Herba Mystica Farming Guide
Basic Information
Herba Mystica is a sandwich ingredient only found in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet and is only obtainable after beating the base game. There are five kinds of Herba Mystica: Bitter, Salty, Sour, Spicy and Sweet. Each type provides a different effect depending on the sandwich’s ingredients and which combination of them you use.
Effects of Herba Mystica
The effects of the sandwich vary depending on which type and combination of Herba Mystica you use. Each ingredient has a unique set of hidden values that determines its flavor, effect on a sandwich, and which type of sandwich could become if used with other ingredients. Some of these hidden values decrease other effects as well. To achieve Title Power in a sandwich, you need at least one Herba Mystica, and to attain Sparkling Power, you need at least two. Level 3 Sandwich Powers are only obtainable using Herba Mystica.
The effects that a sandwich can provide, also known as Sandwich Powers, are Egg, Catching, Item Drop, Humungo, Teensy, Raid, Encounter, Exp. Point and two Sandwich Powers that are exclusive to Herba Mystica: Title and Sparkling.
Herba Mystica has the highest hidden values for flavor depending on its type, which boosts an effect depending on the flavor combinations and has the highest hidden values for all types. These hidden values determine the typing and flavor of the sandwich, which determines the Sandwich Powers.
Sandwich Powers come in three levels, each increasing in effectiveness. Here is an in-depth breakdown of which combination of Herba Mystica is used to get Level 3 Sandwich Powers:
- Egg Power - Sweet and either Salty or Bitter
- Catching Power - Sweet and Sour
- Item Drop Power - Bitter and either Sweet, Sour or Spicy
- Humungo Power - Spicy and either Salty, Sour or Bitter
- Teensy Power - Sour and either Salty, Bitter or Spicy
- Raid Power - Sweet and Spicy
- Encounter Power - Salty and either Sweet, Sour or Spicy
- Exp. Point Power - Salty and Bitter
Since some of the Herba Mystica combinations can be applied to multiple Sandwich Powers, depending on the topping(s) of the sandwich, you might need to add a condiment or two as well as the Herba Mystica to get the desired effect. Here is the list of tiebreakers in the situation where multiple Sandwich Powers are shared between combinations of Herba Mystica and the flavor values are tied:
- Spicy and Salty - Encounter Power instead of Humungo Power
- Spicy and Bitter - Item Drop Power instead of Humungo Power
- Spicy and Sour - Teensy Power instead of Humungo Power
- Salty and Sweet - Egg Power instead of Encounter Power
- Salty and Sour - Encounter Power instead of Teensy Power
- Sweet and Bitter - Egg Power instead of Item Drop Power
- Bitter and Sour - Teensy Power instead of Item Drop Power
In the case that you do want the Sandwich Power that has the lower priority from the list above, it is recommended that you either change the topping of the sandwich to one that provides the desired flavor value, add a topping that provides the desired flavor value or add condiments that add the flavor value. It is always recommended to know what you want to make before making the sandwich so you don’t forget ingredients, make the sandwich wrong, or waste ingredients.
How To Unlock and Obtain Herba Mystica
Herba Mystica is unlocked after beating the game. This is achieved by beating the Victory Road, Starfall Street, and Path of Legends storylines and beating The Way Home storyline after those three. You do not need to purchase the Treasures of Area Zero DLC to unlock or obtain Herba Mystica. However, the DLC does provide extra ways to get them that are not base game methods. The three main ways to unlock Herba Mystica include Tera Raids, Ogre Oustin’ and through the special coaches in the Blueberry Academy League Club Room.
How To Obtain Herba Mystica Using Raids
Raiding for Herba Mystica is the best and most accessible method for farming them. Herba Mystica can only drop from five-, six-, and seven-star event raids. However, not all raids are guaranteed to drop them, and only specific Pokémon drop specific kinds of Herba Mystica.
