Competitive Information for Palkia [Sword/Shield]
Water / Dragon
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Palkia? 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.
Palkia is a spectacular Water and Dragon-typed Pokemon. It's frequent to find yourself dealing with Palkia when battling in the 8th generation meta. Palkia is considered strong enough to compete with Uber tiered Pokemon. Palkia's only type-related weaknesses are Dragon and Fairy.
Item: Life Orb / Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 12 Hp / 252 SpA / 244 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Spacial Rend / Dragon Pulse
- Surf / Brine
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Special Sweeper Palkia (Pressure)
Palkia is a legendary Special Sweeper for single battles. It attempts to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Choice Specs will increase the damage of Palkia's special moves by 1.5x but will lock you into the first move you pick. Life Orb boosts the power of Palkia's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Pressure, if Palkia is the target of a foe's move that move loses one additional pp.
◆ Dragon Pulse is a special STAB-boosted 85-base power Dragon-type move that deals a hefty amount of damage.
◆ Surf is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Water-type move (hits adjacent pokemon. Double damage on dive).
◆ Brine is a special STAB-boosted 65-base power Water-type move (power doubles if the target's hp is 50% or less).
◆ Thunderbolt is a special 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
◆ Ice Beam is a special 90-base power Ice-type move (10% chance to freeze the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is10a1e4
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Palkia? 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
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 12 Hp / 4 Def / 236 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Spacial Rend
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Protect
Doubles Special Sweeper Palkia (Popular VGC)
Palkia is a legendary Special Sweeper for double battles. This particular build was popular during earlier competitions. It's purpose is to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Life Orb boosts the power of Palkia's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Pressure, if Palkia is the target of a foe's move that move loses one additional pp.
◆ Hydro Pump is a special STAB-boosted 110-base power Water-type move that deals a extensive amount of damage.
◆ Earth Power is a special 90-base power Ground-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
◆ Protect is a status move (prevents moves from affecting your Palkia this turn).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id10a1e4
Item: Throat Spray / Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 12 Hp / 252 SpA / 244 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Surf / Brine
- Spacial Rend / Dragon Pulse
- Hyper Voice
- Thunderbolt
Doubles Special Sweeper Palkia (Pressure)
Palkia is a legendary Special Sweeper for double battles. It is designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Throat Spray activates when a Pokemon uses a sound-based move (in this case Hyper Voice) and boosts Palkia's special attack stat by 2 stages. Life Orb boosts the power of Palkia's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Pressure, if Palkia is the target of a foe's move that move loses one additional pp.
◆ Brine is a special STAB-boosted 65-base power Water-type move (power doubles if the target's hp is 50% or less).
◆ Spacial Rend is a special STAB-boosted 100-base power Dragon-type move (high critical hit ratio).
◆ Dragon Pulse is a special STAB-boosted 85-base power Dragon-type move that deals a good amount of damage.
◆ Hyper Voice is a special 90-base power Normal-type move (no additional effect. Hits adjacent foes).
◆ Thunderbolt is a special 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id11a1e4
Item: Room Service / Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 252 Hp / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Moveset:
- Spacial Rend / Dragon Pulse
- Surf / Brine
- Thunderbolt
- Trick Room
Offensive Trick Room Palkia (Pressure)
Palkia is a legendary Offensive Trick Room for single battles. Life Orb boosts the power of Palkia's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Pressure, if Palkia is the target of a foe's move that move loses one additional pp. With a Room Service equipped to it, if trick room is active, Palkia's speed is lowered by 1 stage then the Room Service gets consumed.
◆ Dragon Pulse is a special STAB-boosted 85-base power Dragon-type move that deals a large amount of damage.
◆ Surf is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Water-type move (hits adjacent pokemon. Double damage on dive).
◆ Brine is a special STAB-boosted 65-base power Water-type move (power doubles if the target's hp is 50% or less).
◆ Thunderbolt is a special 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
◆ Trick Room is a status move (goes last. For 5 turns, turn order is reversed).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id12a1e4
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Palkia 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 Palkia 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 Palkia
- Moves: Safeguard + Outrage
- Moves: Rain dance + Thunder
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Moves: Thunderbolt + Ice beam
- Moves: Body Press + Bulk Up
- Move: Fling + Item: King's Rock
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect
- Moves that Break Screens: Brick Break
- Moves that inflict status: Thunder Wave
Moves that boost Palkia's stats
- Ancient Power
- Bulk Up
- Scale Shot
Most notable and possible best moves for Palkia
- Earthquake
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Rest
Common Effort Values for Palkia in Sword and Shield
- Adamant Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Modest Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Optimize Palkia's EV spread for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Related Videos
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Here are the best movesets for Palkia. Top rated Palkia Sword/Shield movesets. You can find Palkia builds Sword/Shield. Palkia movesets Sword/Shield are listed here. VGC Palkia Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Palkia in Sword/Shield along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for evolution