How to choose best moves for a Pokemon in Legends: Arceus

Figuring what moves to use is half of the game in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

Moves will look very different, though, in the upcoming title. Although there won’t be as many moves as there were in Sword and Shield, trainers will have wider access to their movepools at all times. On top of that, some new mechanics will make deciding which moves to run even more difficult.

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How should trainers decide which attacks to teach their Pokemon in the new game?

The most important thing to remember when teaching Pokemon moves is which stats they excel at and which ones they don’t. Outside of rare circumstances, each species will have high Special Attack or high physical Attack.

This is incredibly important since choosing the wrong format of the move will result in it doing little damage.

Take Kleavor, for instance. As a Rock/Bug-type, trainers should teach it some Bug-type moves. While Kleavor’s base Attack stat is superb (135), its base Special Attack is pitiful (45).

Therefore, trainers who teach Kleavor a move like Silver Wind aren’t going to get good damage output from it. Even if the move has STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus), other physical moves like Quick Attack may end up doing more damage.

Kleavor gets access to a strong move in Stone Axe (Image via Game Freak)

In other games in the franchise, accidentally forgetting a move stinks. The trainer needs to then farm a Heart Scale to get the Move Relearner to reteach the forgotten move.

None of that is necessary in the new title, though. Now, trainers can simply change moves from the main menu.

Also, trainers can now “master” their moves. After a particular move is used often enough in battle, it will be considered mastered. This means that it can be used in the Agile or Strong Styles shown in previous trailers.

This makes figuring out which moves a trainer will be teaching beforehand all the more important. Say, for example, a trainer wants to teach Kleavor Aerial Ace. In that case, there’s no need to master Air Slash, which is a Special move anyways that won’t do much damage.