Dragonite Movesets and Best Builds | Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV)

Dragonite Movesets in Other Games
SV	SWSH

This is a guide to movesets and best builds for using Dragonite in competitive play for the games Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, Tera Type, and Held Items to use with Dragonite, as well as its strengths and weakness.

Dragonite - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Moveset for Ranked Battle

Dragonite Base Stats, Type, Ability and Weakness

No. 349		Type
Dragonite
		Abilities
		Inner Focus Multiscale (Hidden)
Weak to:	(4x)
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
	(0.25x)
Immune to:	(0x)

What is Type Effectiveness?

Ability Name		Description
Inner Focus		The user is deeply focused and protects itself from flinching.
Multiscale (Hidden)		Reduces amount of the damage the user receives by 50% if its HP is full.

Base Stats

Best Nature for Dragonite

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

What are Natures?

Singles Movesets for Dragonite

Build Name	Recommendation
Weakness Policy Physical Sweeper	★★★★★
Dragon Dance Setup Sweeper	★★★★★
Defensive Moveset	★★★
Lum Berry Dragonite	★★★★★
Defensive Stall	★★★★

Weakness Policy Physical Sweeper Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Sp. Atk)
EV Spread	4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Final Stat Values	167 HP / 186 Atk / 115 Def / 120 Sp. Def / 145 Spe
Ability	Multiscale
Tera Type
Held Item	Weakness Policy
Moveset	・ Outrage ・ Hurricane ・ Extreme Speed ・ Fire Punch

About Dragonite's Moves

Outrage is Dragonite strongest move and can outright KO Pokemon that don't resist or are immune to Dragon Type moves. Hurricane is its secondary stab and also quite powerful, although inaccurate.

Extreme Speed is a powerful priority move that goes before other priorty attacks, such as Quick Attack. It also gains STAB when Dragonite Terastallizes into a Normal Type, and allows Dragonite to potentially knock out faster but frailer threats. Its final move is Fire Punch, providing great neutral coverage and hits Steel Type threats like Gholdengo and Scizor for super effective damage.

About Dragonite's Held Item

This build uses Weakness Policy, an item that raises the Pokemon's attack and special attack by two stages when it is hit by a super-effective move. Thanks to Dragonite's Multiscale Ability, it can survive a super-effective hit and get a boost from its item!

Other Viable Moves

Thunder Punch	An alternative coverage move that allows Dragonite to hit Bulky Water-types.
Earthquake	Stronger than Fire Punch, allowing Dragonite to hit Steel-types even harder.
Iron Head	Good option for Dragonite against Fairy Types.
Dragon Dance	Boosts Dragonite's Attack and Speed by one stage.
Roost	Restores 50% of the user's HP which can be helpful to reactivate Multiscale.

Dragon Dance Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Sp. Atk)
EV Spread	4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Final Stat Values	167 HP / 186 Atk / 115 Def / 120 Sp. Def / 145 Spe
Ability	Multiscale
Tera Type
Held Item	Clear Amulet Lum Berry Choice Band
Moveset	・ Outrage ・ Hurricane ・ Fire Punch ・ Dragon Dance

Dragonite's bulk makes it a great setup sweeper with Dragon Dance, letting it fill the role of a lead sweeper or late-game sweeper.

About Dragonite's Moves

Dragon Dance boosts Dragonite's Attack and Speed by one stage, and thanks to its ability, it will almost always get a chance to set up using this move. Outrage is Dragonite strongest move and can outright KO Pokemon that don't resist or are immune to Dragon Type moves. Hurricane is its secondary stab and also quite powerful, although inaccurate.

Its last attacking move is Fire Punch, providing great neutral coverage and hits Steel Type Pokemon like Gholdengo for super-effective damage.

About Dragonite's Held Item

Clear Amulet or Lum Berry are the best item choices. Clear Amulet prevents Dragonite's stats from being lowered by opposing Pokemon's moves and Abilities, such as Intimidate. Lum Berry protects Dragonite from status, such as burns from Will-O-Wisp. As Dragonite will be boosting its Speed and Attack stats with its Dragon Dance, an item that prevents these stat boosts from being reversed is nice.

