How to build a level 3 sandwich in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

These are some weird looking sandwiches

If you are deep into Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, sandwiches are very important to you. Not only do sandwiches boost the appearance rate of certain Pokemon Types, they can also boost the rate you’ll encounter Shiny Pokemon if you use Herba Mystica from Tera Raids. That said, you may be wondering why it’s so difficult to make sandwiches with the level 3 Meal Powers that you want. Is it even possible?

As it turns out, the community has figured out how to get level 3 sandwiches that boost the encounter rate and shiny rate of every Pokémon type! This is essential knowledge for anyone trying to hunt for shiny Pokemon, so let’s dive right in.

What ingredients do you need for a level 3 sandwich?

First, credit where credit is due. This information was collected and translated by Silent Destroyer on Twitter, so make sure to show them your appreciation!

To build any level 3 sandwich, you will need one serving of Pickles, one serving of Cucumbers, and two Herba Mysticas. By one “serving,” we mean you’ll only need one item in your inventory, but this will give you three ingredients to place on your sandwich. You can mix any two Herba Mysticas here except Sweet and Sour. Furthermore, using two Sweet Herba Mystica or two Sour Herba Mystics will not work with the following types:

Normal
Bug
Dragon
Fairy
Water (X2 Sweet only)
Fighting (X2 Sweet only)
Ice (X2 Sour only)
Ghost (X2 Sour only)

With this baseline established, you’ll need three servings of a main ingredient which will yield results for each Pokemon type. They are as follows:

Normal – Tofu
Fire – Red Pepper
Water – Cucumber
Electric – Yellow Pepper
Grass – Lettuce
Ice – Klawf Stick
Fighting – Pickle
Poison – Green Pepper
Ground – Ham
Flying – Prosciutto
Psychic – Onion
Bug – Cherry Tomato
Rock – Bacon
Ghost – Red Onion
Dragon – Avocado
Dark – Smoked Fillet
Steel – Hamburger
Fairy – Tomato

So to clarify, in your inventory you will need 1 Pickle, 1 Cucumber, 2 of any Herba Mystica (adhering to given exceptions), and 3 of the main ingredient of your choice.

How do you build the sandwich?

As funny as it sounds, you’ll want to save before building a sandwich. You’ll be using some valuable ingredients, and it’s incredibly easy to mess up the process. Once you’re ready, set a picnic and examine your table to make a sandwich. Press X to enter Creative Mode and select your ingredients. Your loadout should look something like this.

You’ll want to make sure every ingredient in front of you makes it onto your sandwich. Even if one falls off, you might alter the results. In general, the easiest way to make your sandwich is to create three “towers” of ingredients atop the bread. Don’t get too fancy, you’re going for efficiency, not taste.

This can get tricky for cumbersome ingredients like lettuce. If you mess up, quit your game and reload your save file. There’s no use settling with a subpar sandwich.

Also, in a baffling last step, place the top piece of bread completely off your plate. This may seem counterintuitive, but the top piece of bread is a liability that could topple your carefully placed ingredients all over the place. You’ll get your level 3 Meal Power perks regardless, so throw that thing off to the side and enjoy your open face sandwich. Any pick works at the end too, so use whichever you’d like.

Are these the only combos that work?

Not necessarily. For example, one sandwich didn’t need pickles during my testing. You could potentially stack different ingredients if you want to change the Catching Power perk to something different. That said, Herba Mystica hard locks you into Sparkling and Title Meal Powers, so make a completely different sandwich if you aren’t going for those.

Related | Best sandwich recipes in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet on Twinfinite

Remember, Meal Powers will be effective for 30 minutes. You can check the status of your active perks by pressing the Right Arrow on your D-Pad. If you need to take a break, we recommend returning to your Switch’s home screen to stop the timer from ticking down. Given how rare Herba Mystica drop from 5-Star and harder Tera Raids , you’ll want to make optimal use of these buff windows. Good luck finding your Shiny Pokemon!