What is the best type?

[DJ3DS]

Something I've been thinking about recently and wanting to discuss - what do you think the best type combo is?

Obviously this is quite a broad question, and highly dependent on what it's for, but there is still plenty to discuss. I'd like to also include abilities in the discussion, because they can make a very significant difference to the effectiveness of a typing. Bug/Steel is good, but Bug/Steel with Flash Fire is of course better. This example is obviously completely made up but don't feel limited to Pokemon which already exist. Some things to think about are:

- How many weaknesses? Are they common ones?
- How many resistances/immunities? Are they common ones?
- Is it immune to any status conditions?
- How good is the STAB combo?

A couple of examples I'd have are the following:

Defensive - Electric / Poison / Levitate

1 Weakness - Psychic
8 Resistances - Bug, Electric, Fairy, Fighting, Flying, Grass, Poison, Steel
1 Immunity - Ground

In terms of sheer numbers of resistances several dual typed Steel Pokemon pip this but I really rate this combination for a few reasons. The number of resistances/immunities it has are very similar to a Steel type, but they're to arguably more important offensive types such as Fighting and Ground. At the same time the only weakness this has is to a relatively uncommon offensive type, whereas the three types Steel is weak to are very common indeed. And to top it all off, this is immune to Paralysis and Poison! These would make it extremely good as a wall but it would still work very well for offensive Pokemon, as Electric is a powerful attacking type, the resistances make it very easy to switch in and the status immunities are invaluable.

Offensive - Fire / Flying / Magic Guard

3 Weaknesses - Rock (2x), Water, Electric
6 Resistances - Bug (2x), Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Grass (2x), Steel
1 Immunity - Ground

6 Resistances, an immunity to one of the most common attacking types in the game as well as all forms of entry hazard (which realistically is the main reason a Rock weakness is never ideal) gives this ample switch-in opportunities, but the real beauty here is how well Magic Guard rather synchronises with the types on an offensive level. Fire and Flying are two very strong attacking types, and Magic Guard would allow for two very strong STAB moves (Flare Blitz and Brave Bird) to be used without any recoil whatsoever (Equip a Life Orb too, if you're feeling really sadistic). And last but not least, the Fire typing means such a potent physical attacker wouldn't even need to be worried about burns.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

I think it's water

Weak only to grass and electric.

Generally good or neutral offensively

I think only dragon and water resist it. But most water types can also learn ice attacks

Something I've been thinking about recently and wanting to discuss - what do you think the best type combo is?

Obviously this is quite a broad question, and highly dependent on what it's for, but there is still plenty to discuss. I'd like to also include abilities in the discussion, because they can make a very significant difference to the effectiveness of a typing. Bug/Steel is good, but Bug/Steel with Flash Fire is of course better. This example is obviously completely made up but don't feel limited to Pokemon which already exist. Some things to think about are:

- How many weaknesses? Are they common ones?
- How many resistances/immunities? Are they common ones?
- Is it immune to any status conditions?
- How good is the STAB combo?

A couple of examples I'd have are the following:

Defensive - Electric / Poison / Levitate

1 Weakness - Psychic
8 Resistances - Bug, Electric, Fairy, Fighting, Flying, Grass, Poison, Steel
1 Immunity - Ground

In terms of sheer numbers of resistances several dual typed Steel Pokemon pip this but I really rate this combination for a few reasons. The number of resistances/immunities it has are very similar to a Steel type, but they're to arguably more important offensive types such as Fighting and Ground. At the same time the only weakness this has is to a relatively uncommon offensive type, whereas the three types Steel is weak to are very common indeed. And to top it all off, this is immune to Paralysis and Poison! These would make it extremely good as a wall but it would still work very well for offensive Pokemon, as Electric is a powerful attacking type, the resistances make it very easy to switch in and the status immunities are invaluable.

Offensive - Fire / Flying / Magic Guard

3 Weaknesses - Rock (2x), Water, Electric
6 Resistances - Bug (2x), Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Grass (2x), Steel
1 Immunity - Ground

6 Resistances, an immunity to one of the most common attacking types in the game as well as all forms of entry hazard (which realistically is the main reason a Rock weakness is never ideal) gives this ample switch-in opportunities, but the real beauty here is how well Magic Guard rather synchronises with the types on an offensive level. Fire and Flying are two very strong attacking types, and Magic Guard would allow for two very strong STAB moves (Flare Blitz and Brave Bird) to be used without any recoil whatsoever (Equip a Life Orb too, if you're feeling really sadistic). And last but not least, the Fire typing means such a potent physical attacker wouldn't even need to be worried about burns.

Your example is 4* weak vs rock

Edit: ah, I get it. You Write x2 in the place of 4* weakness

 

[Murlough]

Ghost/Normal actually sounds bad***. Especially once you realize that both ghost and normal tend to have insane coverage. Stacking that with 3 immunities along with levitate if it goes that route.

Only minor issue would be dark. Pair it with a justified user and boom. Lucario core confirmed.

 

[DrCoeloCephalo]

I believe Dragon/Steel is the best.

Defensively, it only takes 2x from Ground and Fighting and one of those could be mitigated with Levitate.
It resists Normal, Water, Electric, Flying, Psychic and Steel by 1/2
It resists Grass by 1/4
It is immune to Poison
Only Dragon, Fire, Dark, Ghost, Ice and Fairy hit it for neutral.

Offensively, a typing like that just needs Fire for coverage and it hits everything neutral to super-effective.
I wish it wasn't limited to Dialga.

 

[DJ3DS]

I believe Dragon/Steel is the best.

