Legendary Heroes Timed Research quest steps and best Choose Path choice for Sword or Shield in Pokémon Go

Legendary Heroes Timed Research quest steps in Pokémon Go

Legendary Heroes Timed Research is part of the Legendary Heroes event running in Pokémon Go until Tuesday 1st October at 8pm (local time). Due to this, you must complete this quest before that time passes if you want to earn all of its rewards.

It's also important to note that Legendary Heroes is a branching quest, with your choices being between the Sword and Shield paths. (A nod to the names of the Nintendo Switch games Gen 8 made its debut in.)

Your path choice not only determines a number of the rewards you'll earn when progressing through Legendary Heroes, but the Collection Challenges and Incense encounters you'll experience during the Legendary Heroes. These outlined all of these Collection Challenges and encounters on our Legendary Heroes event page, so make sure you visit there to learn what they are.

The important thing to remember is that you can not change your path choice after it's been made. Thanks to this, it's worth taking the time to decide which Choose Path choice is right for you and we even have a dedicated section exploring this further along in this guide.

For now let's take a look at the Legendary Heroes quest steps which occur before you make your path choice. Be warned - there are spoilers!

Thank you to Amiibofan101 from reddit for the help with this information.

'Legendary Heroes Timed Research' Step 1 of 3

• Catch 8 Pokémon - Skwovet encounter

Rewards: 800 XP, 800 Stardust and 8 Poké Balls

The Max Out Season is here. The new global event, Wild Area, is nearly here and In the Wild is our lead-up event, which includes the global release of Toxel. You can now catch Dynamax Pokémon through Max Battles. First, however, you need to visit Power Spots to collect Max Particles and complete the To the Max! quest. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.

'Sword' path quest steps for Legendary Heroes Timed Research

Below you'll find the challenges and rewards you'll encounter for selecting the Sword path when progressing through Legendary Heroes Timed Research in Pokémon Go. Remember - your selection can't be changed after it's made, with your choice also deciding which Collection Challenges and Incense encounter you'll receive during the Legendary Heroes event. Watch out for spoilers!

'Sword' Step 2 of 3

• Use 8 Berries to help catch Pokémon - 1 Incense
• Power up Pokémon 8 times - Koffing encounter
• Catch 8 Pokémon - 8 Great Balls

Rewards: 800 XP, 800 Stardust and a Galarian Darumaka encounter.

'Sword' Step 3 of 3

• Explore 3km - 8 Razz Berries
• Use an Incense - Deino encounter
• Catch 8 Pokémon - 8 Ultra Balls

Rewards: 800 XP, 800 Stardust and a Rufflet encounter.

'Shield' path quest steps for Legendary Heroes Timed Research

Here are the challenges and rewards for the Shield path of Legendary Heroes Timed Research in Pokémon Go. Keep in mind that you can't change your choice after it's been made. Your path choice also decides the Collection Challenges and Incense encounters you'll get during Legendary Heroes. Be careful - spoilers lie below!

'Shield' Step 2 of 3

• Use 8 Berries to help catch Pokémon - 1 Incense
• Power up Pokémon 8 times - Koffing encounter
• Catch 8 Pokémon - 8 Great Balls

Rewards: 800 XP, 800 Stardust and a Galarian Ponyta encounter.

'Shield' Step 3 of 3

• Explore 3km - 8 Razz Berries
• Use an Incense - Larvitar encounter
• Catch 8 Pokémon - 8 Ultra Balls

Rewards: 800 XP, 800 Stardust and Vullaby encounter.

Sword or Shield: Best Choose Path choice for Legendary Heroes Timed Research

While the best Choose Path choice between Sword or Shield for the Legendary Heroes Timed Research quest in Pokémon Go is subjective to your personal needs, there are a number of factors you should take into consideration before making it.

Firstly, there are the encounter rewards you'll gain for the Legendary Heroes quest which change depending on the path you choose. For Sword, you'll earn encounters with Galarian Darumaka and Rufflet. Meanwhile, for Shield, you get Galarian Ponyta and Vullaby encounters. This means, if you're missing any of these Pokémon from your Pokédex, you may want to choose the path which will allow you to easily catch them as Pokémon can't run from research quest rewards. (Though bugs are known to happen in Pokémon Go…)

If you already have all four Pokémon in your Dex, then it's worth considering whether you'll want to use any in the Go Battle League or any other forms of battling. Here, in our opinion, Galarian Darumaka on the Sword path is the stand out since it can evolve into Galarian Darmanitan - a powerful Ice-type who can be very useful in five-star raids. Since Pokémon earned from research quest encounters typically have strong IV levels, this could be your chance to get this strong Pokémon on your side.

Other than the rewards you'll earn from the quest itself, it's worth considering what your path choice unlocks outside of the quest itself. This is mainly the Collection Challenges and Incense encounters active during the Legendary Heroes event. As you can probably guess, each one is different and we run through said differences on our Legendary Heroes event page.

When it comes to the Incense encounters, the main difference you'll want to pay attention to is which Dragon-type your choice makes available. With the Sword path it's Deino, while Shield causes Larvitar to appear when you use Incense. Both can transform into powerful Dragon-type Pokémon which you can use in raids, Rocket battles or the Go Battle League. Though Tyranitar, the final evolution of Larvitar, is the stronger, more versatile, option in our opinion, so you may find that the Shield path is the one for you.

We finally step outside of Pokémon encounters when it comes to the Collection Challenge. Here the choice can be decided upon whether you have any friends who also play Pokémon Go since one of the challenges you receive can only be completed by trading with another player. Due to this, it's a good idea to pick the opposite path to your friend - that way you can both complete the challenge by trading the required Pokémon.

Personally, I'm going to choose the Sword path. I already have a collection of very powerful Tyranitars, so the chance of adding another strong Hydreigon to my team is more appealing. I also have this long standing tradition of matching my mainline Pokémon series choices with my ones in Pokémon Go - I brought Pokémon Sword, so Sword path is it. (Silly, I know but I enjoy it.)

Hope you enjoy the Legendary Heroes Timed Research quest!