Topic: Sword and Shield Save Data with Pokémon Sword + Expansion Pass

I had a question regarding Pokemon Sword & Shield save data and the physical version Pokémon Sword + Expansion Pass. I have both Sword and Shield on cartridge and wondered if I bought the physical version of Pokémon Sword + Expansion Pass would it be a separate save from the originals?
Thanks!

It uses the same save data.

Ugh I was hoping it didn't. Thanks for the fast response! I appreciate it.

If you want to play a new file, you can always just use a different profile. Moving pokemon between profiles is really easy with Pokemon Home, you don't even need to pay the sub.

(Or you can also use your main profile on different switch)

@Pink_Floyd : I would recommend continuing with your existing save data as the expansion pass doesn't lend itself well to a new play-through. The wild Pokémon in The Crown Tundra are Level 60+ by default. I can't quite recall with The Isle of Armour, but the Pokémon there could be scaled depending on the number of gym badges that you have (so you could theoretically explore the area alongside the main game) but I am not completely certain. What I do now, however, is that the new rival's Pokémon's levels scale with your progress, so I guess I just assumed that that would carry over to the wild Pokémon in The Isle of Armour.

Bear in mind, that the Kubfu quest requires you to level it to Level 70, so if you intend on playing the new campaign before completing the base game's story, you're probably out of luck there.

As long as you don't intend to plough through the new campaigns with a full team of Level 100 Pokémon, the difficulty curve is reasonable for those who have completed the main story (or you could just build a new team out of the wild Level 60 Pokémon that populate these new areas).

Plus, you can only obtain one of the steeds and one of the new Regis per play-through (most unfortunately...), so I would absolutely advise that you continue with your current save and perhaps consider a second play-through later if you were keen on experiencing the complete package from scratch.

@Eel Thanks for the reminder! I remember reading you could do that back when the game came out but forgot until you reminded me.

I read you can use Home with 2 profiles so that will make my 3rd playthrough a breeze.

This is why I like Nintendo Life!

@Silly_G if you play the Isle of Armor before beating the game, the level requirement to evolve kubfu is lower. I played most of that with only one badge on my second file, using Pokémon caught at the isle, and the leveling was all pretty natural since I went around catching every new Pokemon I saw.

I did use candy to level kubfu though, to speed that up.

The Crown Tundra does indeed not have a pre-champion version, so that is indeed always level 60+. You can visit it early and enjoy the dynamax adventures though. You can even play through most of Calyrex's story.

@Pink_Floyd yw!

Thanks for clarifying. I used some candy to level up my Kubfu as well as I couldn't be bothered grinding it to Level 70 (though grinding is much, much easier this generation).

I haven't played through Sword yet though (I only made it to the first wild area) as Shield has been my main version, but it's good to know that I can enjoy The Isle of Armour portion of the game without issue when I do.