Damage: Difference between revisions

Ash's Pokémon injured after a battle

Damage (Japanese: ダメージ damage) is a loss of a Pokémon's HP that happens as the result of a physical or special attack used against it by another Pokémon.

Damage calculation

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: past generations detailed info (see User:Awesomelink234/Damage formula), and more detailed info from Gen 5 onward (see here and here)

Except for moves that deal direct damage, the damage dealt when a Pokémon uses a damaging move depends on its level, its effective Attack or Special Attack stat, the opponent's effective Defense or Special Defense stat, and the move's effective power. In addition, various factors of damage modification may also affect the damage dealt.

More precisely, damage is calculated from Generation V onward as

${\displaystyle Damage=\left({\frac {\left({\frac {2\times Level}{5}}+2\right)\times Power\times A/D}{50}}+2\right)\times Targets\times PB\times Weather\times Critical\times random\times STAB\times Type\times Burn\times other\times ZMove}$

where

• Level is the level of the attacking Pokémon (or twice the level for a critical hit in Generation I).
• A is the effective Attack stat of the attacking Pokémon if the used move is a physical move, or the effective Special Attack stat of the attacking Pokémon if the used move is a special move (ignoring all^Gen. I/negative^Gen. II+ stat stages for a critical hit).
• D is the effective Defense stat of the target if the used move is a physical move or a special move that uses the target's Defense stat, or the effective Special Defense of the target if the used move is an other special move (ignoring all^Gen. II/positive^Gen. III+ stat stages for a critical hit).
• Power is the effective power of the used move.
• Targets is 0.75 (0.5 in Battle Royals) if the move has more than one target when the move is executed, and 1 otherwise.
• PB is 0.25 (0.5 in Generation VI) if the move is the second strike of Parental Bond, and 1 otherwise.
• Weather is 1.5 if a Water-type move is being used during rain or a Fire-type move during harsh sunlight, and 0.5 if a Water-type move is used during harsh sunlight or a Fire-type move during rain, and 1 otherwise.
• Critical is 1.5 (2 in Generation V) for a critical hit, and 1 otherwise.
• random is a random factor. Namely, it is recognized as a multiplication from a random integer between 85 and 100, inclusive, then divided by 100.
• STAB is the same-type attack bonus. This is equal to 1.5 if the move's type matches any of the user's types, 2 if the user of the move additionally has Adaptability, and 1 otherwise.
• Type is the type effectiveness. This can be 0 (ineffective); 0.25, 0.5 (not very effective); 1 (normally effective); 2, or 4 (super effective), depending on both the move's and target's types.
• Burn is 0.5 (from Generation III onward) if the attacker is burned, its Ability is not Guts, and the used move is a physical move (other than Facade from Generation VI onward), and 1 otherwise.
• other is 1 in most cases, and a different multiplier when specific interactions of moves, Abilities, or items take effect:

If multiple effects influence the other value, their values stack multiplicatively. For example, if both Multiscale and a Chilan Berry take effect, other is 0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25.

• ZMove is 0.25 if the move is a Z-Move, Max Move, or G-Max Move being used into a protection move (Protect, Detect, King's Shield, Spiky Shield, Mat Block, Baneful Bunker, or Obstruct), and 1 otherwise.

During the calculation, any operations are carried out on integers internally, such that effectively each division is a truncated integer division (rounding towards zero, cutting off any decimals), and any decimals are cut off after each multiplication operation. If the calculation yields 0, the move will deal 1 HP damage instead (unless Type is equal to 0); however, in Generations I and V, different behavior may occur due to apparent oversights:

• In Generation I, if the calculation yields 0 because the target has two types that both resist the move's type, the move will miss as if it is ineffective;
• In Generation V, a move may deal 0 HP damage when other is less than 1, because the routine to prevent 0 HP damage is erroneously performed before applying the other factor.

