Not RBY but with how wide and regal Fearow's wings are, it seems like having the Gale Wings ability would be a perfect fit for it flavor-wise.Throws dart
*thunk*
Why don't you get Brave Bird? Why? Hell, Sword and Shield finally made it a TR and gave it out like candy, and you didn't even buy a ticket to Galar? Why do you suck so much?
Seriously though, Fearow has to be one of the most depressing birds out there. Like, it's actually baffling how the devs have forced Fearow to use Drill Peck for 20+ years, never giving it any alternative. It does have a design direction though, and that's it basically being "crit bird", with Sniper, Drill Run and Focus Energy all being things in its movepool. It can't even be consistent there though, like, it's so painfully frail and usually won't be able to set it up. As a result, it often just goes halfway and becomes an inconsistent mess. But, this is its only niche, which is the central issue: its niche is something it can't do well at all.
Does this apply to RBY? Not at all, it doesn't even get Focus Energy to be funny in Stadium OU where it actually works(!)
In RBY, Fearow is kind of between Pidgeot and Dodrio in the "Normal/Flying Hierarchy", getting Drill Peck but not Body Slam. Unfortunate. On top of this, it's not really as minmaxed as Dodrio, which puts it in a weird situation of not really doing enough damage while simultaneously taking quite a bit itself. The one thing Fearow has over Dodrio is Mirror Move, which gives it a cool play where you switch it in on Earthquake and get to use it next turn. Is it good? Eh...it's ok, but predictable in a real setting. In RBY NU you usually end up in bird mirrors due to it...speaking of that, Fearow is actually quite good in NU, try it out!
This isn't really a Pokemon that sucks, it's just painfully mediocre and is in desperate need of better STABs in present times. I hope it gets the help it needs if it somehow gets to Galar.
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Pokemon that disappointed you in-game despite looking good initially?
- Thread starter DrumstickGaming
- Start date
Please god give this poor thing Gale Wings holy shit it needs it so bad I'm gonna cry in the club rfn
Well, if you're using it in game, Spearow does have the advantage of being available much earlier. Plus, starting with Peck is a nice advantage in the early game against the various Bug Catchers and Youngsters. It especially pairs well with Squirtle for obvious reasons.Throws dart
*thunk*
Why don't you get Brave Bird? Why? Hell, Sword and Shield finally made it a TR and gave it out like candy, and you didn't even buy a ticket to Galar? Why do you suck so much?
Seriously though, Fearow has to be one of the most depressing birds out there. Like, it's actually baffling how the devs have forced Fearow to use Drill Peck for 20+ years, never giving it any alternative. It does have a design direction though, and that's it basically being "crit bird", with Sniper, Drill Run and Focus Energy all being things in its movepool. It can't even be consistent there though, like, it's so painfully frail and usually won't be able to set it up. As a result, it often just goes halfway and becomes an inconsistent mess. But, this is its only niche, which is the central issue: its niche is something it can't do well at all.
Does this apply to RBY? Not at all, it doesn't even get Focus Energy to be funny in Stadium OU where it actually works(!)
In RBY, Fearow is kind of between Pidgeot and Dodrio in the "Normal/Flying Hierarchy", getting Drill Peck but not Body Slam. Unfortunate. On top of this, it's not really as minmaxed as Dodrio, which puts it in a weird situation of not really doing enough damage while simultaneously taking quite a bit itself. The one thing Fearow has over Dodrio is Mirror Move, which gives it a cool play where you switch it in on Earthquake and get to use it next turn. Is it good? Eh...it's ok, but predictable in a real setting. In RBY NU you usually end up in bird mirrors due to it...speaking of that, Fearow is actually quite good in NU, try it out!
This isn't really a Pokemon that sucks, it's just painfully mediocre and is in desperate need of better STABs in present times. I hope it gets the help it needs if it somehow gets to Galar.
Poor thing peaked in GSC, where it is one of the three god-tiers alongside Geodude and Totodile, and then it was a slow roll downhill from there.
I’d say Fearow was solidly better than Pidgeot was in gen 1 for in-game purposes. Also got to flex in RSE UU while Pidgeot was stuck in NU competing with Murkrow.
It’s a shitmon, granted, but it’s pretty par for the course early game fodder. Definitely no Ledian.
It’s a shitmon, granted, but it’s pretty par for the course early game fodder. Definitely no Ledian.
Fearow:
- Wouldn't hurt with a stat increase, Pidgeot's BST is 479 (was raise from 469 in Gen VI) while Fearow has 442. So it can get at least 30 more BST which would probably be best split into Attack and Speed: 65/90/65/61/61/100 to 65/105/65/61/61/115.
- Gale Wings would certainly be nice for it (honestly would make it a hidden Ability for all "regional birds"), but if they want to make Fearow a "Critical Hitter" I say toss Keen Eye and make its two normal Abilities into Sniper & Super Luck.
