The Ultra Beasts (UBs) are some of the most fascinating additions to the Pokémon franchise. As extra-terrestrial Pocket Monsters, they invoke awe, and the fact that they are similar to Legendary Pokémon makes them more intriguing.
In Pokémon GO, they are highly sought-after grabs due to their generally high numbers in a certain stat, which makes some of them exceptional performers in PvE.
But which UBs are the best? The crème de la crème of these ‘aliens’.
Let’s do our analysis for PvE, and find out who’s the winner in this extremely competitive category.
Nihilego
Nihilego
As a Poison type
Let’s take the help of our GO Hub DPS Comparer:
The Poison-type entourage is led by Mega Beedrill and the mighty Eternatus. The former is very easy to power up and is extremely good in any situation, given the fact that Mega Beedrill also resists both Grass and Fairy, the two types Poison counters, is the icing on the cake. On the other hand, Eternatus is brilliant, but a real pain to power up due to its wild costs.
Speaking of Eternatus, let’s talk about fellow Poison/Dragon type and an Ultra Beast: Naganadel, who ends up dealing higher damage output than Nihilego, but funnily enough, each does better than the other against certain Raid Bosses.
For instance, against Grass Bosses, Naganadel is clearly better due to the Dragon subtyping offering extra resistance, while Nihilego takes neutral damage from Grass due to its rock subtyping. On the other hand, Nihilego aces against Fairy types since Naganadel’s Dragon subtyping makes it take neutral hits from Fairy Bosses.
Overall, Nihilego is more useful because Poison is more useful against Fairy, competing only with Steel types for a slot in your Raid squad. And against Grass Bosses, you are also using Fire, , and Ice types, and yes… this subset includes Mega Rayquaza.
In a nutshell, Nihilego is a solid Poison Pokémon, with its Rock subtyping making it superb against the likes of Togekiss and Enamorus.
As a Rock type
Won’t be wasting your time here. Nihilego learns none of the Rock-type Fast Moves in Pokémon GO, and as such, it doesn’t make an impact in the meta.
Nihilego is strictly a strong Poison-type attacker.
Buzzwole & Pheromosa
Buzzwole
Pheromosa
I’m taking both Buzzwole and Pheromosa as a union since they are not only masculine and feminine counterparts, but they also share the same Bug and Fighting type combination.
As Bug types
Firstly, if you think I missed Buzzwole, I didn’t!
The beefy muscle flexer Bug doesn’t learn a Bug Fast Move in Pokémon GO. However, it does learn Bug Bite in the mainline games, so that could be a possibility in the future. Ironically, even if Buzzwole gets Bug Bite, it doesn’t get close to the DPS dominance of Pheromosa, the best non-Mega and non-Shadow Bug type in the game. This comes with a catch, as Pheromosa is severely fragile. In fact, it is the frailiest Ultra Beast, with a DEF stat even lower than Pioipole! This makes dodging mandatory for Pheromosa. Fortunately, Bug Bite is a 0.5s move, so dodging is easy with it.
Now, Bug types are not the top counters to the types they beat (Dark, Grass, and Psychic). Even in its own type, the Mega Evolutions that overtake it in damage figures also boost the power of other Bug types, making them more of an asset in Raids. So, Pheromosa is a top-notch Pokémon, but due to its fragility and the limited viability of Bug types, it ends up being a lower-priority Ultra Beast.
As Fighting types
As Pokémon with Legendary status and high stats, it is honestly embarrassing if even regular Machamp deals more DPS. After all, Machamp is one of the most accessible Fighting types in the game, and is still pretty decent. Both Pheromosa and Buzzwole do lower damage than the Gen 1 classic.
It should be mentioned that the comparison isn’t just about Machamp’s accessibility, it’s also that Pheromosa and Buzzwole are very difficult to power up. Overall, whether it’s Bug or Fighting, Pheromosa and Buzzwole turn out to be inferior options.
Xurkitree
Xurkitree
As an Electric type
At the time of writing this article, Xurkitree is a fierce Electric-type attacker, trailing only behind Regieleki and a couple of Shadows. But down the line, the Mega Evolutions of Zeraora and Raichu Y are going to dominate the charts, absolutely blowing all Electric Pokémon out of the water.
