Gengar Guide: Builds and Moves | Pokemon UNITE

This is a guide on how to play Gengar in Pokemon UNITE. Learn about all of Gengar's moves and skins, and how to use Gengar with our builds complete with best movesets, items, and combos, as well as matchups, and what counters to use against them.

Gengar Tier Rating and Stats

Gengar Basic Information

Gengar	Tier:	Role:
		Speedster
	Attack Type:	Difficulty:
	Melee	Expert
	Damage Type:
	Special
"Gengar, a Pokémon that lurks in the shadows, is a master of surprise attacks."

Tier List: Best Pokemon to Use

Gengar Stats

Offense	Defense	Mobility	Scoring	Support

Gengar Evolutions

First Evolution	Second Evolution	Final Evolution
Gastly (Lv. 1)	Haunter (Lv. 5)	Gengar (Lv. 9)

Gengar Strengths and Weaknesses

Status Inducing Moves with Great Synergy

Gengar is a close to mid range attacker with access to sleep- or poison-inducing moves such as Sludge Bomb and Dream Eater. With the right set-up, he can inflict an insane burst of damage with Sludge Bomb followed up by Hex.

Needs Time to be Great

Early on, without access to his advanced skills, Gengar's pre-evolutions (Gastly and Haunter) will be mediocre. While they still have some range, they cannot match up with most early game characters.

Best Lane for Gengar

Top
Jungle
Bottom

The Jungle is Your Home

Given its lackluster moveset and defenses early in the game, it is wise for Gengar to use the mid lanes and jungle first. Once you gain access to its more advanced skills then feel free to choose between the main lanes.

Bottom is a Nice Alternative

Since Gengar is pretty frail, having it take the defensive advantages of Drednaw at the bottom lane will be more useful for Gengar than taking top. Though as mentioned, they care early game as Gengar can be easy targets in the first 2 or 3 minutes of the match.

Gengar Builds

Damage Burst Build

Moves and Upgrades

Lv. 1 (R)	Lv. 3 (ZR)	Lv. 5 (R)	Lv. 7 (ZR)
Will-O-Wisp	Lick	Sludge Bomb	Hex
Inflict Poison from range with Sludge Bomb and burst enemies down by spamming Hex. It is very important that you only use Hex on targets that are afflicted with negative Status Effects. Always make sure they're inflicted with Poison at least to significantly reduce Hex's cooldown!

Battle Item

Item	Tips
Fluffy Tail	Fluffy Tail speeds up the process of jungling with Gengar. This makes Gengar earn its much needed upgrades on its moves, allowing it to participate in main battles earlier.

Held Items

Items	Tips
Wise Glasses	The bulk of Gengar's damage comes from its moves. Wise Glasses improves Special Attack by a specific percentage based on its upgrade level, making it extremely useful for Pokemon like Gengar.
Sp. Atk. Specs	Sp. Atk. Specs further increases your Special Attack whenever you score a goal. This synergizes well with Gengar since you generally want to push with your team to score points after a successful gank or sneak in to score points from the jungle.
Shell Bell	Shell Bell grants Gengar solid sustain by restoring HP whenever enemies or wild Pokemon are hit with moves. This is extremely useful early on as well since Gengar usually starts in the jungle to gain those early levels quickly.

Assist Build

Moves and Upgrades

Lv. 1 (R)	Lv. 3 (ZR)	Lv. 5 (R)	Lv. 7 (ZR)
Will-O-Wisp	Lick	Shadow Ball	Dream Eater
This build focuses on maximizing the debuff that Gengar applies with its moves. With Shadow Ball reducing the defenses, this will allow its other teammates to inflict more damage. Dream Eater will make opponents Sleep further setting up your opponent for more damage from your teammates.

Battle Item

Item	Tips
Eject Button	Eject Button gives you the ability to teleport short distances. This is extremely useful for Gengar's survivability because enemy teams are going to prioritize taking you down as fast as possible in matches.

Held Items

Items	Tips
Wise Glasses	The bulk of Gengar's damage comes from its moves. Wise Glasses improves Special Attack by a specific percentage based on its upgrade level, making it extremely useful for Pokemon like Gengar.
Sp. Atk. Specs	Sp. Atk. Specs allows Gengar to increase its attack after scoring a goal. In combination with the setup above, you can significantly increase your damage to enemies who are affected by Shadow Ball and Dream Eater.
Shell Bell	Shell Bell grants Gengar solid sustain by restoring HP whenever enemies or wild Pokemon are hit with moves. This is extremely useful early on as well since Gengar usually starts in the jungle to gain those early levels quickly.

How to Play Gengar

Gengar excels at chipping away at opponents from range before teleporting in to finish the job. Prioritize those positioned at the back line as much as possible to easily swing the clash to your team's favor.

Hunt down Wild Pokemon early

In the early stages, it is crucial to hunt down Wild Pokemon to get Gengar's more advanced moves. If you can cooperate with your friends via voice chat, then Level 5 will be sufficient enough for fights with your teammates. If you're solo, going as high as Level 7 unlocks Hex allowing Gengar to be an attacking force.

