Golbat
Feb 22, 2012 18:12:43 GMT -8
Post by Zilch on Feb 22, 2012 18:12:43 GMT -8
General
HP: 353
Attack: 258
Defense: 238
Speed: 278
Special: 248
Critical: ~17.6%
Type: Poison/Flying
Weaknesses: Electric, Ice, Psychic, Rock
Neutrals: Normal, Fire, Water, Flying, Bug, Ghost
Resistances: Grass, Fighting, Poison
Immunities: Ground
Tier: NU
Movepool: Bide, Bite, Confuse Ray, Double Team, Double-Edge, Gust, Haze, Hyper Beam, Leech Life, Mega Drain, Mimic, Quick Attack, Rage, Razor Wind, Rest, Screech, Substitute, Supersonic, Swift, Take Down, Toxic, Whirlwind, Wing Attack
Bold indicates a STAB move
Italics indicates a move that is not obtainable in a pure RBY environment
Overview
Infesting those caves alongisde their Zubat bretheren, Golbat's purpose in RBY can be best described as an in-game placeholder. After all, those dark and spooky caves wouldn't be complete without bats, right? As far as battling goes, though, Golbat is terrible. His bad typing leaves him vulnerable to three very common special attack types, and his mediocre stats ensure that he can't do much himself. Even in the NU tier, he's outshone by Weezing and Muk on the Poison side, and by Fearow and Pidgeot as flying types go. While Golbat can be somewhat annoying to your opponent if you're lucky, there's always a better choice out there.
Usage
Double-Edge
Hyper Beam
Confuse Ray
Mega Drain
There's really not much else available for Golbat that might actually be useful. Double-Edge is there for your general damage, which at best is a 4HKO on Alakazam and a 2HKO on Abra. Hyper Beam's for finishing stuff off. Be aware that both these moves run off of Golbat's mediocre 258 Attack, and aside from the glass cannons, you'll be hard pressed to find an opposing Pokemon that fears them.
Confuse Ray can be thought of as Golbat's signature move, though it's extremely luck based, and the Ghost types can pull it off far better as they can actually do something else besides chip away with Double-Edge. At best, Confuse Ray can force switches, which can give Golbat a chance to hit something on the switch-in. This tactic works far better in NU, though, as there are more low defense Pokemon there. Magmar can still pull it off better, though. In OU... well, have fun with Starmie, Lapras, or whoever else the opponent throws out there to take a 258 Attack Double-Edge.
Like Muk, Mega Drain's there to give Golbat a fighting chance against Rocks, though it's a 3HKO against Golem, Rhydon, Kabutops and Omastar. It does 2HKO Onix and Rhyhorn, however, which gives Golbat some life (get it?) in NU. Mega Drain can also be used against Waters, though you'll soon be eating an Ice attack. I'd save it for the Rocks, personally.
As far as other options go... there isn't really much else. Wing Attack becomes slightly stronger than Double-Edge against Bug, Grass and Fighting types without any recoil damage, and it gives Golbat a distinct advantage over Parasect. It's definitely something to consider if you plan on trying Golbat in NU. I'd drop Confuse Ray for it since you'll absolutely want Mega Drain to help you against the Rocks.
Counters
In OU, anything with Blizzard, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt or Psychic will tear Golbat apart. Interestingly enough, only Zapdos's Thunder and Articuno's Blizzard have a guaranteed OHKO. Even so, everything else 2HKOs the bat with ease. Anything with Rock Slide is serious trouble, as well, though Mega Drain ensures that Golem and Rhydon won't be leaving without taking some heavy damage of their own. Gengar's immune to everything but Mega Drain and Wing Attack, both of which won't be doing much.
In NU, Golbat can handle himself a bit better. Aerodactyl causes him huge problems by resisting the Normal moves and only taking neutral damage from Mega Drain. Electrode and Magneton will laugh at Golbat's attacks and hit him hard with Thunderbolt (actually, Magneton's Thunder can OHKO him as well). The Water types in general also handle Golbat easily with Blizzard, especially Agility Seadra and Thunder Wave Staryu. Omastar takes 4x from Mega Drain, so watch out for that. Gastly also walls Golbat easily, and he only takes a paltry 28% max from Wing Attack.
