Competitive Information for Archen [Sword/Shield]
Rock / Flying
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Archen? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sword/Shield Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Archen is pretty popular Rock and Flying-typed Pokemon. Archen is not a Pokemon anyone usually expects sees on the battlefield. Archen can be quite a contender in the LC tier (Little Cup). Archen is weak to Electric, Ice, Rock, Steel, and Water-typed attacks.
Item: Life Orb / Choice Band
Ability: Defeatist
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Rock Slide / Rock Tomb
- Earthquake
- Knock Off / Crunch
- Shadow Claw
Physical Sweeper Archen (Defeatist)
Archen is an interesting Physical Sweeper for single battles. It's primary goal is to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Choice Band will increase the damage of Archen's physical moves by 1.5x at the cost of locking you into the first move you pick. Life Orb boosts the power of Archen's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Defeatist, while Archen has 1/2 or less of its max hp its attack and sp. Atk are halved.
◆ Rock Tomb is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Rock-type move (100% chance to lower the target's speed by 1 stage).
◆ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
◆ Knock Off is a physical 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
◆ Crunch is a physical 80-base power Dark-type move (20% chance to lower the target's defense by 1 stage).
◆ Shadow Claw is a physical 70-base power Ghost-type move (high critical hit ratio).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is10a236
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Defeatist
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Hp / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Stealth Rock
- Tailwind / Taunt
- Endeavor
- Quick Attack / Knock Off
Archen Support (Big Bird)
Archen is a sensational Support for single battles. Focus Sash helps protect Archen from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Defeatist, while Archen has 1/2 or less of its max hp its attack and sp. Atk are halved. An attack stat more dangerous than life orb abra or even flygon? That is OP for LC. The ability doesn't help much, though. This set is to be used for early set up. I saw it done with an archeop, so why not?
◆ Tailwind is a status move (for 4 turns, allies' speed is doubled).
◆ Taunt is a status move (target can't use status moves its next 3 turns).
◆ Endeavor is a physical 0-base power Normal-type move (lowers the target's hp to your Archen's hp).
◆ Quick Attack is a physical priority-increased 40-base power Normal-type move (usually goes first).
◆ Knock Off is a physical 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is11a236
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Archen? These builds have been optimized for Sword/Shield Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Item: Life Orb / Choice Band
Ability: Defeatist
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Rock Slide / Rock Tomb
- Earthquake / Bulldoze
- Knock Off / Crunch
- Shadow Claw
Doubles Physical Sweeper Archen (Defeatist)
Archen is an interesting Physical Sweeper for double battles. This moveset is designed to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Choice Band will increase the damage of Archen's physical moves by 1.5x at the cost of locking you into the first move you pick. Life Orb boosts the power of Archen's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Defeatist, while Archen has 1/2 or less of its max hp its attack and sp. Atk are halved.
◆ Rock Tomb is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Rock-type move (100% chance to lower the target's speed by 1 stage).
◆ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
◆ Bulldoze is a physical 60-base power Ground-type move (100% chance lower adjacent Pokemon speed by 1 stage).
◆ Knock Off is a physical 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
◆ Crunch is a physical 80-base power Dark-type move (20% chance to lower the target's defense by 1 stage).
◆ Shadow Claw is a physical 70-base power Ghost-type move (high critical hit ratio).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id10a236
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Archen learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Archen can perform in Sword/Shield. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive SS Move and Ability Combos for Archen
- Moves: Endure + Endeavor
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Move: Assurance + Item: Rocky Helmet
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Move: Endeavor + Item: Focus Sash
- Move: Acrobatics + Item: Red Card
- Move: Acrobatics + Item: Flying Gem
- Moves with Priority: Ally Switch, Endure, Protect, Quick Guard, Quick Attack
- Moves that Break Screens: Defog
Moves that boost Archen's stats
- Agility
- Ancient Power
- Iron Defense
- Steel Wing
Most notable and possible best moves for Archen
- Earthquake
- Head Smash
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Rest
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- U-turn
Common Effort Values for Archen in Sword and Shield
- Adamant Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Modest Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Optimize Archen's EV spread for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Related Videos
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Here are the best movesets for Archen. Top rated Archen Sword/Shield movesets. You can find Archen builds Sword/Shield. Archen movesets Sword/Shield are listed here. VGC Archen Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Archen in Sword/Shield along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for Archeops evolution