- And in doing the above, give it a batch more increased Critical Hit moves. Drill Run is nice, but also give it Slash, Night Slash, & Shadow Claw. Also, since Drill Peck has no secondary effect, how about we make it into an increased Critical Hit move (along with Aqua Tail & X-Scissor; not saying Fearow should get those, just mentioning the moves I think should become increased Critical Hit moves)?
- Would this all make Fearow into a competitive Pokemon? No. But if you decide to play with one in-game you'll at least be able to have some fun with it (and who knows, if they ever make new Mega Pokemon and decide to grace Fearow with one it'll have a direction to go in; did wonders for Beedrill).
Unfezant is basically an upgraded Fearow and it’s still a meh. It has better stats (80/115/80/65/55/93), better abilities (Big pecks, Super luck, and Rivalry), and an arguably better move pool (No drill peck or drill run, but it gets Brave Bird, Night Slash, and Wish).
The problem with a lot of gen I mons is that, back then, GF had a philosophy that you would eventually replace your early mons with the newer ones caught later. Pokémon like Beedrill and Butterfree stop learning moves in the mid-30s, right around the time you would be around Celadon/Fuchsia, where look! you can get Venonat/moth or Pinser/Scyther. The last attacking move that Raticate gets via level-up is Hyper Fang, which it learns at level 14, as a Rattata (it gets Focus Energy at 27 and Super Fang at 41). Hyper Fang is a hard carry early game, but by the time you reach Snorlax/Kangaskahn/Tauros you’d have noticed the damage output drop.
Sadly, a lot of these mons are disappointing because they were designed to be, so you would move on to other Pokémon. I’m glad GF changed their design philosophy later on so that there were better options/more niches for early game mons (in SwSh I still had an orbeetle on my elite 4 team) but a lot of Pokémon suffered to get us here.
Just give Fearow an ability that let's it use recharge moves without recharging and let it learn Sky Attack and Giga Impact per level up. Or give it a more powerful version of Drill Peck as a signature move.
Btw, have I mentioned how terrible Delcatty is?
I haven't used it in RSE, but I used it in XD when it had a pretty high level upon introduction and I was kinda hyped because it had Shock Wave and a 70 Base Power Normal Type move to start with.
But then I realized it doesn't learn any level up moves. I don't recall getting any good TM moves it can learn early on. At that point, I might as well use another Pokemon.
In doubles Blizzard won't help much and buying Thunder for seems dumb.
Thinking about it, it's movepool is pretty bad for a normal type. Notable ones are Return, maybe Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Rain Dance (would be nice for early on with Thunder), Sunny Day + Solarbeam.
Attract + Sweet Kiss did some work but if I had focused on other members, I might not have to rely on such a luck based strategy in the first place.
It's meh in early game, it relies too much on luck for midgame and late game you are in trouble. This thing has horrible stats.
Btw, have I mentioned how terrible Delcatty is?
I haven't used it in RSE, but I used it in XD when it had a pretty high level upon introduction and I was kinda hyped because it had Shock Wave and a 70 Base Power Normal Type move to start with.
But then I realized it doesn't learn any level up moves. I don't recall getting any good TM moves it can learn early on. At that point, I might as well use another Pokemon.
In doubles Blizzard won't help much and buying Thunder for seems dumb.
Thinking about it, it's movepool is pretty bad for a normal type. Notable ones are Return, maybe Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Rain Dance (would be nice for early on with Thunder), Sunny Day + Solarbeam.
Attract + Sweet Kiss did some work but if I had focused on other members, I might not have to rely on such a luck based strategy in the first place.
It's meh in early game, it relies too much on luck for midgame and late game you are in trouble. This thing has horrible stats.
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Obligatory mention that Delcatty, despite being a Moon Stone evolution, who usually have at least decent stats, started off with 380 BST until Gen VII gave it 400. (For the record, 380 is the territory where things like Onix and Dustox are)
Btw, have I mentioned how terrible Delcatty is?
I haven't used it in RSE, but I used it in XD when it had a pretty high level upon introduction and I was kinda hyped because it had Shock Wave and a 70 Base Power Normal Type move to start with.
But then I realized it doesn't learn any level up moves. I don't recall getting any good TM moves it can learn early on. At that point, I might as well use another Pokemon.
In doubles Blizzard won't help much and buying Thunder for seems dumb.
Thinking about it, it's movepool is pretty bad for a normal type. Notable ones are Return, maybe Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Rain Dance (would be nice for early on with Thunder), Sunny Day + Solarbeam.
Attract + Sweet Kiss did some work but if I had focused on other members, I might not have to rely on such a luck based strategy in the first place.
It's meh in early game, it relies too much on luck for midgame and late game you are in trouble. This thing has horrible stats.
This was worse than any of the rodents, and is probably worse than some of the weirder single-stagers.
EDIT: At least Sunflora has 425 for a BST...
