Pokemon GO's upcoming Solstice Horizons event, taking place from June 16, 2023, to June 25, 2023, will bring back the Ultra Beast Nihilego in 5-star raids. As a result, plenty of players will be able to defeat and capture the Pocket Monster, giving trainers a new companion to utilize in the mobile title's various battle formats.
Like many of Pokemon GO's Ultra Beasts, Nihilego is blessed with impressive IV stats and a collection of learnable moves that can be quite effective in battle. The creature also possesses a fairly unique Rock/Poison typing that should complicate things for opponents that try to counter it.
However, for Pokemon GO fans who acquire Nihilego, a question remains: What is its best moveset? The answer may depend on what a player plans to use this Ultra Beast for in battle.
Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and reflect the opinions of the writer
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What is Nihilego's best moveset in Pokemon GO PvE?
For PvE situations in Pokemon GO like raids or Team GO Rocket battles, Nihilego tends to shine more as a pure Poison-type fighter. This is due in large part to the fact that players get advanced notice of what their opponent will be in PvE, thanks to gyms displaying raid bosses and Team GO Rocket members having defined teams.
As far as Fast Moves go, Nihilego has access to Acid, Pound, and Poison Jab. Although Poison Jab doesn't match Acid's energy generation, it does have better damage per second while still retaining solid energy creation. For Charged Attacks, Sludge Bomb has a better cooldown and damage per energy value.
Recommended PvE Moveset for Nihilego - Poison Jab and Sludge Bomb
What is Nihilego's best moveset in Pokemon GO PvP?
PvP movesets in Pokemon GO can be more difficult to formulate. This is due in part to the fact that enemies in the GO Battle League are much more diverse, and flexibility is required to deal with teams of three opponents. Since this is the case, Nihilego needs to branch out a bit.
Fortunately, Poison Jab and Sludge Bomb remain Nihilego's best Poison-type options. However, to improve its overall type coverage and give it a better chance to deal with multiple enemy types, it's best to pick up one of Nihilego's Rock-type moves. Rock Slide provides a better cooldown than Power Gem along with higher DPS.
Recommended PvP Moveset for Nihilego - Poison Jab, Sludge Bomb, and Rock Slide.
Keep in mind that although these movesets are suggested for Nihilego, they shouldn't exactly be taken as gospel. If they aren't working for a particular player or their overall playstyle, trainers shouldn't be shy about changing up their movesets accordingly.
Furthermore, Niantic's mobile title continues to evolve, especially when it comes to available moves. If Nihilego receives additional attacks in the future, it may be time to re-evaluate a given moveset to see if the new move can be an asset to a trainer's battle pursuits. However, this isn't always the case when a new move arrives.
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