The Fighting Pokémon type is usually meant for one thing: offense. By boosting up attack and speed, a strong fighting type can sweep an opponent’s entire team. A truly effective fighting Pokémon will have high speed and attack stats, along with a variety of powerful moves to cover as many types as possible.
Read this beginner’s guide on Pokémon types to learn more about the Fighting type.
Fighting Type Pokémon FAQ
What are Fighting attacks strong against?
- Super-Effective (x2): Dark, Ice, Normal, Rock, Steel
- Weak (x0.5): Bug, Flying, Poison, Psychic
- Ineffective (x0): Ghost
What attack types are strong against Fighting Pokémon?
- Super-Effective (x2): Flying, Psychic
- Weak (0.5): Bug, Dark, Rock
What are some common characteristics of Fighting Pokémon?
High attack stats
- Almost always offensively-oriented
- General Hints and Tips on Fighting Pokémon
Fighting, along with Ground, are the two powerhouse offensive Pokémon types.
Fighting attacks are strong against five types, some of which (Normal, Dark, Steel) don’t have too many weaknesses. Fighting attacks are surprisingly varied, meaning the Fighting type benefits greatly from STAB (same type attack bonus) with a variety of moves for different strategies. Typically speaking though, try to never use more than 2 fighting attacks, save the other 2-3 slots for different move types to hit as many types as possible.
Most Fighting Pokémon lack defenses and hp like various play online casino games, and rarely have much more than average speed. Boosting a strong Fighting Pokémon’s speed can help it greatly, as a strong fighting attack combined with high attack stats can easily sweep a weak team. Or, boosting attack high enough and using Mach Punch can be a devastating combination of strength and speed.
For Fighting Pokémon with low speed and no way to learn Mach Punch, a few Fighting moves can actually be beneficial for a slower Pokémon. Revenge increases power if the user is attacked before it is used, while Reversal deals huge damage when the user is at low HP, especially if the Pokémon has high HP to begin with like Hariyama.
Most Fighting Pokémon can learn a few different move types, such as the ground type move Earthquake, the rock type moves like Rock Slide and Stone Edge. For dual type fighting Pokémon such as the Fighting/Poison type Toxicroak, using Sludge Bomb can add significantly to the Pokémon’s versatility.
Finding a move that counters Flying type Pokémon is always advised, as they are the most common counter to Fighting Pokémon. Keep in mind, however, that most Flying types are the dual combo Flying/Normal, which does not actually resist Fighting attacks (it’s nuetral). Also keep in mind that strong Flying moves are somewhat rare.
Psychic Pokémon pose a far more potent problem, unless a Bug attack can be scrounged up.
Fighting Pokémon – Dual Types
Dual combos with the Fighting type aren’t too common, but they do happen. Fighting/Psychic, Fighting/Fire, Fighting/Water, Fighting/Grass, Fighting/Poison, Fighting/Bug, and Fighting/Steel are all combos with Fighting. It seems like a lot, but most of these type combos are unique to only one Pokémon, such as Poliwrath and Fighting/Water.
Most type combos with Fighting add more weaknesses, since Fighting only has two in Flying and Psychic. Toxicroak and Fighting/Poison, for example, has a x4 weakness to Psychic and x2 weaknesses to Flying and Ground. But it does add STAB to poison attacks, which can be beneficial.
Speaking strictly from a typing perspective, Fighting/Psychic and Fighting/Steel are the best. Only Flying and Ghost can deal big damage to Medicham and its unique Fighting/Psychic combo. And Lucario’s Fighting/Steel combo must watch out for Fire, Fighting, and Ground, but benefits from resistances too many to list here, along with an immunity to Poison.
Strong Fighting type Pokémon
Strong Fighting-type Pokémon abound: Machamp, Hariyama, Medicham, Lucario, Heracross, Toxicroak, the three Hitmos, Primeape, Heracross, Blaziken, and Infernape.
Some Fighting Pokémon, such as Machamp and Hariyama, are slow but powerful. Others, like Hitmonlee and Primeape, benefit from more speed than most Fighting Pokémon. Certain Fighting Pokémon with dual types, such as Toxicroak and Heracross, suffer from a x4 weakness (psychcic and flying, respectively), but can benefit from two STAB moves.
Medicham is a special case, since it deserves a spot in this list entirely due to an ability: Pure Power. At first glance, Medicham’s stats are lackluster at best, but Pure Power effectively doubles attack, which can add up to some truly incredible damage. It’s also worth noting that it trades a Psychic weakness for a weakness to Ghost, which is a better trade in the end.
Blaziken and Infernape, since they’re starter Pokémon, are obviously strong, but must be aware of numerous weaknesses.
And Lucario is great for having numerous resistances, and some excellent moves.
Advanced Fighting type Pokémon Strategies
To make the most of the Fighting type, care must be taken to select the right moves for the right Pokémon.
Hariyama, for example, has huge HP and decent attack, but not much else. Due to it’s large HP, Substitute works great with it. While hiding behind Substitute, Hariyama can deal immense damage with Focus Punch, and when his HP gets low Reversal works wonders too.
With Machamp’s unique No Guard ability, all moves gain accuracy, so Dynamic Punch becomes a worthwhile move that deals good damage and causes confusion. Moves like Stone Edge become 100% chance to hit. Such a combination wouldn’t work with other Pokémon, since Dynamic Punch’s natural accuracy is so low.
But other Pokémon, such as Heracross, are more cut-and-dry. Heracross learns a wide variety of powerful moves, and it’s as simple as choosing the most powerful moves available, such as Close Combat and Megahorn, and teaching some powerful moves through TMs such as Earthquake and Rock Slide.
Fighting Type Pokémon Conclusion
As one of the most powerful and diverse offensive types in the game, any party benefits from a strong Fighting Pokémon. Fighting Pokémon can be as simple as choosing powerful moves to deal the most damage, to more advanced strategies utilizing unique abilties and types. What’s more, the Fighting type’s weaknesses – Psychic and Flying – are predictable for the most part, making it easy to see a counter coming.
