What is the better Ability for Galarian Darmanitan in-game?

Question

Gorilla Tactics makes it into more of a monster than it already is, but it seriously restricts what Darmanitan-G can do. Zen Mode is harder to obtain, but is it worth it for the freedom of move choice and the potential Fire typing? If it matters at all, I'm going to be doing an Ice monotype run of Shield.

Comments

Galarian Darmanitan isn't in Shield, its a sword exclusive

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Yeah I was about to say- You'll have to make do with whatever you can get from trades

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I'm planning to get one in Sword, breed it, and send the resulting Darumaka over. I need to know which Ability to try to obtain in Sword.

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Do you want to play the DLC in your run as well?

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@SSuperiority probably not? At the moment that's a no, but it may be subject to change. I may play through it after I beat the main story.

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I'm going to go with Zen Mode. All the answers are really good, so I'm not going to select a BA. +1 to each of you for your help, and thank you all :)

Answer 1

I would definitely recommend Gorilla Tactics. In playthroughs, most Gym Leaders have Monotypic teams, so you just spam the super-effective move to muscle through every single thing, if not you can always Dynamax to get rid of that drawback. Zen Mode is hard to use, and it took me a whole 3 hours to get it. Not really worth it. I would use this moveset for a playthrough:

Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Scarf / Choice Band (Choice scarf can be found in Ballonlea, Choice Band at Route 2)
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EV spread doesn't matter
Nature doesn't matter

• Icicle Crash / Ice Punch
• Flare Blitz / Fire Punch
• Earthquake
• Iron Head

Icicle Crash is STAB and is good against Milo's team, Raihan's Sandaconda and Flygon, and Eternatus. Flare Blitz hits Melony's Pokemon hard and is good against the legendary dogs, while also hitting Swordward/Shieldbert's team pretty hard. Fire Punch can be used instead to not compromise on Darm's longevity. Earthquake hits Kabu's team hard, as well as Piers' Skuntank, Marnie's Morpeko, and Nessa's Drednaw super-effectively, and is a safer option against the legendary dogs and against most of Swordward/Shieldbert's team. Iron Head is safer to spam against Melony, and hits Bede and Opal hard as well. It also is super-effective against Marnie's Grimmsnarl.

Comments

Erm...there’s no way you’ll already have a Galarian Darmanitan at the first gym

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I put that there if X wants to send a Hustle Galarian Darumaka instead of sending Galarian Darmanitan in for the early game

Answer 2

Since I know you plan on doing an Ice Monotype, I'll say you should try to use Zen Mode instead. Here's my reasoning why:

• Move Coverage. Zen Mode has access to Ground, Grass, Fighting, Psychic, Ice, Dark and Fire type moves. While this is also possible for Gorilla Tactics, you won't be able to customize your moveset as well due to the one move limitation, which can be a challenge for in-game trainers and gym battles
• Ice/Fire Typing. Since you're doing an Ice-Monotype in game team, it will be best for you to have as many dual types as possible for coverage. This typing resists four types: Ice, Grass, Bug and Fairy. However, it also has 4x weakness to Rock.
• Has an INSANE base attack stat of 160. This, Plus Belly Drum, creates an insane monster. You won't be able to do this on in-game Gorilla Tactics.

Here's a base in-game moveset for Zen Mode Darmanitan:

Darmanitan-G @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Zen Mode

-Belly Drum (Boost Attack)
-Ice Punch (STAB)
- Earthquake / Bulldoze / Superpower (Coverage against 4x Rock weakness)
- Fire Punch (STAB)

After using a Belly Drum, the Sitrus Berry will heal you, so then you got an insane attack stat, plus two STAB moves and a coverage move.

I hope this helps :3c

Comments

same things. Would you actually press b drum in battle? Maybe for the major ones, but even then, they might attack you and ko you, even at 75%. Also, it would be a pain to have to get berries every time you decide to use it

Answer 3

In my opinion, I believe that Gorilla Tactics is the better ability here. For one, Brute Force is the best way to go in-game. Not only does Gorilla Tactics give you a 1.5x Attack Boost, but you also can give it a Type boosting item like Never-Melt Ice for Icicle Crash (which it learns upon evolution). Now, level it up a bit and boom, you have yourself a Icicle Crash sweeping machine. Additionally, being locked into one move isn't all that bad because being in-game, you aren't nearly punished as much as Competitive, making it much less dangerous. With Zen Mode on the other hand, you have to wait for it to activate, which isn't very desirable in-game, at least for me.

Go with Gorilla Tactics because it gives the immediate boost and being locked isn't really as detrimental as you think. Both are good abilities, but I believe that Gorilla Tactics is the better ability here. To be honest, as long as Icicle Crash is at least normal effectiveness, you will plow through teams.

Galarian Darmanitan @ Never-Melt Ice (Found in Stow-on-Side and Route 9)
-Icicle Crash
-Earthquake
- Iron Head/any coverage move
- Any Coverage Move

Comments

"Type boosting item like Never-Melt Ice which it learns upon evolution."

Is this a mistake?

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Fixed.  I thought but didn't type lol.

Answer 4

The problem with Gorilla Tactics is the fact you'll probably have to be switching constantly, especially against foes without Monotype teams. You can teach it U-Turn (TM found in Glimwood Tangle) to help with that though.

Galarian Darmanitan already has 140 base Atk, and in-game, that's really enough. Not to mention that coverage is usually more important than power (not that it needs any more) in in-game playthroughs.

Zen Mode Galarian Darmanitan's extra Fire-type STAB will be extremely useful, because most Ice-types can't use Fire moves and you're doing an Ice Monotype. This extra Fire coverage/STAB can help against foes like Leon's Aegislash and Mr. Rime/Rillaboom (If you choose Scorbunny or Sobble), Opal's/Bede's Mawile, Melony, and Hop's Corvikight.

If you want to take the time to breed it, Zen Mode is probably better for the extra moveslots in battle and potential Fire STAB.

Besides that, it can learn Belly Drum to immediately activate Zen Mode.

Darmanitan-Galar @ Charcoal / Never-Melt Ice
Ability: Zen Mode
- Belly Drum (Learned at Lv. 38)
- Icicle Crash (Learned upon evolution)
- Fire Punch (TM bought in Pokecenter outside Wyndon)
- Zen Headbutt / Iron Head / Earthquake / Anything Else (TRs)

Comments

would you really be using b drum In game tho? Setup already isn't really needed, and its also pretty frail.

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It's an option, obviously. Darmanitan can still be useful without Zen Mode.

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downvoting because i'm really upset you edited your answer to be basically the same as mine after i posted my answer-- edit log literally shows that. it feels like you copied and I'm not okay with that.

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How do you see the edit log?

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press the  edited "1 hour ago" link

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Cool.  Never knew that.

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Uhm, I was editing before I saw you posted an answer. But sorry

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I don't know if anything was copied or not, but just incase it was, i shouldn't have to remind you that doing so is not cool and liable to have an answer taken down.

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I didn't copy and I'm not stupid enough to try. But I'll hide this if it makes you guys feel better.

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I'm not saying it was copied, I just got a message and wanted to address it. I'm not accusing.