The Complete Idiots Guide to: Moveset Making

Intro:

Movesets are the basic building blocks of any team. They are crucial in helping you counter your opponent’s pokemon and dealing damage. There are basic strategies that you will see showing up in pokemon over and over again. As you battle others keep these ideas in mind because they can be applied to many other pokemon with success. Moveset building is a learning and experience based process. This guide should put you a step ahead of most other new players and lead you to being a self sufficient player.

Terms to Know:

Role – How the pokemon will function on your team.
Movepool – The total of all the moves a pokemon is capable of learning.
STAB – (Same Type Attack Bonus) gives a move that is the same type as your pokemon a x1.5 boost in power.
Base Power – The basic unit of measuring the power of an attack. A higher number means more damage.
Physical Attacks – Require the pokemon to physically touch the opponent and are based on the Attack stat and characterized by this symbol:
Special Attacks – Attacks launched from a distance and don’t require contact with the opponent. They are based on the Special Attack stat and are characterized by this symbol:
Status Attacks – These are non-damaging attacks that affect the pokemon using it, the opponent or place things on the field. Characterized by this symbol:

Step 1: Forming a Plan

Before you decide on anything for your pokemon, you need to determine what it is going to be doing for your team. Roles for pokemon can be found in the Basic Team Building Guide and are key to determining what your pokemon is going to do on the team. Determining a role and what the pokemon is going to do happen at the same time and it takes some experience to know what a pokemon is normally capable of.

There are a few things that should help you determine what makes a good moveset for the role of pokemon you want: Typing, Movepool, and Stats.

Typing is a huge part of what makes a pokemon unique. It determines what your pokemon is weak to and therefore determines when you get to stay in and fight or when you have to switch out. It also determines which moves you are going to use in battle and what moves are going to benefit your pokemon most. STAB is a powerful tool for most pokemon and should not be over looked.

Movepool is equally important in deciding what a pokemon’s role will be and, obviously, is a limiting factor in what moves a pokemon can use. There are three types of attack types: Physical, Special, and Status. Looking for these three types of attacks initially will usually tell you what type of role a pokemon should play. Lots of physical moves tends to mean a pokemon should be a physical sweeper, lots of special attacks normally points to a special sweeper, and a lot of status moves normally means a support or tank pokemon.

Stats are crucial to every pokemon. Lacking stats determine what the pokemon can’t do and excelling stats show what the pokemon is most likely to excel in. A rough estimate for the standard metagame stats would be:

Base Stat	Actual Stat
115+	329+	Great
90-115	279-329	Good
70-90	239-279	Below Average
70-5	239-13	Poor

Basically, you don’t want to take a pokemon with Base 40 Special Defense stat into a SpD tank. Higher attacking stats will allow you to deal harder hits and higher defense stats let you take hits better. This is a basic fundamental of the game and shouldn’t be forgotten about.

Now that you know what you are looking for here is a list of what the main roles normally have:

Sweepers: Look for high speed and attack/special attack stats; normally have dual typing, and a very diverse movepool.
Tanks: High defenses and HP stats, single or dual typing, and several beneficial status moves.

Step 2: Determining the Best Moves to Fill Your Needs

Now that you have a rough idea of what you want to do with your pokemon you will want to pick out moves for your pokemon. Let’s move through what you should look for, in general, when figuring out what would be best for your use.

Damaging moves:

1. Before anything, determine if your pokemon is a physical attacker or a special attacker by looking at its attacking stats. Higher attack pokemon should use physical attacks, high special attack pokemon should use special attacks.

2. Now look for STAB moves. These will be your main forms of attack. With x1.5 power you will do more damage.

3. Read up on what the moves do and determine which does more damage or which effect is more beneficial. Typically a Base Power of 80 or more is good. 100 or higher is great. Keep in mind that accuracy is huge; if your STAB Base 120 Thunder misses it does no damage.

4. Look for moves to help cover your pokemon’s weaknesses. If your pokemon is x2 weak to Ground attacks then try to put a Water or Grass move on your pokemon to hit your opponents pokemon hard.

