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Raikou or Zapdos?

Isn't Zap Cannon the best move? I don't how a move with less DPS(Wild Charge) is considered better than ZC. Can someone enlighten me?

Asked by lox7 years 6 months ago

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Zap Cannon does the most Damage per use, but Thunderbolt is far more useful and does almost the same DPS over the course of a battle. The dodge timing is easier for TB, so you can get more of them off safely = more eDPS (effective DPS). If Zapdos had some better quick moves, I'm pretty sure he'd be the best period. I'm not sure who's better in the electric spot at the moment, but stats-wise it should be Zapdos. Zap has higher attack stats (the only stat that matters on a legendary), the same Stamina, and a bit less Defense. Which might actually be useless (or the least useful) on legendary mons, as you can't defend with them.

Raikou get's access to better moves. Wild Charge and TB are great. His typing leaves him less vulnerable to double weakness, but he also doesn't get as many STAB opportunities (3, compared to 6 for Zapdos) and the extra type coverage only hurts against Rock (but again, you'll be attacking INTO pokemon, meaning you'll know what type you're going to face)

As it stands, the double typing is a benefit for Zapdos. Basically giving him twice the resistances of Raikou (6 instead of 3) and only giving him one more weakness to gain those bonuses (rock + ice instead of just ice). There's all the info, hope you make a good choice and keep your best.

For a TLDR:

Zapdos is better for his role (electric attacker)

Raikou get's better moves, and has one less type to exploit, although this is irrelevant in the current metagame.

EDIT: Found a good screenshot that explains this.
Zap Cannon does 140 on paper
Thunder does 100 on paper

ZC has a cooldown of 3.7 seconds, meaning you can't dodge until those 3.7 seconds are over.
It uses 100 energy
DPS = 37.84
(Cooldown divided by damage, or how often you can use it vs. how long it takes to use)

Thunder has a cooldown of 2.4 seconds
It uses 100 energy
DPS = 41.67
This is because you can fire off a Thunder much faster than you can fire of Zap Cannon. Meaning you recover and start attacking/dodging sooner, which equates to more energy buildup, which = more damage.

Hope that makes things crystal clear!
Oh and Raikou can't learn Zap Cannon. He has Thunder, Thunderbolt, and Wild Charge.

I'm gonna copy answer this post to other Raikou vs Zapdos threats. However, two remarks.

I don't get what you mean with "He doesn't get stab for rock money
Conclusion should be more clear. Raikou > Zapdos if Raikou has TS+WC.

Updated it to make it a little more clear. He get's more STAB opportunities, with only 1 more "penalty" in his coverage (Zapdos)
I think (again... think) that Zapdos is just better in the "electric attacker" spot. Or the difference between the two is so negligible that it doesn't really matter, and neither is "better" but simply different, and handle certain situations better.

For example, you wouldn't want to use Zapdos against an Omanyte. You'd want Raikou (or something better) there as his lack of flying would = less resistance. But against something like Gyrados, Zapdos would do more damage purely based on his stats and DPS rankings MOST OF THE TIME! IF you have a godly Raikou with perfect moves and great IV's he'll do just as well, if not better.

My personal conclusion, is that you want one of each (catch em' all baby!!) but if you have to choose, go with your best IV/moveset that you've been able to get so far. Both of these legendaries are equally great, and the only areas that one would "beat" the other in, are subjective to the user and the purpose of the pokemon to said user.

Both are great upgrades to our Jolteons!

I'm personally spending candy on Zapdos, but that's because I caught a 15/15/13 and don't have a good Raikou atm.
If I'm anywhere near rock, I'm going with Raikou.

The days of "mon X is just better than mon Y" are tougher to find now a days. Neither Moltres versus Entei or Zap versus Raikou are good examples of this either. Both have much different arrays of resistances and both can do great damage against opponents that do not resist them.

Folks want it to all be simple because it eases their conscience on what they spend. We have no idea if future raid bosses will come equipped with moves that are SE against or or the other. Either could be markedly better than the other in many different scenarios.

My only advice would be if you want to power two electrics do both, not two of one so you are better insured against multiple scenarios. The best thing would be to wait to invest until we can discuss "is mom X or mon Y better against a certain raid boss".

Because any advice before then is at best an educated guess.

Perfect answer^

It's becoming more and more subjective to the user as we fill the types out with more useable pokemon. Spend your candy/dust on what makes you happy, as both of these electric mons are great.

Pro tip; for charge moves ignore the DPS stat, it's confusing, misleading and irrelevent. Otherwise brave bird would be the best charge move in the game.

Instead of that, look at the moves damage then look at the animation time. For example;

Zap Cannon 140
Thunder 100

Thunder is 1.3 seconds quicker. So you'll get to use your quick move 1.3 seconds earlier after using thunder.

Each second your quick move can achieve about 25 combined damage/energy gain. (give or take.) So Zap cannon at 140 is probably a bit better than Thunder at 100.

Thundershock/Wild Charge is the best electric attacking moveset currently. Raikou can learn this. Zapdos cannot. The difference in damage output from the moveset is roughly enough to cover the stat difference between the two. In short, they are roughly equal.

However, this depends on the moveset. Should Niantic adjust move damage, time, or energy, this could change. Zapdos is a bit less susceptible to this, as it has better attack stat.

I live near water areas, so there are still Gary and vapes common in gyms. I'm going to power up both.

Just read the new beast guide and they're saying about the same thing. A perfect Raikou will out DPS the Zap very slightly, against a neutral opponent. But Zap can cover more types with STAB.

I honestly think you'll want one of each here, as electric isn't "covered" as well as the other types yet. But either one of these will be your "go to" if you can't power the other one up. And if you can power up 2, you should be doing one of each to future proof your box.

How can Zap cover more types with STAB? Both have STAB on all possible movesets.

The only way I can see that statement being true is if Zapdos eventually gets Flying moves. Otherwise, it's no different from Raikou in the coverage department.