The best moveset for Emboar in Pokemon GO

Introduced to Pokemon GO in 2019, the Unova region starters have had some time to get comfortable among the game's roster, and the recent Tepig Community Day has given players even more chances to enjoy the Fire/Fighting-type Emboar as a result.

Though Emboar is far from the most impressive Fire-type starter Pokemon in battle, it can still perform its duties admirably and deal a respectable amount of damage as well.

What will assist Pokemon GO trainers in this endeavor will be Emboar's move selection, which can be tweaked for optimal performance when type advantage and Weather Boosts aren't in play.

---

Pokemon GO: Emboar move breakdown

Image via The Pokemon Company

Before a deep dive into Emboar's moves can be taken, it's important to know exactly how this Pokemon is working within Pokemon GO. With a maximum of six moves between its fast and charged moves, Emboar has some options to take advantage of.

However, this particular breakdown will focus exclusively on maximizing standard damage potential as opposed to exploiting type matchups as many Pokemon GO players would prioritize.

Selecting the optimal moveset should help Emboar perform well in any PvE situation such as Team GO Rocket battles and gym raids.

The moves that Emboar currently possesses in Pokemon GO are:

Fast moves

• Ember (Fire-type)
• Low Kick (Fighting-type)

Charged moves

• Focus Blast (Fighting-type)
• Heat Wave (Fire-type)
• Rock Slide (Rock-type)
• Flame Charge (Fire-type)

When measuring a Pokemon's moveset, there are three statistics that players use within the community to measure damage ability:

• Damage Per Second (DPS): The amount of damage a Pokemon's moves deal every second if it is attacking repeatedly.
• Total Damage Overall (TDO): The maximum amount of damage a Pokemon's moves deal during the entire course of the battle before it faints from sustaining too much damage. This is calculated by taking the Pokemon's DPS and multiplying it by the amount of time it will remain on the field before fainting.
• Time to First Activation (TTFA): As charged moves are so important to overall damage, activating the Pokemon's charged move quickly and often is imperative. TTFA measures the time in seconds that it takes to first activate the Pokemon's chosen charged move.

With those numbers in mind, players can break down Emboar's moves by combination and decide which has the best potential damage output:

• Low Kick + Focus Blast: 15.48 DPS / 558.67 TDO / 10.2 second TTFA
• Ember + Focus Blast: 14.73 DPS / 531.69 TDO / 10 second TTFA
• Low Kick + Rock Slide: 13.53 DPS / 488.52 TDO / 5.4 second TTFA
• Ember + Rock Slide: 13.29 DPS / 479.86 TDO / 5 second TTFA
• Ember + Heat Wave: 12.95 DPS / 467.43 TDO / 10 second TTFA
• Low Kick + Heat Wave: 12.47 DPS / 449.95 TDO / 10.2 second TTFA
• Ember + Flame Charge: 12.09 DPS / 436.35 TDO / 4 second TTFA
• Low Kick + Flame Charge: 11.56 DPS / 417.29 TDO / 3.6 second TTFA

Though they don't have the best TTFA in the bunch, the damage capability of Low Kick and Focus Blast speaks for itself for Emboar in Pokemon GO. In a game where every extra point of damage counts, Emboar can do far worse than use these two moves.

The numbers may skew depending on the type of matchup and Weather Boosts, but this baseline shows that Low Kick and Focus Blast are currently the best pick for Emboar with regards to damage.

However, this list is always subject to change, as Niantic is constantly tweaking and adjusting Pokemon GO's moves.

---