How Would You Improve Some Pokemon (Competitively)?

[Lorshinator]

Give Heatmor an evolution. It's pathetic at the moment. Durant destroys it, and although it's got good offensive statistics it's too slow.

Or, give it agility.

On a side note, Durant's always walled by one type: steels. Once he's not walled by that, he's kind of... A bit too strong?

[wraith89]

Durant would not beat Heatmor naturally. Just with aid of TM for Rock Slide and stuff.

Fun fact: Heatmor is the only fire Pokemon I know of (there may be others) denied access to Flame Charge. I tried. I have no idea what kind of a role Heatmor is supposed to fill. I mean, I gave it HP Electric with Life Orb vs Gyarados... it OHKOs it. But Hidden Power is not even what I would consider a real attack. Heatmor could certainly use a secondary Dark typing or something... it learns a whole bunch of Dark moves.

Skarmory walls just about any of these steels, ranging anywhere from Durant to Escavalier to Scizor.

[Lorshinator]

Apparently Heatmor takes two X-Scissors from Durant... at half damage... Without boosts... apparently... Although Heatmor could just use flamethrower afterwards and just completely destroy him. X_X

Yyyyyyyyyyyeahh... They made Heatmor underpowered. Give it... Something... An evolve form IMO would work. Fire Dark or Fire/Rock or Fire/Ground (anteater ness). Fire ground would be poor defensively I know, and it wouldn't add too much offensively (fire and ground are good on similar things) but it would be nifty. Of course, Fire/Dark seems to make sense.

Oh yes, Skarmory would wall Durant. Or most steels for that matter.

Now how about fire/steel?!

[wraith89]

Yeah. Roasted ants ftw. Heatmor destroys Durant with a thrower anyhow, but yeah, it is just a lame Fire Pokemon with no real specialisation, just there to be the obligatory ant eater who eats the Durants, though Durant is much more useful and pretty much better. The only specialised destroyer of Durant would probably be Heatran or maybe a Flamethrower Weezing.

You know you are not a very good Pokemon if you can get defeated by the very Pokemon you were supposed to defeat, even by severe type advantage. Not to mention how very forgettable of a Pokemon it is

Now Durant is very scary: imagine those things crawling all around Unova. Just ONE is very powerful... and Trapinch, the other ant, prevents escape!

Now how about fire/steel?!

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Though, look at Heatmor's armour body: it looks like a Fire/Steel... and it could just become a non-legendary Fire/Steel.

I think we now have a discussion going: how to improve Heatmor?

For starters, give it Flame Charge! Why is it even denied that? I don't get it

[Lorshinator]

Here are a few quick suggestions:

X-Scissor - It has bug bite. *shrugs*.

Agility and Flame Charge.

Nasty Plot

Swords Dance

** Houndoom and other fire pokemon have these moves, particularly the former, and considering his lower offensive stats, I don't think it would be a problem to have these.

Bulldoze, maybe even earthquake or earth power. (It's an anteater and they live in those kind of areas right? I don't know a whole lot about them.)

Rock Slide, but not stone edge.

I think it should be the pokemon with decent enough stats but with an amazing movepool to back it up. If it had Earth Power, Grass Knot/Energy Ball, and Flamethrower, coupled with Agility/Nasty Plot, it could become a fairly decent pokemon.

I am familiar with that pokemon, but it is one that counters Skarmory almost indefinitely.

[wraith89]

Eh I wouldn't want another generic Fire Pokemon with Grass Knot and Energy Ball and all that: they did that to nearly everyone. Though Earth Power seems nice... and oddly fitting. It just wants Flame Charge I think, and perhaps some electric moves or something. Idk. The best way to improve it is to make it the NU/UU Heatran or something... with the extra Steel typing, it can gain many resistances and have a myriad of options to work with. It has a wasted 9X attack power... I hope that can be capitalised too.

I think... it want some signature move or something. Have you found any role for that thing so far that differentiates it from other Fires? I certainly have not so far... asides from being the obligatory ant eater to destroy Durants, it does not even do that job THAT well in competitive battling, nor does it have much going for it in general.

Can somebody tell me why Grass Knot is nearly universal on things that do not seem like they can learn it?

[Lorshinator]

I personally think it would be somewhat cool if we had a fire type that was slow but bulky and powerful, and had utility or status moves to make it more powerful. Meaning, give Heatmor more bulk or a type that gives it plenty of resistances, such as fire/steel (which would destroy Durant), and give it some ground moves. It probably wouldn't be the most useful thing ever, but it would still have a refined purpose. If Heatmor's movepool is not improved, give it an evolution. Also, give Corsola an evolution.

Here's a signature move:

Fire Tongue

Physical (it's a tongue): 100

Acc: 85-90

Effect: 30-50% chance of burning

That would make everyone go in a rage.

Uh... Like Cofagrigus? Uh, I don't know. ._.

