As I am often called on in Chatzy to help determine which move a Pokemon should learn, here are some tips Pokemon players can keep in mind when their Pokemon are faced with the decision to learn a new move or not.
1: Consider STAB.
If a Pokemon attacks with a move that matches its' own type, it gets a 50% power increase. Therefore, the 100 base power Earthquake rises to 150 power when used by a Ground type, making it a no-brainer for almost any Ground Pokemon. This is called Same Type Attack Bonus, or STAB.
2: Consider stats.
Check the Pokemon's stats. Pokemon with high Attack will want physical moves, and Pokemon with higher Special Attack will want special moves. Pokemon with low Defense/Special Defense stats will probably want to skip status moves.
3: Consider coverage.
You want to hit as many Pokemon super-effectively as possible. Look to teach your Pokemon "coverage moves" that do lots of damage to Pokemon that their STAB moves won't work well on. Also avoid doubling up on two or more moves of the same type unless they fill very different niches: for instance, it's okay to use both Thunder Wave and Thunderbolt, and it's also okay to use both a weak move that always goes first as an emergency attack (like Aqua Jet) with a stronger move as the usual choice in other situations (like Waterfall).
4: Focus on damage.
Status moves are invaluable in competitive, serious Pokemon, but in-story you'll want the vast majority of your moves to be strong, accurate attacks. The exceptions - you'll want a good status move to help catch Pokemon (my favorite is Thunder Wave) and a boosting move such as Swords Dance may be useful in certain situations, particularly if fighting a hard trainer that leads with a weaker Pokemon but has very dangerous ones in reserve. Boost up against the weak one and sweep through the team.
5: Emphasize high accuracy.
Avoid moves with low accuracy and use more reliable ones. Nobody wants to lose a fight because their attack missed. Unfortunately, a few categories (particularly physical Rock moves and special Fighting moves) are virtually forced to rely on inaccurate moves to cause damage.
6: Check the text.
Some moves make up for low power with a useful side effect. For example, Nuzzle has a base power of 20, which is utter garbage... except it has a 100% paralyze rate.
7: Remember items.
Don't forget that when you're playing the normal game, you can use items. Don't use up a moveslot on Howl when X Attack does the same thing, and think twice about using Recover when you could just use a Moo Moo Milk or a Hyper Potion.
8: Just compare 'em!
It's usually not THAT hard. If you can't decide between two moves of the same type, just compare their relative powers, accuracies, and effects. If the moves are the same power, choose the one with better accuracy. If they have the same accuracy, choose the one with more power. If the moves have identical power and accuracy, compare the effects. If there's a massive power gap but the stronger move is a little less accurate, it may be worth sacrificing the accuracy drop for a while until a better move comes along.
9: A Note On HMs
HMs are the bane of anyone trying to make a good team in-game. I suggest giving weak moves like Cut and Rock Smash to designated "HM slaves" or Pokemon with bad movepools that don't miss the slot too much. And if your prized water type winds up with three water moves? It'll live. Pokemon is a game designed for anyone to play and beat - it IS marketed to children, after all - so you're not going to lose if your moveset isn't completely perfect.
Quick List
Here is a quick list of moves that I will almost always recommend you use. As long as the Pokemon is decent enough in the attacking stat that matches the move, it is almost always a good idea to use these attacks. For the most part, they deliver decent-to-great damage with high accuracy.
This list is by no means complete, and I left out a lot of moves that aren't learned by many Pokemon, choosing instead to focus on ones that have wide distribution, making it more likely you'll see them.
Grass
Physical: Leaf Blade, Seed Bomb, Wood Hammer, Petal Blizzard
Special: Energy Ball, Giga Drain, Petal Dance, Leaf Storm, Petal Storm
Fire
Physical: Flame Charge, Fire Punch, Flare Blitz
Special: Flamethrower
Water
Physical: Waterfall, Crabhammer, Aqua Jet
Special: Surf, Scald
Normal
Physical: Return, Body Slam, Extreme Speed
Special: Hyper Voice
Flying
Physical: Aerial Ace, Drill Peck, Fly, Acrobatics
Special: Air Slash
Bug
Physical: X-Scizzor, Megahorn
Special: Bug Buzz, Signal Beam
Poison
Physical: Poison Jab, Gunk Shot
Special: Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave
Electric
Physical: Thunder Punch, Wild Charge
Special: Thunderbolt, Discharge
Ground
Physical: Earthquake, Dig
Special: Earth Power
Rock
Physical: Rock Slide, Stone Edge
Special: Power Gem, Ancient Power
Fighting
Physical: Brick Break, Mach Punch, Close Combat, Superpower, Drain Punch
Special: Aura Sphere, Focus Blast
Psychic
Physical: Psycho Cut, Zen Headbutt
Special: Psychic, Psyshock
Ice
Physical: Ice Shard, Ice Punch, Avalanche, Icicle Crash
Special: Ice Beam, Freeze-Dry
Ghost
Physical: Shadow Claw, Phantom Force, Shadow Sneak
Special: Shadow Ball
Dark
Physical: Crunch, Night Slash, Knock Off
Special: Dark Pulse
Steel
Physical: Iron Head, Steel Wing
Special: Flash Cannon
Dragon
Physical: Dragon Claw, Outrage
Special: Dragon Pulse, Draco Meteor
Fairy
Physical: Play Rough
Special: Dazzling Gleam, Moonblast
Status/Other
Condition-causing: Thunder Wave, Spore, Sleep Power, Stun Spore, Toxic, Will O' Wisp
Stat-boosting: Any move that boosts a stat "sharply" or "drastically" is decent, as is any move that raises two or three stats at once.
Other: False Swipe, the perfect catching move.
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