Choice Band is an alternative that boosts the power of its moves at the cost of locking it in to only being able to use one move until it switches out. All three of these items are good choices on this set, so you will have a difficult decision to make. In the early meta game however, status conditions appear to be more prevalent than Intimidate or other stat debuffs, so if you are tossing up between those two, perhaps go with Clear Amulet.

Other Viable Moves

Thunder Punch	An alternative coverage move that allows Dragonite to hit Bulky Water-types.
Earthquake	Stronger than Fire Punch, allowing Dragonite to hit Steel-types even harder.
Iron Head	Good option for Dragonite against Fairy Types.
Extreme Speed	Decent Base Power Priority move.

Defensive Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Careful Nature (+Sp. Def, -Sp. Atk)
EV Spread	244 HP / 4 Atk / 12 Def / 244 Sp. Def / 4 Spe
Final Stat Values	HP 197 / 155 Atk / 117 Def / 166 Sp. Def / 101 Spe
Ability	Multiscale
Tera Type
Held Item	Heavy-Duty Boots
Moveset	・ Iron Head ・ Fire Punch ・ Dragon Rush ・ Roost

Although Dragonite is best known as a bulky attacker, it can fill the role of a defensive Pokemon as well thanks to its natural bulk and great ability.

A similar Defensive Dragonite build was used by Japanese competitive player, Page, to reach 6th place in Ranked Battles Season 13 of Pokemon Sword and Shield!

About Dragonite's Moves

Dragon Rush is Dragonite's STAB move that deals good damage and has a 20% chance to cause flinching.

Dragon Rush and Iron Head are both great Physical moves with a chance of causing flinching. Iron Head allows Dragonite to hit Fairy, Ice and Rock Types (3 of Dragonites biggest weaknesses) for super-effective damage with a Tera STAB bonus when Terastallized. Dragon Rush, while less accurate than Outrage does not lock Dragonite in to only being able to use one move, while still dealing decent damage.

Fire Punch is a great coverage move that allow Dragonite to hit Steel and Ice Types, such as Gholdengo, Scizor and Baxcalibur for super effective damage.

Roost is Dragonite's most important move, restoring half of its maximum HP and also removing its Flying-type for the turn its used. This is useful for when you're expecting a super effective Ice or Rock Type move, allowing Dragonite to survive a potentially fatal blow.

About Dragonite's EV Spread

We're using a modified defensive EV spread for this Dragonite to capitalize on its natural bulk. 244 HP EVs give Dragonite an odd-numbered HP at level 50, allowing it to withstand Stealth Rocks an additional time on switch-in, in the event it loses its item due to something such as a Trick Gholdengo.

12 Defense EVs and 244 Sp.Def EVs round out Dragonite's bulk, allowing it to take hits from both its Physical and Special side. The remaining 8 EVs are split between Attack and Speed - 4 EVs in Sp.Atk and 4 EVs in Spd, to slightly boost Dragonite's offensive capabilities.

About Dragonite's Held Item

We're giving this Dragonite Heavy-Duty Boots. This item protects Dragonite from all entry hazards, such as Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes.

Other Viable Moves

Outrage	Higher damage output and accuracy than Dragon Rush at the cost of being locked in to Outrage for 2-3 turns and being confused afterwards.
Hurricane	High base power Flying-type STAB move.
Extreme Speed	Decent Base Power Priority move. Good synergy with either Dragon Rush or Iron Head to take advantage of a flinched opponent and follow up with this Priority move to finish them off.

Lum Berry Dragonite Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
EV Spread	4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Final Stat Values	167 HP / 204 Atk / 115 Def / 120 Sp. Def / 132 Spe
Ability	Multiscale
Tera Type
Held Item	Lum Berry
Moveset	・ Extreme Speed ・ Earthquake ・ Dragon Dance ・ Roost

Very few Pokemon want to go up against Dragonite's combination of Extreme Speed and Earthquake. With Dragon Dance to boost its Attack even further, and Roost to replenish HP, Dragonite is sure to be a menace on the field

Other Viable Moves

Iron Head	Good option for Dragonite against Fairy Types.

