Does Burn Do More Damage Than Poison in Pokémon? A Deep Dive
The short answer is: generally, yes, burn does more damage than poison in Pokémon, though the nuances of each condition and the game mechanics surrounding them add layers of complexity. While both are status conditions inflicting damage over time (DoT), burn’s damage output is typically more consistent and substantial than poison, particularly in the earlier generations and in simplified scenarios. However, this isn’t always a hard and fast rule, especially considering the various abilities, items, and game mechanics that have evolved over the years. Let’s unpack why this is the case and look at how the two stack up against each other.
Burn vs. Poison: A Detailed Comparison
Damage Output
Burn inflicts damage every turn to the affected Pokémon, with the amount being a fixed fraction of the Pokémon’s maximum health. Historically, this was often 1/16th of the maximum HP. In more recent games this damage can change to 1/8th. The key here is that burn damage is consistently applied, every turn, without any randomness. Moreover, burn also halves the inflicted Pokémon’s attack stat, severely crippling the damage output of physical moves. This dual effect makes it a particularly devastating status condition, especially for physically oriented Pokémon.
Poison, on the other hand, initially inflicts a smaller amount of damage compared to burn – often 1/16th of the Pokémon’s max HP in earlier generations, but sometimes a flat value. It’s important to note that this damage can change with variants like badly poisoned, which increases the poison damage each turn. In general, poison often starts weaker than a burn, especially normal poison. Regular poison damage, in contrast to burn, can be somewhat random in some cases. It’s generally not a percentage based on max HP, unless its badly poisoned. Even badly poisoned starts small, but will increase more and more over the following turns.
Reliability
Burn is far more reliable than regular poison. Burn consistently deals the same damage every turn (unless an ability or item interferes). There is no variable and the only modifier to the total damage output is through the amount of time the pokemon is inflicted by burn. Burn is reliable and does good, consistent damage every single turn.
Poison damage, however, can be less predictable. While badly poisoned has a predictable scaling pattern, regular poison does not. Without the badly poisoned effect, poison damage does not scale or increase.
Secondary Effects
Both conditions have secondary effects beyond just the damage output. The attack reduction caused by burn significantly weakens physical attackers. This strategic element makes burn not just a damage-over-time effect but a tactical debuff as well. Poison doesn’t cause a combat penalty in the same way, focusing purely on health reduction. Badly poisoned does not cause a combat penalty, and only inflicts more damage over time.
Evolution of Status Conditions
The mechanics of burn and poison have evolved over different generations of Pokémon games. However, the core concepts remain largely consistent: burn deals higher, consistent damage and has the attack penalty, while poison deals lower, potentially variable damage. Badly poisoned was introduced to help raise the damage output of poison in later gens. Certain moves and abilities can also make poison far more potent, such as using Toxic to badly poison a target or abilities that boost poison damage.
The Advantage of Burn
Because of its fixed damage percentage of maximum HP, its consistent damage delivery, and attack stat reduction, burn generally outpaces regular poison in damage output and strategic impact. The consistency of burn is a huge benefit for any trainer, as it allows for very simple planning. Additionally, burn is devastating for physical attackers, adding more strategic depth in battling.
FAQs: Burn vs. Poison in Pokémon
1. Can a Pokémon be both burned and poisoned simultaneously?
Yes, a Pokémon can be both burned and poisoned at the same time. This is unlike certain other status conditions, like paralysis and sleep, which cannot coexist. A Pokemon can, for example, be burned, poisoned and paralyzed at the same time.
2. Does a fire-type Pokémon get burned?
No, fire-type Pokémon are immune to being burned. They cannot be afflicted by the burn status condition. This is a key immunity that gives fire-types an advantage against other fire-type moves, especially those that induce the burn condition.
3. Does poison damage increase over time?
Regular poison does not increase in damage over time. However, badly poisoned, inflicted by the move Toxic or abilities that inflict it, deals increased damage each turn.
4. Can a ghost-type Pokémon be poisoned?
Yes, ghost-type Pokémon can be poisoned. While it may seem counterintuitive that spirits can be poisoned, gameplay mechanics allow for ghost-types to be inflicted with the poison status condition.
5. What abilities interact with burn or poison?
Several abilities interact with burn and poison. For example, Guts ignores the attack reduction from burn and increases the Pokémon’s attack. Poison Heal recovers HP instead of taking damage from poison. There are many examples of such abilities.
6. Is burn or poison better for catching Pokémon?
Neither burn nor poison are ideal for catching Pokemon, although they can help. While status conditions increase the catch rate, sleep and freeze are more effective for this purpose.
7. How much damage does burn do in modern games?
In more recent generations, burn typically inflicts 1/8th of the Pokémon’s maximum HP each turn. This damage is applied consistently. Older games tend to use 1/16th.
8. What type of attacks can cause burn or poison?
Many moves can cause burn or poison. Fire-type attacks like Will-O-Wisp commonly cause burn, while poison-type attacks like Poison Jab cause poison. Other moves that can inflict these status effects exist, and even some non-type attacks can inflict them.
9. What is the most common way to get rid of burn or poison?
Items such as Full Heals or Antidotes can cure burn and poison. Certain Pokémon abilities and moves can also remove these conditions. Also, swapping out a Pokémon will remove the burn and poison.
10. Does burn affect special attacks?
No, burn only reduces the attack stat, which applies to physical attacks. Special attacks are not affected by the burn condition’s attack reduction. This is an important part of planning your teams and determining damage types.
11. Does burn work differently in different generations?
Yes, the exact percentage of HP lost each turn to burn can vary slightly across generations (mostly in older generations). The damage usually is either 1/16th or 1/8th of the maximum HP. The core mechanics of its effect on attack stats, however, remain the same.
12. Which is more annoying: burn or poison?
The ‘annoyance’ factor is subjective. Burn is generally more troublesome for physical attackers, while both burn and poison can be problematic due to the damage over time. For most trainers though, burn is going to be the more annoying status to deal with.
13. Can a burned Pokémon still use physical moves effectively?
While a burned Pokémon can still use physical attacks, their effectiveness will be reduced by 50% due to the burn’s attack reduction. This is usually what trainers are most afraid of when it comes to burn.
14. Does a Pokémon’s Tera type affect status conditions?
Yes, if a Pokémon Terastallizes to a fire type, it will become immune to burn. Similarly, Terastallizing into other types may provide immunities or resistances to specific status conditions. Tera types can be exploited to manipulate burn and poison effects.
15. Can I use poison to counter a burn?
No, poison cannot directly counter burn. Poison and burn are both status conditions that work independently. Applying poison to a burned Pokémon does not remove burn. It will simply cause the Pokémon to have both status conditions and take damage from both.
Conclusion
In the world of Pokémon, burn is generally considered a more potent status condition than regular poison due to its consistent damage, its higher damage output, and the attack stat reduction it inflicts on physical attackers. While poison has its uses, particularly the scaling of badly poisoned, burn generally provides a more reliable and immediately impactful debuff in battle. Understanding the nuances of each condition is key to becoming a strategic Pokémon trainer.