Example

Imagine a level 75 Glaceon that does not suffer a burn and holds no item with an effective Attack stat of 123 uses Ice Fang (an Ice-type physical move with a power of 65) against a Garchomp with an effective Defense stat of 163 in Generation VI, and does not land a critical hit. Then, the move will receive STAB, because Glaceon's Ice type matches the move's: STAB = 1.5. Additionally, Garchomp is Dragon/Ground, and therefore has a double weakness to the move's Ice type: Type = 4. All other (non-random) modifiers will be 1. This effectively gives

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}Damage&=\left({\frac {\left({\frac {2\times 75}{5}}+2\right)\times 65\times 123/163}{50}}+2\right)\times 1\times 1\times 1\times 1\times (rand\in [0.85,1.00])\times 1.5\times 4\times 1\times 1\\&=rand\in [168,196]\end{aligned}}}$

That means Ice Fang will do between 168 and 196 HP damage, depending on luck.

If the same Glaceon holds a Muscle Band and its Ice Fang lands a critical hit against Garchomp, Ice Fang's effective power will be boosted by the Muscle Band by (approximately) 10% to become 71, and it will also be Critical = 1.5:

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}Damage&=\left({\frac {\left({\frac {2\times 75}{5}}+2\right)\times 71\times 123/163}{50}}+2\right)\times 1\times 1\times 1\times 1.5\times (rand\in [0.85,1.00])\times 1.5\times 4\times 1\times 1\\&=rand\in [268,324]\end{aligned}}}$

That means Ice Fang will now do between 268 and 324 HP damage, depending on luck.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Unsure if Wild Might is applied directly to the A/D stats, or as an other modifier

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a new damage calculation method is used:

${\displaystyle Damage=\left({\frac {0.2\times A+3\times Level+20}{D+50}}\right)\times Power\times Type\times STAB\times Weather\times Critical\times random\times other}$

where

• ${\displaystyle Level}$ is the level of the attacking Pokémon.
• ${\displaystyle A}$ is the effective Attack stat of the attacking Pokémon if the used move is a physical move, or the effective Special Attack stat of the attacking Pokémon if the used move is a special move.
  • If the attacker is under Slow Start, then the physical Attack stat will be halved at this step of the calculation.
• ${\displaystyle D}$ is the effective Defense stat of the target if the used move is a physical move, or the effective Special Defense of the target if the used move is an other special move.
• ${\displaystyle Power}$ is the effective power of the used move.
• ${\displaystyle Type}$ is the type effectiveness. This can be 0 (ineffective); 0.4, 0.5 (not very effective); 1 (normally effective); 2, or 2.5 (super effective), depending on both the move's and target's types.
• ${\displaystyle STAB}$ is the same-type attack bonus. This is equal to 1.25 if the move's type matches any of the user's types, and 1 otherwise.
• ${\displaystyle Weather}$ is 0.75 if a Fire-type move is used during rain, and 1 otherwise.
• ${\displaystyle Critical}$ is 1.5 for a critical hit, and 1 otherwise.
• ${\displaystyle random}$ is a random factor. It is a random integer percentage between 85% and 100% (inclusive).
  • Splinter damage (from Ceaseless Edge, Pin Missile, Spikes, Stealth Rock and Stone Axe) is not subject to this factor.
• ${\displaystyle other}$ is:

Status	Value	Detail
Burn	0.5	If the attacker has a burn and uses physical move
Drowsy	1.33	If the target is drowsy
Frostbite	0.5	If the attacker has frostbite and uses a special move
Primed	1.5	If the attacker is primed (Double Hit, Victory Dance)
Fixated	1.5	If the attacker is fixated on a move
	1.33	If the target is fixated on a move
Power Boost	1.5	If the attacker's offensive stats are raised
Power Drop	0.66	If the attacker's offensive stats are lowered
Guard Boost	0.66	If the target's defensive stats are raised
Guard Drop	1.5	If the target's defensive stats are lowered

If multiple factors apply at the same time, they stack multiplicatively. If none of the factors here apply, ${\displaystyle other}$ is 1.

Pokémon GO

In Pokémon GO, damage is calculated differently due to different variables existing in the game.

