NationalDex
salamence
#373

Salamence

Dragon Pokémon

DragonFlying

As a result of its long-held dream of flying, its cellular structure changed, and wings grew out.

Base Stats

HP 95
Attack 135
Defense 80
Sp. Atk 110
Sp. Def 80
Speed 100
Total 600

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Intimidate Moxie (Hidden)

Held Items

Evolution Chain

shelgon Shelgon Lv. 30
salamence Salamence Lv. 50

Moves

Details

Category Dragon Pokémon
Height 1.5 m
Weight 102.6 kg
Base Exp 270
Growth Rate Slow
Capture Rate 45
Base Happiness 35
Gender 50% ♂ / 50% ♀
Habitat Rough Terrain
Egg Groups Dragon

Sprites

salamence Front Front
salamence Back Back
salamence Front Shiny Front Shiny
salamence Back Shiny Back Shiny
salamence Official Art Official Art
salamence Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

Dragon Dance
Moves
Outrage / Dragon Claw
Fire Blast / Roost
Item
Life Orb / Lum Berry
Nature
Naive / Jolly
EVs
Atk 252
SpA 4
Spe 252
Choice Scarf
Item
Choice Scarf
Ability
Moxie
Nature
Naive / Jolly
EVs
Atk 252
SpA 4
Spe 252
MixMence
Moves
Earthquake / Brick Break
Outrage / Roost
Item
Life Orb
Nature
Rash / Naive
EVs
Atk 132
SpA 200
Spe 176

Strategy Overview

To put it simply, Salamence is an offensive powerhouse. Boasting the second highest Attack stat of any Dragon-type in OU at base 135, Salamence can easily take out the opponent with its massively powerful STAB Outrage, both before and after a boost. Salamence is made even more threatening by the addition of Moxie, allowing its damage output to snowball to uncontrollable levels. Intimidate is another nice ability that enables Salamence to tank physical hits just a bit better, and complements its decent defensive typing and stats. Furthermore, Salamence can separate itself from its Dragon-type brethren quite easily when using Dragon Dance, thanks to a higher Speed stat, as well as the ability to go mixed, taking out Steel-types outside of rain thanks to Fire Blast backed by a base 110 Special Attack stat.

Salamence does have a few key weaknesses, however. The most apparent of these is its vulnerability to Stealth Rock, which cripples even sets with Roost. Salamence's Speed could also just be a smidge faster; many Pokemon that outspeed it can hit it super effectively with Ice- or Dragon-type attacks. Garchomp in particular is a huge threat to Salamence, as Choice Scarf variants of Garchomp outspeed Salamence even if it has acquired a Dragon Dance boost and smash it with either Outrage or Stone Edge. Steel-types can also come in on Salamence if it's locked into Outrage and do whatever they please. However, don't let these drawbacks prevent you from using Salamence; there was a reason it was banned from DPP OU!

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc