What is a good moveset for Lucario?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Lucario, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for any of its pre-evolutions can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Lucario Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

Hello everyone! As a physical sweeper, Lucario has few overall weaknesses. Preferably going mixed Lucario would be the best. Here's my Lucario:

Lucario @ Focus Sash
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Quirky Nature / Bashful Nature / Hardy Nature
- Drain Punch
- Aura Sphere
- Me First
- Extreme Speed

Drain Punch: Lucario requires some sustaining, and Drain Punch is a great healing move with recovery

Aura Sphere: As its signature move, this always hit moves is high in damage, and VERY USEFUL in terms of areas where an enemy has high Defense, but low Special Defence.

Me First: I know, this is weird, but as a fast Pokemon, Me First steals the opponent's move and performs it with 1.5 times more power, allowing Lucario to outspeed even a priority move, including an enemy's Extreme Speed

Extreme Speed: As a moderately bulky Pokemon, Lucario is susceptible to priority moves, and having Extreme Speed will outspeed any move, besides Fake Out

Comments

lol everyone looks at the first page of answers and votes on them, they dont care about or look at the other pages. I also recommend getting rid of aura sphere since you already have drain punch. also your evs dont really boosts aura spheres power since aura sphere is special and your evs are for attack and speed

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lol i may have made an error when i posted this ages ago, but quicrky, bashful or hardy don't increase or lower anything, making it relatively balanced. People's options may change, since this is for non Mega Evolve lucario

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These sets are better than the first page, l'd say. I'm tempted to use most of these sets on my next batch of Lucario, so l'd say these are great sets. But I agree with the Aura Sphere thing.

Answer 2

So far, a moment of enlightenment came to me in my play through of the latest version of Pokemon: Lucario is a beast. This isn't a new concept in the least, but without EV training, he laid waste to just about everything that crossed its path save for the faster Fighting and Fire types. Thank you for your time.

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified / Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Dragon Pulse
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon

I could go into detail about what each of them does, but I've posted here long enough to know you all know very well what they do. As far as Flash Cannon goes, I'm open to suggestions particularly for that one, but that's not to shoo away any other suggestions for any other moves. Again, thank you for your time.

Answer 3

Mixed sweeper

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Justified / Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Naughty Nature / Rash Nature
- Aura Sphere / Flash Cannon
- Close Combat / High Jump Kick
- Dragon Pulse / Psychic
- Earthquake

I like Close Combat more than High Jump Kick, due to the fact it seems more stable, and a protector can ruin you if you run High Jump Kick. This thing hits hard, and being mixed can defeat most tanks and walls. Dragon Pulse and Psychic are great coverage, but I wouldn't use both. I think Psychic to cover Fighting weakness is best. Earthquake deals with Fire types.

Comments

You are only allowed to have 510EVs max.

Answer 4

Lucario @ Lucarionite (6th Gen) / Life Orb (Below 6th Gen)
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe or 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature / Naive Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Shadow Claw
- Dragon Pulse / Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon

Aura Sphere (STAB, infinite accuracy)
Shadow Claw (Coverage)
Dragon Pulse (Against Dragons) / Dark Pulse (Coverage)
Flash Cannon (Fairy type coverage)

Comments

You might as well drop Shadow Claw for Dark Pulse and make it totally special since they offer the same coverage.

Answer 5

Lucario is my favorite Pokemon! I'll do two sets, one physical and one special, both megas.

Special:

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
- Dragon Pulse
- Dark Pulse

This set is pretty obvious, the STAB and random coverage. It's very powerful, 2HKOing most things with Aura Sphere and Flash Cannon.

Physical:
Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Bullet Punch / Iron Tail
- Earthquake / Extreme Speed / Swords Dance

This set is a bit more optional in terms of moves, Close Combat and Iron Tail/Bullet Punch are STAB, the latter two are power vs. reliability and priority. I would go with Bullet Punch because of Adaptability. Ice Punch is Flying and Ground coverage.

Answer 6

I've gone for a slightly unusual build, focusing mainly on staying in the ring and hitting everything that moves.

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Ice Punch
- Close Combat
- Shadow Claw

Play as first Pokemon, hit things. Use Power-Up Punch wherever viable, Close Combat when there's a quaker or ultimate move that you need to take down. Ice Punch for Ground, Dragons, and Fairies- Dragons are too tanky to be reliably OHKOd and of course Ground and Fairy aren't bothered all too much by being punched in the face.
Then Shadow Claw, of course, is for when some guy thinks he can counter you with a Ghost.

TL;DR: Punch tings, get harder. Be faster than everything. Punch more things.
It works, except when you get anyone who's faster than you, like a Rapidash.