HP: 353
Attack: 258
Defense: 238
Speed: 278
Special: 248
Critical: ~17.6%
Type: Poison/Flying
Weaknesses: Electric, Ice, Psychic, Rock
Neutrals: Normal, Fire, Water, Flying, Bug, Ghost
Resistances: Grass, Fighting, Poison
Immunities: Ground
Tier: NU
Movepool: Bide, Bite, Confuse Ray, Double Team, Double-Edge, Gust, Haze, Hyper Beam, Leech Life, Mega Drain, Mimic, Quick Attack, Rage, Razor Wind, Rest, Screech, Substitute, Supersonic, Swift, Take Down, Toxic, Whirlwind, Wing Attack
Bold indicates a STAB move
Italics indicates a move that is not obtainable in a pure RBY environment
Overview
Infesting those caves alongisde their Zubat bretheren, Golbat's purpose in RBY can be best described as an in-game placeholder. After all, those dark and spooky caves wouldn't be complete without bats, right? As far as battling goes, though, Golbat is terrible. His bad typing leaves him vulnerable to three very common special attack types, and his mediocre stats ensure that he can't do much himself. Even in the NU tier, he's outshone by Weezing and Muk on the Poison side, and by Fearow and Pidgeot as flying types go. While Golbat can be somewhat annoying to your opponent if you're lucky, there's always a better choice out there.
Usage
Double-Edge
Hyper Beam
Confuse Ray
Mega Drain
There's really not much else available for Golbat that might actually be useful. Double-Edge is there for your general damage, which at best is a 4HKO on Alakazam and a 2HKO on Abra. Hyper Beam's for finishing stuff off. Be aware that both these moves run off of Golbat's mediocre 258 Attack, and aside from the glass cannons, you'll be hard pressed to find an opposing Pokemon that fears them.
Confuse Ray can be thought of as Golbat's signature move, though it's extremely luck based, and the Ghost types can pull it off far better as they can actually do something else besides chip away with Double-Edge. At best, Confuse Ray can force switches, which can give Golbat a chance to hit something on the switch-in. This tactic works far better in NU, though, as there are more low defense Pokemon there. Magmar can still pull it off better, though. In OU... well, have fun with Starmie, Lapras, or whoever else the opponent throws out there to take a 258 Attack Double-Edge.
Like Muk, Mega Drain's there to give Golbat a fighting chance against Rocks, though it's a 3HKO against Golem, Rhydon, Kabutops and Omastar. It does 2HKO Onix and Rhyhorn, however, which gives Golbat some life (get it?) in NU. Mega Drain can also be used against Waters, though you'll soon be eating an Ice attack. I'd save it for the Rocks, personally.
As far as other options go... there isn't really much else. Wing Attack becomes slightly stronger than Double-Edge against Bug, Grass and Fighting types without any recoil damage, and it gives Golbat a distinct advantage over Parasect. It's definitely something to consider if you plan on trying Golbat in NU. I'd drop Confuse Ray for it since you'll absolutely want Mega Drain to help you against the Rocks.
Counters
In OU, anything with Blizzard, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt or Psychic will tear Golbat apart. Interestingly enough, only Zapdos's Thunder and Articuno's Blizzard have a guaranteed OHKO. Even so, everything else 2HKOs the bat with ease. Anything with Rock Slide is serious trouble, as well, though Mega Drain ensures that Golem and Rhydon won't be leaving without taking some heavy damage of their own. Gengar's immune to everything but Mega Drain and Wing Attack, both of which won't be doing much.
In NU, Golbat can handle himself a bit better. Aerodactyl causes him huge problems by resisting the Normal moves and only taking neutral damage from Mega Drain. Electrode and Magneton will laugh at Golbat's attacks and hit him hard with Thunderbolt (actually, Magneton's Thunder can OHKO him as well). The Water types in general also handle Golbat easily with Blizzard, especially Agility Seadra and Thunder Wave Staryu. Omastar takes 4x from Mega Drain, so watch out for that. Gastly also walls Golbat easily, and he only takes a paltry 28% max from Wing Attack.