Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: How to Get Garganacl

As their name would imply, Rock-type Pokemon are mostly physical-attackers with high Defense, Special Defense, or both. This makes them ideal to serve as a “wall” for your team. With Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, returning and brand-new species were introduced to the Pokemon world. Among these was the Garganacl and its pre-evolved forms: Nacli and Naclstack.

In Scarlet & Violet, trainers have the option of partaking in Tera Raids, but the difficulty of these raids scale with the player’s progress. As you tackle 5-star Tera Raids, you’ll be looking for a Pokemon that can hit hard or soak up damage. Garganacl quickly became a popular choice for using in Tera Raids thanks to its exclusive ability and bulky stats. Thus, if you’re someone who enjoys the Tera Raids mechanic of Scarlet/Violet, you may want to consider adding the Rock Salt Pokemon to your Tera Raid team.

Where to Find Garganacl in Scarlet & Violet

Area Zero

If you search for Garganacl’s location in the Pokedex, it will display “Habitat Unknown.” Fortunately, you can find wild Garganacl in Area Zero. They tend to roam the “rocky” sections of Area Zero, but you may have an easier time looking for them outside Research Station 4. Garganacls in Area Zero are level 52-60 depending on where you’re trying to catch one in Area Zero.

If you’d prefer to catch Garganacl another way, you can try your luck with 5/6-star Tera Raids. Pokemon in 5/6-star Tera Raids are much more challenging than their 4-star (and below) counterparts. The base level for Pokemon in 5/6-star Tera Raids is 75 and 90 respectively. However, Tera Raid Pokemon can have a Tera-typing that doesn’t match the Pokemon’s original typing. Meaning it’s possible to stumble upon a 5-star Garganacl with Ice Tera-typing instead of Rock.

• You’ll unlock the 5-star Tera Raids after you’ve completed “The Way Home” main quest, which unlocks upon completing “Victory Road,” “Starfall Street,” and “Path of Legends.”
• To get 6-star Tera Raids, you’ll need to complete the postgame, which involves challenging and defeating the Paldean Gym Leaders (again) and winning the Academy Ace Tournament. After this, you’ll receive a call from Jacq asking you to complete Tera Raids. Once this is done, you’ll get another phone call about mysterious black Tera Crystals cropping up around Paldea (and Kitakami/Terarium).

Other Methods of Getting Garganacl

Catch & Evolve Nacli, Tera Raids

You can also get Garganacl by catching and evolving Nacli and/or Naclstack. Nacli evolves into Naclstack at level 24; Naclstack evolves into Garganacl at level 38. Unlike Garganacl, Nacli/Naclstack can be found just about anywhere in Paldea. Nacli can be found in the following provinces:

• East Province (Area One-Three)
• South Province (Area Three-Five)
• West Province (Area One-Two)
• Asado Desert
• 1-star Tera Raids

If you’d prefer to catch and evolve Naclstack, you’ll want to search:

• Dalizapa Passage
• North Province (Area One-Three)
• Casseroya Lake
• Alfornada Cavern
• 3-star Tera Raids

Is Garganacl Good?

Base Stats, Weaknesses, and More

Garganacl’s Rock-typing leaves it weak to several Typings, but its incredibly high base Defense and moderate Special Defense means it’ll take more than a few hits before it goes down. Here are Garganacl’s type effectiveness and base stats:

As mentioned before, Garganacl’s Purifying Salt Ability is what makes it stand out in Tera Raids. However, that’s just one of Garganacl’s three potential Abilities, albeit the most-preferred one.

Recommended Nature

Since Gargnacl’s strength lies in its Defense, you’ll want a Nature that increases its Defense or Special Defense growth at the cost of its Special Attack, such as Impish (+Def, -Sp.Attk) or Careful (+Sp.Def, -Sp.Attk). You’ll want to avoid Natures that lower its Defense growth, such as Lonely, Mild, Gentle, and Hasty. Even Special Defense-bane Natures (ex: Naughty, Rash) should be avoided.

If you have a Garganacl with the “wrong” Nature, you can fix this by giving it a Nature Mint. These can be found in Tera Raids (5-star) or can be purchased from Chansey Supply once you’ve obtained 6 Gym Badges.

Recommended Moves

• You’ll want to have Salt Cure as one of Garganacl’s moves. This inflicts 1/8 damage of the target Pokemon’s max HP (1/4 if used on a Steel or Water-type Pokemon) per turn. Unlike Fire Spin or Whirlpool, Salt Cure will continue to damage the target Pokemon until Garganacl is swapped out.
• Garganacl can also make good use of Curse, which will lower its Special Attack and increase its Attack and Defense by one stage.
• Another useful move to have is Earthquake. This is a Ground-type move that inflicts massive physical damage to the opponent, potentially giving Garganacl type coverage to Steel-type Pokemon.
• Heavy Slam is a Steel-type move that Garganacl learns via leveling up (44). Its power is influenced by how much more Garganacl outweighs its opponent. Of course, this move won’t inflict much damage if your opponent weighs more (such as Metagross), so you can always swap out this Steel-type move for something like Iron Head.
• Fire Punch can be good if you want to have coverage against Grass-type and Steel-type Pokemon. There’s also Thunder Punch, which is super-effective on most Water-type Pokemon.

Since Garganacl has poor Special Attack, you’ll want to give it damage-inflicting moves (ie: Physical moves) that utilize its Attack stat.