Did you suppose there’s no approach Niantic may enhance Lucario (as a combating sort) even additional, a lot much less with an unique transfer? I believed so, too. Sadly, that was incorrect.
Mega Lucario raid day occurs on Saturday, July 27. All Lucario caught throughout the occasion will know the raid-exclusive quick transfer, Force Palm. Today, we’ll have a look at how nicely Lucario performs in raids with the brand new transfer, whether or not mega developed or not.
Main Points (TL;DR)
Mega Lucario is in a tier of its personal amongst combating attackers, no less than in particular person energy. With the unique transfer Force Palm, it’s 22% stronger than the following finest various, Mega Heracross.
- Such dominance is harking back to different iconic megas for raids, just like the Primals, Mega Charizard Y and Mega Blaziken (hearth), and once-upon-a-time Mega Gengar.
- One caveat although: Mega Lucario isn’t the most effective staff participant. Due to its very low bulk, in case your aim is to maximise group injury, Mega Lucario is barely much less excellent than bulkier alternate options, such as Mega Heracross, the eventual Mega Mewtwo X, and even a Primal hiding within the sixth slot.
- Non-legacy Counter Lucario is completely wonderful as a mega, and stays nicely above its opponents.
Even when not mega developed, common Force Palm Lucario nonetheless gives a sizable improve of ~8% over Counter. This permits it to strategy Shadow Machamp degree and enormously solidifies its place as the most effective common non-legendary combating attacker.
- Conkeldurr and Shadow Hariyama at the moment are solidly behind Force Palm Lucario (albeit Conkeldurr is less expensive). Terrakion stays nicely forward, although.
- Rarely do raid attackers see such upgrades from a legacy quick transfer, which could make it a great Elite Fast TM candidate.
- (Note: If previous occasions are any indication, you’ll probably be capable of get Force Palm by evolving Riolu throughout the raid day. Don’t do that till there’s affirmation from New Zealand, although. Also, unlock a second transfer earlier than evolving!)
Mega Lucario may be a “budget” Steel attacker and mega for individuals who are brief on sources, nevertheless it’s not a very good one. All issues thought of, it’s in all probability worse than Mega Aggron and so forth.
Future Pokemon and speculations (Shadow Lucario, Mega Mewtwo Y, and extra) are mentioned in its devoted part in the direction of the tip of the article.
My analyses of different sorts are in this spreadsheet. You also can observe me on Twitter (X) and Threads!
Charts
Fighting attackers, normally
Fighting attackers, Comparisons
Fighting Megas
Steel attackers, normally
Steel Megas
Future and speculative Fighting attackers
A really fast notice on comparisons involving common Lucario
Lucario may be very frail, which you in all probability already know. What you may not count on, although, is that its metal subtyping generally is a legal responsibility extra usually than being an asset.
Why? Close Combat, Focus Blast and Earthquake present up surprisingly usually amongst charged strikes that raid bosses might have. Even although being a metal sort brings Lucario many resistances, seems that the benefit of resisting a charged transfer (taking 0.625x injury vs. the impartial 1x) is smaller than the drawback of being weak to at least one (1.6x vs. 1x).
This exhibits up most prominently within the Lucario vs. Shadow Machamp comparability. The bar chart might provide the impression that they’re roughly equal, with Lucario having a 53% “win” fee, however on the road chart it lies slightly below Shadow Machamp. Turns out, it is because when Lucario “fails”, it may well fail actually badly. While it does rating huge wins in opposition to the likes of Draco Meteor Dialga and Moonblast Zamazenta, such instances are a lot rarer.
This is to not say Lucario is underwhelming — it’s not. The evaluation merely suggests you could not need to put all of your eggs in its basket, whether or not as a mega or not.
Lucario amongst Fighting-type Megas
First off, Mega Lucario is the most effective solo performer out of all fighting-type megas (and non-megas), interval. And until one other mega will get a flowery new transfer, that gained’t change.
However, Lucario’s glassiness continues to solid a little bit of shadow on its in any other case stellar efficiency right here, however extra prominently as a mega. In group raids with a pair different gamers utilizing combating attackers, Mega Lucario doesn’t present the 30% injury increase to different gamers for lengthy sufficient, as a consequence of its shorter lifespan.