List of Pokémon that can drop Herba Mystica
Five-Star Raids
Paldea
- Sweet Herba Mystica - Raichu, Ditto, Delibird, Sableye, Weavile, Froslass, Talonflame, Noivern, Dragapult and Pawmot
- Bitter Herba Mystica - Eevee, Houndoom, Gardevoir, Camerupt, Magnezone, Rotom, Zoroark, Hydreigon, Volcarona, Clawitzer, Oranguru, Appletun, Toxtricity, Polteageist, Pincurchin, Arboliva, Armarouge, Glimmora and Tatsugiri
- Salty Herba Mystica - Slowbro, Cloyster, Bronzong, Hippowdon, Avalugg, Greedent, Corviknight, Coalossol, Copperajah, Garganacl and Orthworm
- Sour Herba Mystica - Slowking, Altaria, Mismagius, Gothitelle, Florges, Dragalge, Goodra, Mimikyu, Hatterene and Tinkaton
- Spicy Herba Mystica - Arcanine, Scyther, Paldean Tauros (Blaze Breed and Aqua Breed), Gyarados, Dragonite, Scizor, Tyranitar, Breloom, Slaking, Hariyama, Salamence, Staraptor, Luxray, Honchkrow, Garchomp, Abomasnow, Gallade, Krookodile, Haxorus, Braviary, Mudsdale, Tsareena, Passimian, Flapple, Grimmsnarl, Falinks, Indeedee, Ceruledge, Mabosstiff, Brambleghast, Bombirdier, Revavroom, Annihilape, Kingambit and Baxcalibur
- All Herba Mystica - Gengar, Blissey, Glalie, Drifblim, Amoonguss, Eelektross, Palafin, Cetitan and Dondozo
Kitakami
- Sweet Herba Mystica - Ambipom and Mienshao
- Bitter Herba Mystica - Yanmega, Chandelure, Vikavolt and Sinistcha (Unremarkable)
- Salty Herba Mystica - Golem, Gliscor, Probopass and Kommo-o
- Sour Herba Mystica - Ninetales, Ludicolo and Milotic
- Spicy Herba Mystica - Poliwrath, Victreebel, Politoed, Shiftry, Mamoswine, Conkeldurr and Trevenant
- All Herba Mystica - Snorlax, Dusknoir, Mandibuzz and Basculegion
Blueberry Academy
- Sweet Herba Mystica - Hitmontop and Flygon
- Bitter Herba Mystica - Exeggutor, Magmortar, Porygon-Z, Reuniclus and Duraludon
- Salty Herba Mystica - Skarmory and Minior
- Sour Herba Mystica - Hitmonchan and Alcremie
- Spicy Hebra Mystica - Hitmonlee, Porygon2, Metagross, Rhyperior, Electivire, Excadrill and Golurk
- All Herba Mystica - Lapras, Kingdra and Malamar
5-Star Raid Herba Mystica Drop Rates
The chances for Herba Mystica to drop from a five-star raid are 2.4%. They share similar drop chances as Mints, Ability Capsules, Bottle Caps and money-making items like Pearl Strings, Balm Mushrooms and Comet Shards. Usually, each raid can only drop one Herba Mystica, but the Pokémon listed above can drop multiple of them in a single raid. Something else to note is that while the drop rates for Herba Mystica don’t change for Pokémon that can drop all of them, the effective drop rate to get a Herba Mystica becomes 12% since that’s the cumulative chance of all five types.
Six-Star Raids
Paldea
- Sweet Herba Mystica - Ditto, Jolteon, Talonflame, Dragapult, Maushold, Kilowattrel, Grafaiai and Cyclizar
- Bitter Herba Mystica - Gengar, Espeon, Gardevoir, Magnezone, Glaceon, Hydreigon, Volcarona, Dragalge, Clawitzer, Sylveon, Armarouge and Glimmora
- Salty Herba Mystica - Pelipper, Torkoal, Hippowdon, Avalugg, Toxapex, Corviknight, Dachsbun, Garganacl, Klawf and Orthworm
- Sour Herba Mystica - Umbreon, Slowking, Goodra, Mimikyu, Frosmoth, Toedscruel, Tinkaton and Clodsire
- Spicy Herba Mystica - Paldean Tauros (All Breeds), Gyarados, Flareon, Dragonite, Scizor, Heracross, Tyranitar, Breloom, Salamence, Staraptor, Garchomp, Leafeon, Gallade, Haxorus, Lycanroc (Dusk), Pincurchin, Pawmot, Ceruledge, Mabosstiff, Bombirdier, Revavroom, Annihilape, Kingambit and Baxcalibur
- All Herba Mystica - Vaporeon, Blissey, Amoonguss, Cetitan, Dondozo and Farigiraf
Kitakami
- Sweet Herba Mystica - Shiftry, Ambipom and Mienshao
- Bitter Herba Mystica - Politoed, Yanmega, Chandelure and Sinistcha
- Salty Herba Mystica - Golem, Quagsire, Gliscor, Dusknoir and Kommo-o
- Sour Herba Mystica - Clefable, Ninetales, Ludicolo, Milotic and Mandibuzz
- Spicy Herba Mystica - Crawdaunt, Mamoswine, Conkeldurr, Leavanny, Trevenant and Morpeko
- All Herba Mystica - Poliwrath, Snorlax and Basculegion (Male and Female)
Blueberry Academy
- Sweet Herba Mystica - Alolan Dugtrio, Flygon and Whimsicott
