Pokemon The Best Ghost-type Moves

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Pokemon The Best Ghost-type Moves

If you plan on training a Ghost-type Pokemon, these are the moves they need to learn. Ghost-type moves are some of the most underhanded and trickiest in all of . Many of them rely on screwing over your opponent in crafty ways rather than doing direct damage. In Generation I, did not have many good damage-inflicting moves. Their three choices were limited to Lick, which only had 30 base power, Night Shade, which was fixed damage, and Confuse Ray, which caused confusion and not an ounce of damage. Since then, Game Freak's gradually remedied the situation by adding Ghost-type moves consistently across the series. These days, Gengar and friends have access to a much worthier number of moves. If you're wondering how they stack up, here's your list. Updated on January 25th, 2022 by Quinton O'Connor: Ghost-type Pokemon are all the rage, with many of the most competitive teams in Sword & Shield's online meta boasting a spooky comrade and some prime picks in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl as well. To that end, we've tossed in a few more entries and enhanced this list's clarity for your reading (and strategic planning) pleasure. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY

Poltergeist

Move Base Power Accuracy Poltergeist 110 90 The Isle of Armor has a Master Dojo with a ton of services. brought to you by a fellow Dojo member. This helpful lad is willing to teach you one move from every type in the game. This Ghost-type move is called Poltergeist, and it's very good. It has a 90 percent accuracy rating and 110 base power. The problem with this move is that it will fail if the target isn't holding an item, has Klutz as an ability, or if Magic Room is in effect. Klutz and Magic Room won't spring up too often, but held items are commonplace - especially online. But if none of that applies, a 110/90 split will more than earn its keep.

Curse

Few questions are asked so frequently in Pokemon than the following: "is Curse a good move?" We can blame Game Freak for not making it as clear as it could be, or we can just tell you what Curse does for Ghost-types and why it's so different for everybody else. For non-Ghost Pokemon, Curse drops the user's Speed stat and raises its Attack and Defense. This isn't bad, though it's not often you'll want to eat an entire turn lowering your swiftness going forward. But for Ghost-types, Curse is a good move through and through. The user will cut its HP in half, placing a titular curse on the opponent. A Pokemon that has been cursed will lose a quarter of its maximum HP every turn. This continues happening until the Pokemon is switched out, faints, or the battle ends. An argument can be made that since Ghost Pokemon are seldom burly, slicing their frailty so harshly can put them in serious peril. And that's not untrue. But Curse is designed, first and foremost, to wreck sturdy and scary foes - sacrifice your Misdreavus for the cause.

Ominous Wind

Move Base Power Accuracy Ominous Wind 60 100 With a bone-chilling name, this move is quite obviously going to be Ghost-type. Introduced in Generation IV, this spooky move is a very reliable damaging attack for Ghost-types. With a base power of 60 and 100 percent accuracy, it's already a solid choice for inflicting a steady amount of special damage. However, this move also has a ten percent chance to raise all the user's stats by a stage. Unfortunately, it's been removed in Generation VIII. For older games, though, this one is surely one of the best.

Confuse Ray

Despite Generation I being scolded for only having three Ghost-type moves, one of them is actually excellent. Confuse Ray is a non-damaging Ghost-type move that will always confuse its target, never missing. Confusion will cause the afflicted Pokemon to strike themselves for damage one-third of the time (50 percent in generations I to VI). This damage is calculated as a 40 base power physical attack. Being able to inflict confusion on top of another status condition is fantastic, making Confuse Ray a very reliable move.

Trick-Or-Treat

Introduce a bit of Halloween spirit into your battle strategy with the move Trick-or-Treat. It's unfortunate that this move is exclusive to , because it's pretty fun. The move will add Ghost-type to the target. If they're dual-type, it'll make them have three types. The reason this is so great is that Ghost-types are super-effective against each other. If you use your Ghost-type (like Gourgeist) to add Ghost to your opponent, they then become weak to your other Ghost-types attacks. Why ghosts are cursed with a weakness to their own kind is a question for another day.

Shadow Claw

Move Base Power Accuracy Shadow Claw 70 100 Some moves don't need fancy bonus effects to be useable and very competitive. A perfect example of this is the old staple, Shadow Claw. This Ghost-type move, introduced in Generation IV, has a base power of 70 and 100 percent accuracy. Its added effect is that it has an increased critical hit ratio. Even without that, though, it's a solid, reliable move that does a good bit of damage with no drawbacks. It can be taught to a ton of Pokemon via TM, too.

