How to Farm EXP Fast in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet EXP, or Experience Points, is part and parcel of a Pokémon’s growth in becoming stronger and reaching their later evolutions. Ever since the first games came out, trainers often grind for their Pokémon’s EXP by battling wild Pokémon or engaging in Pokémon trainer battles. This process can take hours and hours on end, but this has been more streamlined in recent games.

In this guide, we’ll talk about how to farm for EXP in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and share some tips and tricks on how to make the grind fast and efficient.

How to grind for EXP fast

To make your EXP grinding as efficient as possible, we are going to have to prepare your team first with these pointers:

Obtain a Lucky Egg
Set as Party Leader
Get the Encounter Power from a Sandwich
Head to the North Province Area Three

Obtain a Lucky Egg

It is highly recommended to obtain the Lucky Egg first which will give a bonus on the EXP earned by the Pokémon holding it. This can be easily done by completing five (5) Gyms and meeting up with Jacq on the 6th Gym where you’ll be rewarded with the Lucky Egg.

Set as Party Leader

Since Pokémon that have participated in the battle get bonus EXP, it is best to set the Pokémon that you want to focus on leveling up as the leader of the party. Depending on how strong it is in relation to the Pokémon that you’ll be fighting against, you can use it to defeat any encounter, or switch it out and let a stronger Pokémon finish the battle.

Get the Encounter Power from a Sandwich

The Encounter Power is a Meal Power that you can get from making a sandwich out of the right ingredients. This buff allows you to encounter more Pokémon of the type that is specified on the buff. Encounter Power goes up to level 3, but even just reaching level 1 will suffice to spawn enough Pokémon to allow you to continuously grind for EXP. Each buff lasts for 30 minutes and you can simply whip up another sandwich through the picnic function.

For the purpose of grinding EXP, we will need Encounter Power: Normal. The most basic sandwich that will get you Encounter Power: Normal Level 1 can be made with these ingredients:

x1 Chorizo
x1 Mayonnaise

Head to the North Province Area Three

The North Province Area three can be easily accessed once you visit the Poké Center northwest of Montenevera. In here, you’ll find an area where Chanseys can spawn. Chanseys are known to be EXP-rich Pokémon that can provide a lot of EXP when defeated or caught.

Having the Encounter Power: Normal buff from earlier will allow more Chanseys to spawn as it is the only Normal-type Pokémon to spawn in the area. (Other options like the Dondozos (Water) in Casseroya Lake are not as good as they share habitat with other Pokémon that are of the same type which do not give out as much EXP.)

The Chanseys in the area have levels between Lv.43 to Lv.47, so prepare your moves accordingly. There’s also some ample flat land that you can quickly set up a picnic on in case you need to replenish your buff. Each Chansey that you clear can provide around 1,500 to 2,500 EXP for non-participants, and around 4,000 to 7,000 EXP for participants and Lucky Egg holders.

Engaging in Combat vs. Let’s Go

Between the two options, it’s best to engage in combat when grinding for EXP/ The Let’s Go option may be a quicker option to clear out the Pokémon, but the EXP that it provides per clear is drastically lower than the EXP that you get from clearing them through combat. It’s best to have a Pokémon in your team that knows a Fighting move or one that is powerful enough to deal a one-hit K.O.

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