[wraith89]

That's just another Sacred Fire mate

Let's lower that to like Lava Plume's power. Heck, make it a physical Lava Plume! Or maybe make it a Fire priority attack! Do note that while signature moves do exist for certain Pokemon, they become breedable to some other species or get given to other Pokemon in later gens. And seriously, it does need one, because some of the other rival Pokemons got something that resembled signature moves, such as Poison Tail on Seviper and Crush Claw on Zangoose.

There are plenty of bulky Fires such as Torkoal... bottom line is they don't work so well. Especially not Magcargo, due to that awful defensive typing. It needs like at least 900 BST to even work, but is a cool NU Bug counter actually. Not to mention its ability to Recover and all sorts of stuff. Magcargo I am satisfied with... somewhat.

Only thing I am worrying about for Heatmor is its lack of specialisation, nothing else. But if nothing else, yeah, a Fire/Steel typing would be great.

Corsola would be a fun Pokemon to evolve. Actually, the only thing Corsola was used for was breeding fodder: it gave Tyranitar Ancientpower and Blastoise Refresh and Mirror Coat in Gen II (now pass down Recover!), for instance. Some of these Pokemon are good for breeding, such as Farfetch'd, which bridges Ground and Flying groups together. Corsola would become such a beast tank if evolved, but that typing would be such a drag.

[Klaatu]

Since Durant is so strong, even though they are supposed to be rivals, Heatmor needs a Scizor-like evolution. Meaning, new type, readjusted sprites, some moves.

Fire/Steel would give it a huge amount of resistances.

Its hard to make anything awesome out of its stats

Its HP obviously wouldnt shrink, the defs cant get any lower...

if it became more of a furnace, its speed and attack could get lower for a boost in sp.atk and physical defense?..

85 77 86 115 76 45 ...

meh.

Itd be a lame version of Heatran at best

Or maybe a speedier Fire/Ground? Thatd be something new, but conceptually I dont see it with those mechanical details.

[Lorshinator]

Although this is probably out of context, I really do not like how this generation is full of monsters that are incredibly powerful and some that are just unbelievably weak... Perhaps you should balance it, but I wish this generation had more "balance". X(

Fire/Steel would be good, but it would need something to make it stand out from the crowd. It would be cool, however, if it was a more defensive-ish cannon thing, instead of the typical swift fire type.

Making something great out of heatmor is definitely a real challenge. ._.

How about he we give it... SHEER FORCE AS IT'S ABILIT- no. Hmmmm...

[Lorshinator]

Here's another for those that still live in this post-apocalyptic forum.

Current stats:

HP: 95

Attack: 110

Def: 80

Special attack: 70

Special Defence: 80

Speed: 50

There would be minor changes made to this guy's stats to make it more than a more "meh" Mamoswine, which I guess it inevitably will be.

HP: 110

AttacK: 120

Defence: 95

Special attack: 65

Special Defence: 95

Speed: 60

Make it more bulk focused than Mamoswine, for starters. Also, despite the fact this may seem as overkill, I really don't understand why GameFreak makes bears so weak... Because they're bears. Oh well, I guess making it lower in a nonsensical world makes sense... Blargh.

Additions to it's movepool:

Waterfall

Earthquake

Drain Punch

Payback

Elemental punches?

[wraith89]

Also, despite the fact this may seem as overkill, I really don't understand why GameFreak makes bears so weak... Because they're bears.

Ursaring is anything but weak

[Lorshinator]

Then they made Beartic weak.... I don't like it's stat distribution.

Also shouldn't they be a bit bulkier if they're going to be so slow? Well, they're not fragile, I know, but Beartic... It's stats are meh.

[wraith89]

Oh come on, Beartic isn't even weak either. Is it outclassed by Mamoswine? Unfortunately... it looks like a much weaker Mamoswine, though it has Focus Punch and fist moves Mamoswine could not possibly get. 95/80/80 isn't soft either: it's just that its typing doesn't help much with resistances and all. Samurott has 95/80/70 defences (I think), so it is slightly above Samurott's. They tend to make Ice types slow and bulky, but the problem is they didn't give it enough resistances. I think that's all that's needed to fix Ice types: more resistances.

Anyhow, those are nice change suggestions. That bear should climb Waterfalls. It's like their concept of a Water/Ice without the Water type, but they did not really give it much physical water moves.

[Lorshinator]

I suppose that's true, although 95/80/80 isn't really "bulky" in this gen.

I think it just needs speed or more resistances, and because it's a bear, higher attack. It's movepool also should be expanded on, and it should at least have another ability. May I suggest thick fat? That would be pretty awesome - perhaps too awesome...

Intimidate would also be cool, considering it's massive size, which would make it bulkier too on the physical side.

[wraith89]

That's only because of certain ridiculous noob Pokemon like those with 147 attack AND Mold Breaker AND nearly perfect coverage AND quite fast with access to speed and attack boosting moves and some other overkill Pokemon.

Beartic can get Ice Punch right? It already does I believe. Intimidate and Thick Fat would definitely help, though I'd like Ice Body for more bulk. Speaking of Ice Body, that should be Articuno's ability. Snow Cloak is redundant with Pressure and Pressure is actually better.

Overall, Beartic doesn't really lack anything because it has nearly perfect coverage with most of its moves. Its only problem is that its typing is horrid defensively, allowing easy revenge kill from the likes of Fighting/Steel priority.

[Lorshinator]

Agreement. Ultimately, there should be at least one ability that would make Beartic effective outside of rain/hail, because relying solely on weather is not my cup of tea.

Types Ice could grow to resist are:

Grass - Freezes them

Bug - Bugs hate the cold, or at least most do

Perhaps water (meaning they would both resist each other)

A Bug/Ice Pokemon would be among my favourite pokemon if they made it... Speaking of which, MAKE IT HAPPEN GAMEFREAK!

Mmmm, now I'm thinking of tea...

Speaking of tea, which constitutes classiness (because it does, don't argue with my absolutely perfect logic), here's a pokemon that is "classy" but kinda pathetic:

Type: Bug/Flying

Ability: Pressure

Stats: 70/80/102/80/102/40

Vespiquen has the stats, the movepool (I think), but it has one major disadvantage: it's type. I honestly think that Vespiquen should be the gem in the dark cave, the rare specimen whose pre-evolution is total garbage (which Combee is at least), but it evolves into something great. There could also be a male variant of Vespiquen focusing on mixed offences, although if it's speed was that low that would suck... It doesn't need to be a Psuedo legendary, no, but it could be more interesting type-wise. This pokemon is royalty, and I think it looks awesome (but kinda generic at that), so it's a shame it's typing let's it down so much.

They could actually make an evolve form of this pokemon with these traits, which would be cool. Also give me BUG/ICE NAO

So, here's my proposition:

Type: Bug/Psychic, or Bug/Dark.

Abilities: Levitate/ DW Pressure/Marvel Scale (<- No)

Stats: 85/80/105/80/105//50

BST: 505 (pretty high indeed, but it's a queen, come on)

Though this does not mitigate it's rock weakness, it does make it more interesting type wise. I think it should have a more interesting type due to it's nature/origin. Also, am I the only one who thinks a Psychic Bug would be neat? Nonetheless, here's the run-down:

Bug/Psychic rundown:

Pros:

- Maintains it's massive resistance to fighting types

- Loses out on a massive 4X weakness to rock, although is still susceptible to them

- Becomes more of a check for fighting types, and would probably wall most special attackers

- Has levitate, which keeps it immune to ground type moves

- Some added weaknesses such as dark and ghost are not very commonplace attacking types

Cons:

- Susceptible to dark types

- Does not really provide much more bulk/walling capabilities I suppose

- Added weaknesses of Ghost, Dark, and Bug, on top of Fire, Rock, so it lowers some weaknesses and yet adds some more.

Flavour to support type: It uses telepathy to communicate with it's hive/minions, blargh

Bug/Dark Rundown:

Pros:

- Grants an immunity to Psychic, neutrals out Fighting, Resistant to Ghost, dark, and removes weaknesses to electric, ice, and 4x to rock

- Perhaps better than Bug/Psychic. Can put a stop to certain Psychic, Ghost, and Dark Pokemon

- Maintains levitate

- More balanced out STAB if going offensively

Cons:

- Neutrals out one of the main highlights: massive resistance to fighting.

- Still weak to bug

- Fighting types become more of an issue

Flavour to support type: The epitome of royalty in the hive, she orders the many workers of the hive to do her bidding, regardless of their physical state.

But Lorsh, why not Poison? Because Poison is boring...

Moves:

Roost - because

Signature moves Bug attack/Bug Defend

Heal Bell/Aromatherapy

Psychic Moves: Calm Mind, Psychic, Psyshock, Light Screen/Reflect, Zen Headbutt

Dark Moves: Nasty Plot, Dark Pulse, Crunch, Payback, Taunt (useless)

For fun, male variant Vespiquen! It's a king, but unlike the defensive Vespiquen, it's offensive! Yay! We cetainly don't have enough of those!!

Type: Bug/Flying or the opposite of Vespiquen's "new" type

Stats: 50/105/80/105/80/85

BST: 505, the same as Vespiquen

Ability: Levitate/DW Guts

(Wasps die easily, right?)

Similar movepool, just caters to offensive sets. It may lose access to support moves, but gains access to offensive moves, such as Leaf blade, or poison moves.

Moves:

Swords Dance (I imagine a kingly conquistador like thing, with blade arms or jaws or something)

Leaf Blade

Night Slash (Dark)

Psycho Cut (Psychic)

Special movepool would not be barren.

should it have agility, or would that be unfair given it's already decent speed? It may behave like Heracross does, except with a different type and levitate, so it could be popular with choice scarf sets. It would also be a mean attacker to some pokemon.

So what do you think? Are these eligible improvements, or do they both suck? I highly doubt Vespiquen would go to the top tier with these changes, but it would be viable for RU or UU.