Prior to the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s The Teal Mask DLC, many players were worried about how this new adventure would handle level scaling or if it would introduce a level cap to help balance gameplay out for players who already have strong teams from the base game.
This expectation stemmed from the Sword and Shield expansions, where their difficulty was based on gym badges, maxing out at level 60 in the early stages of the DLC story. Many players have created new Pokémon teams specifically tailored to the DLC, but is there really a level cap in this new content?
Is there a level cap in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet The Teal Mask?
Yes, The Teal Mask does introduce a level cap, but it’s not exactly what we were expecting.
It appears that the more you progress in The Teal Mask, the stronger the Pokémon you face will become, starting at around level 60. Early on, you will see some weaker wild Pokémon in the intro areas or when battling early trainers.
For instance, my team when I tested this consisted of level 100 Pokémon, all optimized with EV training and maxed-out IVs for Tera Raids and competitive battles. Initially, the Pokémon I encountered in the wild and trainer battles seemed to hover between level 55 and 60.
The first one I caught was a level 58 Poochyena, which made me think it was near the cap. But as I delved deeper into the DLC, I encountered a level 71 Polchageist.
Most of the story content looks like it caps out at level 70, so keep that in mind if you want to keep gameplay challenging while exploring Kitakami. Feel free to train well beyond that, however, since the important fights will include Pokémon that hit above their level’s weightclass.
Does Pokémon Scarlet and Violet The Teal Mask have level scaling?
The DLC appears to adjust levels based on your progress. For players who have conquered Victory Road, the DLC content starts with Pokémon around level 60 and goes up from there. But if you haven’t reached that point yet, you’ll encounter Pokémon with significantly lower levels.
Since you can access The Teal Mask’s content almost directly after you begin your Treasure Hunt in Scarlet and Violet’s main story, the levels in the DLC can start as low as level 10. This matches the general level your starting team will be after you complete you mandatory battles with Nemona and Team Star in the tutorial stage of the game.
Since it looks like The Teal Mask’s story will play directly into The Indigo Disk, you likely won’t see the same scaling used for SV’s second expansion.
What level should your team be to start Pokémon Scarlet and Violet The Teal Mask?
This is a split answer because it depends on where your progress is at in the base game.
If you haven’t done much in the main Scarlet and Violet story, just bringing your story team over with levels ranging from 10 to 30 should be a good start. If you have completed Victory Road, however, you will want to have at least level 60 or 70 Pokémon to keep up with the scaling.
If you just want to roll the dice, head into Kitakami and catch some wild Pokémon. They will generally be a perfect level to use throughout the DLC with a bit of training, so you don’t need to worry about much if you go with this plan.
