokédex, a separate challenge from the main game’s Galar Pokédex. This also allows any of these Pokémon to be migrated from older games intoSword and ShieldusingPokémon Home, whether you have the Expansion Pass or not.
New Rivals
The Isle of Armorfeatures two new rivals for the player character – inSword, you’ll be up against the Poison-type specialist Klara while inShieldyou’ll face the Psychic-type specialist Avery. Both rivals will also be training at the dojo, but can briefly be encountered ahead ofThe Isle of Armor’s release if you’ve updated your copy ofSwordorShieldand activated the Galarian Slowpoke event.
Other Features
The Isle of Armor allows access to a range of new features too, such as a new Move Tutor service and the ability to make new Poké Balls from Apricorns –allowing you to get multiples of rare items like the Moon Ball! There’ll also be a huge range of clothing items added in both this DLC update and the next one. The Restricted Sparring mode adds a new level of challenge in battle by setting new restrictions. You’ll also be able to obtain the Exp. Charm, an item that boosts your Pokémon’s Experience Point gains.