Defensively, it only takes 2x from Ground and Fighting and one of those could be mitigated with Levitate.
It resists Normal, Water, Electric, Flying, Psychic and Steel by 1/2
It resists Grass by 1/4
It is immune to Poison
Only Dragon, Fire, Dark, Ghost, Ice and Fairy hit it for neutral.

Offensively, a typing like that just needs Fire for coverage and it hits everything neutral to super-effective.
I wish it wasn't limited to Dialga.

*everything except Heatran I'm not sure a third type guarantees perfect coverage as Ground misses out on Skarmory, Fighting on Aegislash and any neutral type on a Steel type with suitable secondary typing.

It is a great typing though. Steel / Flying is another really cool typing with too little distribution, and that an appropriate ability (Flash Fire, Lightningrod, or even Thick Fat) can make stupidly good defensively.

 

[Muskrat Catcher]

I'm not very good at speculating any new types that would be amazing, but there is one type specifically that already exists and has proven to be incredibly powerful:
Steel/Fairy - I would argue that this typing is the most powerful typing in the game. It only belongs to Mawile and Klefki, but the way Mawile/Mega Mawile works in battle takes the most advantage of this amazing typing. It is weak to ground and fire, but has 9 resistances and 2 immunities! One of which being to poison so toxic won't work! Mega Mawile has been banned from OU play, and put in Ubers despite having a very mediocre stat line compared to its surrounding pokemon, having a base stat total of just 480! However, Steel/Fairy is not only an amazing defensive typing, but incredible on offense as well. With just steel head and play rough, Mawile can hit anything that isn't steel or fire type for huge damage, and mawile usually runs sucker punch and another coverage move to deal with those types. Mawile's typing, along with its mega, is just so broken that it went from NU in 5th gen, to Ubers in 6th gen.

 

[DJ3DS]

I'm not very good at speculating any new types that would be amazing, but there is one type specifically that already exists and has proven to be incredibly powerful:
Steel/Fairy - I would argue that this typing is the most powerful typing in the game. It only belongs to Mawile and Klefki, but the way Mawile/Mega Mawile works in battle takes the most advantage of this amazing typing. It is weak to ground and fire, but has 9 resistances and 2 immunities! One of which being to poison so toxic won't work! Mega Mawile has been banned from OU play, and put in Ubers despite having a very mediocre stat line compared to its surrounding pokemon, having a base stat total of just 480! However, Steel/Fairy is not only an amazing defensive typing, but incredible on offense as well. With just steel head and play rough, Mawile can hit anything that isn't steel or fire type for huge damage, and mawile usually runs sucker punch and another coverage move to deal with those types. Mawile's typing, along with its mega, is just so broken that it went from NU in 5th gen, to Ubers in 6th gen.

Steel / Fairy is a great defensive typing (offensively not really; the STAB combo is easily walled by the most common defensive type in the game) but it isn't broken and I think your analysis using Mawile is unfair. Mega Mawile might be Uber but Mawile itself is PU (As in, lower than NU). The reason Mega Mawile went to Uber is due solely to base 105 Attack + Huge Power.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Bug/Steel is probably one of the few best defensive type combinations, as it's only weak against Fire-type attacks (also a 4x weakness).

I would also say Water/Ground for only being weak against Grass-type attacks (a 4x weakness), but that type combo also has a 4x weakness against Freeze-Dry.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Electric with levitate has no weaknesses but the only pokemon like that us balanced down because of it

Dark/ghost with wonderguard can only be hit by fairy if you want theoretics

 

[Arcadenik]

Electric with levitate has no weaknesses but the only pokemon like that us balanced down because of it

Dark/ghost with wonderguard can only be hit by fairy if you want theoretics

I remember over 10 years ago, my Shedinja in Sapphire was hit by the Sandstorm weather effect. So much for Wonder Guard.

Hmm... I wonder... would Shedinja be safe from the Sandstorm weather effect if it held the Safety Goggles?

 

[Murlough]

I remember over 10 years ago, my Shedinja in Sapphire was hit by the Sandstorm weather effect. So much for Wonder Guard.

Hmm... I wonder... would Shedinja be safe from the Sandstorm weather effect if it held the Safety Goggles?

I'm pretty sure shedinja has 1 hp. The 1 hp thing is not caused by wonderguard. So another mon with wonderguard would still have its original hp.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

I remember over 10 years ago, my Shedinja in Sapphire was hit by the Sandstorm weather effect. So much for Wonder Guard.

Hmm... I wonder... would Shedinja be safe from the Sandstorm weather effect if it held the Safety Goggles?

You could give Shedinja the Safety Goggles, but that item does absolutely nothing against entry hazards and indirect damage from other status moves.

 

[LunarWingCloud]

We need an Electric/Steel with Levitate.

Like, we need it.

But anyway, for singular types, I believe Dragon to be the best type offensively, and Fairy to be the best type defensively with Steel in second. Fairy being only weak to 2 uncommon types means being paired with the right type will make it an absolutely savage defensive type. If we see more strong Fairy/Steel types, oh man. And Dragon paired with the right types offensively covers almost anything you could want to cover, and you don't really see anything not getting hit for neutral damage. If we get more Dragon/Steel Pokemon, for instance, not even Fairies could reliably figure out dealing with that.

But overall both sides of the fence I agree on Water. Offensively they almost always learn anything they want to cover what could give them trouble. Dragon, Ice, Ground, Fighting, just many generally good offensive typed moves can be learned by Water. And defensively they don't have a lot to fear because they can learn moves that cover those types.

I think the only reason Water is not overly strong are that its best holders typically don't make the most out of their typing and coverage because their stats hold them back. One reason Gyarados has been so good is he typically breaks the mold of that, but being part Flying kinda ruined him a bit.