Physical or Special for Arcanine and Nidoking?

Question

I mean:
for Arcanine - physical or special? Please give pros, cons and movesets.
For Nidoking - More physical power and lesser move damage or worse special power and great damage? Again, movesets, pros and cons.
Please don't give me anything besides sweeper movesets and EVs.

Answer 1

Special Nidoking

Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Modest Nature
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

• Pros

• 69% power boost to all moves at no cost
• Wide, relevant coverage (hits bulky Water types, Steel types, and Flying/Ground types)
• While lower, Nidoking's Special Attack stat is still good, especially with investment

• Cons

• Utterly walled by Special Defense behemoths, specifically Chansey, Blissey and Umbreon
• Very common set; as such, it is predictable
• Goes off of Nidoking's lower Special Attack stat

Physical Nidoking

Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Superpower / Thunder Punch
- Megahorn / Ice Punch

• Pros

• Goes off of Nidoking's higher Attack stat
• Surprise factor- could hit Chansey, Blissey, ect on the switch

• Cons

• Outdamaged by Special set due to Sheer Force
• Not all moves are boosted by Sheer Force, specifically Superpower, Megahorn and Earthquake
• Better coverage moves, especially Ice Punch, are weak
• Sacrifices power for coverage or coverage or power

Overall, the Special Nidoking is far superior. All four of its moves are boosted by Sheer Force, making them more powerful than the Physical Nidoking. All four of the moves have good BP and great coverage at the same time, another thing the Physical set cannot boast.

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Physical Arcanine

Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Wild Charge
- Close Combat

• Pros

• High BP moves
• Vast, relevant coverage (hits bulky Water types, Normal types and Steel types)
• Access to coveted, powerful priority in Extreme Speed

• Cons

• Lots of negative secondary effects (recoil, stat drops)

Special Arcanine

Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Overheat
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Rock]

• Pros

• A more powerful STAB in Fire Blast, as well as a way to nuke the opponent in Overheat

• Cons

• Extremely shallow Special movepool, resulting in terrible coverage
• Goes off of Arcanine's weaker Special Attack stat

Not much to say here. Arcanine has a terrible Special movepool which results in poor coverage, leaving it unable to touch many Pokemon who resist Fire. Meanwhile, its Physical movepool offers great coverage, a powerful STAB move, and priority in Extreme Speed.

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Comments

Incorrect. Special Nidoking actually does less damage than physical, run the calcs. Sheer force EP does less damage than EQ on Nidoking. Sheer force Sludge Wave does less damage than Sheer force Poison jab on Nidoking. Sheer Force Ice Beam does the same damage as Sheer Force Ice Punch on Nidoking. Nidoking gets more SE percentage with EQ/Poison Jab/Ice Punch/Megahorn than EP/Sludge Wave/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt, with the physical set having 70% and the special having 69%. In conclusion, Physical is better by just a bit.