Far and away one of the best features added in The Indigo Disk DLC for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet is the Item Printer. This wonderful machine makes it incredibly easy to obtain otherwise very rare items. From Ability Patches, Big Nuggets, rare Poké Balls, and more, there’s really no reason not to spend time using it when you have nothing better to do. But how does all of this work? Is it truly as powerful as it seems?
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of it all, the Item Printer first has to be unlocked. In order to do this, 200 BP must be donated to the science club via the computer in the League Club Room. Upon doing this, the machine will be added to the room and the player will be taught how it works. There are three upgrades that can be purchased, which require using the Item Printer 30, 80, and 100 times and cost 200, 500, and 1000 BP respectively. These upgrades are very much worth it, as they decrease the cost of use and allow more and rarer items to be printed.
After the first and second upgrade, new features will be added to the Item Printer: a chance to double items, and a chance for the Poké Ball Lotto. The odds of each of these happening are 1% per print, so if ten items are printed at a time that gives about an 18% chance of either of the two activating for the consecutive print job. The double items feature is pretty self-explanatory, for the next ten prints with the bonus active, all item amounts will be doubled. The Poké Ball Lotto causes the next ten prints to only feature Poké Balls of various kinds, and this includes the many rare Poké Balls such as the Apricorn, Beast, Master, and Sport/Safari Balls.
As great as this sounds, surely there must be a catch. The main drawbacks of the Item Printer come in the form of BP and Pokémon material cost. It only costs 3 BP per print at the max upgrade level, but printing ten items at the time can drain BP pretty quickly. Furthermore, Pokémon materials must be used with the machine, and that can be very annoying to restock. The best method for gathering Pokémon materials is to travel to Chargestone Cavern and go to the upper area as shown above. Here, the player can use six servings of noodles and one serving of vinegar to create a sandwich with Encounter Power: Psychic level 2. This will cause an abundance of Metang and Beldum to appear, and auto-battling them for Beldum claws will provide plenty of very high value materials to use.
Overall, it’s fair to say that the Item Printer in Scarlet & Violet is incredibly powerful. The equivalent feature from Pokémon Sword & Shield, the Cram-o-matic, has absolutely nothing on this beast of a machine. While it isn’t without drawbacks, it is certainly worth it for all that it is capable of.
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Written by Abbie Maxwell
Lifelong Nintendo fangirl, Abbie holds a special place in her heart for video games. She has always strived to provide tips and tricks to make the experiences of those who share her passions that much better.