Defensive Stall Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Bold (+Def, -Atk)
EV Spread	HP 212 / Def 196 / Spe 100
Final Stat Values	HP 212 / Def 154 / Sp.Atk 120 / Sp.Def 120 / Spe 113
Ability	Multiscale
Tera Type
Held Item	Leftovers
Moveset	・ Fire Spin ・ Encore ・ Roost ・ Draco Meteor

Summary

Dragonite's great mixed bulk coupled with Multiscale allows it to function as an unconventional but effective wall that can stall out its usual checks and counters, as well as overpower defensive Pokemon.

Multiscale halves damage when at full health Reliable recovery in Roost Boasts resistances to common Grass, Water, and Fire-type moves

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Multiscale	Leftovers

Multsicale is the best Ability for a defensive Dragonite, halving the damage it receives when it's at full health. This allows it to survive even super effective moves that would normally KO it.

Giving it Leftovers provides passive recovery which, in conjunction with Roost, allows Dragonite to heal to full health to keep up Multiscale.

Moves Breakdown

Fire Spin	Encore
Roost	Draco Meteor

Fire Spin allows it to trap Pokemon on the field and prevent them from switching, and is best used in conjunction with Encore. This allows Dragonite to stall setup sweepers and even defensive Pokemon by locking them into a boosting or recovering move.

Dragonite can then switch out to a counter who can easily take care of the trapped Pokemon, or use Roost to recover lost health and reactivate Multiscale.

Its last move is Draco Meteor and is a strong special Dragon-type STAB that still hits hard thanks to Dragonite's respectable Special Attack stat at the cost of lowering it by two stages.

Best Tera Type: Fighting

Fairy Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

Fairy Tera Type allows Dragonite to better handle opposing Dragon-type Pokemons by giving it immunity to Dragon-types. This also changes its defensive resistances, allowing it to better handle Dark, Fighting, and Bug-type Pokemon.

Best Fairy Tera Type Pokemon for Ranked Battle

EV Spread and Nature

This Dragonite has a physical-oriented defensive EV spread, with 212 HP and 196 Def EVs to help it shrug off physical attacks. The remaining 100 Spe EVs ensures that it can still outpace slower attackers and walls and use Fire Spin or Encore before they can land a hit.

Other Viable Moves

Dragon Pulse	A weaker alternative to Draco Meteor but doesn't lower Dragonite's Special Attack by two stages.

Key Damage Calculations

The following calculations take into account Dragonite's defensive EVs with a Bold Nature.

Damage Dealt by Dragonite
183 HP｜106 Sp.Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 0 | Sp.Def 4 (Jolly) Item: Leftovers	Draco Meteor 168-198 (91.8 - 108.1%) 43.8% Chance to OHKO
Damage Received by Dragonite
216 Atk Offensive EV Investment: Atk 252 (Adamant) Item: Heavy-Duty Boots	Glaive Rush 96-114 (49.7 - 59%) 99.6% Chance to 2HKO
182 Atk Offensive EV Investment: Atk 252 (Jolly) Item: Choice Band	Spirit Break 76-90 (39.3 - 46.6%) Guaranteed 3HKO
187 Sp.Atk Offensive EV Investment: Sp.Atk 252 (Timid) Item: Choice Specs	Moonblast 126-148 (65.2 - 76.6%) Guaranteed 2HKO

Game8's Competitive Damage Calculator

Doubles Movesets for Dragonite

Build Name	Recommendation
Tera Flying Sweeper	★★★★★

Tera Flying Sweeper Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
EV Spread	4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Final Stat Values	167 HP / 204 Atk / 115 Def / 120 Sp. Def / 132 Spe
Ability	Multiscale
Tera Type
Held Item	Lum Berry
Moveset	・ Extreme Speed ・ Tera Blast ・ Ice Spinner ・ Protect

Dragonite's Extreme Speed is a powerful move that can take chunks of HP out of opposing Pokemon on unresisted hits. Ice Spinner is great against opposing Great Tusk, who can be dealt super-effective damage.

Flying Tera Blast is great for knocking out Pokemon who are not Physically defensive, such as Flutter Mane, or Pokemon who are Flying-weak, like Amoonguss.

