Ampharos

Ampharos has been one of the rarest Pokémon in the game for a long time. After Mareep’s Community Day, where it had access to a new charge move, plenty of people finally had enough candies to get one and test it out in battle. In this Battledex entry, we will analyse its viability in the current metagame, its best movesets and how to counter it.

Pokémon Stats Max CP
ATK DEF STA
Ampharos Electric 211 172 180 2695

Ampharos overview

Ampharos is a good Electric type Pokémon in Pokémon GO, but still far from Raikou or Zapdos. It is just weak to Ground type attacks and resists Electric, Flying and Steel type moves.

It has a decent bulk but lacks greater offensive power to be considered meta-relevant or one of the best Electric type Pokémon to use in raids. Every single charge move that Ampharos is able to learn is a full-bar move (except for its Community Day special move, Dragon Pulse), and its fast moves are not too good for offensive purposes either.

Its main strengths are:

  • It has decent bulk and just 1 weakness (Ground)
  • Although there are plenty of better gym defenders, Ampharos is still is one of the best Electric type Pokémon to place in a gym
  • It has a diverse movepool, and guessing which charge move is going to have can be quite challenging

However, its main weaknesses should be mentioned too:

  • It is outclassed by Raikou, Zapdos and even Jolteon as an Electric type attacker. Offensivewise, it does not stand a chance against DPS beasts such as Raikou or Zapdos
  • Despite having just one weakness, it is not too difficult to counter. Groudon, Rhydon and even Golem with Ground type moves can do it effectively
  • It lacks offensive power and it isn’t the bulkiest Electric type either, as Raikou has the same base stamina and an even greater base defense stat
  • Every single charge move except for Dragon Pulse (which is pretty bad on Ampharos anyway) is a full-bar move with an endless move cooldown. Furthermore, its two fast moves are too slow to use on offense. This makes dodging with Ampharos a very difficult task
Best Ampharos movesets
 Role Quick move Charge move
Gym offense Charge Beam electric Zap Cannon electric
Gym defense Volt Switch electric Dragon Pulse* dragon or Zap Cannon Electric
PvP (speculative) Charge Beam electric Zap Cannon electric

* Legacy move

Best Ampharos moves in Pokémon GO

The following Table compares the cycle DPS (with STAB) of every single moveset that Ampharos is able to learn. Some movesets are more viable or commonly used than others. Keep in mind that some movesets might not top the DPS charts but could be good to use in certain scenarios. As an example, Dragon Pulse could be a decent alternative for gym defending purposes.

Ampharos moves in Pokémon GO
Fast Move Charge Move Cycle DPS (STAB)
Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric 21.03
Volt Switch Electric Zap Cannon Electric 20.47
Charge Beam Electric Thunder Electric 18.90
Charge Beam Electric Focus Blast Fighting 18.83
Volt Switch Electric Thunder Electric 18.62
Volt Switch Electric Focus Blast Fighting 18.58
Volt Switch Electric Dragon Pulse Dragon 16.83
Charge Beam Electric Dragon Pulse Dragon 16.79

*Keep in mind that STAB cycle DPS calculations just compare the different movesets and they are not Pokémon-specific

  • Charge Beam and Zap Cannon is the best choice for offensive purposes
  • Volt Switch can be used over Charge Beam if you plan to put Ampharos in gyms, as it works better due to how the gym defending AI is coded
  • Dragon Pulse (combined with Volt Switch) can be used as a charge move to counter Dragon type generalists used to wreck gyms, despite not being the TOP-DPS moveset (if you are planning to put Ampharos in a gym). Keep in mind, though, that it’s a legacy move that was only obtainable during Mareep’s Community Day. This move might become more useful if Mega-Evolutions are implemented in the future, as Mega-Ampharos is a Dragon and Electric type
  • If you evolve Flaaffy into Ampharos and end up with Focus Blast or Thunder as the charge move, do not hesitate to use a Charge TM as fast as you can

Ampharos counters in Pokémon GO

Supreme Counters

 Pokémon Fast move Charge move
Groudon Ground Mud Shot Ground Earthquake Ground
Rhydon Ground Rock Mud Slap Ground Earthquake Ground
Golem Rock Ground Mud Slap Ground Earthquake Ground

Ampharos is only weak to Ground type attacks. Groudon is the best Ground type attacker in the game, followed by Rhydon and Golem. Groudon, with a massive Attack stat of 270, is by far the best choice among these three.

Other viable alternatives

 Pokémon Fast move Charge move
Swampert Water Ground Mud Shot Ground Earthquake Ground
Donphan Ground Counter Fighting Earthquake Ground

Swampert is an interesting choice. Water types are weak to Electric type moves, but Swampert is able to resist those (not double resist like the other counters listed) due to the fact that it is also a Ground type Pokémon. It has a decent attack stat and it could be used to counter Ampharos, but its DPS and performance is far from the one of the supreme counters.

Donphan is another interesting Ground type counter. It would be higher on the list if it was able to learn a Ground type fast move or if it had a greater attack stat.

Weather influence

Weather Pros Cons
Sunny Boosts super-effective Ground type moves
Partly Cloudy
Cloudy Boosts its Fighting type moves
Rainy Boosts its Electric type moves
Fog
Windy Boosts its Dragon type moves
Snow

Viability in raids

Ampharos is not the best Electric, Fighting or Dragon type Pokémon to use in raids. The most important metric in raids is normally time to win, and thus other options are significantly better than Ampharos. Keeping that in mind, here is a compilation of the raids in which it is a decent counter (or filler for your team), despite existing better options:

 Raid Boss Fast move to use Charge move to use
Magikarp Water Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Wailmer Water Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Cloyster Water Ice Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Dewgong Water Ice * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Slowbro Water Psychic * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Tentacruel Water Poison * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Omastar Water Rock * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Kabutops Water Rock * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Starmie Water Psychic * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Vaporeon Water * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Azumarill Water Fairy Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Blastoise Water * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Feraligatr Water * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Lapras Water Ice * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Poliwrath Water Fighting * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Walrein Water Ice Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Articuno Ice Flying * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Moltres Fire Flying * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Suicune Water * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Lugia Psychic Flying * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Ho-Oh Fire Flying Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric
Kyogre Water * Charge Beam Electric Zap Cannon Electric

*Legacy raid boss

Rating

 Pokémon Attacker Defender Generalist Overall Tier
Ampharos Electric 3/5 3/5 2.5/5 3/5 III

Ampharos is a Pokémon with decent bulk and just 1 weakness. Although there are plenty of better gym defenders, Ampharos is still is one of the best electric type Pokémon to place in a gym, and having such a diverse movepool makes guessing which charge move is going to have a nice challenge. Offensivewise, it is outclassed by far by Raikou, Zapdos and even Jolteon.

Author & tags

Zeroghan
Zeroghanhttps://pokemongohub.net/
Zeroghan started the Hub in July 2016 and hasn't had much sleep since. A lover of all things Pokémon, web development, and writing.

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