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What Does Special Attack Mean In Pokemon

Lucario Best Items & Moveset

SPECIAL ATTACK MOVE VS PHYSICAL ATTACK MOVE EXPLAINED Pokemon work on sword and shield Explained
Razor Claw After the Pokemon uses a move, its next basic attack deals a minimum of damage. The higher the Pokemon’s Attack, the more this damage increases. When this item is held by a melee Pokemon, this basic attack also decreases the movement speed of opposing Pokemon for a short time.

Lucario’s reliance on weaving standard attacks between combos make Muscle Band the ideal choice of item to increase damage output. The Focus Band is also a powerful choice for increasing bulk as well as having a lifeline for when your HP drops too low. Finally Buddy Barrier is a great choice of item as well since you’ll usually be using Aura Cannon before jumping into a fight.

Overall, the best items for Lucario are those that provide defensive stats, raw attack stats, or attack speed. Razor Claw is also a great addition to Lucario’s kit if playing Extreme Speed due to their interaction with each other. Weakness Policy is another option to choose if you opt for a defensive setup as its effect forces you to take damage to maximize its gains.

Pokemon Unite: What Is The Difference Between Attack And Special Attack

In Pokemon Unite, all Pokemon utilize either the Attack or Special Attack stat. Pokemon with the Sp. Atk stat can exclusively unleash a devastating special move at the end of their basic auto-attack chain. Some items increase the Special Attack value, so purchasing them for an Attack Pokemon has no benefit.

Pokmon Video Game Glossary

AbilityAn Ability is a power that is automatically triggered whennecessary conditions are met. A Pokémon species may have multiple potentialAbilities, but an individual Pokémon has only one Ability.


AccuracyAccuracy is the likelihood that a move will hit the targetbased on a value assigned to each move. The higher the value, the more likelythe move will hit the target.

AffectionTaking care of Pokémon in Pokémon Refresh raises theirAffection. Pokémon with high Affection may earn extra Experience Points, endureor avoid attacks, cure status conditions, and deliver more critical hits. Thespecial benefits of Affection won’t occur in Link Battles orat battle facilities. A Pokémon’s Affection is separate from its friendship.

AsleepWhen a Pokémon is asleep, it is unable to use most moves.The Pokémon will recover from this status condition after several turns pass.

AttackThe Attack stat determines how powerful a Pokémon’s physicalmoves will be.

Base PointEach Pokémon you battle yield base points that can increaseyour Pokémon’s base stats. Your Pokémon can also earn base points by playing atIsle Evelup and when given special items. Depending on your Pokémon’s level,the number of base points you need to raise a stat can vary. See also BaseStat.


BattleA battle is combat between Pokémon. These include Trainerbattles, where you face off against another Trainer who is directing their Pokémon’s actions, and battles against wild Pokémon that you encounter innature.

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Status Effects Can Also Cut A Pokemons Attack Stat

Confusion, taking the maximum amount of Sleep turns and flinches are just a few of the irritating RNG-based situations Pokemon players often find themselves in. Of the status effects, though, Burn might seem to be the least detrimental.

On the surface, Burn simply deals a little residual damage each turn. For physical Pokemon, though, this status can be devastating, as it also cuts the victims active Attack in half. Those with the Guts Ability are spared this, though, as they actually gain 50% Attack when statused .

What Does Stab Mean In Pokemon

Pokemon Unite: Attack vs Special Attack

Its simpler than you might think.


When a Pokémon uses a move in battle, there are a variety of modifiers in play from both sides that affect the amount of damage the move ends up doing. Multipliers provided by type resistance, stats and stat adjustments, moves, and items can drastically change the outcome of any given turn.

STAB is one of the most commonly referenced multipliers in both main-series and spin-off Pokémon games and it can be the difference between a whiff and a turn-ending faint.

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There Are Several Exceptions

These are not entirely exclusive rules, as several moves ignore certain offensive or defensive stats. A great example of this is Psyshock, a move that uses your Special Attack stat but is only resisted by regular Defense. As a result, it can surprise an opponent whos preparing for a special move.

Certain moves ignore stats altogether, despite being labeled as physical or special. These often can be found in flat damage moves that remove a specific amount of hit points every time, such as Dragon Rage and Night Shade. Since these sorts of moves have a predetermined amount of damage, their Special Attack label is functionally meaningless.


Pokemon Sword And Shield Ivs

As we mentioned earlier stats like ATK, SP ATK, etc can help players determine how Perfect their pokemon is. A pokemon with a Perfect IV might reach over 200 Special Attack, were as a pokemon with a Not Good IV wont even reach 150 Special Attack. Why is this? you might be asking well ill tell you about this extra bit of RNG within pokemon games.

Just as random of a chance you might find a Weedle or Caterpie and if you are really lucky a Bulbasaur while walking through grass in the game, the same can be said to finding a AverageNot Good or if you are really lucky a Perfect IV Pokemon. Measuring stats like SP ATK, DEF, HP for that specific pokemon at its current level is how player determine just how good their pokemons IV is.

