You’ve spent hours circling Paldea. Your Koraidon or Miraidon is tired. You're tired. All you want is that sparkling, salty, or sour herb to finally kickstart your shiny hunting hobby, but your inventory is bone dry. It’s frustrating. Honestly, the drop rates for Herba Mystica in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet can feel like a personal insult from the developers at Game Freak. You see these influencers on social media with stacks of 999 herbs, and you’re sitting there with three Bitter Herba Mystica that you don't even know what to do with.
Getting Herba Mystica isn't about luck as much as it is about knowing which specific Pokémon are actually holding the goods. Most players just jump into any 5-star or 6-star raid they see on the map. That is a massive waste of time. If you want to stop guessing and start brewing those level 3 Sparkling Power sandwiches, you have to target the "buffet" Pokémon.
Why Your Current Raid Strategy Is Failing
Standard raids are a trap. Most 5-star raids have a dismal drop rate, often hovering around 10% or lower for a single herb. If you're just clicking on every glowing crystal you find, you're playing against the house, and the house always wins.
The real secret lies in the internal loot tables. Certain Pokémon are programmed to drop every single type of Herba Mystica—Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter, and Spicy—simultaneously in their reward pool. This doesn't mean you get all five every time, but it means the game rolls the dice for each one individually. When you fight a Vaporeon, for instance, you have five separate chances to hit a "yes" on the herb drop. When you fight a Garchomp? You basically only have one or two chances. It’s simple math, really.
The Five-Star Gold Mine
For 5-star raids, you should exclusively hunt for a specific list of Pokémon. They are the MVPs of the Paldean ecosystem. Look for:
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- Vaporeon
- Blissey
- Palafin
- Amoonguss
- Cetinodd
- Dondozo
Blissey is the queen here. She’s essentially a walking loot bag. During special Tera Raid events, Blissey raids are often boosted, and players who ignore them are missing out on the easiest grind in the game. Even outside of events, a 5-star Blissey is a guaranteed win if you bring a physical attacker like Iron Hands or Azumarill, and the rewards are almost always worth the five minutes it takes to beat her.
The 6-Star Reality Check
6-star raids are a different beast. They’re harder. They’re meaner. They’ll wipe your team if you aren't prepared with a Level 100, EV-trained counter. But the payoff? The drop rates jump significantly. While a 5-star raid might give you one herb, a 6-star raid frequently drops two or three at once if you hit the right target.
If you see a 6-star Farigiraf or a Cetinodd, drop everything. These are your high-priority targets. Other reliable 6-star drops come from Vaporeon (again), Amoonguss, and Dondozo. Are you noticing a pattern? It's the "tanky" Pokémon. For some reason, the developers decided that the more HP a Pokémon has, the more likely it is to be carrying those mystical greens.
Don't Ignore the DLC Areas
If you have The Teal Mask or The Indigo Disk, the Kitakami and Blueberry Academy regions offer fresh opportunities. Specifically, 5 and 6-star raids in these areas follow similar logic. Snorlax raids in Kitakami are notorious for being generous. It's almost like the game rewards you for the extra effort of traveling to a different map.
Sandwiches and the "Save Scum" Myth
Let's clear something up. Eating a Raid Power sandwich does help, but it’s not a magic bullet. If you eat a sandwich that gives you Raid Power: Dragon Level 2, you'll get more rewards from a Dragon-type raid. This increases the number of item slots in the reward screen. More slots mean more chances for the game to slot in a Herba Mystica.
However, many people think they can save their game, eat an expensive sandwich, do a raid, and if they don't get an herb, reset to save their ingredients. That works for the ingredients, sure. But the raid rewards are determined the moment that raid den spawns at midnight. Resetting won't change what that specific raid is going to give you.
The Best Builds for Efficient Farming
You can't get Herba Mystica if you're losing raids. Period. Stop bringing your favorite starter just because you like it. You need specialized tools.
Iron Hands is the undisputed king of raids. With Belly Drum and Drain Punch, it sustains itself while dealing massive damage. Pair it with a Booster Energy or a Sitrus Berry. For 6-star raids, you might need to be more strategic. Umbreon is a fantastic support choice if you're playing online. Using Screech or Fake Tears to lower the boss's defenses allows your teammates to one-shot the enemy before the shield goes up.
The shield is your enemy. Once the Tera shield is active, the raid slows down significantly. The goal is always to buff yourself and debuff the opponent so that you can bypass as much of that shield phase as possible.
Beyond the Raids: The Path to Shiny Hunting
Why are we doing this? Usually, it's for the sparkling sandwiches. To make a Level 3 Sparkling, Title, and Humungo/Teensy power sandwich, you generally need two Herba Mysticas.
The most common "universal" recipe used by the community is:
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- 1x Tomato
- 1x Onion
- 1x Green Bell Pepper
- 1x Hamburger
- 2x of any Herba Mystica (except for a few specific combinations like 1 Sweet and 1 Sour, which can cancel each other out).
It's actually easier than people make it out to be. You don't need a specific type of herb for a specific Pokémon type anymore, thanks to these updated community recipes. You just need the volume.
Summary of High-Yield Targets
Don't wander aimlessly. Focus on these specific Pokémon if you want to optimize your time.
- For 5-Star Raids: Focus on Blissey, Amoonguss, Gengar, Glalie, Drifblim, Palafin, and Eelektross. These have the highest statistical probability of dropping multiple herb types.
- For 6-Star Raids: Target Vaporeon, Blissey, Amoonguss, Farigiraf, Cetinodd, and Dondozo.
- Avoid: Fast, glass-cannon Pokémon like Talonflame or Jolteon. Their loot tables are usually filled with feathers and berries rather than the herbs you're looking for.
Actionable Next Steps for Fast Farming
To maximize your Herba Mystica gains starting right now, follow this workflow.
First, check your map for 5 and 6-star raids. Don't look at the types; look at the Pokémon silhouettes. If you don't see one of the high-yield targets mentioned above, don't bother driving there.
Second, if your map is full of "bad" raids, use the date-skip exploit. Save your game, go to your Nintendo Switch system settings, and move the clock forward by one day. When you go back into the game, the raid dens will have reset. Repeat this until you see a Blissey or an Amoonguss.
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Third, build a dedicated "Raid Ready" box in your PC. You should have at least one Iron Hands (Physical), one Gholdengo (Special), and one support like Umbreon or Perrserker. Having these ready prevents you from scrambling and losing raids due to poor type matchups.
Finally, always check the Poke Portal. Even if your map is dry, other people are constantly hosting the high-yield raids. Search specifically for the Pokémon on the "buffet" list. It’s often faster to join someone else’s Blissey raid than it is to hunt for your own.
Stop wasting your time on raids that won't pay out. Focus on the tanks, use the clock reset if you have to, and keep your Iron Hands ready. The herbs are there; you just have to stop looking in the wrong dens.