Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: How to Get Kingambit

While a lot of the gimmick evolutions in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet can be a bit boring, this one isn’t! To get Kingambit, you need to go on an honorable quest with your Bisharp and duel some specific foes.

What You Need to Do to Evolve Bisharp

Firstly, you need to find rival Bisharps who are holding Leader’s Crests. Wild Bisharps can only be found in the bamboo groves of North Province Area Two. As such, that’s where you need to look.

Keep your eyes peeled for Bisharps that are surrounded by Pawniards. It is only this kind of Bisharp that holds Leader’s Crests. If you’re having a hard time engaging the Bisharps in battle because you keep bumping into Pawniards, use the ZR button to throw a Poké Ball containing one of your Pokémon at the Bisharp.

After you defeat three leader Bisharps with your Bisharp, you are all set! Next, you need to level up your Bisharp and it will evolve into Kingambit.

Tips for Defeating Leader Bisharps

Your Bisharp needs to be the one that lands the final blow on the wild leader Bisharps, however, you can use other Pokémon to weaken them first.

For the most part, Bisharps are fairly resilient against the more common attacks of other Bisharps. With that said, you can teach your Bisharp a Fighting-type move via TM usage. Bisharps have a double weakness to Fighting-type moves since they are both Dark-type and Steel-type.

The two best Fighting-type moves to teach your Bisharp here are Low Kick (TM012) and Brick Break (TM058). Although Brick Break has more consistent damage output overall at 75 base power, Low Kick is better if you are fighting other Bisharp.

This is due to Low Kick’s base power changing depending on the target’s weight; the heavier the foe, the greater the base power! Since Bisharps weigh about 154 pounds, Low Kick attacks used on them will have a base power of 100. By using this tactic, you are pretty much guaranteed to knock out rival Bisharps with a single hit.

Is Kingambit Any Good?

Yes, Kingambit is a pretty solid choice for your team if you need a physical attacker. Its only crippling weakness is Fighting-type attacks. It also doesn’t fare well against Ground-types and Fire-types, however, it can hold its own against pretty much any other kind of opponent.

In terms of design, Kingambit looks great. It is the culmination of the chess theme set up by Pawniard (pawn) and Bisharp (bishop). And, due to its shogun-like vibes, you get a sense of how powerful it can be.

Kingambit’s Typing

While the type combination of Dark and Steel results in a double weakness to Fighting-type moves, it provides great benefits as well. First and foremost, Kingambit is immune to Poison and Psychic-type attacks. This allows you to relatively safely switch Kingambit in on Poison and Psychic-type foes.

On top of that, Kingambit has a total of nine resistances (Normal, Flying, Rock, Ghost, Steel, Grass, Ice, Dragon, and Dark). This is great as it allows Kingambit to wall plenty of enemies.

Kingambit’s Ability

This pocket monster has a unique ability called Supreme Overlord, which can be as mighty as it sounds in the right situation. For every party member that has been knocked out, Supreme Overlord will cause Kingambit’s Attack and Special Attack to increase by 10%.

Put simply, if you send in Kingambit after your other five party Pokémon have been knocked out, all of Kingambit’s damage-dealing moves will be 50% stronger! This can turn the tide in battle and let you make a comeback. As such, keeping a Kingambit as your team’s ace is a viable strategy.

Kingambit’s Stats

Here are Kingambit’s base stats:

• HP – 100
• Attack – 135
• Defense – 120
• Special Attack – 60
• Special Defense – 85
• Speed – 50

By looking at these base stats, you can tell that Kingambit is meant to be a slow but bulky warrior. Thanks to a solid amount of HP and high Defense, Kingambit can take physical hits pretty well. Though, with an even higher Attack stat, it’s even better at unleashing powerful hits of its own.

This is a very physically-oriented Pokémon, so its low Special Attack isn’t an issue. Its Special Defense isn’t the best but is definitely enough to prevent Kingambit from being knocked out too easily by special attacks.

With that said, don’t expect Kingambit to outspeed the majority of opponents, as it is quite slow. However, you can use this to your advantage by teaching it moves like Assurance and Reversal—both of which are better if you act second during a turn.

Kingambit’s Moveset

Upon evolving, Kingambit can learn their signature move: Kowtow Cleave. This Dark-type move has a base power of 85 and always hits unless the foe is in the semi-invulnerable phase of a move like Fly or Dig.

This is an interesting attack, however, it’s arguably not as strong as some other Dark-type moves that Kingambit can learn. For example, Assurance and Night Slash are better options from the level-up movepool, as they have the potential to deal more damage. Some other viable Dark-type moves are Foul Play, which it can only learn from a TM, and Sucker Punch, which you need to breed for.

As for Steel-type STAB (same type attack bonus) moves, the only good option is Iron Head. This is because Iron Head (80 base power) is the stronger out of the two Steel-type physical moves that Kingambit can learn—the other option being Metal Claw (50 base power).

You also need some coverage or status moves to put together a viable set for your Kingambit. Here are some of the best moves for them:

• Kowtow Cleave (learned upon evolving)
• Assurance (learned at level 25)
• Night Slash (learned at level 40)
• Iron Head (learned at level 57)
• Sword Dance (learned at level 64)
• Guillotine (learned at level 71)
• Low Kick (learned from TM012)
• Aerial Ace (learned from TM027)
• Brick Break (learned from TM058)
• Zen Headbutt (learned from TM059)
• Shadow Claw (learned from TM061)
• Foul Play (learned from TM062)
• Poison Jab (learned from TM083)
• Taunt (learned from TM087)
• X-Scissor (learned from TM105)
• Stealth Rock (learned from TM116)
• Reversal (learned from TM134)
• Stone Edge (learned from TM150)
• Mean Look (learned from breeding)
• Sucker Punch (learned from breeding)