Is Burn or Poison Better for Guts? A Comprehensive Guide
The question of whether burn or poison is better for a Guts-activated Pokémon is a nuanced one, and the answer isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. The core of the debate revolves around how these status conditions interact with the Guts ability, a popular mechanic in Pokémon that boosts attack power when a Pokémon is afflicted by a status. While both burn and poison can trigger Guts, they do so with different consequences. Ultimately, burn, specifically inflicted by a Flame Orb, is generally considered superior for activating Guts due to its consistent damage and the negation of its attack drop by the Guts ability.
The Core Mechanics: Guts, Burn, and Poison
Guts Ability
The Guts ability is straightforward: it boosts the Pokémon’s Attack stat by 50% (1.5x) when afflicted by any of the major status conditions – burn, poison, paralysis, freeze, or sleep. Crucially, a Pokémon with Guts that is burned does not suffer the usual Attack reduction associated with burn. This is the key interaction that makes Flame Orb strategies so effective for Guts users.
Burn Status
Burn inflicts damage over time, specifically 1/16th (6.25%) of the Pokémon’s maximum HP at the end of each turn. However, the most impactful aspect of burn is the 50% (0.5x) Attack stat reduction that it normally inflicts on the afflicted Pokémon. This reduction is completely negated by the Guts ability, turning a disadvantage into an advantage.
Poison Status
Poison, on the other hand, inflicts damage equal to 1/8th (12.5%) of the Pokémon’s maximum HP at the end of each turn. There’s also the badly poisoned status that starts with 1/16th and increases by another 1/16th every turn. Unlike burn, poison does not affect the Attack stat.
Why Flame Orb is the Optimal Choice for Guts
Given the mechanics, here’s why Flame Orb (which inflicts burn) is often preferred over a Toxic Orb (which inflicts poison) for Guts users:
- Consistent Damage: While the damage over time from poison may start higher if badly poisoned, the consistency of burn damage at 1/16th HP each turn makes it more predictable and manageable.
- Attack Boost without Penalty: The Guts ability negates the Attack reduction that usually accompanies burn, effectively providing a 50% Attack boost with no drawback other than the consistent health depletion.
- No Attack Drop: Unlike the attack drop that comes with burn, the Guts ability negates the attack decrease, which means the pokemon does not suffer an attack decrease, and there is an attack boost.
- Predictability: The consistent burn damage of 1/16 of max hp helps more with predictability and planning.
The primary disadvantage of burn for Guts is that it does cause damage every turn, but the significant Attack boost from Guts often outweighs this drawback, especially with strategies that focus on high-damage output and fast knockouts. Furthermore, Pokemon can also stack leftovers to regain health every turn and negate some of the damage from burn.
Toxic Orb and Guts: Situational Viability
While Flame Orb is generally superior, Toxic Orb has a few situational uses:
- Early Game: If you need Guts activated immediately and don’t mind taking more damage initially, the higher initial damage from poison, specifically bad poison, can make it a quicker method to activate Guts.
- Long-term Strategies: If your strategy involves a prolonged battle, the ramping damage from bad poison can, in theory, deal more total damage compared to burn. However, this strategy comes with a risk to survivability as the poison damage increases each turn. This would be difficult to manage without healing methods.
However, due to its fluctuating damage, poison is significantly less predictable and usually much less optimal.
The Verdict: Flame Orb Reigns Supreme
In conclusion, for Guts users, Flame Orb is generally the preferred held item. The ability to activate Guts and gain a 50% attack boost without the usual penalty of an Attack drop far outweighs the consistent burn damage. While a Toxic Orb can work, burn offers better consistency, predictability, and survivability in most situations, making it the more efficient choice for most Guts-based strategies.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some frequently asked questions about burn, poison, Guts, and related mechanics:
1. Does burn weaken Pokémon?
Yes, a standard burn will halve a Pokemon’s attack stat while also dealing 1/16 of their max health every turn. However, Guts users negate this effect, benefiting from the status instead.
2. Does burn do more damage than poison?
Base burn damage is 1/16 of max HP each turn. While base poison starts at 1/8 max HP per turn, a badly poisoned pokemon takes 1/16 of their health every turn, which is the same as burn. The issue is that badly poisoned pokemon take an additional 1/16 damage every turn. In this case, poison does more damage.
3. How much does guts boost?
Guts increases a Pokémon’s Attack stat by 50% (1.5x) when it’s afflicted with a major status condition.
4. Does Guts ignore burn?
Yes, the Guts ability ignores the Attack reduction caused by burn, meaning a Pokemon with Guts does not suffer a drop in attack and the ability raises it.
5. Can you stack burn and poison on a Pokemon?
Yes, a Pokémon can be burned and poisoned simultaneously. They’re also able to be burned or poisoned while asleep, confused, or paralyzed.
6. How much damage does burn do?
Burn inflicts damage equal to 1/16th (6.25%) of the Pokémon’s maximum HP at the end of each turn. It also halves attack, unless the pokemon has the Guts ability.
7. Does poison affect stats Pokémon?
No, unlike burn, regular and bad poison do not reduce the Pokémon’s attack stat. Only burn reduces attack stats.
8. Can you evolve a paralyzed Pokémon?
Yes, evolving a Pokémon removes any special conditions, including paralysis.
9. Can a fire pokemon be burned?
No, standard fire type pokemon are immune to the burn status, but this immunity will not apply if the pokemon is tera type is changed to a type that is not fire.
10. What is the best Pokémon to hold leftovers?
Leftovers is beneficial to Pokémon with high HP, such as Blissey or Chansey, as they restore 1/16th of their max HP each turn. This item can work for pokemon that use Flame Orb as it helps negate some of the damage from burn.
11. What is the burn heal ability in Pokémon?
The Burn Heal is a healing item that cures a Pokémon of its burn.
12. Why use Flame Orb for Guts?
The Flame Orb provides a consistent way to activate Guts, allowing the pokemon to obtain the attack boost, while negating the attack drop.
13. How much damage does poison do per turn?
Standard poison inflicts 1/8 (12.5%) of a Pokemon’s health per turn. Bad poison starts at 1/16 (6.25%) and adds 1/16th (6.25%) to the damage total each turn.
14. Does guts work with sleep Pokémon?
Yes, Guts will raise the attack stat of a pokemon with the Guts ability by 50% when inflicted with sleep.
15. What grade is burn?
Burns are classified into first, second, and third-degree burns, depending on their depth. These grades of burns do not relate to the burn status in pokemon.