- Bitter Herba Mystica - Alolan Ninetales, Alolan Exeggutor, Magmortar, Porygon-Z and Reuniclus
- Salty Herba Mystica - Alolan Sandslash, Skarmory, Duraludon Overqwil
- Sour Herba Mystica - Galarian Slowking and Alcremie
- Spicy Herba Mystica - Alolan Golem, Metagross, Rhyperior, Electivire, Excadrill, Golurk and Kleavor
- All Herba Mystica - Galarian Slowbro, Alolan Muk, Lapras, Kingdra, Porygon2 and Malamar
6-Star Raid Herba Mystica Drop Rates
The chance for Herba Mystica to drop from a six-star raid is 3.03%. They share similar drop chances as Mints. Similar to five-star raids, each raid usually only drops one Herba Mystica, but the Pokémon listed above that can drop all five can drop multiple of them in a single raid. Just like five-star raids, the effective drop rate to get a Herba Mystica becomes 15.15% since that’s the cumulative chance of all five Herba Mystica.
Best Raid Counters
While the counters for each raid depend on the Pokémon that the raid is for and which Tera Type the raid is, here are some excellent counters that you should be able to use for most raids:
Ursaluna is arguably the best raid attacker in Scarlet & Violet. With its typing of Normal/Ground, it can hit every raid for at least neutral damage. Ursaluna also has the ability Guts, which doubles its attack when it has a status condition. One savvy trick is to give Ursaluna a Flame Orb to hold, and you will have Guts activated. Ursaluna also has access to the move 
Belly Drum, which maxes its attack in exchange for half its health. With powerful attacking moves like 
Facade and Headlong Rush, you shouldn’t have a problem with this tradeoff. However, if you don’t have Pokémon Legends Arceus, this option can’t be used. This is because Ursaluna can only be obtained in Scarlet & Violet by transferring from Legends Arceus through Pokémon Home.
Iron Hands may not be as powerful as Ursaluna, but it is still a capable raid attacker. It has the typing of Electric/Fighting, allowing it to hit everything for at least neutral, just like Ursaluna. Iron Hands, like every other Violet Paradox Pokemon, has Quark Drive, which will boost its attack by 30% under Electric Terrain or when holding the item Booster Energy. Like Ursaluna, Iron Hands has access to the move Belly Drum, along with extremely powerful electric moves, such as Supercell Slam and Wild Charge. You can also run Thunder Punch if you don’t want to risk recoil. It also has access to mighty fighting moves like Close Combat and Body Press. There is one popular strategy where you run Iron Hands with Shell Bell and Drain Punch for complete self-sustain. However, note that Iron Hands is exclusive to Violet.
Gholdengo is the least versatile raid attacker, but that doesn’t make it any less powerful. Given the typing of Steel/Ghost, it can also hit everything for at least neutral damage. Gholdengo has the ability Good as Gold, which gives Gholdengo immunity to all status moves that target it. Common items you would run with Gholdengo are Life Orb or Choice Specs. If you run Life Orb Gholdengo, the strategy is to use Nasty Plot until you think you can do consistently high damage to the raid. Gholdengo also has powerful steel moves such as Steel Beam and its signature move, Make It Rain. However, its best Ghost move is 
Shadow Ball, which leaves the possibility of being outclassed as a Ghost-type raid attacker.
Flutter Mane is the Scarlet counterpart to Iron Hands for raids. It has the typing Ghost/Fairy, which is unresisted by every type of raid. As a raid attacker, Flutter Mane can be considered a combination of Iron Hands and Gholdengo, but unfortunately, it is not as good as either. Flutter Mane has Protosynthesis, which does the same thing as Quark Drive, but is activated under sun instead of Electric Terrain, meaning running Booster Energy will be best for it. However, unlike Iron Hands, you will need to EV train Flutter Mane to get a Special Attack raise. Instead of Nasty Plot like Gholdengo, Flutter Mane gets Calm Mind as a setup move, while its most reliable damaging moves are Moonblast and Shadow Ball.
