Unless youre going to be shooting off powerful(and i mean powerful) special moves at goodra its a waste to attack from the special spectrum. Can you wear it down with blizzards and draco meteor? Yes but it can return fire and ko you before you have a chance. If you attack its weaker defense then it is much easier to handle.Isn't Goodra as you say a special wall, as in it should come into special attackers to wall it down or force it to switch? Most shouldn't be able to do anything unless they have Psyshock.
And that Excadrill example sounds like it could be done with focus sash (if no hazard is up.).
I'm sorry if I interpret what he said is wrong, but I talking about making the attacker is force to switch since it's a special attacker (has choice specs or nasty plot set), indeed they can wear Goodra down and Goodra can fire back and kill. That's the point. Make it pointless to attack it is what I getting with Goodra + AV.Unless youre going to be shooting off powerful(and i mean powerful) special moves at goodra its a waste to attack from the special spectrum. Can you wear it down with blizzards and draco meteor? Yes but it can return fire and ko you before you have a chance. If you attack its weaker defense then it is much easier to handle.
I think Goodra, and pretty much any wall, performs better with leftovers. After you reach a certain point, increasing defense becomes less valuable that being able to recover damage, especially when you can use utility moves to stall or force out opponents.I'm sorry if I interpret what he said is wrong, but I talking about making the attacker is force to switch since it's a special attacker (has choice specs or nasty plot set), indeed they can wear Goodra down and Goodra can fire back and kill. That's the point. Make it pointless to attack it is what I getting with Goodra + AV.
True, Leftovers would help more in walling/stalling when the enemy is not attacking when they knows it's pointless. In the end it maybe is best for that revenge killing strategy you talk about, unless the Pokemon in question is packing Drain Punch, Giga Drain, or any other absorbing attack (Not Goodra).I think Goodra, and pretty much any wall, performs better with leftovers. After you reach a certain point, increasing defense becomes less valuable that being able to recover damage, especially when you can use utility moves to stall or force out opponents.
Say Goodra takes 25% from an attack. He could increase his defenses by 50%, reducing the damage to ~16.5%. Or, he could bring leftovers. After one round of leftovers, the assault vest wins out by about 3% damage (compared to 18.75%). However, if Goodra forces the opponent to switch, which I expect he usually can, it gets another turn of leftovers, cutting the damage to 12.5%. In addition, any damage AV Goodra takes can't be recovered except from Wish, while with leftovers he gets to heal every time he switches in. He can also bring protect to stall for more leftovers recovery, although he usually has better moves to bring.
That's a pretty good idea. I would run Intimidate to force out both physical and special threats. Crunch can also help force switches.True, Leftovers would help more in walling/stalling when the enemy is not attacking when they knows it's pointless. In the end it maybe is best for that revenge killing strategy you talk about, unless the Pokemon in question is packing Drain Punch, Giga Drain, or any other absorbing attack (Not Goodra).
How about Intimidate/Shed Skin Scrafty + Drain Punch + AV?
The advantage AV has over focus sash is that it doesn't care about hazards, sandstorm, or hail. Outside of those, FS gives you a guarantee.And that Excadrill example sounds like it could be done with focus sash (if no hazard is up.).
Dragon Tail can't phase out fairies can it? Hidden Power (Poison (Not Steel because Azumarill) ) for coverage against them. Especially Azumarill who would wall the entire set though might not like that Scald Burn. Mawile doesn't like Scald either.Milotic @ Assault Vest
Trait: Marvel Scale
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump / Scald
- Ice Beam
- Dragon Pulse / Hidden Power (Coverage)
- Dragon Tail / Hidden Power (Coverage)
I am not good with EVs so I am sure someone would know of a better split for them. Marvel Scale makes her an even bigger tank if affected by status. Hydro Pump for greater damage, Scald for more accuracy and the chance to Burn increasing her survivability. Ice Beam hits Grass types that would eat your Water type moves and removes Bugs which I think will be more prevalent due to all of the new Megas. Then you can take Dragon Pulse for Dragon types or you can Dragon Tail to phase out a threat that Milotic cannot handle. Hidden Power can fill in for coverage.