As a outcome, in impartial typing setups after getting no less than 3-4 gamers in your foyer, Mega Lucario’s complete group injury contribution is outshined by bulkier megas that maintain the injury increase for for much longer:
- Mega Heracross, as I discussed in its own analysis
- A Primal Kyogre, Primal Groudon or Mega Rayquaza sitting within the sixth slot, even when it by no means sees the battlefield – the “background boost”
- Future Mega Mewtwo X, no matter whether or not it will get the “background boost” or not
(The above assumes no typing benefits, so Mega Lucario will see higher efficiency if it resists the boss’s strikes. But as I discussed within the previous part, typing would possibly even harm Mega Lucario extra usually than it helps.)
Nevertheless, this isn’t an enormous detrimental issue in opposition to Mega Lucario, if one in any respect:
- Not everybody treats maximizing group injury as the one aim. Some gamers might even need to purposely reduce group increase for their very own injury balls — in that case, Mega Lucario is ideal for you.
- Mega Lucario has a novel capability to increase each Steel- and Fighting-type injury. These two sorts share numerous frequent targets, particularly in opposition to rock and ice-type bosses (Kyurem, Regirock, Terrakion). These instances enhance Mega Lucario’s group-boosting outreach, probably offsetting its disadvantages in bulk.
- Mega Lucario additionally has distinctive (XL) sweet boosting capabilities. Notably, in opposition to most Steel-type bosses (e.g. Dialga), it’s one of many few megas that each offers nice injury and offers you bonus XL probability upon catching the raid boss.
Future and Speculation
(Disclaimer: All strikes talked about beneath that aren’t already realized by the mentioned Pokemon are purely speculative, and they could jolly nicely by no means occur in PoGo.)
You would possibly suppose Mega Mewtwo X (Psychic/Fighting) will give Mega Lucario a run for its cash, simply because it’s freakin’ Mewtwo… But not fairly.
Assuming Mega Mewtwo X will get a 3% nerf in “MSG” stats, just like the Primals and Mega Ray did:
- With its present strikes (Psycho Cut/Focus Blast), Mega Mewtwo X doesn’t even come near Mega Lucario. In reality, it’s nearer to Mega Blaziken. Focus Blast is mediocre, and having no fighting-type transfer definitely doesn’t assist.
- But any fighting-type quick transfer is sufficient to change that. Mewtwo can legally be taught each Low Kick and Counter within the MSG (and, as we’ve seen with Lucario, I wouldn’t rule out them turning into raid-exclusive strikes). Either can land Mega Mewtwo X in the identical tier as Mega Lucario in solo energy, which additionally implies significantly better group efficiency.
- Alternatively… Did you understand Mewtwo also can be taught Aura Sphere within the MSG? Getting that alone (paired with Psycho Cut) places it nicely above Mega Lucario, merely as a consequence of how disgustingly overpowered Aura Sphere is.
Outside of that, Mega Lucario is largely protected… But not technically so. Several fighting-type megas have the theoretical potential to land inside the similar vary: Aura Sphere Mega Blaziken and Mega Gallade, or Mega Heracross with an overpowered “signature” transfer.
Moving away from megas: Shadow Lucario might finally turn into a factor, although the query is how (or if in any respect). If it does, it’s poised to turn into the #2 finest non-mega combating attacker within the foreseeable future, solely behind Shadow Terrakion.
Regular Lucario is probably a bit extra “future-proof” than it was earlier than, with Force Palm. While it stays beneath Terrakion, just a few non-legendary choices now discover it a lot more durable to surpass that degree. Namely, the run-of-the-mill Aura Sphere suspects (Blaziken, Low Kick Mienshao, Gallade, Kommo-o) gained’t.
- One exception, although: Force Palm/Aura Sphere Mienshao. I forgot to run simulations, nevertheless it is more likely to be higher than Force Palm Lucario as a consequence of higher stats. Mienshao already stood out as the most certainly future recipient of Aura Sphere, too.
Imgur Links and Additional Charts
General attacker charts: ASE and ASTTW*
Comparisons:
Mega charts:
* signifies further charts that aren’t in the primary put up.
