Niantic announced alongside the Gengar Day in Pokémon GO two new moves that Gengar can learn on this day. We show you how strong the moves “Lick” and “Psychic” are.
Gengar can learn two new moves via the Gengar Day on November 3rd that it could not master until now. These are:
- Lick: This is a Ghost-type Quick Move. Lick has a base damage of 5
- Psychic: This is a Psychic-type Charge Move. Psychic has a base damage of 100 and a charge bar
We compare Lick and Psychic with other moves that Gengar can learn.
Lick compared to other Quick Moves
We now compare Lick with the Quick Move Dark Claw. This is also a Ghost-type move. Dark Claw can no longer be learned by Gengar. Therefore, it is quite rare to own such a Gengar.
Quick Comparison: If you want to summarize the comparison quickly, you can say that Dark Claw does more damage than Lick, but Lick generates energy for the Charge Move faster.
EPS Comparison: EPS stands for Energy Per Second. The value reflects how much energy a move can charge per second. This energy is then used for the Charge Move. The higher the EPS of the move, the faster you can use the Charge Move of the Pokémon.
- EPS value with Lick: 12.0
- EPS value with Dark Claw: 8.6
- Time until using the Charge Move Shadow Ball with Lick: 4.5 seconds
- Time until using the Charge Move Shadow Ball with Dark Claw: 6.3 seconds
DPS Comparison: DPS stands for Damage Per Second. It deals with how much damage the respective move can deal per second. The higher the DPS value, the faster the opponent is defeated.
- DPS value of Lick: 12.0
- DPS value of Dark Claw: 15.4
This means that a Pokémon would be defeated faster if you only fought with Dark Claw. If you only fight with Lick, it takes longer to defeat a Pokémon.
Comparison with the move Burden: Currently, Gengar can only learn Burden as a Ghost-type Quick Move. However, Burden is in every respect worse than Lick and Dark Claw.
Conclusion of the Comparison
When comparing all values, there is no clear result. Lick is at least as good as Dark Claw, rather slightly better. But that is situation-dependent. Both moves share first place.
That’s why Lick is better: When looking at the overall DPS of Gengar, one realizes that a Gengar with Lick and Shadow Ball is better than a Gengar with Dark Claw and Shadow Ball. With the higher EPS value, Gengar can use Shadow Ball faster, which then is stronger than a Quick Move.
Dark Claw still very good: If you now own a Gengar with Dark Claw, you definitely should not transfer it. Dark Claw is a move that Gengar can no longer learn and the pure DPS of Dark Claw is simply unbeatable. There are only minimal differences between Dark Claw and Lick.
Psychic compared to other Charge Moves of Gengar
Psychic is the first Psychic-type move that Gengar can learn. Therefore, it is difficult to find a similar alternative for comparison.
No STAB: STAB stands for Same Type Attack Bonus. This means that Pokémon using attacks that are of the same type as the Pokémon itself receive a bonus in battle.
Gengar is not Psychic-type. This means that it does not receive STAB when using Psychic.
No Psychic Quick Move: Gengar cannot learn a Quick Move of Psychic type. Therefore, if you want to score as a Psychic attacker, Gengar would first have to wait until it can finally use Psychic.
Better Psychic Attackers: If you want a good Psychic attacker, you definitely do not choose Gengar. Mewtwo, Alakazam or Espeon would just be a small part of Pokémon that are all better than Gengar.
Quick Conclusion: Overall, a Gengar with Psychic is useless. All facts speak against this move. If you get a Gengar with Psychic from a raid, use a TM and give it Shadow Ball. That way, you will be much better off.
What do you think of the new moves of Gengar?
Currently, the raid boss Giratina is on the arenas – With these Pokémon you can defeat it.