Problem with hidden power: poison is that klefki and mawile are immune and they are a good portion of the actually good fairies. Hidden power steel at least hits them neutrally.Dragon Tail can't phase out fairies can it? Hidden Power (Poison (Not Steel because Azumarill) ) for coverage against them. Especially Azumarill who would wall the entire set though might not like that Scald Burn. Mawile doesn't like Scald either.
Which reminds me AV Scrafty, might need Poison Jab/Iron Head because Fairies 4x effective...(Or have someone else take care of them.)
This set is like using Choice Scarf Blissey in OU.And another mention might be Florges, highest Special Defense of any Fairy type.
Florges @ Assault Vest
Trait: Flower Veil
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 148 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power (Fire)
- Energy Ball / Grass Knot
Psychic takes out Poisons, Moonblast has a chance to lower the enemy's Special Attack making her high Special Defense even greater, Hidden Power (Fire) for Steel types and then Energy Ball (got boosted to 90 BP) or Grass Knot. Depends if you want the guaranteed BP of Energy Ball or the higher potential BP of Grass Knot. Energy Ball can also lower the enemy Special Defense possibly increasing the damage Florges can do. Overall it seems like she lacks coverage, and her move pool is very shallow in terms of attacks. Plus she gets mostly Fairy and Grass support moves and no Grass STAB which is a shame!
It's not like AV Milotic is a good idea in the first place, since it misses out on the moves that actually make it viable, like Recover, etc. Also Mawile is not going to be taking Scalds anytime soon, and Milotic can simply Recover stall it, so it won't actually switch in in the first place.Problem with hidden power: poison is that klefki and mawile are immune and they are a good portion of the actually good fairies. Hidden power steel at least hits them neutrally.
Agreed. I feel assault vest is better suited for pokemon that have high HP, high Atk/SpAtk, and good movepool that is mainly offensive with little to no support or recovery moves, like Excadrill in your example.Putting it on something like Goodra isn't going to help much because a smart opponent is using physical attacks to take it down anyway. Putting it on a physical wall is counterproductive it removes access to recovery. You don't need to diversify your wall - it has 5 team mates to do what it can't.
Trying to find a pokemon that can use this item well is the wrong way to go about it. I think it's better suited to patching holes in your team. Take this example: the only pokemon on your team that can OHKO Mega Alakazam is Excadrill, but it can't outspeed it and it can't survive a Focus Blast. But if you give it AV, suddenly you have the bulk to survive a hit and kill it with an Earthquake. You've created a check to a major threat, and your opponent doesn't know it's a check. You should put assault vest on a pokemon that can get unexpected KOs against major threats because it's usually checked by those threats.
To get the most out of this item, you need to put it on something your opponent won't expect. It gives your pokemon extra bulk, but it's only valuable if it surprises your opponent.
You can get the Timburr line already they're in the Mountain DexGiven that with Assault Vest, you lose the ability to use reliable recovery and Leftovers, has anyone considered its application with Drain Punch or Giga Drain users? When it’s available in December, I think Conkeldurr could run a pretty effective Assault Vest set. He has pretty impressive offensive presence with no boosting item and his high base HP and Def usually mean its efficient to invest some EVs in SpD. You can take most unboosted neutral Special hits very well, then heal the damage off with Drain Punch. Payback, Poison Jab , Stone Edge and Elemental Punches are all good coverage moves to bait Psychics/Ghosts/Fairies in, or hit your counters hard. Honestly, Assault Vest just seems to be made for Bulky Offensive Pokemon that don’t really offer too much in the way of support.
Having used AV Meloetta extensively I can second this. I often switch it into Greninja Dark Pulses just because with its great bulk it can avoid the 2HKO.Its late so i'll come back to edit this post later, but if youre looking for an AV mon with amazing offensive presence you should try meloetta. It can act as a pivot with u-turn, pretty much fully counter all gengars, and get through other spdef mons with serene grace shadow ball