Home > Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra Announced as Sword and Shield DLC
Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra Announced as Sword and Shield DLC
The world of Pokemon is taking it's first dive into the world of DLC in the form of two expansion areas, as was announced in this week's Pokemon Direct. This Pokemon Sword and Shield DLC will come in two parts: Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. Each will feature a large open world area to explore, new story and characters, and new and returning Pokemon, including some legendaries and new Galarian forms. The two parts can be purchased and downloaded as a single expansion pass for $30 and will be available starting in June.
The first part of the expanion pass, coming in June, is called Isle of Armor and has the "growth" theme. The Isle of Armor itself is an open world island similar to the wild area. On it you'll find a few new Pokemon, including the new legendaries Kubfu and Urshifu. Kubfu is a Fighting-type that evolves into Urshifu. Urshifu changes type depending on two possible forms: the Fighting/Dark-type Single Strike Style or the Fighting/Water-type Rapid Strike Style.
The Isle of Armor also features a new plot and a few new characters. One such character is Mustard, a former Pokemon League Champion. You'll also encounter a new rival that differs with the version of your game: the Poison-type Klara in Pokemon Sword and the Psychic-type Avery in Pokemon Shield.
The second part of the expansion pass, coming this fall, is called The Crown Tundra. This is an arctic tundra open world area with a theme of "exploration". More new Pokemon will be featured in this expansion, including the new Grass/Pyschic-type legendary Calyrex.
The Crown Tundra will also feature Max Raid dens, similar to the Wild Area. You can join other players to explore these dens. Inside you can find a variety of new and returning Pokemon, including nearly every legendary from past generations. A few new Galarian forms of legendaries will also appear, including forms of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres and a few new Regi forms.
A very important thing to note as that while those who haven't purchased the DLC won't be able to catch these new and returning Pokemon, they will be able to trade for them. You won't need to purchase the DLC to use them in your standard copies of Sword and Shield. You can also use Pokemon Home, once it launches in February, to bring over Pokemon that are introduced in these expansions.
Right now, without any purchase, you can head over to Wedgehurst Station to meet Klara or Avery. Here you'll get the opportunity to catch a Galarian Slowpoke. If you do decide to purchase the expansion pass, you can get codes for a Pikachu and Eevee uniform as soon as you do.
Of course, there is some controversy surrounding this announcement, as many feel that the full national dex should have been included in the game from the start, instead of locking some Pokemon behind paid DLC. Others are happy to see additional content in the form of DLC that is cheaper than the traditional third or upgraded games in a generation. Either way, the first part of this expansion, Isle of Armor will drop this June and both parts together can be downloaded from the eshop for $30.
