Pokemon GO: What is Swinub's best moveset?

Swinub was introduced in Pokemon GO in 2017 along with many other Johto region Pokemon, and it possesses a powerful evolutionary line ending in the mighty Mamoswine.

Pokemon GO trainers wanting to keep Swinub in its current form, however, may be wondering what its capabilities in battle are. To be frank, they're not impressive by any stretch of the imagination. On its own, Swinub isn't likely to defeat too many opponents that aren't at its level, and even then it might require help from type advantages. Nonetheless, players dedicated to using Swinub for a considerable amount of time may want to optimize its moveset for maximum effect.

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Pokemon GO: Picking the best moveset for Swinub to optimize damage dealt

Swinub's evolutions, Piloswine and Mamoswine, possess significantly more battle power in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

Overall, Swinub's collection of moves isn't stellar in Pokemon GO, but players willing to work with it can still optimize its moveset for damage. Swinub's current learnable moves are as follows:

Fast Moves

• Tackle (Normal-type)
• Powder Snow (Ice-type)

Charge Moves

• Body Slam (Normal-type)
• Icy Wind (Ice-type)
• Rock Slide (Rock-type)

In order to provide the top damage per second (DPS) and total damage overall (TDO), Pokemon GO trainers will likely want to use the combination of Tackle and Rock Slide. Though moves such as Icy Wind and Powder Snow do earn a Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) which increases their damage by 20% for matching one of Swinub's types (Ice), they still pale in comparison to the speed of Tackle and Rock Slide, and both moves still do more damage at the end of the day.

If players are looking to pick up a secondary Charge Move for Swinub, Icy Wind may be the go-to option. It doesn't deal as much DPS as Body Slam, but the DPS requirement is met by Rock Slide. By picking up Icy Wind, Swinub can learn a move that utilizes STAB for extra damage and hits harder in one shot than Body Slam. Icy Wind also carries the benefit of providing good type-advantage coverage against Dragon, Flying, Grass, and Ground-type Pokemon, making it a sneaky pocket Charge Move to have that opponents may not be accounting for.

Though Piloswine and Mamoswine are undoubtedly superior options in Pokemon GO battles of any stripe, trainers dedicated to Swinub can still tweak the Pig Pokemon to perform to the best of its capability.