Identify which lane has an advantage

Once you get Sludge Bomb, you may begin assisting top or bottom lanes. However, choose the lane that will give you an advantage in numbers (3 vs 2), otherwise, Gengar will fall prey to team attacks. If there is no distinct advantage, continue hunting Wild Pokemon.

Take a goal when the opportunity arises

If you happen to go to a lane with a numerical advantage, use that to get a quick goal once all enemies are defeated. Getting quick early goals is also a good way of earning EXP and leveling up.

Hunt down Wild Pokemon to evolve into Gengar

Once the weaker Wild Pokemon are wiped out, you can hunt down Bouffalant and Ludicolo for better EXP bonuses until you evolve and become Gengar.

Attack solo enemies

Once fully evolved, Gengar can begin hunting down solo enemies and create a favorable situation for the team. At Level 13, you unlock Hex+, which allows you to gank most enemies 1-on-1 with the Sludge Bomb-Hex combo.

Use Unite Move to teleport to or away from opponent's goal

Gengar's Unite Move makes him disappear once and when ZR is pressed again, it unleashes a ranged attack. However, Gengar's regular moves in itself has high enough power that you can let go of the Unite Move for attacking purposes.

Instead, you may use it to teleport yourself to the final goal area to score huge points especially when you have defeated Zapdos. Also, when in a pinch, you may use your Unite Move to escape difficult situations, such as making a quick escape after scoring a goal.

Gengar Combos

Insane Burst Combo

Step #	Move
1a	Shadow Ball
1b	Sludge Bomb
2	Hex
This combo penalizes anyone that has Debuffs. Hex's countdown timer is reduced for every successful hit on an enemy with a Debuff. With this combo, even when Gengar is in a team without debuffing skills, it can apply the debuff on its own via Shadow Ball or Sludge Bomb. After that, hit the enemy with Hex again and again as the countdown timer has been drastically reduced that you can basically use it every second.

Multi-Strike Combo

Step #	Move
1	Shadow Ball
2	Dream Eater
3	Phantom Ambush
This combo uses both debuffing skills of Gengar in a row to setup an insane damaging follow up with Phantom Ambush. This can affect two targets at once if Shadow Ball and Dream Eater hits two different targets. Otherwise, this is a severely punishing move for one target.

Gengar Matchups and Best Counters

Hard Counters
Fair
Easy

Matchup and Counter Explanations

Best Counters for Gengar

Pokemon	Explanation
Slowbro	Slowbro is one of the best counters to Gengar. Surf and Telekenesis shuts Gengar down long enough for Slowbro's allies to follow-up with a counterattack.
Venusaur	Venusaur's versatile kit causes problems for Gengar as well. Venusaur can either snipe Gengar from long range with Sludge Bomb and Solar Beam or shut Gengar down at melee range with Petal Dance and Giga Drain.
Wigglytuff	The bulk of Gengar's damage come from Hex, which brings Gengar in melee range of its target. Wigglytuff counters this with its powerful close range moves. Sing and Dazzling Gleam can control Gengar as soon as it blinks in, preventing it from spamming Hex to deal damage. Starlight Recital grants Invincibility on allies within its radius — completely negating debuffs that Gengar relies on to spam Hex.

Fair Matchup Explanations

Pokemon	Explanation
Lucario	This matchup heavily revolves around player skill. Lucario's high mobility allows it to dodge Sludge Bombs and Shadow Ball, preventing Gengar from spamming Hex.
Zeraora	Similar to Lucario, this is a high-octane matchup that also revolve around player skill. Proper move usage and timing will determine the victor and often boils down to split-second decisions.
Garchomp	Gengar's Hex spams are potent enough to take Garchomp down quickly. However, Garchomp can also turn the tables around Gengar with its powerful close range moves. Player skill is once again the determining factor of this matchup's victor.
Cramorant	Cramorant has enough mobility and damage to pose a threat to Gengar. This is often a case on who is able to jump on the other first.
Machamp	Gengar and Machamp have enough firepower to take the other out in most cases. This is another matchup where player skill dictates the winner.
Absol	Absol's incredibly high burst damage with critical strikes make it a dangerous foe for Gengar as well. This battle among Speedsters is often decided by split-second decisions and good move usage.
Mr. Mime	With enough skill and experience, Mr. Mime can use Gengar's reliance to stay in melee range against it. Guard Swap and Confusion combos are strong enough to stun and burst Gengar down.
Talonflame	As with all Speedster matchups, this particular matchup revolves around player skill once again. It all depends on who gets the jump on the other first.
Crustle	Crustle has just enough survivability to take the intial salvo from Gengar's Hex spam and counterattack with powerful close range moves such as Rubble Rouser and X-Scissor.
Snorlax	Snorlax's ability to stall for incredibly long periods of time is often a problem for Gengar, whole playstyle revolves around taking targets down as fast as possible. Yawn and Heavy Slam are strong moves that can shut Gengar down as well.
Charizard	This matchup ultimately revolves around player skill. While Gengar does outclass Charizard in terms of overall damage, Charizard's ability to stand its ground by inflicting stuns and knockbacks can pose problems for Gengar if timed corectly.

