Pokémon Legends Arceus Kleavor boss fight: How to beat Kleavor
How to quell the Kleavor's frenzy.
Kleavor is the first boss fight of several you'll encounter in the main story of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, coming up during Mission 7, The Frenzy of the Lord of the Woods.
It's a relatively simple battle but, given it's the first ever battle of its kind in Pokémon, still one that can be a little tricky to adjust to. With that in mind, below we'll explain exactly how to beat Kleavor and quell its unhappy frenzy.
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How to beat Kleavor in Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Kleavor's boss fight is a good example of the other Noble boss battles in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Kleavor boss fight explained
Basically, it works like this: Kleavor will start with a yellow health bar, and try to attack your trainer character, and you'll only be able to throw a special item called Balms, which you have an infinite supply of, in return.
If you hit Kleavor with enough of these Balms - and avoid getting knocked out yourself - then you'll eventually get a chance to switch from throwing Balms to throwing a ball with your Pokémon in, entering a brief battle with it, where it has a new, green health bar. Defeat it in that brief battle by getting the green bar down to zero, and you'll stun it, the bar switching back to yellow, and you'll gain a window to throw loads of Balms at it freely without it attacking you, before it starts moving again.
In other words, the fight goes like this: dodge Kleavor's attacks while throwing Balms when you get a chance. Kleavor will get stunned and you can throw in a Pokémon to battle it. Defeat it in battle, and you can throw more Balms, then it starts attacking you again, and repeat! Here are our tips for beating Kleavor itself.
How to beat Kleavor
Kleavor has several attacks that it's worth roughly memorising: a charge attack, where it runs at you quickly; a jump attack, that causes a pillar of rock to spike out from under the ground; and a spin attack that does damage in a circle around it.
You can use the charge attack to your advantage: dodge out of the way by pressing Y, and Kleavor can crash into a wall, stunning itself and allowing you a free window to throw Balms at it.
Kleavor always "charges up" a bit before attacking you. Watch for when it pauses, readying itself to attack, and get ready to dodge after it starts moving. Dodge too early and it'll still hit you.
Your dodges have something called "i-frames" - this means that while your character is dodging, it is completely invincible. As long as you're mid-dodge you can't take any damage!
Have a Water-type Pokémon, like Buizel (or the Water-type starter Oshawott), ready to go first in your party, as Water-type attacks are super effective! Also good options are Rock-types such as Geodude, and the move Rollout.
If you're struggling to hit Balms, remember that holding ZR for a moment will "charge up" your throw, causing it to travel further and faster than quickly tapping it. And ZL will help you focus your aim!
When Kleavor is stunned, you can run up close to it to throw lots of Balms quickly, without having to hold down ZR to throw them at longer distance. Use that to get lots of throws in quickly by tapping ZR really fast!
Our Pokémon Legends Arceus walkthrough will help you pick a starter Pokémon and win the Kleavor boss fight. You’re also tasked with filling the Hisui Pokédex by obtaining new evolutions like Kleavor by evolving Scyther, Wyrdeer by evolving Stantler, Sneasler by evolving Hisui Sneasel and Overquil by evolving Hisui Qwilfish. There’s a host of new evolution methods, including ones for the Eevee evolutions. Take the time to complete Requests too, such as The Sea’s Legend, Wurmple’s Evolved! and finding the Wisp locations. Don’t forget to track down every Unown location too.
Other things to know about the Kleavor boss fight
There are a few other things to bear in mind when taking on Kleavor in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Kleavor is level 18 when you battle it. If you're within a few levels of Kleavor - roughly level 15 and above - then you should be fine to take it on, as there's only a small amount of battling involved, and super effective attacks will do plenty of damage.
Kleavor's type is Bug/Rock, meaning it'll take 2x damage from Water, Rock, and Steel-type attacks, and 0.5x damage from Normal and Poison-type attacks.
It knows four moves at the time of your battle: Double Hit, Stealth Rock, Aerial Ace, and Air Slash.
Like all Noble Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, you can't catch this Kleavor at the end of the battle. But you can get a Kleavor of your own, of course, by evolving a Scyther, which can be caught in the woods nearby.
Defeating Kleavor will grant you a special item: the Insect Plate.
For more guides like this, head back to our main Pokémon Legends: Arceus walkthrough and guide hub. Good luck with the battle!