Answer 7

Lucario @ Razor Fang
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Ice Punch
- Copycat
- Aura Sphere
- Bone Rush

Let's explain the moves first:
Ice Punch is there for coverage, solid move with a chance to freeze the opponent and give you a couple of turns to deal some damage. Copycat is a really fun to use, while in the most situations you will be faster, you can copy the opponent's move if they used any stat boosting moves, or you can be creative in your own way. Aura Sphere is Lucario's signature move, I can't leave it out of his moveset, it will save you some trouble if Lucario is burned or the enemy has their defence stat over the ceiling. Bone Rush is there for Ice Punch's secondary effect, but you are welcome to use anything else you want, both Physical and Special moves are good for usage since this is a mixed build.

Now about its ability and item:
I couldn't come up with a better combination, Inner Focus is useless if you are too fast, Justified... Meh... In competitive play, close to no-one will attack you with a dark-type move so here is what I came up with. If you are faster than the opponent, you have a small chance to flinch them with Razor Fang, but if they are faster, and also happen to have their own Raozr Fang or even a move that can flinch Lucario, it activate Steadfast, giving it a speed boost, securing your attacks can flinch them. Correct me if I am wrong but a Hasty Lucario with 252 points on Speed is fast enough to outrun lots of Pokemon right, this means that activating Steadfast once will be enough to gain the upper hand.

Answer 8

I found Lucario very interesting... Make him a Special Attacker or Physical. Both works. My personal preference though is a physical one.
Here is how I run my lead Lucario set:
Luca (Lucario) (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Extreme Speed
- Crunch
- Earthquake
Personally I just think Game Freak might have created the perfect lead Pokemon. Steadfast, Inner Focus and Justified all resist Fake Out, one of the most annoying move. Focus Sash is meant to be used should foe try to OHKO me. It's like the perfect setup.
Move breakdown:
Aura Sphere: SpA, deal with Rough Skin /Rocky Helm. Plus no check on Accu.
Ex. Speed: Priority, plus finish off low HP foes.
Crunch: Coverage on Physic and Ghost Types.
Earthquake: Screw all expect Flying.
That's pretty much it.

Answer 9

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Agility / Swords Dance
- Aura Sphere
- Rock Slide
- Extreme Speed

Agility / Swords Dance (To boost Speed / Attack so it can wreck)
Aura Sphere (STAB and to take care of the defensive walls)
Rock Slide (Coverage and high flinch change)
Extreme Speed (Priority)

You might be wondering, why Steadfast? For example, if the opponent brings out a Loppuny, or a Sableye or something that will use Fake Out, bring Lucario in and... free plus 1 speed boost! That is pretty much guaranteed to make you faster than some pretty fast Pokemon.

Answer 10

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus / Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP or 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Iron Tail
- Hone Claws
- Detect / Bullet Punch

Explaination: Mega Lucario's Ability is Adaptability, which makes all move of its type stronger with a 2x STAB instead of a 1.5x STAB. This means that Lucario's High Jump Kick and Iron Tail will be twice as strong, but the accuracy is still bad. So Hone Claws will make up for that with the boost of accuracy and attack. Detect is for that turn where you need to protect yourself from an attack, or Bullet Punch for revenge killing.

Comments

Bullet Punch is better than Detect most of the time.

Answer 11

It depends on what you're running. I would do this:

Physical:

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus / Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Drain Punch
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch

• Power-Up Punch (STAB and set-up)
• Drain Punch (STAB and recovery)
• Bullet Punch (STAB and priority)
• Ice Punch (Coverage)

Special:

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus / Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Dragon Pulse
- Vacuum Wave
- Calm Mind

• Aura Sphere (STAB and never misses)
• Dragon Pulse (Dragon types are annoying)
• Vacuum Wave (STAB and priority)
• Calm Mind (Set-up)

Hope this helps

Answer 12

SPECIAL ATTACKER LUCARIO SET

Lucario @ Focus Sash
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Dragon Pulse / Calm Mind
- Dark Pulse

• Flash Cannon: Great power, STAB move, AND has a 10% chance of lowering the target's Special Defense
• Aura Sphere: Good Power, STAB and it NEVER misses, goodbye Dark types :)
• Dragon Pulse / Calm Mind: Dragon Pulse takes care of Dragon types, Calm mind raises your Special Attack and Special Defense if you want to set up.
• Dark Pulse: Takes out Psychic types and Ghost types, AND has a 20% chance of causing the target to flinch.

Hope this moveset is useful for people who want a special attacking Lucario.

Answer 13

Here's another Lucario moveset, but it's a mixed moveset now.
Lucario @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Swords Dance / Flash Cannon
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake

• Aura Sphere: STAB, Good power, and never misses.
• Swords Dance / Flash Cannon: Swords Dance for an Attack boost, or you can go for Flash Cannon for STAB and to take out Fairy types.
• Extreme Speed: Priority, and it can hit pretty hard if you Swords Dance, (well, that is, if you choose it.)
• Earthquake: Coverage from Fire and takes out Electric types, Poison types, Rock types and Steel types.

Good luck!

Answer 14

This is my Lucario's set, it's OP!

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Aura Sphere
- Extreme Speed
- Swords Dance

• Shadow Ball - For Psychic and Ghost types!!
• Aura Sphere - Signature move, takes care of Dark, Rock, and Steel types!
• Extreme Speed - Priority!
• Swords Dance - To boost your Attack! :)

Answer 15

Surprised no one realized this guy doesn't want breeding moves. I think. His Lucario is Lv. 100, so I'm guessing he's not going to restart. Here's a decent set that doesn't require breeding, only move tutor or TMs.

Physical Lucario
Lucario @ Quick Claw
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge / Extreme Speed
- Close Combat
- Dual Chop

• Ice Punch - Coverage
• Stone Edge / Extreme Speed - Stone Edge for variety, Extreme Speed for priority
• Close Combat - STAB, good damage
• Dual Chop - Nearly the same damage as Dragon Pulse and can break through Substitute and Sturdy.

Comments

Quick Claw is not a good item competitively. Life Orb would be a better choice.

Answer 16

This set is great in UU, it can get many people far that know how to play competitive.

Lucario (M) @ Life Orb / Focus Sash / Air Balloon / Lum Berry
Ability: Justified / Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature / Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch

• Swords Dance - Raises Attack
• Bullet Punch - Priority Lucario is scary!
• Close Combat - STAB
• Ice Punch - Covers Ground

Some moves to replace Bullet Punch (Since Bullet Punch is an egg move)
Iron Tail-STAB
Extreme Speed-Priority
Instead of Close Combat (Because Of Stat Drops)
Drain Punch-STAB-Heals Life Orb
Brick Break-Breaks reflect
Instead of Ice Punch (Pretty low power without STAB)
Earthquake-Must I say why?
Rest-Annoyance and heals you, now do you understand why I gave it Lum Berry?
Rock Tomb-Slows them down
Dual Chop-Physical Dragon move on Lucario, FINALLY!! Thank you USUM move tutors.
Zen Headbutt-Coverage
Shadow Claw-Crits Crits Crits...

Hope this move set helps!! :)

-RainbowSheep

Answer 17

Special Sweeper Lucario
Lucario @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Aura Sphere
- Dragon Pulse
- Dark Pulse

• Calm Mind: To stack up some Special Defense and Special Attack
• Aura Sphere: Never misses, 90 damage.
• Dragon Pulse: To get rid of pesky Dragon types
• Dark Pulse: To get rid of pesky Psychic types

Answer 18

Well... Steel-Type STAB moves are all bad for Lucario, so:

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed

• Swords Dance (Required on this set)
• High Jump Kick (Amazing STAB move)
• Earthquake (Because I can)
• Extreme Speed (The best priority move ever!)

I chose an Adamant Nature to blast this guy's Attack stat through the roof, although Jolly could be chosen so he can outspeed lots of other Pokemon. High Jump Kick is a pain to get if you don't have a Blaziken, but the GTS can help with that. Extreme Speed should have Max PP so he can hit more of the opposing team. If you don't want to run the Mega Stone, I'd suggest either Choice Band or Choice Scarf but if you do run that option, remove Swords Dance and replace it with something else, maybe Bullet Punch to hit Steel type STAB, however you already have Extreme Speed for priority, so I think that Blaze Kick is best. Probably a long answer, but it works!

Comments

Flash Cannon? Flash Cannon is not bad.

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Yea, but this is a physical Lucario set so flash Cannon is not really needed on him. However, I also run a Special Lucario stolen form the first answer on this question.

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Okay then.

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No don't worry - I'm going to post a Special Lucario set for his Mega Evolution, with Flash Cannon included.

Answer 19

Special Lucario set anyone?

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Dragon Pulse
- Water Pulse

• Flash Cannon (STAB)
• Aura Sphere (STAB, never misses)
• Dragon Pulse (Killing)
• Water Pulse (Gets rid of Ground and Fire types)

Answer 20

Lucario (M) @ Choice Band / Black Belt
Ability: Inner Focus
Adamant Nature
EVs: 6 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- High Jump Kick (STAB)
- Iron Tail (STAB)
- Swords Dance
- Blaze Kick

Personally, I think that Lucario can bring out his best with physical moves: High Jump Kick and Iron Tail are his best STAB moves. If you can set up Swords Dance, he is unstoppable. Blaze Kick is also a great move for him. This guy's role is not to survive, but to sweep the enemy team, so he doesn´t need coverage; he just needs to burst as much as he can. By the way, I got mine those EVs, but I'm not sure if it´s normal for him to have 6 Defense EVs.