As one might expect from a game based on Pokémon, Pokémon GO is quite complex, with the outcomes of a battle often being determined by a creature's type, stats and other various details. However, there is also one more factor that has a major impact on a battle's outcome: a Pokemon's moves and the movesets that players have at their disposal.
Simply put, moves are like Pokémon themselves: all moves are of a specific type, and their effectiveness is determined by the type of the Pokémon that they are used against. For example, a water-type move would do more damage to a fire-type Pokémon, but would do less damage against a grass-type one. In a similar vein, some attacks are simply better than others. For example, water gun is better than bubble.
There are more moves than there are Pokémon in the game, and normally this would be a non-issue as you can choose which moves your Pokémon can get. However, Pokémon GO doesn't offer that luxury: it is currently impossible to teach a Pokémon moves or replace old ones. Each Pokémon has a pool of moves it can use, and the ones it learns are determined at random. As such, the only way for a player to have their Pokémon obtain a specific moveset is to repeatedly hatch, catch or evolve them until they get it.
Of course, up until now it's likely you didn't know what exactly those desirable movesets were. Sure, people identified Water Gun as a pretty useful attack, but others like Gunk Shot weren't quite as obvious. Fortunately, that's where the crew behind the Silph Road Reddit group and website come in, and they have determined the best moves in Pokémon GO.
So what exactly dictates which moves are the best? The Silph Road community analyzed four important factors: duration (how long a move takes to execute), damage window (how long an attack lasts, which is important since longer moves are harder to dodge), base power (power of an attack) and crit chance (the chance for Charge Moves to deal bonus damage).
Upon considering these factors, the Silph Road redditors were able to work out the average DPS (damage per second) for every move in the game. And this of course is critical, as it shows there is far more going underneath the surface with moves than just their raw attack strength. For example, Power Whip is 50 percent stronger than Dragon Claw, but not only is Dragon Claw quicker, it also has a higher crit chance, making it closer in value to one another than what one would initially expect.
Now that the methodology has been detailed, here is a list of the top 30 moves, separated by category, to be used in battle in Pokémon GO (a full list can be found here):
*Pokémon currently unobtainable are not listed
Quick Moves:
1. Pound (Normal / 12.96 DPS)
- Available to Clefairy, Clefable, Jigglypuff, Wigglytuff, Drowzee, Chansey, Jynx
2. Metal Claw (Steel / 12.7 DPS)
- Available to Sandslash, Kingler
3. Psycho Cut (Physhic / 12.28 DPS)
- Available to Kadabra and Alakazam
4. Scratch (Normal / 12 DPS)
- Available to Charmander, Charmeleon, Sandshrew, Paras, Diglett, Meowth, Persian, Mankey, Kabuto
5. Water Gun (Water / 12 DPS)
- Available to Wartortle, Blastoise, Psyduck, Golduck, Slowpoke, Slowbro, Seel, Horsea, Seadra, Staryu, Starmie, Vaporeon, Omanyte, Omastar
6. Wing Attack (Flying / 12 DPS)
- Available to Charizard, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, Golbat
7. Bite (Dark / 12 DPS)
- Available to Wartortle, Blastoise, Raticate, Abrok, Nidoran F, Nidorina, Nidoqueen, Zubat, Golbat, Meowth, Growlithe, Arcanine, Gyarados, Aerodactyl
8. Dragon Breath (Dragon / 12 DPS)
- Available to Seadra, Gyarados, Dratini, Dragonair, Dragonite
9. Fire Fang (Fire / 11.9 DPS)
- Available to Arcanine
10. Shadow Claw (Ghost / 11.58 DPS)
- Available to Haunter, Gengar
11. Feint Attack (Ghost / 11.54 DPS)
- Available to Ninetales, Jigglypuff, Wigglytuff, Persian, Dodrio
12. Poison Jab (Poison / 11.43 DPS)
- Available to Beedrill, Nidoqueen, Nidorino, Nidoking, Tentacruel, Muk, Seaking
13. Zen Headbutt (Psychic / 11.43 DPS
- Available to Clefairy, Clefable, Psyduck, Abra, Hypno, Exeggutor, Lickitung, Chansey, Mr. Mime, Tauros, Snorlax,
14. Steel Wing (Steel / 11.28 DPS)
- Available to Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, Fearow, Dodrio, Scyther, Aerodactyl, Dragonite
15. Frost Breath (Ice / 11.11 DPS)
- Available to Dewgong, Cloyster, Jynx, Lapras
Charge Moves:
1. Cross Chop (Fighting / 30 DPS)
- Available to Psyduck, Mankey, Primeape, Machop, Machoke, Machamp
2. Stone Edge (Rock / 25.81 DPS)
- Available to Nidoqueen, Dugtrio, Machamp, Graveler, Golem, Onyx, Hitmonlee, Rhydon, Kabutops
3. Blizzard (Ice / 25.64 DPS)
- Available to Tentacruel, Dewgong, Cloyster, Seadra, Lapras
4. Body Slam (Normal / 25.64 DPS)
- Available to Ratatta, Nidoran F, Nidoran M, Clefairy, Clefable, Vulpix, Jigglypuff, Meowth, Growlithe, Poliwag, Eevee, Snorlax
5. Power Whip (Grass / 25 DPS)
- Available to Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Bellsprout, Weepinbell, Lickitung, Tanglea
6. Hurricane (Flying / 25 DPS)
- Available to Pidgeot
7. Megahorn (Bug / 25 DPS)
- Available to Nidoking, Rhydon, Seaking
8. Solar Beam (Bug / 24.49 DPS)
- Available to Ivysaur, Venusaur, Vileplume, Parasect, Victreebel, Exeggutor, Tangela
9. Fire Blast (Bug / 24.39 DPS)
- Available to Charizard, Ninetales, Arcanine, Ponyta, Rapidash, Magmar, Flareon
10. Hyper Beam (Bug / 24 DPS)
- Available to Raticate, Wigglytuff, Electrode, Lickitung, Aerodactyl, Snorlax, Dragonite
11. Earthquake (Ground / 23.81 DPS)
- Available to Sandslash, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Dugtrio, Golem, Marowak, Kangaskhan, Tauros, Snorlax
12. Hydro Pump (Bug / 23.68 DPS)
- Available to Wartortle, Blastoise, Golduck, Poliwrath, Tentacruel, Cloyster, Seadra, Starmie, Gyarados, Vaporeon, Omastar
13. Dragon Claw (Dragon / 23.33 DPS)
- Available to Charizard, Dragonite
14. Thunderbolt (Electric / 23.26 DPS)
- Available to Pikachu, Raichu, Electabuzz, Jolteon
15. Gunk Shot (Poison / 21.67 DPS)
- Available to Ekans, Abrok, Muk
And there you have it, the best 30 moves in Pokémon GO. Of course, as mentioned before, you still need to actually be fortunate enough to obtain a Pokémon who has them. Even if you do, however, there are still plenty of things to worry about such as their IVs that can throw a wrench in your plans.
Happy hunting!
