Crabhammer is a new Water-type move that’s now available on Kingler and Crawdaunt and we took an early look at how it performs. Suffice to say, Crabhammer is insane. Crabhammer stats are comparable to Hydro Cannon, a top tier Water-type move that is exclusive to Water-type starter Pokemon.
Crabhammer stats
Crabhammer stats (PvE):
- 85 damage
- 50 energy (two bars)
- 1.9s cooldown
- Damage is dealt from 1.5s to 1.75s of the animation
Crabhammer stats (PvP):
- 75 damage
- 50 energy
- Can buff Attacker’s Attack stat by 2 stages (12.5% chance of Activating)
For comparison, Hydro Cannon has the same cool down window, deals 90 damage (both PvE and PvP) and the damage window is a bit earlier, but that’s only relevant for moves that don’t execute fully (in case of Pokemon fainting). Basically, Crabhammer is Hydro Cannon with a 5% damage nerf in PvE and 17.6% nerf in PvP. For players that don’t enjoy Trainer Battles, the later stat is not important, but the former is quite interesting.
Kingler with Crabhammer
The effects of Crabhammer on Kingler’s meta relevance are profound. Kingler always had insane stats for a Water-type, with its 240 Attack being second to only Kyogre (270) and Palkia (280), but it was lacking a strong charge move to be useful.
Previously, Kingler’s best Water type charged move was Water Pulse, a move so mediocre not even Tentacruel has it. With the addition of Crabhammer, Kingler’s move pool is now completely dominated by it, but that’s really not a bad thing, as Kingler’s DPS potential has increased dramatically:
| Fast | Charged | DPS | TDO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bubble | Crabhammer | 16.3 | 508.7 |
| Metal Claw | Crabhammer | 16.14 | 503.68 |
| Mud Shot | Crabhammer | 15.69 | 489.63 |
| Metal Claw | X-Scissor | 11.87 | 370.45 |
| Bubble | Water Pulse | 11.69 | 364.68 |
Note how Kingler with Bubble and Water Pulse is 29.8% worse than a Kingler with Bubble and Crabhammer – that’s how bad Water Pulse was. Crabhammer is obviously a no-brainer on Kingler, especially as the move can be obtained by using a Charged TM.
Comparison with other Water types
With Crabhammer, Kingler is now ranked as 6th best overall Water type in the game, just behind Gyarados and Feraligatr. It’s miles ahead of Vaporeon, but still behind Swampert, Kyogre and Palkia:
- Palkia (DT + Hydro Pump)
- Swampert (Water Gun + Hydro Cannon)
- Kyogre (Waterfall + Hydro Pump)
- Feraligatr (Water Gun + Hydro Cannon)
- Gyarados (Waterfall + Hydro Pump)
- Kingler (Bubble + Crabhammer)
However, DPS wise the story looks a bit different, as Kingler skyrockets to the tops of DPS chart and becomes the #2 best Water-type DPS in Pokemon GO:
- Palkia (17.89 DPS)
- Kingler (16.30 DPS)
- Swampert (16.10 DPS)
- Feraligatr (15.45 DPS)
- Kyogre (15.42 DPS)
- Crawdaunt (15.24 DPS)
Unfortunately, where Kingler falls short is TDO (Total Damage Output). With 181 Defense and 146 Stamina, Kingler is right up there with Gengar in terms of bulk and survivability – it’s really not great. Historically, Water types often featured a solid mix of bulk and damage dealing capabilities, but Kingler lacks the former. We tried ranking it with other Pokemon, but it doesn’t make much sense as Kingler’s TDO is 508.70 and Swampert’s is 727.26. But TDO is not everything, especially when the timer is against you and you are capable of dodging well.
Conclusion
Crabhammer is definitely going to make a splash, especially if you were looking for an excuse to use your super rare shiny Kingler. We recommend evolving into Crabhammer or TM-ing into it on your shinnies – you may never use it, but at least you know that you have a super strong DPS in your arsenal. And hey, a Water-type Gengar is never a bad thing, is it?
