Is it a waste to add defence evs to chansey?

Question

so I want to train a special wall chansey and most sets have bold nature with full defensive evs although it has base 5 defence.Which ev spread is better 252 SpD 252 HP 4 Def or 252 SpD 252 Def 4 HP?

Comments

I would go with defense, though I don't know enough about Chansey to really answer this question.

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Are you running Evolite?

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I don't think anyone runs a Chansey without Eviolite Jade xD

And last I checked, 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 HP was the common set.

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Yea good point.

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I've never, ever seen a Chansey without heavy Defence investment.

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well I think with base 5 defence any phisycal move will be enough to OHKO Chansey unless for some reason you spam defence curl

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That's why you only switch it into Special attacks.

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Not just that, you even keep it to Special attacks. Run for the covers whenever you see a physical attacker, but Chansey's chances (pun unintended) of living a blow are more than Blissey. That's a huge redeeming factor, and so the defense is needed to make it worthwhile.

Someone should like, conjoin all these comments into an answer :s

Answer 1

I wondered about that myself, so I ran some calculations!

Let's see the effect of specially defensive investment against a Modest nature Sylveon with ability Pixilate and item Choice Specs (252 EVs in SpAtt.) using Hypervoice on a Chansey. Few Pokémon pack as much power on the special side.

Let's say our Chansey (holding Eviolite) has 252 EVs in HP and no investment in SpDef (EVs or nature), this results in damage of 25.2 - 29.9% - guaranteed 4HKO.

Now, if Chansey has a Calm nature, 252 EVs in SpDef and 252 EVs in HP, you get: 18.4 - 21.8% - possible 5HKO.

Let's see the effect of physically defensive investement against a Jolly Mega-Kangashkan (252 EVs Att) using Return. If Chansey has 252 EVs in HP and no investement in Def (nature or EVs), this results in: 97.7 - 115% - 81.3% chance to OHKO.

If Chansey is Bold and has 252 EVs in Def and 252 EVs in HP, you get: 37.9 - 44.8% - guaranteed 3HKO.

The impact of physical defense investment on Chansey is massive. Chansey's base defense is so small that 252 EVs more than double the final stat. A bold nature coupled with eviolite further increase the stat to bearable levels. In comparison, investing in special defense is like a drop in the ocean. A wall is usually better off specializing in either physical or special attacks, but Chansey is on a class of its own.

Comments

Oh thanks for the answer btw the final Ev spread is 252 in defence and HP?

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252 EV in Def clearly makes a world of difference and some googling leads me to believe everyone agrees on that. The way you share the other 256 EVs between HP and Sp Def is more subject to debate.