5. Lastly, try to provide as much coverage as possible. Fighting, Ground, Ice, Electric, and Fire moves all have great coverage and can round off a sweeper’s moveset very well.

Status moves:

1. Determine what highly usefully status moves your pokemon can learn. These include: Recover and other instant recovery moves (Roost, Synthesis, etc.), Aromatherapy/Heal Bell, Stealth Rock/Spikes/Toxic Spikes, Toxic, Protect, Rest.

2. Decide which moves benefit your pokemon the most. Remember that tanks want to stay in the battle as long as possible with recovery moves. Sweepers could want some boosted stats. Leads want to set up entry hazards (SR, Spikes, T-Spikes) and spread status.

3. There are attacking moves that function like status moves. Rapid Spin and Knock Off are the most used of these (if not the only). They have a Base Power of 20 and function to remove obstacles the opponent has.

There are several strategies hidden in these simple guidelines. You will pick up on them as you battle more and more. Learning from each battle will help you become a better trainer and moveset maker.

Step 3: Putting the moves Together

Now that you have picked out what moves look like they will benefit your pokemon most, it is time to make your final selections. Here are some tips to consider when putting your moves together:

-Think about what your team needs and what you want your pokemon to do on the team.
-If you have another pokemon on your team with a move type that you were thinking of putting on your current pokemon then use that now open slot to get better coverage as a team. Basically, no need for two pokemon with Thunderbolt if one uses it better.
-Status moves like Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin only need to go on one pokemon.
-Recovery is pretty much necessary on almost all tanks.

Example time:
Let’s look at Infernape. He has a lot of options open to him. High speed stat and both attack stats are high. With his Fire/Fighting typing he will get a couple of good STAB moves. He can be a physical sweeper, special sweeper or lead. Let’s say we need a special sweeper for our team and he seems to fit. We look at his movepool first. The good moves that stand out right away are: Taunt, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Focus Blast, Stealth Rock, Slack Off, Nasty Plot, Calm Mind, Hidden Power, Over Heat, Solarbeam, Grass Knot, and Vacuum Wave. That is way more than four moves so we need to make some cuts.

Let’s start with his STAB attacking moves; he is going to be a special sweeper so he should have a lot of attacks. Fire Blast, Flamethrower, and Over Heat all fit for his Fire typing to get STAB. Over Heat has the highest Base Power of 140 but after using it he loses 2 stages of Special Attack meaning he will most likely have to switch out; Fire Blast is second highest with 120 BP but its 70% accuracy is unreliable; Flamethrower is the weakest with 90 BP but has 100% accuracy. This is where personal choice comes in. I prefer 100% accuracy and the lack of dropping stats is nice. A guaranteed 2HKO is more promising to me than a 1HKO if my attack hits. So, let’s pick Flamethrower.

The same can be done for Infernape’s other STAB. Focus Blast and Vacuum Wave are the only options here. You can go with the huge power but low accuracy with Focus Blast or the low power but priority and accuracy of Vacuum Wave. Let’s say the team needs some priority so Vacuum Wave will fit best.

Then we get into the idea of coverage. Infernape isn’t going to like Water pokemon switching in. A grass attack will help with that problem. Solarbeam and Grass Knot are his only choices. Solarbeam is pretty useless because Infernape won’t be around for the second turn to launch the attack or the attack will get blocked by a switch. Grass Knot is the only real choice to go with.

Last slot is going to go to a Status move. Taunt, Slack Off, Calm Mind, Nasty Plot, and Stealth Rock are all good moves for a pokemon to know but we want the one that will help Infernape most. Slack Off and Calm Mind are typically found on tanks and won’t really benefit him since he won’t survive long enough to get their effects. Taunt and Stealth Rock are both decent options but are better left to other members on the team. So that leaves Nasty Plot which will instantly double Infernape’s Special Attack.

Step 4: Picking the Right Nature

Now that you know what you want your pokemon to do and what moves it is going to use you need to pick out a nature that will benefit it most. A general rule that Cowie taught me was to always get a nature that drops the attacking stat you aren’t using. So, in the case of Infernape a Modest (+SpA –Atk) or Timid (+Spe –Atk) nature would work best.
A list of the natures and their affects can be found in Cowie’s natures thread.