Moongeist Beam

Move Base Power Accuracy Moongeist Beam 100 100 , the two box mascots for Sun & Moon, each received a matching signature move. Both do the same thing, with Solgaleo's being Steel-type and Lunala's being Ghost-type. These moves are both fantastic. They inflict damage with 100 base power and 100 percent accuracy. As an added effect, they ignore most abilities, meaning the target will not be able to reduce the damage done by the move. The one downside is that only Lunala can learn it (and Dawn Wings Necrozma, technically).

Spectral Thief

Move Base Power Accuracy Spectral Thief 90 100 Game Freak seemingly decided that almost every Pokemon in Generation VII should have its own signature move because a ton of them do. Joining Lunala in having a great Ghost-type move is Marshadow with Spectral Thief. This move will inflict damage at a base power of 90 with 100 percent accuracy. It will also steal any stat boosts that the target has, meaning Marshadow can steal the ever-present Swords Dances that many people use. It also steals the stat boosts before inflicting damage.

Hex

Move Base Power Accuracy Hex 65 100 This Ghost-type move, commonly mixed up with Curse, is an already-great one that was made even better after it was introduced. First seen in Generation V, Hex has a respectable 50 base damage with 100 percent accuracy. It will double in base power to a nice 100 if the target has a non-volatile status condition afflicted. However, as of Generation VI this sneaky technique has had its base power raised to 65, meaning a whopping 130 potential. At this point, this is just insult to injury.

Shadow Force Phantom Force

Move Base Power Accuracy Shadow Force 120 100 Phantom Force 90 120

Shadow Force

This move works somewhat like Fly or Dive, placing the user in a semi-invulnerable state for the first turn, then striking on the second. At 120 base power and 100 percent accuracy, it's worth the wait across the two turns. It will also ignore protection moves, sneaking in behind that Protect or Wide Guard. Sadly, this is the signature move of Giratina, meaning it is almost never available elsewhere. However, there is an event Arceus that was distributed with it; so if you're incredibly lucky, your godlike Arceus sports yet another spectacular attack.

Phantom Force

Phantom Force works basically the same way as Shadow Force. The user is semi-invulnerable on the turn it's used, then reappears and attacks the opponent on the second turn. Alas, it's weaker. Phantom Force has a base power of 90, rather than 120. But, it's usable by many Pokemon, whereas Shadow Force is Giratina's signature move.

Astral Barrage

Move Base Power Accuracy Astral Barrage 120 100 One of the newest Legendary Pokemon - Spectrier - is a Ghost-type, so it's perfect that there's a new Ghost-type move to go with it. And what a lovely one at that. With 100 percent accuracy and 120 base damage, this move is no joke. Like Giratina's, this is pure signature stuff. Only Shadow Rider Calyrex - - can learn it. But if you've got it, by all means, blast your rivals to smithereens with it.

Destiny Bond

In Japanese, Destiny Bond is called "Take Along With." This has no bearing on anything, but it's kind of funny, so here you go. Destiny Bond is a strange one. Like Hex, many players conflate the Ghost-type move with Curse. The way the move seems to work is that once it's cast, the opposing Pokemon will also faint when the user faints, no questions asked. That would be amazing, if not outright overpowered. It's not quite on that level, but in a sense, this makes it all the more dubious. Instead, Destiny Bond does what we've described above specifically until the user's next move takes place. It's a key difference, but a clever one. If a relatively swift Pokemon uses Destiny Bond and then gets beaten down like wild in the same turn by its slower rival, that rival is done for - whether it's a Level 1 Bidoof or a Level 100 Mewtwo.

Shadow Bone

Don't look now, but it's yet another signature move. This time the champion of exclusivity is Alolan Marowak, Sun & Moon's sweet Fire/Ghost dual-type Pokemon. First, Shadow Bone looks awesome. That might not be enough to put it on your team, but at least look it up on YouTube. Alola is one of the best Pokemon regions for introducing flashy finishers thanks to its Z-Move system, but Shadow Bone isn't even a Z-Move; it doesn't need to be. It's just that cool. More to the point, its 85 base power comes paired with a reliable 100 percent accuracy. Such precision seldom goes above around 90 or so, and that's rare enough to make 85 plenty appealing on its own.

Shadow Ball

Move Base Power Accuracy Shadow Ball 80 100 There are few moves so iconic as Shadow Ball, a long-time staple that features especially prominently in the earlier portions of many playthroughs. Introduced in Generation II, Shadow Ball is a Ghost-type move that has 80 base power and 100 percent accuracy. That is solid enough on its own, but it is made better by the fact that it can be taught to a huge number of Pokemon. Traditionally, Shadow Ball can be found within the first few hours of a campaign, so your team benefits from it for quite some time before it can be replaced with something that much stronger. As an added bonus, there's also a 20 percent chance of it lowering the target's Special Defense by a stage. Not exactly earth-shattering, but a pretty perk nonetheless.