Pokemon Legends: Z-A

Skarmory Movesets and Best Build

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Walkthrough Team

Last updated on: November 21, 2025 12:05 AM

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This is a complete guide on how to build your Skarmory for Competitive and Ranked Matches in Pokemon Legends: Z-A! Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Skarmory, as well as its strengths and weaknesses.

List of Contents

Base Stats, Type and Weaknesses
Best Builds
How to Use Effectively
Best Teams
Counters for Skarmory
Related Guides

Skarmory Base Stats, Type, and Weaknesses

Skarmory Battle Information

Skarmory

Mega Skarmory

Dex #216		Base Stats
Skarmory
		Stat	Value
		HP	65
		Atk	80
		Def	140
		Sp. Atk	40
		Sp. Def	70
		Speed	70
		Total	465
Type Effectiveness
Weak to:
Weak to:	(2x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Resists:	(0.25x)
Immune to:	(0x)

Dex #216		Base Stats
Mega Skarmory
		Stat	Value
		HP	65
		Atk	140
		Def	110
		Sp. Atk	40
		Sp. Def	100
		Speed	110
		Total	565
Type Effectiveness
Weak to:
Weak to:	(2x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Resists:	(0.25x)
Immune to:	(0x)

What is Type Effectiveness?

Best Nature for Skarmory

Best Natures
Jolly （+Spe, -Sp.Atk）	Impish （+Def, -Sp.Atk）

What are Natures?

Best Builds for Skarmory

Build Name	Strengths and Weaknesses
Mega Skarmory Build ★★★★★	Strengths: • High Attack and Speed. • Slightly lower Defense is offset by increased Special Defense • Gets base 110 Speed when Mega Evolving, allowing it to recharge moves faster. Weaknesses: • Lacks a recovery move, which means it can't sustain Brave Bird outside of Wish support. • Even with increased special bulk, it's still easily countered by strong Special Attackers.
Defensive Skarmory Build ★★★☆☆	Strengths: • High Defense makes it a great physical pivot. • Great support moves like Spikes, Rock Tomb, and Stealth Rock. Weaknesses: • Lacks a recovery move, which means it needs to rely on Wish support from another Pokemon. • Easily countered by Special Attackers.

Mega Skarmory Build

Mega Skarmory

Held Item

Nature

Skarmorite

EV Spread

252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Moveset

Summary

Fly grants Mega Skarmory a few seconds of invincibility.

Dual Flying and Steel-type STAB gives it great neutral coverage.

Can set up DoTs with Stealth Rock.

Mega Skarmory is a fast attacker that can soft-stall enemies using Fly and Stealth Rock. Unlike its base Defensive counterpart, it can actually deal damage with its moves and is great at driving off common Meta Fairy-types such as Mega Gardevoir, Xerneas, and Mega Clefable.

Held Item

Item	Effect / Location
Skarmorite	Effect: One of a variety of mysterious Mega Stones. A Skarmory holding this stone will be able to Mega Evolve during battle. Location(s): • Mega Shard Exchange at Quasartico Inc. for 240 Mega Shards

The item chosen for Skarmory for this build is Skarmorite so it can mega evolve into Mega Skarmory.

Moves Breakdown

Fly	Strong Flying-type STAB that gives Skarmory a few frames of invincibility.
Steel Wing	Strong Steel-type STAB that has a chance to increase Mega Skarmory's Defense.
Stealth Rock	Allows Mega Skarmory to deal DoT damage to enemies and is best used in tandem with Fly.
Protect	Allows Mega Skarmory to completely block an attack.

This set focuses on playing Mega Skarmory as a hybrid attacker and staller, first setting up Stealth Rock to lay DoTs on the field, then using Fly to soft-stall opponents. Steel Wing allows Mega Skarmory to deal super effective damage to Fairy-types, while Protect allows it to completely block an attack for a few seconds.

Other Viable Moves

Brave Bird	A stronger Flying-type STAB but prevents Mega Skarmory from stalling, and also requires Wish support to sustain the recoil damage.
Iron Head	A stronger alternative to Steel Wing that has the chance to make targets flinch.

EV Spread and Nature

A full 252 EVs are put into Skarmory's Attack and Speed to make it hit as hard and fast as possible. The extra 4 EVs are placed into Special Defense to help round out its bulk.

A Jolly nature is preferred to help further increase Skarmory's Speed stat.

Key Damage Calculations

Damage Dealt by Skarmory
252 HP｜252 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 Def Item: Venusaurite	Fly 102-122 (54.5 - 65.2%) Guaranteed 2HKO
252 HP｜252 Sp.Atk Defensive EV Investment: 4 Def Item: Gardevoirite	Steel Wing 176-210 (100.5 - 120%) Guaranteed OHKO
Damage Received by Skarmory
252 Sp. Atk Offensive EV Investment: 252 Sp.Atk (Timid) Item: Life Orb	Thunderbolt 133-159 (95 - 113.5%) 75% chance to OHKO

Defensive Skarmory Build

Skarmory

Held Item

Nature

Leftovers

EV Spread

252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

Moveset

Summary

Fly along with Protect allows Skarmory to stall opponents.

Can set up DoTs with Stealth Rock and Spikes.

Skarmory can function as an effective defensive pivot, using Fly and Protect to stall opponents while it sets up with Stealth Rock and Spikes.