Key Takeaway
You can farm EXP in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet by battling Chansey, taking advantage of Let’s Go Mode, participating in Tera Raids, fighting through the Academy Ace Tournament, and by utilizing the Lucky Egg.
There are numerous methods for EXP farming that you can take advantage of in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Depending on if you’re looking to bulk up in the early or late game, certain methods will serve you better than others.
Table Of Contents
Tera Raids
Arguably the best way to jump up levels quickly in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is through collecting EXP Candies through completing Tera Raids. The higher star rating for each Raid, the more larger size Candies you’ll get as a reward.
You can join in on random online Raids to take down the higher-star Pokémon. However, it’s important to note that there’s a chance other members of your team will not bring top-tier, high level, or effective Pokémon to your Raid Battle, so it may not work out. But much of the time, you can collect mass amounts of Candies quickly through doing online Raid battles. It’s still worth it to do lower level Raids to collect Candies until you can make it in the tougher Raids.
Hunting Chansey
In normal Pokémon fashion, Chansey are worth a significant amount of EXP in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. However, predictably, this means they are rare encounters. Luckily, there is a method for ensuring you find more of them:
- Make a bunch of Ham Sandwiches. To do this, go to an Artisan Bakery Store and purchase Ham, Pickles, Mustard, and Mayonnaise.
- Head to the Northern part of Paldea, to a field near the Fairy Team Star Base (location featured in image above).
- Once you’ve set up your Picnic Table, made your Ham Sandwiches, and eaten one, then many Chansey will appear. You can either battle them individually for thousands of EXP at a time, or you can activate Let’s Go Mode and auto-battle each one quicker for around 700 EXP each.
Let’s Go Mode
Another method you can use to gain EXP quickly is Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Let’s Go Mode. This allows you to do auto-battles, which are significantly quicker than your standard battles. The most effective way to farm EXP with this method first requires you to defeat Team Star’s Fighting Crew Base. Once you do this, you’ll have access to the crater near Fury Falls (location featured in image above). This area contains numerous Golducks and Dratini around level 50.
Before you go here, you’ll want to collect a handful of Grass and Electric-type Pokémon to use, as these will be most effective against the Golducks and Dratini. Once you have these and reach the crater, you can simply send them out and relax as you build up EXP while your Pokémon do the work.
Academy Ace Tournament
If you’re hoping to gain some money in addition to EXP simultaneously, the Academy Ace Tournament is the best route for you. You’ll gain less EXP at a time than the other options, but the money may make it worth your while.
The Academy Ace Tournament is basically the equivalent of repeatedly fighting the Elite Four in the older Pokémon games. In Scarlet and Violet, you can’t fight the Elite Four repeatedly, but you can participate in a tournament at your school.
To take place in the tournament, you’ll first need to go through a rematch against all the Gym Leaders after completing the three main storylines. This means that the Academy Ace Tournament is a post-game farming option. Once you’ve done all of this, you can go to the center of Mesagoza just before the steps to your Academy and choose to take part in the Tournament.
Lucky Egg
The Lucky Egg will help you to train up your Pokémon faster, no matter which method you decide to use. You’ll want to have whichever Pokémon you’re looking to level up holding onto one of these. A Pokémon holding the Lucky Egg will receive an extra 50% boost to EXP. To get the Lucky Egg, you’ll simply need to defeat five Gyms. Once you show up at the sixth Gym, Professor Jacq will appear and gift it to you.
