Article SwSh Nuzlocke Ruleset: Raidlocke

I came up with the idea while considering how one might do a Nuzlocke in SwSh. I’m probably going to try it out myself now that I’ve completed all of the story stuff in Sword. I thought about trying an Egglocke, but realized that I would have to spend extra money a second Nintendo Switch Online Subscription to avoid erasing my save data, and that I wouldn’t be online in Sword near often enough for my trading for my taste.

I was in the same boat for a Surpriselocke (basically just Wonderlocke because Suprise Trade is litterally the same thing), so I thought “what is something different that literally anyone could do?” and this was my answer. Pretty similar to most Nuzlockes, except for the part about raids, but I think it sounds exciting. Fair warning, raids get harder as you progress through the game. I haven’t been able to complete one by myself yet since becoming Champion in Sword.

Spoiler: Rules

- You are only allowed to catch the first Pokémon you see in each area. Pokémon that appeared before you can catch Pokémon or Pokémon above your Level Cap don’t count.
- Pokémon that faint are considered dead and cannot be used.
- The different parts of the Wild Area (Lake of Outrage, Axew’s Eye, ect) count as different areas.
- Any Pokémon you catch or receive must be boxed or released, and a Pokémon caught in a raid takes its place.
- If your Pokémon faints in a raid, you must leave the raid, and your fainted Pokémon must be boxed/released.
- You may only receive up to one of each Fossil Pokémon
- You may only catch Raid Pokémon up to the number of Pokémon you’ve caught/received outside of Raid Battles.
- Other clauses are optional

I look forward to seeing this done by other people. Remember, you can invite people to help out in your raids as well, and you can use Wishing Pieces to start raids anywhere in the Wild Area, so all kinds of craziness can happen. Overall, I'd say this should be an easy locke, but a fun one. GL to anyone that tries, and I hope it's as fun as I think it will be.

 

I overlooked the Fossil Pokémon when I first made this ruleset. I made it a rule for this where you only get to revive one of each. I'm thinking about changing the rule against catching Raid Pokémon up to the number of non raid Pokémon to being required to use them in the order they and allowing them to be caught ahead of time. If I leave this second one alone, I'll have to release Sally the Slandit because I broke that rule to catch her.

Overall, this locke has been easy so far. I've only lost three Pokémon not counting the Wingull first encounter I got in Rolling Fields. The candies help, and the main concern in the WIld Area is SwSh pulling a Xenoblade. Getting WIshing Pieces also helps if you know what Dens to target each section of the game, like the Fairy-Type Den in Bridge Field before Bea, Piers, and Raihan.