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Battles are a critical part of Pokemon GO's gameplay. Battles play a key role in making the game enjoyable for players and are the life force of the entire Pokemon franchise. A main series Pokemon game cannot exist without giving players a way to battle other trainers or wild Pokemon.
In Pokemon GO, players have three different types of battles to pick from. Raid Battles can be challenged by multiple trainers at once. These battles have different tiers: One-Star, Three-Star, Five-Star, and Mega. Five-Star Raids are typically against Legendary or Mythical Pokemon, and players can catch them afterward.
Trainer Battles and NPC Battles are the same types of battles at their core, but each has incredibly noticeable differences. NPC battles are typically held against Team GO Rocket grunts or any other event trainer that may be in circulation at the time. Trainer battles are held in Pokemon GO's Battle League against other players.
Pokemon GO's Best Fighting-type Attacks
The Fighting typing is one of the best offensive options players can choose to add to their team in Pokemon GO. Attacks of the Fighting-type deal super-effective damage against the franchise's most common type, Normal. They also deal super-effective damage to the Steel and Rock-types that dominate Pokemon GO's meta.
For players wanting to use Fighting-type Pokemon, knowing which ones have the right moves for the job is important. But with 16 different Fighting-type attacks to pick from, players may be a bit overwhelmed when it comes to finding the best attack for them, their Pokemon, and their playstyle.
Honorable Mention: Drain Punch
Drain Punch is the newest Fighting-type attack coming to Pokemon GO on April 23. Drain Punch will be the exclusive attack learned by every Stufful that evolves into a Bewear throughout the duration of the Stufful Community Day event being held on the same day of the move's release.
What sets this move apart from most other Fighting-type moves is its secondary effect. A lot of good charged attacks have secondary effects. These effects either raise one of the user's stats or lower one of the stats of the target. In the case of Drain Punch, it raises its user's defense. Its potential usage warrants a mention.
5) Counter
Starting off the list is the only fast attack to be featured, Counter. Debuting during the first generation of Pokemon games, Counter was one of the more niche moves players could use. Counter works by making the user attack last and only works if a physical attack hits the user in the same turn.
Luckily, Counter is much more useful in Pokemon GO and is the best Fighting-type fast attack in the game in terms of how much damage it deals. This move has a DPS of around 8.9 per second and an energy generation of approximately 7.8 per second.
4) Sacred Sword
The next move on the list is another exclusive attack. Sacred Sword is the signature move of Unova's Swords of Justice trio, Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion. While the move started out being restricted to the trio, other Pokemon, including Kartana, Aegislash, and Zacian, were able to learn it as well.
In Pokemon GO, however, the move is still restricted to the Legendary trio. Sacred Sword is also a charged attack, so the number of times a player can use it in a battle varies. Sacred Sword has a DPS of 50 and requires the player to generate 33 energy before it can be used.
3) Aura Sphere
Coming in at number three is another exclusive attack. While many Pokemon veterans will know that a lot of Pokemon throughout the franchise can learn Aura Sphere, Niantic has chosen to leave this move as an exclusive for everyone's favorite blue jackal, Lucario.
Aura Sphere has a base DPS of 90 in Raid Battles. This amount goes up to 100 in Trainer Battles but costs more energy in exchange. In Raids, Aura Sphere costs 50 energy. This cost increases to 55 in Trainer Battles. This greatly increases the delay between uses as it cannot be spammed off of a full charge.
2) Dynamic Punch
At number two is an attack that can be learned by a decent catalog of Pokemon. Dynamic Punch is one of the more underwhelming moves to use in the main series. Due to its accuracy of 50%, many players choose not to use it. However, if the move does hit, it is guaranteed to inflict confusion on the opponent.
This move has greatly improved thanks to Pokemon GO's battle system. With moves having no pre-determined accuracy, many players see it in a much better light. Dynamic Punch is a charged attack that has a DPS of 90 and an energy cost of 50. This move is also a lot more common than previously mentioned moves.
1) Close Combat
The best Fighting-type attack in Pokemon GO is Close Combat. Unsurprisingly for many players, Close Combat is one of the few moves in the game that needs to be nerfed due to its sheer power in battles. While it has done this in the main series, Close Combat now lowers the user's attack and defense after use.
In Trainer Battles, Close Combat has a DPS of 100 and an energy cost of 45. This means that this powerful attack can be used twice in a full charge. The downside of lowering the user's stats can be easily diverted if the player charges up this move fully to burst down their opponent's weaker Pokemon towards the end of the battle.
Note: The article reflects the writer's own views.
