Pokemon GO Skeledirge PvP and PvE guide: Best moveset, counters, and more

Skeledirge sitting on a beach
Skeledirge as seen in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (Image via Nintendo)

A Paldean Adventure event is live in Pokemon GO, and will be available from Tuesday, September 5, 10 am local time through Sunday, September 10, 10 am local time. You will get to enjoy 4x Catch Experience Points and 4x Catch Stardust bonuses during this event, but the main focus will be the newly introduced Paldean creatures in Pokemon GO. One of these is going to be a Fire-type starter, Fuecoco.

After catching one, you might want to evolve it into a Skeledirge. Currently, Fuecoco has three creatures in its family, with Skeledirge being its Stage 2 final evolution. Therefore, you will need a total of 125 Fuecoco Candies to evolve this critter into a Skeledirge.

In this article, we will look at all of Skeledirge's moves and builds for PvP and PvE battles. We will also walk you through the best counters for this beast in Pokemon GO.


What is the best moveset for Skeledirge in Pokemon GO?

Skeledirge is a dual Fire and Steel-type Pokemon, which makes it quite vulnerable to the following elemental typings:

  • Ghost
  • Dark
  • Ground
  • Rock
  • Water

Skeledirge is resistant to the following elemental typings:

  • Bug
  • Fairy
  • Fire
  • Grass
  • Ice
  • Poison
  • Steel
  • Fighting
  • Normal

This critter has a maximum Combat Power (CP) of 3,422 at level 50 in Pokemon GO. It has the following base statistics:

  • Attack: 207
  • Defense: 178
  • Statistic: 232

Skeledirge can learn the following moves:

Fast moves:

  • Incinerate: This is a Fire-type move. It does 12.61 DPS while generating 8.70 EPS.
  • Bite: This is a Dark-type move. It does 12 DPS while generating 8 EPS.

Charged moves:

  • Flamethrower: This is a two-bar Fire-type move. It does 31.82 DPS and 1.40 Damage Per Energy (DPE). Its DPS*DPE is 44.55.
  • Crunch: This is a three-bar Dark-type move. It does 21.88 DPS and 2.12 DPE. Its DPS*DPE is 46.40.
  • Shadow Ball: This is a two-bar Ghost-type move. It does 33.33 DPS and 2 DPE. Its DPS*DPE is 66.67.
  • Flame Burst: This is a two-bar Fire-type move. It does 26.92 DPS and 1.40 DPE. Its DPS*DPE is 37.69.
  • Disarming Voice: This is a three-bar Fairy-type move. It does 17.95 DPS and 2.12 DPE. Its DPS*DPE is 38.07.

Best PvE moveset for Skeledirge in Pokemon GO

Offensive PvE moveset

From the numbers above, the best offensive PvE moveset for Skeledirge in Pokemon GO would be Incinerate as the Fast move, alongside Flamethrower and Shadow Ball as the Charged move choices.

Defensive PvE moveset

When it comes to Gym defense, Incinerate is one of the best Fast moves in the entire game. Shadow Ball, along with Flamethrower, will give you decent elemental typing coverage besides a solid damage output as well.


Best PvP moveset for Skeledirge in Pokemon GO

Incinerate is the best Fast move suited for Skeledirge for the game's PvP aspect. Due to its high damage output, it lets this Pokemon dish out a lot of damage, thus pressurizing the opponent even if they have a shield advantage. They might be forced to make a silly swap as you can’t really block this Fast move with a shield.

You can go with Disarming Voice and Flamethrower as the Charged moves, with the former being the shield bait and the latter the hard DPS.


Best counters to use against Skeledirge in Pokemon GO

The following creatures can effectively counter Skeledirge:

  • Primal Kyogre
  • Primal Groudon
  • Rampardos
  • Gengar
  • Kyogre
  • Excadrill
  • Greninja
  • Kingler
  • Hydreigon
  • Gholdengo
  • Unbound Forme Hoopa

Water-type and Ground-type Pokemon will do very well against Skeledirge if you encounter it in a battle.

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