Pokemon GO Salamence: Best moveset, counters, and is it any good?

Modified Apr 07, 2024 13:42 GMT

Pokemon GO Salamence best moveset and counters — Pokemon GO Salamence PvP and PvE guide (Image via TPC)

Pokemon GO Salamence's best moveset, counters, and overall viability in the game's PvP and PvE scene is something that players often wonder about. The pseudo-legendary Dragon was introduced to the game in February 2018 during the Hoenn Celebration event. It can be obtained from the wild, from raids, or by evolving Shelgon.

Once you have a Salamence in Pokemon GO, you might want to know its best moveset and what critters counter it. This article provides a detailed overview on these subjects.

Pokemon GO Salamence best moveset

In Pokemon GO, Salamence has slightly different preferred movesets for PvP and PvE battles. They are as follows:

Best PvP moveset for Pokemon GO Salamence

Fast Attack: Dragon Tail
Charged Attacks: Outrage* and Hydro Pump

Best PvE moveset for Pokemon GO Salamence

Fast Attack: Dragon Tail
Charged Attacks: Outrage*

Is Salamence good in Pokemon GO PvP and PvE?

Salamence is nearly useless in GO Battle League, where there are plenty of Dragons that bring more value to the table. This applies across the Great, Ultra, and Master League formats. While Salamence has a very high Attack stat, it lacks the bulk to withstand incoming damage.

Regardless of whether you have Salamence with Outrage, refrain from using this Pocket Monster in trainer battles.

PvP combat is where Salamence shines. It is the best Shadow Dragon-type Pocket Monster. Even its Mega Evolution is extremely strong, though it gets outclassed by Mega Garchomp and Mega Rayquaza.

As long as a battle doesn't require specific counters, Salamence or Mega Salamence can make quite a splash as a Dragon-type attacker in raid and Gym battles.

Pokemon GO Salamence: All moves and stats

Mega Salamence in the anime (Image via TPC)

Fast Attacks

Dragon Tail
Bite
Fire Fang

Charged Attacks

Draco Meteor
Outrage [might require an Elite Charged TM]
Hydro Pump
Fire Blast

Base Stats

Attack: 214
Defense: 175
Stamina: 216
Max CP: 4239

Pokemon GO Salamence: Strengths and weaknesses

Being a Dragon and Flying-type Pocket Monster, Salamence in Pokemon GO resists the following types of attacks:

Grass (39.1%)
Ground (39.1%)
Bug (62.5%)
Fighting (62.5%)
Fire (62.5%)
Water (62.5%)

Salamence has the following weaknesses:

Rock (160.0%)
Fairy (160.0%)
Dragon (160.0%)
Ice (256.0%)

The only elemental type Salamence can hit for STAB super-effective damage in Pokemon GO is Dragon as it does not learn any Flying-type Fast or Charged Attacks.