NationalDex
salamence
#373

Salamence

Dragon Pokémon

DragonFlying

SALAMENCE came about as a result of a strong, long-held dream of growing wings. It is said that this powerful desire triggered a sudden mutation in this POKéMON’s cells, causing it to sprout its magnificent wings.

Base Stats

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

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Held Items

Evolution Chain

shelgon Shelgon Lv. 30
salamence Salamence Lv. 50

Moves

Locations

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

ubers Usage: 4.8%
Wish Support
Item
Leftovers
Nature
Bold
EVs
HP 252
Def 252
SpD 4

Strategy Overview

Salamence is a good defensive option for stall teams due to its immunity to Ground-type attacks, lack of weakness to Ghost-type attacks, and resistance to Fighting- and Bug-type attacks. Unlike its main competition in Lugia, it is not weak to common Ghost-type moves and is not setup fodder for Spikes users, allowing it to threaten common Spikes setters such as Skarmory and Forretress. Intimidate allows Salamence to mitigate damage from many physical attackers in the tier. It is an excellent check to physically-based Salac Berry sweepers, most notably Heracross and Groudon. For a defensive Pokemon, Salamence has a good base Speed, allowing it to outspeed various base 90 Speed Pokemon like Groudon and Kyogre. While it has plenty of great defensive capabilities, it is often inferior to the more common defensive option in Lugia, as Lugia possesses much greater overall stats and supports its teammates with Reflect and Pressure. While being a solid physical wall, its typing leaves it virtually always forced out by special attackers, as Salamence cannot withstand the tier's common and powerful special attacks. This, combined with an inability to fit a phazing move, means that Salamence can easily become setup fodder. Salamence also greatly relies on not being statused, as any sort of status makes Salamence function much less reliably.

Most Used Moves

Protect
99.5%
Toxic
99.5%
Wish
99.5%

Most Used Items

Leftovers
99.7%

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc