Pokémon Barbaracle

[the voice of reason]

So, I saw someone say he does not learn Earthquake, and it is not listed but they are mistaken:

Could you confirm whether or not it is capable of learning waterfall? That would be a big deal, if tough claws turns out to be a big boost.

 

[Drathmar]

Confirmed that it does NOT learn waterfall. :( Sad times. Still shell smash with edgequake (and stab on the edge) and it not relying on 2 80% accuracy moves should help.

 

[Waldojohnson]

Serebii posted the stats of the 6th gen and barbaracle's stats are really bad compared to the ones posted here :P

 

[Drathmar]

Hmm they are really far off from what was posted: http://pokemondb.net/pokedex/barbaracle there, though there was never any base stats here.

Serebii is usually pretty accurate as well. I do know from using it that it definitely seems to tear teams apart with one shell smash and EQ + Stone edge though.

 

[termi]

I'd be surprised if Barbaracle's base attack stat turned out to be lower than 105 tbh. I think Serebii miscalculated something there, and if they didn't Barbaracle will most likely end up in UU, where many new rear ends shall be torn.

 

[Drathmar]

If nothing else I am pretty sure the speed is miscalculated from my battles and what he outspeeds before the smash, pretty sure I have gone before pangoro's before without any investment (aside from the arbitrary 4) in speed. Then again that is just by feel, but he does not feel like he is that slow (68 compared to 80)

Nvm, Serebii has Pangoro listed as 58 so that would make sense with their calculations.

Not really been around at a start of a generation before, how accurate is serebii on BST calculations usually?

 

[Erionn]

If nothing else I am pretty sure the speed is miscalculated from my battles and what he outspeeds before the smash, pretty sure I have gone before pangoro's before without any investment (aside from the arbitrary 4) in speed. Then again that is just by feel, but he does not feel like he is that slow (68 compared to 80)

Nvm, Serebii has Pangoro listed as 58 so that would make sense with their calculations.

Not really been around at a start of a generation before, how accurate is serebii on BST calculations usually?

Not sure on previous gens, but I've compared Serebii's calculations with a few I've confirmed in-game myself, and they have all been correct so far.

Edit: I just found Barbaracle in a friend safari, I'll catch a couple and check the stats myself to confirm.

 

[BurningMan]

Not really been around at a start of a generation before, how accurate is serebii on BST calculations usually?

As good as everyone else since this is the first generation so far where we have to calculate base stats ourselves all previous gens we could just get the data out of the game files, but since the 3DS isn't "cracked" yet nobody can access/read the data.

Personally i think serebis BSTs look a little more realistic if you just round the stats to the nearest value that can be divided by 5 there is a 80% chance that is the right stat.

So assuming that serebiis BST for Barbaracle is right and it really only got 92/54/68 offenses it propably won't be OU anytime soon especially since both stab moves got accuracy issues and though claws is really needed to make up for their low base power. its speed is also really disapointing even after a Shell Smash most Scarfers will still outspeed and KO it.

 

[Drathmar]

Ya, sadly they do look more realistic, though at the same time they also seem to confirm that most of the pokes introduced this gen are completely underwhelming.

 

[Erionn]

I wasn't able to get one with a max defense IV, but I got 6 of them with various combinations of all the other IVs maxed. 72/105/x/54/86/68 were the base stats I got, which match up with Serebii's except for the attack being quite a bit higher. Neutral nature with 0 EVs had 125 attack at level 50, so there is no way it is only 92.

 

[AfroThunderRule]

Well it's updated. Too bad about the 68 base speed, it's funny how one point of speed can be so important. If it had a base speed of 69 it can outspeed base 108 scarfers with a +2 in speed. But since he doesn'ypt have it it gets checked by those scarfers even after a +2. :(

 

[Drathmar]

I wasn't able to get one with a max defense IV, but I got 6 of them with various combinations of all the other IVs maxed. 72/105/x/54/86/68 were the base stats I got, which match up with Serebii's except for the attack being quite a bit higher. Neutral nature with 0 EVs had 125 attack at level 50, so there is no way it is only 92.

Serebii updated it again, new bases on serebii are:
#689
Barbaracle Tough Claws
Sniper
Pickpocket 72 105 115 54 86 68

 

[Erionn]

Serebii updated it again, new bases on serebii are:
#689
Barbaracle Tough Claws
Sniper
Pickpocket 72 105 115 54 86 68

Yeah, I PMed him about it after my post, and he fixed it. Guess it's worth doing a quick calculation if a stat looks kind of off.

 

[Drathmar]

Ya, I am glad it is that high as it at least maxes him usable. I know he might not be as good as Cloyster for shell smasher, but I really like him and want to use him so I hope he is at least viable.

 

[Fennekin]

Not mean to necro this thread, but how viable would a Choice Band set be? Especially under Trick Room, something like Stone Edge / Razor Shell / Night Slash / Earthquake or Cross Chop, perhaps?

 

[Rennyjesus]

I'm testing it and it's actually pretty nice... It can Outspeed a lot of things after a Shell Smash (Even outspeeds Scarf Lati@s) and hits pretty hard... actually i'm using it like a faster Carracosta and it's really nice... Also, this thing is almost as fast as Cloyster, so probably Cloyster it's going to use some more spd just in case... And the worst part for Cloyster One on One, is that even if Barbaracle is slower than Cloyster and Cloyster Shell Smashes, Barbaracle can OHKO it with Stone Edge at -1...

i truly think that it's going to be a nice poké in UU or OU...

 

[mrglass]

I think it will be much better than Cloyster. Cloyster has lackluster Sp. Def. And lacks the varied movepool Barbaracle has. It's also an Ice type which is pretty much a death sentence to defensive capabilities. Rock is admittedly bad too, but it's not Ice.

 

[Zennistrad]

Anyone have any ideas for good partners? I'm running Gogoat currently, but so far its not really all that powerful and its low speed and mediocre defenses are leaving me vulnerable.

 

[Drathmar]

Anyone have any ideas for good partners? I'm running Gogoat currently, but so far its not really all that powerful and its low speed and mediocre defenses are leaving me vulnerable.

Support Talonflame. Burns all those pesky fighting types that want to mach punch you for SE damage and deal with scizor and his priority bullet punch pretty well, and deals with the new priority bullet puncher MegaLucario with WoW or ohkoing with flare blitz.

 

[El Coqui]

Omg using this guy on showdown and amazing doesnt begin to describe him. This is the set I was running:

ToughClaws WhiteHerb
Adamant/Jolly 252 atk 252spd 4hp
-ShellSmash
-RazorShell
-Earthquake
-XScissor

Since i dont believe StoneEdge is a body-contact move I decided against it. X-Scissor and EQ, outside of being overall good moves, deal with your main weaknesses of Grass and Electric. RazorShell is stab, hits groundtypes, and gets boosted by ToughClaws. With this move set you cover a lot of types and can biteback at anything pretty damn hard.

While ShellSmash is vastly superior I'm curious if one could run a HoneClaws/Rockpolish set to avoid the possibility of missing moves and taking advantage of Sniper.

Sniper LifeOrb
Jolly 252atk 252spd 4spdef
-HoneClaws
-RazorShell
-StoneEdge
-RockPolish

HoneClaws is really a boosting move that shines in low tier but it could help this guy get around is not 100% moves (both of which are stab). As said its not as powerful as the SS set but given that SE misses and doesnt get boosted by ToughClaws this is the only set I can see it being used in.

Unfortunately for the general community i dont aee this guy going so high. I think we can agree most ShellSmashers only have one real set (though this guy has a great movepool). Id probably say this guy will suffer from the Omastar syndrome. He'll get used early on in upper tiers because SS, great ability, etc but can't survive the hits or hit just hard enough to stay in upper tiers. I will say that he is a better SS than Omastar IMO regardless of it being the physical one of the two.


I see a new sweeper in low-tiers lady and gents....and he's got enough high-fives for everyone.

 

[El Coqui]

I think it will be much better than Cloyster. Cloyster has lackluster Sp. Def. And lacks the varied movepool Barbaracle has.

Yet ShellSmash plus SkillLink would say otherwise. That alone makes Cloyster the best SSer despite coverage. Id be willing to say Barbaracle is the second best though.

Ugliest pokémon EVER,I'd rather lose than put this.....thing in my team.

And after 15years you'd think people would learn that looks can be deceivng

 

[Ilan]

X-Scissor, Razor Shell, and Stone Edge hits everything. Any reason to take Cross Chop over X-Scissor?

Ferrothorn

 

[JCM.]

I don't think thread is to discuss if Barbaracle or its pre-evo is ugly or not, so stop shitting it up. Barbaracle is a really great Pokemon, and it has good bulk so setting up Shell Smash isn't hard. It is also faster than other Shell Smashers, making it much harder to revenge kill. Its only problem is the low accuracy of its moves, which can usually lead to its death.

 

[Ganonflakes]

Anyone know if you can breed Frost Breath onto him yet? Frost Breath is always critical and with his sniper bringing it to 3x instead of 2x damage this brings the base power from 60 to 180 with 90 accuracy.

 

[Okuu]

"Once upon a time, there was an ugly Barbaracle. It was so ugly, that all reasonable discussion died. The end."