Freezing_taco13
In my opinion, I would just stick with catching darumakas on route 4.
The darmanitans you find there petrified are not the best sort of pokemon to get, seeing how it's ablity activates when HP is less than 50% and reduces your attack and speed greatly(both of which I prefer greatly). Sure it's defences double, but it's still not gonna shield you and can still get K.O. it before it even moves.
And when you send out your zen mode Darmanitan and the opponent attacks first and you plan on using a physical move, such as Flare Blitz, it will do little to nothing to your opponent seeing as your attack just fell ALL the way down to 30, which is a drop of 110 points...yikes.Unless you predict them striking first and equiped it with something like flamethrower or psychic, then thats a whole nother story, as then it will have a base sp attk of 140, the highest of all non-legendary psychic types.
So you should just stick with your Sheer Force Darmy. Even if the opponent strikes first, you'll still be able to keep that amazing 140 base attack and quick speed of 90. For it, it should have either have an adamant or jolly nature, as they both lower sp attk and raise attack and speed respectively. As for the move set, I would go with Flare Blitz, Sperpower, Rock Slide, and EQ, while holding life orb with 252 EVs in attack, 252 EVs in speed, and 4 in HP. This here will be the ultimate sweeper!!
There ya go. I hope this helps you in your choice of Darmies,
He is definitely right on this. Darmanitan's defenses outside of Zen Mode could not get much worse. The chances of him being able to live any hit, even a resisted one are slim. I mean, seriously, his defense stat is equivalent to Metapod... He is by no means a bad pokemon, but Zen Mode won't help you ever. And even by the slim chance you do live and activate Zen Mode, even with 50% HP, the best scenario. You're slow as hell now and anything can kill you with a decent offensive stat. Maybe if both your defenses hit 500 and you had recovery, this could be a worthwhile gimmick. But even then, you will rarely ever pull this off. Not to mention, your original form is all physical, while the other is all special, and by no means can either do anything on the other side of the spectrum. So, try coming up with a moveset for that.. Maybe Substitute down till you hit Zen Mode, but it's too risky. And the whole point in a Tank is to have a reliable switch in on common threats to your sweeper's counters that can hang around a while and beat such counters. Zen Mode Darmanitan, in my opinion, is the most risky set any pokemon can run. And it doesn't pay off well either for such a high risk. Belly Drummers can be considered the most high risks ever. But they pay off should you pull off the Belly Drum and begin the sweep. I'm not sure what this guy can do in comparison to that raw attack power.
@Taco, Life Orb can't get you as much sweeping potential, you're too slow. On the contrary, A Choice Scarfed Sheer Force Darmanitan can also be devastating. His speed is sub-par, and far too many things will outspeed him. The worst part is, Flame Charge loses the Speed boost, as Sheer Force makes it null, because it is a secondary effect. A set could go like..
Darmanitan
Choice Scarf
255 Attack/ 255 Speed
Sheer Force
Flare Blitz / Fire Punch
Rock Slide
Earthquake
U-turn
(And for the love of god, all you haters leave me alone, the 4 EV's won't help you on most anything, Darmanitan is nowhere near an exception. Save yourself some time and do it 255/255. Though, no one has ever corrected me, I'm just pointing it out.)
Okay, to start off, Flare Blitz is definitely the superior option here. Your main attacking move too. Even with 0 IV's in HP, you'd have to dish out 640 damage on pokemon's HP before the Recoil will kill you, assuming you take no damage prior, such as SR damage. On average, that's a little more than 2 KO's leaving you with just enough HP to fire off one more. I only named Fire Punch to show that it is another option, though quite inferior. Rock Slide boosted from Sheer Force is half a base power point from a Stone Edge, with 10% more accuracy. You lose out on an extra crit hit rate, but that's gimmicky anyway, stick with Rock Slide. EQ works nicely for coverage alongside a Rock move. And generally, your Rock moves aren't going to work this well either. 90% accuracy and 99.5 Base Power is very welcomed. U-Turn is always a nice move to have on Choiced Pokes, and allows scouting, and the privilege to get in some damage on your switch out.
With this guy, Rapid Spin support is most definitely welcomed. Maybe even needed to have a reliable sweep. After one SR switch in you won't be able to take the average HP loss from Flare Blitz recoil. And btw, I would recommend Donphan for a Spinner, or Starmie. Donphan's high Attack will scare away plenty, and the Def is nothing to laugh at either. Very bulky physically. A bulky Starmie can still outpace many things with its high Speed and get a more reliable Rapid Spin in. But probably cannot switch in as many times. Then again, Starmie has Recover, potentially lasting longer anyway. Donphan's bulk is his main selling point though still lacking good recovery. And Starmie also has Natural Cure to soak up Toxic Spikes, and rid itself of Poisoning.
One last note, Darmanitan will take 25% damage from SR, eliminating your chances of getting 3 Pokemon KO'd. While a 2 for 1 is still good 3 for 1 is far better. And a Rapid Spinner is welcomed anyhow, as it also allows other pokemon to switch in more freely as well.
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