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Physical Opponents Are Often Easier To Deal With

Those who have played competitive Pokemon or watched a little will probably have noticed one thing: the Intimidate Ability is very, very popular. Why? Simply because its effect, reducing the Attack stat of the opponent by one stage when the user switches in, is incredibly useful.

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Physical attacking threats are very common, and their power can be cut in various ways that Special Attackers cant. Theres no Special Attack-reducing equivalent of this Ability, for instance. They often have more ways to set up, but a physically-oriented metagame means that there need to be more ways to make them less oppressive too.

Can Anything Modify Stab

Held Item Builds for Pokemon Unite – Physical vs Special Attack Damage Guide

Certain abilities can modify or enhance STAB. The ability Adaptability powers up moves that are the same type as the Pokémon that uses them, increasing the modifier from 1.5x to 2x. Pokémon that can have this ability include Eevee, Porygon-Z, Basculin, and Corphish.

The hidden abilities Protean and Libero, which function exactly the same, change a Pokémons type to the type of move its using. For example, if Greninja, normally a Water-type, uses the Psychic-type move Extrasensory, Greninjas type will change to Psychic until it uses a move of a different type. Greninja will also receive the usual 1.5x STAB for using Extrasensory as a Psychic-type.

A similar ability known as Color Change, which changes the Pokémon to the type of the move last used on it, has been unique to Kecleon since Generation III. Kecleon does receive STAB for any same-type moves used when its type has been changed, but since it has a fairly limited move pool, Color Change isnt as useful as Protean and Libero.

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Boosted Attacks Vary Based On Attack Type

Boosted Attacks are powered up attacks that occur on every third Normal Attack for most Pokemon. The type of damage that boosted attacks deal varies depending on the Pokemon’s attack type, similarly to their Moves. Physical Attackers deal Attack damage with their Boosted Attacks, while Special Attackers will deal Special Attack damage with their Boosted Attacks.

Go For Prolonged Duels

Garchomp gains an attack speed boost when he lands a skill or an attack on an enemy. This makes his damage ramp up during a duel, so try to force long trades against enemies to maximize your buff.

Farm Wild Pokemon to Heal Up

Remember that Empowered auto attacks are AOE , so you can lifesteal across multiple Wild Pokemon like in this clip.

Aside from increasing his attack speed, Garchomp’s boosted attack also heals him for a small amount. This slowly stacks up on prolonged fights so instead of going back to base, try farming wild Pokemon to heal up!

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Charizard Guide: Builds And Best Items

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The best guide on how to play Charizard in Pokemon UNITE for Nintendo Switch and Mobile. Check here for the best builds, Held and Battle items, movesets, as well as the latest nerfs, buffs, counters, matchups, and more!

List of Contents

Knocks back opposing Pokemon further.

Pokemon Unite: Physical Vs Special Attack Explained

Pokemon Gaia

You might think that direct strikes would use physical attack, while Special Attack affects Pokemon special moves. However, its a little more complicated than that. There are two types of Pokemon in Unite: physical attackers and special attackers. Which Pokemon fall into which category is based on their stats in the mainline series. Pokemon with a higher Attack stat are called physical attackers, while those with a higher Special Attack are special attackers. This determines the damage type of their entire moveset in Pokemon Unite.


In Pokemon Unite, almost all Pokemon use their Attack stat for basic auto attacks . With most Pokemon, however, the third auto attack you perform will be a Boosted Attack with a more powerful effect. Boosted Attacks will use the Attack stat for physical attackers, and Special Attack for special attackers. Similarly, Pokemon special moves will adjust damage based on whether theyre a physical or special attacker.

The short lesson from this is that you typically want to equip physical attackers with items that boost Attack, while you want to equip special attackers with items that boost Special Atk.

Pokemon are broadly split into Physical Attackers and Special Attackers as follows:

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Some Pokemon Are Also Only Super Resistant To One Or The Other

In the same way that some select Pokemon have great Attack and Special Attack stats , only a few equally excel in both Defense and Special Defense.


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Blissey, for instance, is an infamous special wall with an absurd base 255 HP and 135 Special Defense. Its almost impervious to special moves, but in return, it has just 10 Defense. The key to defeating tankier opponents, then, is knowing how theyre trained and where their best base stats lie so you can target their weaker defenses.

What Is Special Attack In Pokemon Unite

Special Attack in Pokemon Unite functions extremely similar to how it does in the mainline Pokemon games. Each Pokemon will be classified as either a Physical Attacker or a Special Attacker. Physical Attackers deal damage based on their Attack stat, while Special Attackers deal damage primarily based on their Special Attack stat. Players who don’t want to be forced to surrender in Pokemon Unite would do well to learn which type each Pokemon is.

When using a Special Attacker, players will want to use items that boost Special Attack in order to increase overall damage. When deciding on a Pikachu build in Pokemon Unite, for example, trainers will probably equip a Shell Bell or Wise Glasses. This contrasts with Physical Attackers like Zeraora that will benefit more from items like Scope Lens or Muscle Band.