Protect is used for scouting Moves or stalling out turns of Tailwind or Trick Room.

This Dragonite build features the same moves as the Champion's team in the recently concluded 2023 Oceanic International Championships. It was used to great success by the champion, Gavin Michaels.

VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Oceania International Championships

Other Viable Moves

Tailwind	Gives Dragonite and its team a Speed advantage.
Aqua Jet	Aqua Jet is a Priority option that can work against Ghost-types.

How to Use Dragonite Effectively

Use it as a Setup Sweeper

Dragonite faces stiff competition from stronger and faster Dragon-types like Dragapult and Salamence, so capitalize on its unique traits - its bulkiness and wide movepool. Dragonite has great bulk, further boosted by Multiscale, and has a large physical movepool that includes powerful coverage moves.

As a result of these traits, Dragonite is best used as a setup sweeper - accumulating Dragon Dance boosts and sweeping, instead of outright attacking the opposing team.

Remove its 4x Weaknesses With Terastallization

By Terastallizing Dragonite, not only can you remove its 4x weaknesses, but you can also give it STAB boost on one of its other coverage moves. By giving Dragonite a Normal Tera Type you get an effective 120 Power Priority move! With a Steel Tera Type Dragonite increases its defensive capabilities whilst simultaneously turning the tables offensively on Ice, Fairy and Rock Types.

How to Build a Team with Dragonite

Weakness Policy Build Team

Dragonite excels as a lead sweeper - the first Pokemon you send out at the start of the battle. Thanks to its ability Multiscale, it can safely set up a Dragon Dance (or two) and sweep the opposing team with its powerful moves. As a result, its a good choice for offensive lead in offense-oriented teams.

Lead Sweeper	Mixed Utility	Special Sweeper
Dragonite	Wash Rotom	Gholdengo

Defensive Build Team

Dragonite can also fill the role of a defensive Pokemon, with its Dragon-typing giving it key many resistances.

The following teams show some examples of ways in which Dragonite can be effectively used in a team for Ranked Battle.

Lead Hazard Setter	Physical Attacker	Defensive Pivot
Glimmora	Mimikyu	Dragonite

Sample Doubles Team

Gholdengo is a powerful teammate for Dragonite to have because it can pressure Fairy-types with its powerful Make it Rain.

Grimmsnarl can assist Dragonite with its ability to set up Screens. Additionally, it can also debuff Special Attacking Fairy-types with Spirit Break.

Arcanine can also debuff Physical Attackers with Intimidate, and Special Attackers with Snarl. It can also threaten Steel-types with its STAB Fire moves.

Special Attacker	Physical Attacker
Gholdengo	Dragonite
Support	Support / Back Up Attacker
Grimmsnarl	Arcanine

Counters for Dragonite

Overcome Multiscale With Chip Damage or Multi-Hit Moves

Multiscale only activates when Dragonite's HP is full. Setting up environments that chip away at Dragonite's health makes it difficult for Dragonite to take advantage of Multiscale. Likewise, Multiscale only reduces damage for the first hit of multi-hit moves, allowing you to break Multiscale, and pile on the damage.

Take Hits With Bulky Pokemon and Counterattack With Super-Effective Moves

Defensive teams also have the option of whittling down Dragonite by stalling it out. Wear down Dragonite's HP through super-effective moves while taking care to keep your own health up.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Cloyster	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Access to the multi-hit STAB move Icicle Spear. With Skill Link it can guarantee five super-effective hits. ・Also has the priority-move Ice Shard which can outspeed Dragonite's Roost.
Hippowdon	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Sand Stream summons Sandstorm which chips away at Dragonite's health. ・Natural bulk and access to recovery moves such as Slack Off can somewhat wall Dragonite. ・Also has access to Stealth Rocks which can be preemptively set up to chip away at Dragonite's health. ▶️Hippowdon Best Movesets
Sylveon	Ranking: ★★★ ・Immune to Dragonite's Outrage. ・Sufficient Bulk to tank Extreme Speed, Fire Punch and Hurricane hits. ・High Special Attack stat and STAB Fairy moves to hit Dragonite for weakness outside of Terastallization ▶️Sylveon Best Movesets

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