Note that Zeraora is a Mythical, so there are high chances you might not get good IVs of it. That said, its performance makes it deserve a Bottle Cap. But Bottle Cap or not, the biggest shocker (no pun intended) from the list is Mega Raichu Y. Almost every Pokémon GO player has tons of Pikachu Candy, and maxing out this electrifying mouse is no real effort.
Be it table topper Mega Zeraora, the Legendary Regieleki, the Shadows, or Ultra Beast Xurkitree, powering up any of these is a rigorous process, especially when you consider that you can have a powerful attacker in Mega Raichu Y ready to go without much effort. Also… Mega Raichu Y, being a Mega Evolution, offers its perks in Raid battles, and is technically the most practical Electric Pokémon to invest in. Xurkitree is not only difficult to max out, it is outclassed despite being a strong attacker.
But hey, if you like this freaky wire mess mesh, and want to max it out, it’s not a bad decision at all!
Kartana
Kartana
As a Grass type
We all know that Mega Sceptile is the undisputed king/queen of Grass types, not only dishing out the highest damage, but also boasting supreme resistances, including Ground and also the attractive triple resistance to Water, making it excellent against the two main types it counters, both offensively and defensively. On the other hand, Mega Meganium is the surprising new entrant in this grassy list, also resisting both Ground and Water.
The spotlight is on Kartana, the tiny Grass/Steel sword wielder. It sports very high damage output, beating all other Grass types in the meta. However, the issue here is that the two best Grass types are not any Mega Evolutions, they are the Megas of two starters. Be it usual accessibility, power-up costs, or the Community Day perks, both Mega Sceptile and Mega Meganium are way cheaper and easier to max out, especially when compared to Kartana. That’s not all, as Kartana’s Steel subtyping makes it less effective against Ground Raid Bosses.
So, while Kartana is literally a top 3 Grass-type attacker, the top two slots have so much more going for them, making them easy decisions. Just stick with the Gen 2 and Gen 3 Grass starters.
As a Fighting type
Whoa, whoa, wait… I know Kartana is Grass/Steel type, but hear me out!
Kartana learns no Steel moves in Pokémon GO, but… thanks to its access to the powerful Sacred Sword, Kartana is actually a strong attacker against Raid Bosses weak to Fighting, joining the likes of other non-fighters like Shadow Raikou, Mega Latios, and Shadow Latios.
Kartana is a solid Fighting-type attacker, dishing out almost as much damage as regular Lucario. If that wasn’t cool enough, Kartana outpaces both Pheromosa and Buzzwole in damage figures despite lacking Fighting STAB, making it the superior ‘Fighting’ Ultra Beast. So, with Fury Cutter and Sacred Sword, Kartana is particularly very good against Dark Raid Bosses.
Kartana ends up becoming a very strong Ultra Beast, and while outclassed, Kartana is a dependable Grass and Fighting attacker.
Celesteela
Celesteela
Celesteela is a Steel/ type, and without a Steel Fast Move or Charged Move, it is unviable in both typings. To make matters worse, its ATK stat is only 207, so it isn’t going to do much anyway.
With its highest DPS moveset, Air Slash and Heavy Slam, Celesteela’s damage output is similar to regular Empoleon’s Steel DPS, and as such, Celesteela is not a PvE investment by any means.
Guzzlord
Guzzlord
As a Dark type
At only 188 ATK, Guzzlord has the lowest Attack stat of all Ultra Beasts. But, unlike something like Celesteela, or even Kartana (for Steel), Guzzlord has a complete Dark (and Dragon) moveset, making it at least functional in the meta. In other words, it can be used against Tier 1 Raid Bosses.
As a Dragon type
We just saw that as a Dark type, Guzzlord uses Snarl and Brutal Swing, two fine moves for PvE. As such, Guzzlord is a fun option for Tier 1 Raids. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Dragon typing, Guzzlord’s DPS is worse than Flygon’s, making it bad even for Tier 1 Raids. But hey, it’s at least usable, unlike those awkward UBs with no moves in their typing.
Blacephalon
Blacephalon
As a Fire type
This is the shortest snap yet, and rightfully so, because Mind Blown Blacephalon is a mind-blowing Fire-type attacker, not only due to its outstanding damage output, but also the advantages from its resistances. It’s known that Fire is super-effective against Bug, Grass, Ice, and Steel. Mega Delphox takes neutral damage from Bug types, and Mega Charizard Y takes neutral damage from Ice types. But, like Mega Blaziken, Blacephalon resists all the types it counters.