It should be noted that most basic attacks made with the A button are considered physical attacks. This remains true even for Special Attackers. However, boosted basic attacks, which usually occur on the third hit of a combo, are considered special attacks.

The following Pokemon are considered Special Attackers in Pokemon Unite:

  • Pikachu

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Which Pokmon Do Physical Or Special Damage In Pokmon Unite

The method of differentiating Pokémon Unite Physical vs Special moves is more simple than the game would have you believe. It’s not mentioned on any screen detailing a Pokémon’s moves.

Even though a move like Razor Leaf has historically been listed as a Physical Attack in most modern Pokémon games, it’s a Special Attack in Pokémon Unite: that’s because unlike other Pokémon games, the Physical vs Special attack divide isn’t decided on a per-move basis in Pokémon Unite, but on a per-Pokémon basis instead.

Regardless of the moves you choose for your Pokémon, the type of damage they deal is purely dependant on their species. A Venusaur will only ever deal Special damage, whereas Charizard can only deal Physical damage. This is paramount to deciding which Held Items and Battle Items to equip in battle. Boosting the Sp. Atk stat of Charizard won’t do anything to increase its damage as it doesn’t use Special attacks at all.

Here’s how each Pokémon fits into the Pokémon Unite Physical vs Special attack categories:

Pokémon

Sp Atk Specs Damage Stacking

POKEMON UNITE How Special Attack & Attack ACTUALLY Work on ALL Pokemon! | Damage Guide

Scoring a goal with Sp. Atk. Specs equipped will increase your Sp. Attack stat by a flat amount, regardless of how many points you score per goal. This effect can stack up to 6 times.

There’s also no cooldown for this item’s effect upon scoring a goal, meaning you could do something like scoring 6 goals within 30 seconds and still gain the bonus stat per goal.

Also Affects Final Attack

If a Pokemon’s final attack has a Sp. Attack stat like Pikachu, the effect of Sp. Atk. Specs will be applied only to the final attack.

Does Not Raise Attack Stat

Keep in mind that the Sp. Atk. Specs does not increase your Attack stat, meaning normal attacks and Physical Attacker type Pokemon remain unaffected. It is therefore, recommended to give this item to a Special Attacker type Pokemon.

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Avoid Skirmishes Until Level 5

Prioritize farming in the early game until level 5 as that is when either Fire Punch or Flamethrower will be available which allows a higher damage contribution to small skirmishes and team fights early on.

Group Up Wild Pokemon to Farm Faster

Take advantage of Charizard’s long range AoEs by grouping up wild Pokemon which will greatly speed up your farm. When looking to invade or steal enemy camps in the early game be careful of opposing Pikachu or Cramorant, as they have high crowd control and damage early on.

What Is A Pokmon Unite Special Attack

As mentioned above, every Pokémon is divided into one of two categories physical attack or special attack. While even special attack Pokémon have physical attack on most of their basic hits, their boosted attacks, usually the third auto-attack, will deal special damage. Additionally, their strongest moves will also use special attack. Special attack Pokémon deal damage based on their special attack level, and their damage is reduced by the enemys special defence stat.

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How Do Special Attacks Work In Pokemon Unite

Essentially, like the base Pokemon game, all Pokemon have different focuses and stats. You can leverage this to effectively plan out your combat and take on your enemies.

Unfortunately, there’s a little uncertainness to how this works right now as some pokemon have extra attacks or combo attacks that leverage their other stat. The game is all about exploring what works for you. You just have to get in there for yourself and test out all the Pokemon available.

Whilst it is mostly about planning out what works well for you in each moment, we do know which Pokemon favour each stat. There they all are.

When Does X Spdef Wear Off In Battle

Top 10 Worst Abilities

X Sp. Def is an item introduced in Generation II, due to the Special stat being divided into Special Attack and Special Defense. It raises the Special Defense stat of a single Pokémon in battle. It wears off if the Pokémon is withdrawn. This article is a stub. Please help the Pokémon Wiki by expanding it .

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All Special Attack Characters In Pokemon Unite List

  • Alolan Ninetails
  • Venusaur
  • Wigglytuff

Standard attack moves for Attack Pokemon are all physical attacks. When it comes to Special Attack Pokemon, however, the final hit in an auto-attack chain takes on a special effect. This deals more damage as standard, though it can be increased even further through the purchase of Sp. Atk boosting items. Usually, the special attack is the third and final hit in a basic auto-attack combo.

In order to counterbalance these special abilities, Attack Pokemon generally deal more consistent damage without needing to complete a full auto-attack combination. Any players that like to use poking or hit and run tactics might do well to stick with standard Attack stats characters as a result.

Having trouble playing Pokemon Unite online? In that case, check out how to fix the and server connection errors. Its also worth knowing how to play the game at 60 FPS on Nintendo Switch.

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