Heatmor vs Durant: Which is better in Pokemon GO?

Pokemon GO's Rivals Week event is bringing a lot of interesting pairs to the popular mobile game. One of the duos players may encounter in their escapades throughout the week is Heatmor and Durant. These two monsters are based on ants and anteaters, so they naturally share a predator-prey dynamic in the franchise.

With Heatmor and Durant being available for players to catch easily, some may be wondering which of these two is worth the effort to catch and train for the competitive scene. While both have their respective merits, some players may find that Heatmor is the overall better choice for competitive play.

---

Benefits of using Durant in Pokemon GO

The biggest advantage to using Durant is its Steel/Bug typing (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Durant is a Steel and Bug-type Pokemon. This is its biggest benefit as this is a relatively rare typing, but incredibly valuable for its defensive utility. This particular combination of elements only leaves Durant vulnerable to Fire-type attacks. However, there is already a creature that serves the role of a Bug-type defender much better.

Forretress serves as a much better Steel and Bug-type creature in Pokemon GO's competitive scene. Due to the game's live-action input-based combat system, Defense and Stamina are very important stats in the game's competitive scene.

With Pokemon GO's Durant being built more towards Attack, it uses its typing with much less value than Forretress does. However, Durant's access to Stone Edge does give it some helpful coverage against many of the Great League's threats. Its high Attack even lets it threaten common picks like Umbreon and Medicham.

---

Benefits of using Heatmor in Pokemon GO

Heatmor has access to a wide variety of coverage moves (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Heatmor is a pure Fire-type Pokemon, which means it is more consistent in most match-ups, but it can be significantly frailer in others. Being a Fire-type, it is weak to Rock, Water, and Ground-type attacks, which are very common in higher tiers of play.

While not a metagame-defining Fire-type like Heatran, Heatmor has some value in the Ultra League. However, it serves about as effectively in the Great League as Durant. Unlike its counterpart, it has much more room for customization with its moveset, thanks to its abundance of coverage options.

Access to moves like Lick, Thunderpunch, and Power-up Punch give Heatmor many more playstyles and adaptability compared to Durant. As such, many trainers may find that this creature would fit their Pokemon GO Battle League team a bit better.

---

Is Heatmor or Durant better in Pokemon GO?

Heatmor is much more adaptable, making it more useful than Durant in most scenarios (Image via The Pokemon Company)

While both monsters have their fair share of uses and are both worth capturing for the completion of the Pokedex, Heatmor in Pokemon GO is typically going to be the better choice for use in battles.

Although Durant has a good defensive typing, it lacks the bulk to make effective use of it compared to others of the element. On the other hand, Heatmor offers a wide variety of different attack types, meaning it can fit into battle parties a bit more easily than Durant, who only has one viable moveset.