Attacks are moves that Pokémon can use against opponent Pokémon in combat in Gym, Raid, Trainer Battle or against Team GO Rocket. Each Pokémon can learn one fast attack and two charged attacks at time from the species' possible move pool.[1] Evolution will reroll a Pokémon's moveset. Certain Attacks have Adventure Effects which are temporary bonuses outside of battle.
Kinds of attacks[]
Fast attacks[]
Tap for fast attack
- Main article: List of fast attacks
Fast Attacks are the basic moves used when a Trainer taps on the screen. Repeated uses of Fast Attacks recharge the Charged Attack meter.
A Fast TM can be used to change a Pokémon's Fast Attack.
Charged attacks[]
- Main article: List of charged attacks
Charged Attacks must be charged, which can be done by using Fast Attacks.
The Charged Attack's energy is measured by filling a Charged Attack button at the bottom of the screen. Once, the button is filled, Trainers can use it by tapping on it. Energy can be filled up to a maximum of 100, which is indicated by a stronger color of the button when filled past the Charged Attack's Energy requirement.
In Trainer Battles and battles against Team GO Rocket members, when Trainer uses a Charged Attack, one of the Battle Minigames is initiated. The power of the Charged Attack depends on the player's performance in these minigames.
Pokémon with more than one charged attack can learn an extra attack by paying different amount of Stardust and candies.
- Main article: List of second Charged Attack cost
A Charged TM can be used to change a Pokémon's specific Charged Attack.
Max Moves[]
- Main article: Max Moves
Max Moves are special attacks used by Dynamax Pokémon during Max Battles. There are three types of Max Move, a Max Attack, Max Guard, and Max Spirit. Max Moves can be upgraded using Max Particles, Candy, and Candy XL.
Gigantamax Pokémon have access to a special kind of Max Move called a G-Max Move.
Attacks aspects[]
There are several aspects for both Fast and Charged attacks that help define their differences to see which attacks are optimal in combat.
Gym and Raid Battles[]
- Damage (also called Power)
- Energy - generated per Fast Attack use
- Cooldown (also called Duration) - the time needed for using an attack before doing other actions
- Damage per second (DPS for short)
- Its formula is value of Damage divided by value of Cooldown
- Energy per second (EPS for short)
- Its formula is value of Energy divided by value of Cooldown
- Energy meter - bar pieces of Charged Attacks to define how many section of such attack is split into. The number of bar pieces for attacks currently present in game is between 0 to 3 pieces for Charged Attack.
Trainer Battles[]
- Damage (also called Power)
- Energy - generated per Fast Attack use or used per Charged Attack use
- Turn - the basic time measurement. Each turn takes 0.5 seconds.
- Damage per turn (DPT for short) for Fast Attack
- Its formula is value of Damage divided by value of Turn
- Energy per turn (EPT for short) for Fast Attack
- Its formula is value of Energy divided by value of Turn
- Damage per energy (DPE for short) for Charged Attack
- Its formula is value of Damage divided by value of Energy
STAB[]
STAB (an acronym for Same-Type Attack Bonus) is a bonus that is applied to the power of an Attack, if the Type of the Attack matches the Type of the Pokémon. If the attack grants a STAB, a 20% Attack bonus will be applied.
For example, Twister is a Dragon-type Attack that both Pidgey and Dratini can have. The base power for the Attack is 45. While Pidgey's damage will remain at 45, Dratini's damage will be boosted to 54 as it is Dragon type. STAB damage is not displayed in-game.
In the Pokémon main game series, the applied bonus of STAB is 50%.
Prior to the Gym overhaul and introduction of Raid Battles, STAB granted a 25% bonus.[2]
Other bonuses[]
The damage of attacks matching the current weather is boosted by 20% in Gym and Raid Battles, even if the user is not those types. The damage dealt by Shadow Pokémon is boosted by 20% in all kinds of battles. These two bonuses can be stacked.
Dodging[]
Swipe to dodge
In Gym battles and Raid Battles, in addition to attacking, Pokémon can dodge incoming attacks with Trainer swiping either left or right on the screen. A Pokémon is preparing to attack when the edges of the screen flash yellow. A message stating "Dodged!" will appear if the dodge is a success.
In Trainer Battles and battles against Team GO Rocket, Pokémon cannot freely dodge attack from the opponent. However, Charged Attacks can be completely avoided by using shields, which Trainer can use twice during each battle.
Stat-changing attacks[]
- Main article: Stat-changing attacks
In Trainer Battles, GO Battle League matches and battles against Team GO Rocket, certain attacks can affect the Attack and Defense stats of the Pokémon involved in the battle.
Exclusive moves[]
- Main article: List of exclusive moves
Exclusive moves are attacks that were available for specific Pokémon to learn previously or during selected events. They cannot be learnt for a specific Pokémon under normal circumstances.
Unused attacks[]
There are currently some attacks in the game data that cannot be learned or used by any Pokémon.[3]
List of unused attacks[]
- Twineedle
- Smog
- Double Slap
- Slash
- Absorb
- Headbutt
- Slam
- Scald (Blastoise)
- Hydro Pump (Blastoise)
- Water Gun (Blastoise)
- Wrap (Green)
- Wrap (Pink)
- Dark Void
- Fiery Dance
- Relic Song
- Hyperspace Fury
- Hyperspace Hole
- Flower Trick
Gallery[]
Charged attacks meter[]
From the release of the game to the present day, there were a few changes to the graphic design of the charged meters. Currently none of these assets are used, as they were replaced with flat bars of single-color corresponding to the type of a charged attack.
Two first versions of charged attacks meter had up to 9 bars, despite the fact that meters from 4 to 9 pieces were not used.
First version[]
Second version[]
Third version[]
Trivia[]
- Initially, Charged Attacks had their energy meter which used to be displayed under the Pokémon's HP bar in the upper left hand corner during Gym battles. Each segment of the bar would represent a single use of the Charged Attack. Later on, the energy meter was moved below the Charged Attack button at the bottom of the screen. Now, these energy meters are displayed only in Pokémon Summary page, in Pokémon moveset section.
- A majority of Attacks have their duration modified to 0.5-second intervals in October 2024.[4] According to Niantic, these updates are intended to improve stability, reduce latency, and make it easier to add new features in the future.[5]
References[]
- ↑ Battling at Gyms - Moves and Attacks. Niantic Support. Retrieved on 2017-06-19.
- ↑ Type Effectiveness Changes!. /r/TheSilphRoad. Retrieved on 2017-06-20.
- ↑ Unused Findings. PokeMiners. Retrieved on 2022-10-12.
- ↑ PvE changes to moves. r/TheSilphRoad. Retrieved on 2024-10-16.
- ↑ Pokémon GO Raid and Battle Systems Update. Pokémon GO Live. Retrieved on 2024-10-20.