${\displaystyle Damage={\Biggl \lfloor }0.5\times Power\times {\frac {Attack}{Defense}}\times Modifier{\Biggr \rfloor }+1}$

where

• ${\displaystyle Power}$ is the power of the move used
• ${\displaystyle Attack}$ is the Attack stat of the attacking Pokémon
• ${\displaystyle Defense}$ is the Defense stat of the Pokémon being attacked
• For Shadow Pokémon:
  • ${\displaystyle \times {\tfrac {6}{5}}}$ is applied to ${\displaystyle Attack}$
  • ${\displaystyle \times {\tfrac {5}{6}}}$ is applied to ${\displaystyle Defense}$

and

${\displaystyle Modifier=Type\times STAB\times Weather\times Friendship\times Dodged\times Mega\times Trainer\times Charge}$

where

• ${\displaystyle Type}$ is the type effectiveness, which is calculated differently in GO, using multipliers of base 1.6 instead of 2.
• ${\displaystyle STAB}$ is the same-type attack bonus. This is equal to 1.2 if the move's type matches any of the user's types, and 1 if otherwise.
• The following variables are applied in Gym and Raid Battles only, and are 1 otherwise.
  • ${\displaystyle Weather}$ is 1.2 if the move used has a weather-boosted type, and ${\displaystyle 1}$ otherwise.
  • ${\displaystyle Friendship}$ is applied when battling with Friends and varies depending on the Friendship level.
    • 1.03 if Good Friends
    • 1.05 if Great Friends
    • 1.07 if Ultra Friends
    • 1.1 if Best Friends
    • 1 otherwise
  • ${\displaystyle Dodged}$ is ${\displaystyle 0.25}$ if the attack was successfully dodged, and ${\displaystyle 1}$ if otherwise.
    • Gym defenders and Raid Bosses will never dodge a player's attacks
  • ${\displaystyle Mega}$ is greater than 1 when there is one or more Mega-Evolved Pokémon on the battlefield.
    • 1.1 if none of the Mega-Evolved Pokémon have the same type as the move
    • 1.3 if one or more Mega-Evolved Pokémon have the same type as the move
• The following variables are applied in Trainer Battles only, and are 1 otherwise.
  • ${\displaystyle Trainer}$ is ${\displaystyle 1.3}$ for all attacks used in a Trainer Battle.
  • ${\displaystyle Charge}$ is applied only for Charged Attacks, and its value depends on the player's score during the minigame. The possible ranges are
    • ${\displaystyle Charge=1}$ if "Excellent!"
    • ${\displaystyle Charge\in [0.75,1)}$ if "Great!"
    • ${\displaystyle Charge\in [0.5,0.75)}$ if "Nice!"
    • ${\displaystyle Charge\in [0.25,0.5)}$ otherwise

By the damage formula, moves that have a power of 0 such as Splash and Yawn will always do 1 HP damage.

Trivia

• In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, if the player's Pokémon deals over 33037 HP damage, the Pokémon will faint, but the HP bar will not be drained; if it deals exactly 33037 HP, the HP bar will be drained automatically.
• In Generations V through VIII, the amount of damage that can be dealt in a single attack is capped at 65535. In addition, an overflow can occur during the calculation of very high damage amounts, causing the actual damage dealt to be much lower than expected.^[1]
• In Pokémon Battle Revolution, the HP bar will change with a different animation depending on the move's type (recovery, recoil damage and indirect damage use the Normal-type animation), as shown below.

Normal	Fighting	Flying	Poison
Ground	Rock	Bug	Ghost
Steel	Fire	Water	Grass
Electric	Psychic	Ice	Dragon
Dark

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 傷害 Sēunghoih Mandarin 傷害 / 伤害 Shānghài Czech Poškození Danish Skade Finnish Vahinko French Canada Tort* Europe Dégâts German Schaden Hungarian Sebzés Italian Danno Korean 데미지 Damage Norwegian Skade Portuguese Brazil Dano Portugal Dano Spanish Daño Swedish Skada

External links

• The Complete Damage Formula for Black & White (Smogon University)
• DaWoblefet’s Damage Dissertation- A Complete Guide to the Damage Formula

References

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.