Life Orb or Choice Specs.?

[kingofgames]

What would be better on a Special Sweeper?

Life Orb or Choice Specs.?

Since Most Special Sweepers HP isnt that good...... What would be better?
I'm doing battle towers and Compet. Battles again

 

[Yoko Rains]

Choice Specs in my opinion.

Life Orb is only good if its necessary to alternate moves. Like my Naive Gengar uses a Life Orb instead of specs due to his moveset. He has Shadow Ball, Explosion, ThinderBolt, Focus Blast/Punch.

So, since he has Explosion (guarantees a 1HKO on Blissey), Life Orb over Choice Specs.

So generally, for an all out Special Sweeper, Choice Specs.

 

[Fenikkusu]

Depends on the sweeper and the rest of your team. Do the calculations and see if the boost affects any significant KOs. Generally speaking, if you're purely a special sweeper, you'll probably want specs. If you're a special sweeper like 'gar packing explosion, you might want orb since you can explode before most things finish killing you anyway.

 

[kingofgames]

Well I've been testing each other out for my team, and Choice Specs > Life Orb, since Moves that would normally do regular damage does "semi-super effective" damage instead.

 

[Fenikkusu]

Well yes 50% > 30%. It's simply a matter of how good your prediction is when you have to switch out after being locked into a move.

 

[kingofgames]

I predict my opponents move well, so That one turn switch out isnt going to hurt me the first time

 

[Lee]

I find Life Orb to be a terrible item, especially on sweepers that only attack on one side of the spectrum. Mixed attackers can get a big kick from it, but those mixed attackers also tend to have great type coverage meaning Expert Belt offers a great boost without killing yourself. It also shows the opponent what item you're holding which can really give the advantage to the opponent in the case of Pokemon like Garchomp.

Choice Specs > Life Orb 9 times out of 10.

 

[kingofgames]

speaking of Expert Belt, how much of a boost does it gives for super effective hits?

 

[Infernape_Kong]

Life Orb is the only reliable way to improve your damage without locking yourself into one attack. If you're planning team-sweeps (with more complex strategies, like BP chains), go with Life Orb. If you're planning to hit and run, go with a Choice item.

 

[Fenikkusu]

Expert belt is 20%

I tend to not be that fond of life orb overall, but it does have its uses.

 

[Yoko Rains]

Expert Belt gives 1.2x damage to Super Effective moves only.

 

[kingofgames]

Meh, I might just stick with Choice Specs, for the 50%

 

[Yoko Rains]

Yeah, Choice Specs is the better "choice" in most situations.

 

[kingofgames]

I'll use that
thank you:)

But would YOU use that in a competive battle on a special sweeper?

 

[EvilMario]

Life Orb is a decent item in that it always you to Dragon Dance, Sword Dance, Agility, or setup in another way prior to your sweeping. Pokemon that can recover off the damage easily (hello, Starmie) benefit from it too, in my opinion.

 

[kingofgames]

True, but then, That one turn Recovering, Your opponent can get some easy hits in if he knows your stragety

 

[Yoko Rains]

Yes, I probably would. My Salamence uses Choice Specs.

EvilMario, how can your sig fit more than 6 lines...?

 

[Fishin]

I'm going to stick with the obvious-but-correct answer and say it depends on the pokemon and the moveset. Choice Specs wins points if your attack type of choice is difficult to resist (Sala with Draco Meteor), but Life Orb is often better if your attacks are easily resisted (Gengar with Shadow Ball/T-bolt/Focus Blast), or if you're running physical attacks.

 

[Yoko Rains]

Also, it depends if you have a power-boosting move in your moveset or not...like Nasty Plot, etc.

 

[kingofgames]

Well its a full sweeper

With all special moves ;) Starmie, Blissey, to that nature of pokemon

 

[Yoko Rains]

I see...Choice Specs for you.

 

[kingofgames]

Indeed :)
And to think, I used to think this item was useless (because I used it on alakazam)

I single Battle alot in the Battle Tower, and I'm trying to beat Tycoon Palmer .... How's my team ( I dont have IV's, this is before I found out about IV's)

Electrivire: (Expert Belt)
Thunder Punch
Ice Punch
EarthQuake
Cross Chop

GarChomp (Leftovers)
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Fire Fang
Crunch

Starmie (Choice Specs)
T-Bolt
I-Beam
Surf
Psychic

 

[Yoko Rains]

Good, but IMO, Garchomp is better off with a choice item (Choice Band, maybe Scarf, god forbid even Specs).

 

[kingofgames]

Good, but IMO, Garchomp is better off with a choice item (Choice Band, maybe Scarf, god forbid even Specs).

why so?

 

[Yoko Rains]

Because I've never seen a Garchomp with Leftovers lol.

I've only seen Choice Band, Scarf, and Life Orb Chomps.

Here, I think you're best off reading this:

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20484