Status effects and conditions inPokemoncan make all the difference. Sure, you probably started your Pokemon journey loading your Pokemon up with four damaging moves and calling it a day, but over time, everyone comes to appreciate the nuance of strategy.
Whether you’ve been masterfully using status effects for years or are just beginning to up your game, this list will help walk you through the options and help you decide which ones to focus on and which to leave to your opponents.
For the purposes of this article, the focus will be on what are known as non-volatile statuses, meaning that they remain even after the Pokemon is switched out or the battle ends. Other status conditions are viable but fall under separate categories.
8Drowsy
A Little Odd
Drowsy, not to be confused with the actual Pokemon Drowzee, is the odd duck of the status effect family. It only features in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, replacing Sleep for some reason and behaving pretty much the same as Paralysis.
It also increases damage from direct attacks, is made worse in the snow and can be removed by using Spark, Volt Tackle, or Wild Charge.Pokemon Legends: Arceustried a lot of new things, mostly with success, but Drowsy is just strange.
7Frostbite
Burn But Colder
In the same way that it did with Drowsy and Sleep, Pokemon Legends: Arceus replaces Freeze with Frostbite. Overall, Frostbite isn’t all that different from Burn in how it functions, inflicting damage over time.
It also reduces the damage dealt by Special moves, and you’re more likely to get stuck with it while it’s snowing. Frostbite isn’t bad, but only appearing in one spin-off game makes it hard to compare against the other status effects.
6Sleep
Sleep is an especially tricky status, so it’s tough to compare it to the others. If you get hit with Sleep and you’re unprepared, it can be devastating, preventing you from taking action entirely while your opponent can do as they please.
Alternatively, you’re able to build entire strategies around being asleep. Rest recovers HP, Sleep Talk lets you keep using moves, and a whole host of other options are available. Whether it’s the best or the worst, a dream or a nightmare, is up to you.
5Poison
It’s What You’d Expect
Poison, unsurprisingly associated withthe Poison type, is a perfectly fine status effect, chipping away at the target’s health over time. If you did no other damage to the target, it would take 16 turns for Poison to knock them out, so maybe don’t rely on it exclusively.
Poison should be viewed as bonus damage rather than what is going to win the battle for you. Thankfully, it can no longer knock your Pokemon out while outside of battle, only drop their HP to a single point. That change was a relief to Trainers everywhere.
4Freeze
Pretty Cool
Freeze will cause your Pokemon to be unable to use their moves, which seems like it would lock you in for certain defeat. It’s an underrated status, but it is admittedly brought down by having several weaknesses.
First, you have a 20% to thaw out every turn, including right after being frozen. Secondly, some moves will break through it, thawing you out and performing their intended effect on top. And thirdly, it has no secondary effect to take advantage of, unlike other statuses.
The moves that can be used while frozen are Fusion Flare, Flame Wheel, Sacred Fire, Flare Blitz, Scald, and Steam Eruption.
3Burn
More Than Just Damage
Burn deals damage each turn, and it can be easy to take that for what it is without giving it any further consideration. Most don’t even realize that Burn has a secondary effect, one which can be the difference between victory or defeat in a heated Pokemon battle.
Burn also halves the damage of any Physical moves the Pokemon suffering from it may attempt to use. This can devastate the offensive potential of Pokemon who focus on Physical attacking, but is naturally less useful against Special attackers.
2Badly Poisoned
Sickeningly Good
Badly Poisoned is what Poisoned wishes it was. While Poisoned deals a steady 1/16 of a Pokemon’s maximum health to them each turn, Badly Poisoned deals damage in gradually increasing increments. First 1/16, then 2/16, then 3/16, and so on.
This puts your opponent on a ticking clock, and unlike Poisoned, the damage can be enough to take out even sturdier Pokemon relatively quickly. Swapping the Pokemon out will reset the counter but not remove the effect.
1Paralysis
Frustrating But Effective
Everyone has been there, screaming in frustration as Paralysis stops your Pokemon from taking action several turns in a row. The reality is that it’s a one in four chance for Paralysis to stop you from acting, but it always seems to happen more often than that.
As great an effect as that is, people often overlook the secondary effect it has of reducing speed to 25 percent of normal. That means you almost certainly will go before your paralyzed opponent, but there are also a number of strategies that can come into play here that focus on manipulating speed and turn order. Paralysis is good, but with proper planning, it can get you through eventhe hardest battles.