Determining what stat would most benefit from the boost is a tough choice. It becomes easier the more experience you have and all I can say for beginners is that normally more speed is good on sweepers and boosting defense or special defense as much as possible on your tanks is probably the best way to go.

Looking back at our Infernape example we need to pick out a beneficial nature. Modest or Timid are going to be our best bet because the Attack stat isn't used at all by our moveset. By giving Infernape a higher special attack stat he will pack more of a punch but we have Nasty Plot on it to double it's special attack. Boosting his speed stat will probably be most useful in this case. So, let's slap a Timid nature on him.

Step 5: Picking Out an Item

An extremely crucial part of movesets is the item that the pokemon will be holding. There are tons of items to pick from and each moveset will work better with a specific item. It is hard to tell you what to use since I don’t know what your moveset or pokemon is. Here is a list of commonly used items and the typical sets they are paired with:

Leftovers: This is probably the most used item in the metagame. You can slap it on just about any pokemon and it would be beneficial. Mainly tanks or sweepers that use Substitute enjoy having this item. (Black Sludge is an alternative to use on Poison types)

Choice Band/Scarf/Specs: Extremely useful items for sweepers. Multiplying a stat x1.5 right off the bat is an awesome advantage. Specs and Band normally go on already fast pokemon while Scarf brings up the Speed of slower sweepers with large Attack stats.

Life Orb: Boosts both attacking stats by x1.3 and takes 10% health per landed hit. This is normally seen on sweepers that need a decent extra bit of power but need to keep its moves open.

Focus Sash: A real game saver. It keeps a pokemon from getting 1HKO'd but only when it goes from 100% health to 0. You can stop a sweep or get in a status boost without any worries. Normally found on setup sweeping sets or glass cannons like Absol and Ramparados.

Muscle Band/Wise Glasses: Boosts Attack/Special Attack by x1.1 respectively. Normally on sweepers but can also be used on tanks to give a boosted strength without any draw backs.

Lum Berry/Chesto Berry: These berries cure status and are normally seen on Rest sets. Lum Berry is usually more popular because it cures all status from Freeze to Attract.

Leichi/Petaya/Salac Berry: These boost Attack/Special Attack/Speed respectively by x1.5 but require your pokemon to be below 25% health. Normally found on Endure or Substitute sets to give the pokemon a bit more of a boost when their health gets low.

Wet Stone/Dry Stone/Light Clay: Not very common but are good on Rain Dance or Sunny Day teams to prolong the weather and help the team more. Light Clay is decent on Screen sets (Reflect and Light Screen users) to provide longer support.

Let's look back at our Infernape example. We have Flamethrower, Vacuum Wave, Grass Knot, and Nasty Plot with a Timid nature. There are a few choices that sound promising to a sweeper set: Choice Specs/Scarf, Life Orb, or Focus Sash. A choice item locking our Infernape into a move makes Nasty Plot useless so lets drop that. Life Orb or Focus Sash both make good options. We are wanting to get a boost from Nasty Plot so the Life Orb seems kinda pointless. x1.3 on top of x2 will do more damage but x2 by itself should be enough. Focus Sash can be really helpful in getting a Nasty Plot up without worrying about getting 1HKO'd. Plus, with STAB priority at x2 special attack means not much is going to take down Infernape without taking a lot of damage.

Step 6:Your done!

That is about it for making a moveset guys and gals. It is difficult at first but the more you try it the better you’ll get. Keep a look out for tricks and strategies that other people use. Experience is your best tool. Try random ideas on pokemon and see what it looks like or how it does. No one makes perfect sets every time. Don’t give up if things don’t work right away either. It takes a couple of battles to get a feel for how to use a pokemon. Who knows, an idea you come up with that fails in today’s metagame may be a winning plan in the metagame in a few months. Good luck. =D

I'll cover EVs in another thread in the future. Hopefully. >.>

One final thought, a basic format for writing down your moveset to share with others looks something like this:

Pokemon @ Nature @ Ability @ Item

-Move1
-Move2
-Move3
-Move4

awsome guide you did a good job

ya seriously nick, that was really good.

Thanks. =3

nice nick it helps