The Pokemon series has now given fans 8 full generations of fantastical creatures. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is no different. However, experienced players know that every Pokemon is unique. Players need to choose carefully when selecting their team members. Many Pokemon look amazing and possess great moves that make them special, while others bring their above-average stats to bear on the battlefield.
One important stat is Defense. This stat determines the damage a Pokemon will take from physical moves thrown at them in battle. Pokemon with especially high Defense are more capable of withstanding tough fights, keeping them in the field far longer. This makes them worthwhile additions to any team. Players need to know which Pokemon to catch, train, and level up so that they can be ready for even the toughest battles. Keep an eye out for these non-Legendary Pokemon with the highest Defense stats in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
5 Dusknoir
Dusknoir is a pure Ghost-type Pokemon with 135 points in its Defense stat. It also has good Attack and high Special Defense. Pure Ghost is fantastic typing both offensively and defensively. On the defensive front, it only has 2 weaknesses (Ghost and Dark) and it also gets 2 immunities (Normal and Fighting).
Offensively, Dusknoir will hit other Ghost-types and Psychic-types for super effective damage, and only Normal and Dark are capable of resisting its Ghost-type moves. Dusknoir is also no slouch on Moves, as it is capable of learning all 3 elemental punches, giving it quite a good amount of attacking choices.
Dusknoir is the evolution of Wild Duskull and Dusclops. Both can be found at the Deadwood Haunt in the Cobalt Coastlands. Players should note that it is not just a "level up" evolution. Dusclops also needs a Reaper Cloth used on it for it to evolve completely.
4 Probopass
Probopass has a killer mustache, and is a Rock/Steel-type Pokemon with 145 points in its Defense, in addition to it having very high Special Defense and average Special Attack. However, Rock/Steel is a bit of a weird type combination. While it does boast a mighty 8 resistances and 1 immunity, it also is 4x weak to both Ground and Fighting. And, experienced players will know that those two are strong types for offense, so it does hold Probopass back a bit.
However, due to being a Rock-type, Probopass can take advantage of the 50% Special Defense increase Rock-types get in Sandstorm, making it very difficult to KO with Special moves. Wild Nosepass and Probopass can be found at the Celestica Ruins and Primeval Grotto in the Coronet Highlands.
3 Bastiodon
For defense, it makes sense that Rock-types and Steel-types would lead the way. The thing that makes Bastiodon stand out, other than its great name, is that it is a Rock/Steel-type Pokemon with 168 points in its Defense stat. It has very high Special Defense, and not really anything else.
As mentioned earlier with Probopass, Rock/Steel is a rather awkward type combination, somewhat made worse here due to Bastiondon's weaker attacking stats. Bastiodon is essentially a more exaggerated version of Probopass, with higher defenses with lower offensive potential. It does have a wide movepool though, so it has that going for it at least. Dusknoir is the evolution of Shieldon. In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, wild Shieldon and Bastiodon can both be found in Space-Time Distortions at the Coronet Highlands.
2 Avalugg
There is an exception to every rule, and this is it for Pokemon with high defense stats. Pokemon Legends: Arceus introduced a new regional variant for Avalugg that is an Ice/Rock-type, as opposed to its original pure Ice-type. It has slightly higher Attack and Speed than regular Avalugg, sacrificing some Special Attack and Special Defense in return, but Avalugg doesn't really use those stats anyway.
Ice/Rock is an atrocious defensive typing. It has 2 super (4x) weaknesses in Fighting and Steel, 4 regular weaknesses in Ground, Rock, Water, and Grass which are all strong types. Luckily, Avalugg does have 4 resistances in Normal, Flying, Poison, and Ice. However, only Flying and Normal are commonly considered the most useful of these. All of this in addition to Avalugg being painfully slow and having basically non-existent Special Defense means it's very easy to KO a lot of the time.
Offensively, this typing actually does well. Avalugg can hit a hefty 7 different types for super effective damage: Bug, Flying, Fire, Ground, Grass, Dragon, and Ice. The player does need to be very afraid of Steel-types, however. Avalugg not only has that 4x weakness to Steel, but also neither Ice nor Rock can hit Steel for neutral damage, meaning a player using this creature will need some kind of Steel coverage in order to win this battle. Wild Bergmite and Avalugg can be found at Avalugg's Legacy and Arena's Approach in the Alabaster Icelands.
1 Steelix
Steelix is the king of the mountain when it comes to toughness. It is a Steel/Ground Pokemon with a massive 200 points in its Defense stat. It has decent HP and Attack in addition to that. Steel/Ground is thankfully much better than Rock/Steel. While Steelix does have 4 weaknesses to Water, Ground, Fighting, and Fire, it also gets 8 resistances in Fairy, Rock, Flying, Normal, Dragon, Steel, Bug, and Psychic.
Add that on top of 2 immunities to Electric and Poison and this is one beast of a defensive Pokemon. Additionally, Steelix gets the advantage of the very strong offensive type that is Ground. Steelix are evolved from Onix. Wild Onix can be found at the Scarlet Bog, Bolderoll Slope, or Lake Valor in the Crimson Mirelands. It will need to have a Metal Coat used on it for it to turn into Steelix.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now for the Nintendo Switch.