Mind Blown Blacephalon delivers a devastating blow to its opponents and is comparable to how Kartana performs in the Grass meta, making it a top-tier Pokémon.
As a Ghost type
Unlike any Ultra Beasts till now, Blacephalon excels in its secondary typing, as a Ghost-type attacker, having damage figures as much as Mega Froslass. This means that you can opt for Blacephalon even in the toughest of Raids, but bear in mind that you are also competing with Dark types for super-effective damage against Ghost and Psychic Raid Bosses. Needless to say, Dark Pokémon are overall better since they resist both Ghost and Psychic, although the average DPS of Ghost types is higher.
Be it Fire or Ghost, Blacephalon is stellar in both metas, but the Fire role is better.
Stakataka
Stakataka
As a Rock type
If you have played Pokémon GO in the early days, you’d remember taking on the Kanto Legendary Bird Raids with Golem. Since then, Rock has evolved tremendously, and now we have several high-octane performers who rock the world. Well, the problem is that Stakataka’s Rock damage is similar to Golem’s.
Hence, it goes without saying that Stakataka is bad. Yes, you can have some fun with it in Tier 1 Raids, but that’s about it.
As a Steel type
Without a Steel Fast Move and with a low ATK stat of only 213, Stakataka is not making any noise in the Steel meta.
Naganadel
Naganadel
As a Poison type
We’ve already talked about Naganadel when I covered the very first Ultra Beast in this list, Nihilego, so we know that Naganadel is a phenomenal Poison attacker, excelling against Grass types, and relatively easier to power up than Eternatus, which also flexes Dragon and Poison.
So, while overall utility makes Nihilego more preferable, at the end of the day, Naganadel is one of the top-performing UBs.
As a Dragon type
Naganadel’s ATK stat of 263 is the same as Dragonite’s, but there is a major problem with this UB. It doesn’t have a Dragon Fast Move, and its Dragon Charged Moves, Dragon Claw and Dragon Pulse, are underwhelming for PvE anyway. The good thing is that Naganadel learns Dragon Tail, Draco Meteor, and Outrage in the mainline games, so if ever it gets those moves in Pokémon GO, it will immediately become viable, although heavily outclassed.
We will obviously not analyze Poipole, Naganadel’s pre-evolution. Its ATK may be higher than Guzzlord’s, but there’s no reason to think about it when all you need to do is evolve it into Naganadel.
The best Ultra Beast for PvE battles in Pokémon GO is Blacephalon.
Here are the reasons.
Excellent performance in both types
Many Ultra Beasts fail to perform in both their typing, either due to a lack of moveset (Nihilego, Kartana, Naganadel) or even a poor moveset (Pheromosa). Then there are UBs that excel in their type(s).
Blacephalon is phenomenal in both Fire and Ghost, Xurkitree is excellent in its only type, Electric, and, to be fair, Kartana is superb as a Grass and even Fighting.
Now, since this article is about Ultra Beasts, we will ignore the fact that the top options in their meta are starter Megas that are easier and cheaper to max out. With that in mind, we can give the edge to all three: Blacephalon, Xurkitree, and Kartana.
High DPS figures
Let’s check out the highest DPS output given by the Ultra Beasts:
| Blacephalon | Xurkitree | Kartana |
| DPS: 21.06 Fire | DPS: 18.12 Electric | DPS: 18.34 Fighting |
Blacephalon deals the highest damage among all Ultra Beasts in the Fire meta, and it’s not too outclassed.
Kartana flexes high damage numbers with non-STAB moves, but is quite outclassed in this role. On the other hand, Xurkitree isn’t far behind the top slots, but its damage output is lower than Kartana’s Grass DPS of 18.31.
Blaceohalon takes an affirnative lead here.
Highest neutral damage among all Ultra Beasts
This settles it. Let’s check out the best damage figures from the very best in Pokémon GO.
When listing the best that the game has to offer in terms of damage output, Blacephalon is the top Ultra Beast in the list, with its DPS crossing the likes of Dawn Wing Necrozma, Shadow Salamence, and, of course, Kartana and Xurkitree.
Blacephalon wins! It is the best Ultra Beast in Pokémon GO!