Easy Matchup Explanations

Pokemon	Explanation
Cinderace	Cinderace needs to be just out of reach of its target to be effective. This is an easy matchup for Gengar because of how easy it is to stay on top of Cinderace by spamming Hex.
Alolan Ninetales	Even though Alolan Ninetales offers great control against Gengar, it simply doesn't have enough HP to survive the intiial assault to be effective.
Eldegoss	Eldegoss is usually defenseless whenever a Gengar manages to get on top of it with Hex. The only way Eldegoss can survive Gengar's assault is by activating Cotton Cloud Crash.
Pikachu	Pikachu's strength is its incredibly long reach and ability to disable targets from afar. This is not an issue for Gengar and can usually stay on top of Pikachu with ease via spamming Hex.
Gardevoir	Similar to Pikachu, Gardevoir's range is its great advantage. But, with Hex's quick teleportation attack aided with Sludge Bomb's combo, this basically eliminates Gardevoir in a few attacks since Gardevoir is pretty frail.

How to Counter Gengar

Dodge the Sludge Bomb or Shadow Ball

The key to preventing Gengar's powerful Hex spams is to dodge Gengar's Sludge Bomb or Shadow Ball. Always remember that Hex needs to connect to targets that have Debuffs to completely reset. Dodging these moves can force Gengar to avoid combat entirely.

Use Full Heal

Full Heal is an amazing Battle Item that cleanses any Debuff you already have and grant Invincibility for a certain duration. This prevents Gengar from spamming Hex and leaves him vulnerable to counterattacks.

Use Disabling Moves

Sometimes you just have to take the fight to Gengar! Coordinate with your team and shut him down with disabling moves as much as possible to prevent Gengar from snowballing out of control.

Gengar Moves and Ability

Gengar Moves

Level	Move 1 (R)	Move 2 (ZR)
1 or 3
5
7
9

Move Slot 1 (R)

Will-O-Wisp (Lv. 1 or 3)	Move Type: Ranged Damage Type: Special Cooldown: 5s Total Damage: 525 (Lv. 3)
Shoots multiple fireballs at the target. When it hits, it deals damage to the enemy Pokemon and inflicts burn.
Sludge Bomb (Lv. 5) Upgrade Lv. 11	Move Type: Area Damage Type: Special Cooldown: 8s Total Damage: 390 (Lv. 5) / 1023 (Lv. 15)
Throws a dirty sludge at the target location. When the attacks hits, inflicts poison to all enemy Pokemon. Upgrade: Increases the duration of the poison debuff.
Shadow Ball (Lv. 5) Upgrade Lv. 11	Move Type: Ranged Damage Type: Special Cooldown: 4.5s Total Damage: 511 (Lv. 5) / 1602 (Lv. 15)
Throws a mass of shadow at the enemy. If the attack hits, it slows down the enemy and decreases their Sp. Defense. Upgrade: The damage dealt increases

Move Slot 2 (ZR)

Lick (Lv. 1 or 3)	Move Type: Area Damage Type: Special Cooldown: 7s Total Damage: 233 (Lv. 3)
Gengar sticks out its tongue and attacks pulling enemies towards them.
Hex (Lv. 7) Upgrade Lv. 13	Move Type: Dash Damage Type: Special Cooldown: 7.5s Total Damage: 1051 (Lv. 7) / 2742 (Lv. 15)
Gengar hides themselves and reappears at the target location. When Gengar reappears they deal damage to the opponent's Pokemon within range. If the enemy's Pokemon is affected by debuffs, this skills damage is increased and the cooldown is reduced.
Dream Eater (Lv. 7) Upgrade Lv. 13	Move Type: Ranged Damage Type: Status Cooldown: 8s
When the attack hits, it puts the oppenent's Pokemon asleep and allows Gengar to use this skill again. If the attack hits again, Gengar sneaks up behind the opponenet's Pokemon and deals damage while restoring their own HP. This also reduces the cooldown of Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb. Upgrade: Increases the damage dealt and the HP restored.

Unite Moves (ZL)

Phantom Ambush (Lv. 9)	Move Type: Dash Damage Type: Special Cooldown: Percent Based Total Damage: 50% of enemy HP (Lv. 9) / 50% of enemy HP (Lv. 15)
Teleports to an area then becomes invisible, gaining increased movement speed. When used again, Gengar will scares nearby opponents, damaging and slowing them.

Standard Attack

Standard Attack	Becomes a boosted attack with every third attack, lunging at an opposing Pokemon and dealing damage.

Ability (Passive)

Levitate	When not in battle, its speed increases.

Gengar Skins (Holowear)

List of All Skins: Fashion and Holowear

Pokemon UNITE Related Guides

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All Pokemon Guides and Builds

Pokemon Roster
Pikachu	Charizard	Snorlax	Crustle
Greninja	Eldegoss	Talonflame	Lucario
Venusaur	Mr. Mime	Slowbro	Absol
Machamp	Wigglytuff	Alolan Ninetales	Cramorant
Gengar	Garchomp	Cinderace	Zeraora
Gardevoir	Blastoise	-	-