Pokemon GO Houndstone PvP and PvE guide: Best moveset, counters, and more

Pokemon GO developers debut Pocket Monsters using events. This time through Halloween 2023 - Part 1, Niantic will introduce the Ghost Dog Pokemon species, Greavard and Houndstone. The event will start on Thursday, October 19, at 10 am local time and run through Thursday, October 19, at 10 am local time. Although Houndstone will not get a feature, after defeating Greavard from 3-star raids, you can get Houndstone by evolving it.

The title offers excellent opportunities to test the battle capability of this entity. While the PvP battle league format is divided into three parts, PvE includes Gym Defense and Raid Battles. This guide details all the best movesets for Houndstone in the PvP and PvE formats of Pokemon GO.

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Best PvE moveset for Houndstone in Pokemon GO

Greavard appears in raids (Image via Niantic/Serebii)

Best offensive PvE moveset for Houndstone

Houndstone can only access one Ghost-type Fast Attack: Lick. This is ideal for dealing continuous damage, allowing Houndstone to generate energy quickly. The best option for his build would be to use this Fast Attack with the Charged Attack, Shadow Ball (Ghost-type), which inflicts 12.54 Damage Per Second (DPS) in extreme weather conditions.

On the other hand, Dig and Psychic Fangs (Charged Attack) are suitable for different purposes because they miss out on the STAB effect. So, the recommended thing to do is to use Lick and Shadow Ball. However, the Fast Attack Bite can also be used when you don't want to access Lick.

Best defensive PvE moveset for Houndstone

The prime choice for Houndstone’s defensive PvE movepool would comprise Lick as a Fast Attack and Dig as a Charged Attack. Dig (Ground-type) offers more coverage and takes the same amount of energy as Shadow Ball.

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Is Houndstone good in Pokemon GO PvE?

Although Houndstone is a great choice for the PvE format, you can use other Pocket Monsters for a better outcome. The best option would be to pick top-tier critters with significant Defense and Stamina Power.

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Best PvP moveset for Houndstone in Pokemon GO

Bite (Dark-type) and Mud Shot are two of Houndstone’s Fast Attacks. Please note that the former takes less energy and does six damage, while the latter takes two more units than the former and inflicts five damage. To create the best PvP moveset, you can pair Dig or Shadow Ball with these attacks.

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Is Houndstone good in Pokemon GO PvP?

Shiny Houndstone (Image via Niantic)

As mentioned earlier, Houndstone is a good battle critter but isn't capable of outstanding performance in higher-tier leagues. This creature is a good contender for the Great League but an average choice for the Ultra League. Unfortunately, it cannot do much in the Master League, as you will encounter powerhouses with extraordinary power.

Houdstone’s maximum Combat Power (CP) reaches 2841 at Level 50, which is a few CP more than the Ultra League's limit. Its three different Pokemon GO move types provide versatility, but it’s not enough to challenge higher-level monsters.

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All moves that Houndstone can learn in Pokemon GO

Houndstone is a solo Ghost-type Pokemon, which makes it weak to the following elemental types:

• Dark
• Ghost

Houndstone takes reduced damage from the following typing:

• Fighting
• Bug
• Poison
• Normal

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Houndstone can learn the following moves

Fast Attacks

• Bite
• Lick

Charged Attacks

• Dig
• Shadow Ball
• Psychic Fangs

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Best counters for Houndstone in Pokemon GO

Darkrai is a counter for Houndstone (Image via Niantic)

Here are the perfect possible counters for Houndstone:

• Hydreigon
• Darkrai
• Tyranitar
• Giratina (Origin Forme)
• Zarude
• Guzzlord
• Shadow Weavile
• Shadow Mewtwo
• Mega Rayquaza
• Mega Gengar

Apart from these options, you can consider using numerous other picks that have similar elemental typings. You may also be interested in this guide about Shiny Greavard and Shiny Houndstone.