And honestly even the added 20 BST didn't do anything for it. They just put them into speed, reaching the lofty heights of... base 90.
Which, like, base 90 isn't HIDEOUS but when that is your best stat its uhhhhhhhh not good.
My bandaid approach has always been Give It Fur Coat, but the sad thing is compared to Furfrou (who would be its closest point of competition) it would stil lbe overall worse, outside of a larger special move pool that it can't use.
Delcatty: 70/65/65/55/55/90
Furfrou: 75/80/60/65/90/102
Take this thing back to the drawing board, please.
Which, like, base 90 isn't HIDEOUS but when that is your best stat its uhhhhhhhh not good.
My bandaid approach has always been Give It Fur Coat, but the sad thing is compared to Furfrou (who would be its closest point of competition) it would stil lbe overall worse, outside of a larger special move pool that it can't use.
Delcatty: 70/65/65/55/55/90
Furfrou: 75/80/60/65/90/102
Take this thing back to the drawing board, please.
Don't you mean second evolution? A 3rd evo would be like the fourth stage of an evolution line, and that's something Pokémon doesn't really need.
Many things that are rare to catch but have an awful BST or evolve into something with a BST as low as that would all be very likely to be mentioned in this forum at any point. Those are essentially wasted investments at worst.
Alright, let me see... you know what, I'm gonna take the lousy route and just take an existing's Pokemon stats and give it to it. Let's see, what Pokemon could be considered a counterpart to the Skitty family... ah ha! The Electrike family should do! Just swap the Attack with Special Attack and viola:
Skitty: 40/65/40/45/40/65//295
Delcatty: 70/105/60/75/60/105//475
Dunsparce: You called?
Chimecho: Can you believe I got a Baby Prevo?
That's not a bad idea, though for what it's worth BW2 made Lopunny its counterpart. For....some reason. It was only in BW2, though, which was weird.
I will come to the defense of Dunsparce for a second. Like it's not great, but it's....usableISH. 100 base hp wit 70 base def goes a decent way. It at least has a gimmick going on with its eclectic movepool and Serene Grace. Gives it a bit of a leg up on its normal compatriots, depending on how you want to look at it.
Dunsparce: You called?
Chimecho: Can you believe I got a Baby Prevo?
I'd put it at a solid Novelty tier, and its novelty is far more present & interesting than Delcatty which is uhhhh normalize, i guess.
Also shout out to that BW2 early game hiker that had a Dunsparce. What a brick wall that thing could be.
The Electrike family also already has a counterpart in the Houndour family, specifically in XY and USUM.
Counterparts are weird.
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Delcatty’s an especially weird case because of its evolution method. You can’t even get an quick leg up on your opponents like you can with the early-game bugs and Normal-types found in most regions thanks to their low evolution levels. Instead you have to wait to find a Moon Stone, which in RSE is found in Meteor Falls, only accessible after you already have 3 badges and your Pokémon‘s levels are all in the mid-twenties.
There also aren’t any early opponents who use a Delcatty as a scary but manageable threat. Battling a random trainer with a level ~15 Delcatty (maybe near Slateport City) might’ve helped justify its low stats a bit more.
Wally uses one, which makes much more sense in ORAS when he has his competitive team makeover in the postgame and gets rid of it lol.
There also aren’t any early opponents who use a Delcatty as a scary but manageable threat. Battling a random trainer with a level ~15 Delcatty (maybe near Slateport City) might’ve helped justify its low stats a bit more.
Wally uses one, which makes much more sense in ORAS when he has his competitive team makeover in the postgame and gets rid of it lol.
Added bit of weirdness is, as a reminder, there is one free moon stone in the game. And while the only other moon stone user in the game, Jigglypuff, is....also bad, it means that unless you're in Sapphire (&ONLY SAPPHIRE, Lunatone isnt in Emerald) where you can steal more off Lunatone you get to choose between the rare objectively bad pokemon or the kind of less rare still pretty bad pokemon
Confounding on every possible level, really.
Unfortunately, I don't think that's possible since Delcatty evolves via Moon Stone and all Pokémon that evolve by evolutionary stones are all final stage Pokémon. The best hope Delcatty has are generation transition buffs and a possible Mega Evolution in the future (I hope it gets one along with Sunflora!).
Trade evolutions were also considered final until Porygon-Z was introduced. They can make another exception for stone evolutions.
I wouldn't mind Mega Banette getting a Mega either
also if you want to use it you have to not use any other available mega.
Sadly a Mega Delcatty would probably be like Mega Mawile where it is the best thing to happen to it and likely lock it out of any other notable buff for the rest of the series barring another change in design process.
I wouldn't necessarily mind Delcatty being locked to one ability as a price for being viable, since the only unique thing it has is a weird ability. Practically speaking, it would need more than just stat boosts to make Normalize usable. Gengar in BH ran it but had a ghost typing, Entrainment, and a move that ignores Normalize, and I would expect Delcatty would need at least two of those.