Ceruledge is a pretty good raid attacker who is exclusive to Violet. While Ceruledge is a Fire/Ghost type Pokémon, you’ll usually use it as a primarily Fire-type raid attacker. Ceruledge’s abilities aren’t as influential as the other Pokémon mentioned. Still, Flash Fire would be the better ability for raids as this gives immunity to Fire-type attacks and powers up its Fire-type moves. Ceruledge as a raid attacker is mainly used for its incredible self sustain with the move Bitter Blade. Bitter Blade heals for 50% of damage dealt, so run Ceruledge with Shell Bell for added healing or Muscle Band to increase the damage of Bitter Blade. On the other hand, if you are using Ceruledge as a Ghost-type raid attacker, it is recommended that you run Shadow Claw.- Lastly, there is
Armarouge, the Scarlet counterpart to Ceruledge. Armarouge has the same choice of abilities as Ceruledge, so it’s also recommended to run Flash Fire. Unlike Ceruledge, though, Armarouge is a special attacker. You’ll want to set up using Calm Mind and then use powerful moves such as Armor Cannon and either Expanding Force or Psychic to attack. However, be warned that with each use of Armor Cannon, Armarouge’s defenses will lower, so it is not best for sustained fights.
Raid Reset Method for Herba Mystica Farming
While you could do multiple raids to get plenty of Herba Mystica, it would take a painstaking amount of time. It is more time-efficient and effective to soft reset to get Herba Mystica. This is where the soft reset method for raids comes in.
It is best to use this method on the Pokémon that can drop every kind of Herba Mystica and can drop multiple of them in each raid. The host of the raid will have to make sure to have autosave turned off and then must save before the raid.
The host will complete the raid to see if multiple Herba Mystica drop. If not, repeat the process of searching raids until you find one that drops multiple. If multiple do drop, the host can go online and either invite a group through link codes or random players online.
Note that it does not matter if the raid participants have turned on autosave. After the raid, the host would turn off their game and turn it back on. If done correctly, they will be in front of the Tera Crystal as if the raid had never been done. Repeat this process until you have all the Herba Mystica you want and need.
How To Obtain Herba Mystica Using Ogre Oustin’
Ogre Oustin’ is a minigame unlocked in the Teal Mask DLC, which requires beating Scarlet & Violet, where you pop balloons for berries and place them on pedestals. To obtain Herba Mystica in Ogre Oustin’, you must unlock Hard Mode. You must complete Easy and Normal Mode of Ogre Oustin’ at least once to do that. To complete Hard Mode, you will need a group of at least three, but having four is better. Complete coordination is required to be successful in Hard Mode Ogre Oustin’.
Along with one of any Herba Mystica, you can get Feathers, Exp. Candy up to Medium and three to five Fresh-Start Mochi. Because of this, it can take multiple attempts to get any Herba Mystica. With the difficulty of Hard Mode and the fact that it can take multiple attempts to even get one Herba Mystica, Ogre Oustin’ is not a recommended way to farm.
How To Obtain Herba Mystica Using the League Club Room
The League Club Room is an aesthetic addition in the Indigo Disc DLC, where you can decorate it, invite NPCs for unique interactions through Special Coaches, use the Item Printer, and unlock cool cosmetics from the club computer. While you can obtain Herba Mystica from the League Club Room, this only happens once, so it is considered a bonus way to earn a one-time Herba Mystica gift. Certain Special Coaches will give you three of a certain Herba Mystica. You only need to interact with them once to get the Herba Mystica gift. The coaches that give them are Katy (Sweet), Kofu (Spicy), Larry (Salty), Tyme (Bitter) and Saguaro (Sour).
Tips and Tricks
- All Herba Mystica are useful, but most people use Herba Mystica for shiny hunting. Salty is arguably the most beneficial because it is used in almost every shiny hunting recipe.
- Seven-star raids, depending on the Pokémon, can drop Herba Mystica, so it’s beneficial to try and complete them when they happen to increase the number of Herba Mystica you can get.
- When making sandwiches using Herba Mystica, it’s better not to put them on the top piece of bread, as this increases the chance of ingredients falling off, ruining the sandwich, and wasting the Herba Mystica.
- While you don’t need the DLC to get plenty of Herba Mystica, getting it will increase the number of different methods you can choose from, so it is worth considering.