How strong is Hisuian Zoroark in Pokemon Legends: Arceus?

Game Freak created a potent tool when making Hisuian Zoroark in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

Granted, Zoroark was always at least somewhat strong. It hit an excellent speed tier, and it could KO opponents easily with Dark Pulse and Flamethrower on occasion. It even could abuse the Illusion ability to hide as another Pokemon.

While this new game took away this ability, it gave Zoroark something much more valuable.

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New Pokemon with immensely strong type combination

Hisuian Zoroark is one of the strongest options in the Hisui region, not because of any particular move it gets, but rather its typing. Ghost and Normal is one of, if not the best, type combinations in the game.

Normal types have always been difficult to hit since their only weakness is Fighting. The Ghost-type, though, makes Hisuian Zoroark immune to Fighting. At the same time, the Normal typing leaves Hisuian Zorark resistant to Ghost-types, which hit opposing Ghosts for super effective damage.

Both of these typings also synergize offensively with each other. Most Rock-types and Steel-types, which resist Normal, don't like taking a Shadow Ball.

Conversely, Dark-types take neutral damage from Normal. As a result, it's challenging to take a hit from Hisuian Zoroark cleanly.

Hisuian Zoroark is both Normal-type and Ghost-type (Image via Game Freak)

As a result, Hisuian Zoroark only has one weakness: Dark types are the only Pokemon that can hard counter Hisuian Zoroark.

In fact, because of this, Hisuian Zoroark is a great Pokemon to use against the two Giratinas that trainers will have to face after Volo during the post-game. The only moves Giratina has that can hit Hisuian Zoroark are Dragon Claw and Earth Power.

To catch a Hisuian Zoroark, trainers must head to the Alabaster Icelands. Hisuian Zorua can be found in the ice cave by Bonechill Waste. It evolves into Hisuian Zoroark at level 30.

Hisuian Zoroark isn't completely unstoppable, though. Due to its moveset being mostly Ghost-type, it can have trouble hitting opposing Normal-types. The best answer for these counters is using Sludge Bomb or Hyper Beam.

There's also a chance that if it returns in Generation IX, Hisuian Zoroark can become even stronger. This is due to access to Nasty Plot, a move that doubles the user's Special Attack stat.

Now, Hisuian Zoroark already has this move but lacks a way to hit Dark-types (except for Sludge Bomb and Hyper Beam). If it gets access to a strong Normal-type move like Hyper Voice, it could get to plus 2 Special Attack and destroy many Dark-types that way. Things could get even better for Hisuian Zoroark if it gets Dazzling Gleam.