Stardust
A guide to Stardust in Pokémon Go for upgrading your Pokémon, trading or getting a new attack. Find out how to get Stardust in Pokémon Go, its uses, how to use it and strategies for getting more.
Stardust is used to upgrade Pokémon, trade Pokémon or obtain a new attack. They are particularly in demand when you want to create powerful teams or when you want to trade a lot of Pokémon you've never had before.
You can get 50% more Stardust for 30 minutes with the Star Piece item. Niantic is organizing various events to double the amount of Stardust.
How to find Stardust?
Catching a Pokémon
There are several ways to obtain Stardust. The most common is to catch Pokémon in the wild. The number of Stardust obtained varies according to the weather.
| Capture type | Stardust |
|---|---|
| Capture a Pokémon (Basic evolution) | 100 |
| Capture a Pokémon (Basic evolution with weather bonus) | 125 |
| Capture a Pokémon (2nd evolution) | 300 |
| Capture a Pokémon (2nd evolution with weather bonus) | 375 |
| Capture a Pokémon (3rd evolution) | 500 |
| Capture a Shroomish, Delibird, Paras, Meowth, Foongus | 500 |
| First Pokémon caught during the day | 600 |
| Capture a Pokémon (3rd evolution with weather bonus) | 625 |
| Capture a Breloom, Amoonguss, Parasect, Persian | 700 |
| Capture an Combee, Meowth Alola, Trubbish, Sableye, Staryu | 750 |
| Capturer un Vespiquen, Garbodor, Starmie, Persian Alola | 950 |
| Capturing an Chimecho, Shellder | 1000 |
| Capturing a Cloyster | 1200 |
| Capture an Chimecho with the weather bonus | 1250 |
| Capturing a Audino | 2100 |
| Capture a Pokémon for 7 days in a row | 3000 |
Hatching an egg
By hatching eggs, you'll get Stardust. The number of Stardusts varies according to the type of egg you hatch and the use of a Star Piece.
| Oeuf | Without Star Piece | With Star Piece |
|---|---|---|
| 2 km | 400 | 600 |
| 5 km | 800 | 1 200 |
| 7 km | 800 | 1 200 |
| 10 km | 1 600 | 2 400 |
| 12 km | 3200 | 6400 |
Giving berries to a Pokémon in an allied gym
Giving a berry to an allied gym Pokémon earns you 30 Stardust. Considering that Nanab berries are the least useful in the game, you should give them to Pokémon in the gym rather than deleting them to free up space in your bag.
You can give up to 10 berries per Pokémon every 30 minutes. If you give berries to 6 Pokémon, you'll earn 1800 Stardust for 60 berries. With the Star Piece item, you'll earn 2,700 Stardust. It's an effective way to empty your bag and earn lots of Stardust.
Other techniques for earning Stardust
| Action | Stardust |
|---|---|
| Fighting a raid boss | 1000 |
| Complete a field research mission. | from 100 to 1000 |
| Complete a series of 7 Field Research missions | 2000 |
| Complete Special Search | from 2000 to 10 000 |
| Open a gift | 100, 200 or 300 |
| Participate in a training | 500 or 1000 |
| Raid | 1000 |
How to use Stardust?
Trading a Pokémon
To trade a Pokémon with another player, you'll need Stardust. The number required depends on the level of friendship you have with the player, the rarity of the Pokémon and whether you've already caught it.
There are limits to trading. You can't trade more than one Chromatic or Legendary Pokémon per day, and you can't trade more than 100 Pokémon in a single day.
For a normal or regional Pokémon
| Friendship | Caught | New |
|---|---|---|
| Good Friend | 100 | 20 000 |
| Great Friend | 100 | 16 000 |
| Ultra Friend | 100 | 1 600 |
| Best Friend | 100 | 800 |
For a shiny or legendary Pokémon
| Friendship | Caught | New |
|---|---|---|
| Good Friend | 20 000 | 1 000 000 |
| Great friend | 16 000 | 800 000 |
| Ultra Friend | 1 600 | 80 000 |
| Best Friend | 800 | 40 000 |
Power Up (upgrading) a Pokémon
Upgrading your Pokémon is necessary for easy access to raids and battles. In Pokémon Go, upgrading your Pokémon requires Stardust. In the game, the action of upgrading a Pokémon is called "Powering Up".
The cost of upgrading a Pokémon is proportional to the percentage of its maximum Capacity Points (CP). Upgrade costs range from 200 to 10,000 Stardust. There is no difference depending on its evolution branch, a baby will take as much Stardust as its evolved version at the same level.
For a lucky Pokémon, the cost of upgrading to Stardust is much lower than for a normal Pokémon.
Conclusion
Now you know all about Stardust. Don't forget to use them, as they're of absolutely no use if you keep them in stock. But it's easy to build up a stardust reserve. Don't hesitate to plan your Stardust expenditure for specific purposes.