During a hands-on preview of the upcoming Isle of Armor expansion, IGN noted that trainers they encountered were sending out Pokemon with comparable levels to their own party (e.g. Level 60).
Eventually, they confirmed with a Nintendo representative that the DLC’s difficulty would scale according to a player’s party – meaning anyone can start enjoying the new content regardless of where they are in the game’s story!
IGN on Pokemon Sword / Shield difficulty scaling
During our 30-minute hands-off preview of Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor DLC, we noticed that the first trainer battle were around level 60 – the same as the highest level Pokémon in the trainer’s party.
We asked Nintendo product marketing specialist Demetrius Boggs if this meant level scaling was in place, and he confirmed that Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Expansion Pass area’s trainers and wild Pokemon will in fact scale with your own Pokemon levels.Not only that, but these areas can be accessed as soon as you reach the Wild Area of Pokémon Sword and Shield, just a few hours into the games.
So whether you’ve just started or have already completed every post-game activity and have a full party of level-100 Pokémon, both parts of the expansion pass–The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra–will match your Pokémon’s level.
But does it work?
Sure I have seen some strong Pokemon … but … going through it with LVL 100 Pokemon from the base games I have yet to encounter a single level 100 Pokemon. I think this feature for the expansion pass content could have been much tougher and so enjoyable if it lived up to what IGN noted.
I even would have liked seeing a Lvl 100+ situation. But they dropped the ball there a bit it seems.
Also dataminers have confirmed this to not be a thing as well. Which makes it even more of a shame as it will not get harder. Only if players themselves apply a Nuzlocke challenge is it really a challenging title it seems.
