Crustaceans Come Crashing In

 

 

I discussed in a previous post how I'll be expanding the roster of Bug types in this game to bring in every Pokemon inspired by arthropods. The biggest group affected by this change happens to be crustaceans. Specifically, we're looking at the quirky group of Krabby, Corphish, Clauncher, and Crabrawler and their evolutions. How will they be typed? What moves will they get access to? Are they getting any buffs? Let's take a moment to find out!

1. Stats

Kingler, Crawduant, and Clawitzer have never been close to the highest tiers of competition. They've had moments of greatness down in the lower tiers, but power creep continues to leave them further behind the competition. Crawdaunt at least was able to hang on to RU status? They'll definitely need some stat buffs to maintain their edge in the cruel world of Bugmerald.

All three of the aquatic crustaceans fall into a comfortably distinct role. Kingler dishes and receives hits well on the physical side, Clawitzer on the Special side, while Crawdaunt is the slowest but is a juggernaut that can do a little bit of everything. Kingler and Clawitzer are getting their Speed buffed to 85 and 89 respectively, with Clawitzer sacrificing a bit of Defense to hit that higher Speed tier. Crawdaunt is keeping its suspect 55 Speed but is getting boosted defenses and an HP buff up to 101.

As the sole terrestrial crustacean here, Crabominable walks a similar path to Kingler but with a lot more bulk and a lot less speed. Its defenses are being buffed to 107/87/87, while it retains its terrible Speed stat and phenomenal Attack.

Typing-wise, Kingler and Crawdaunt are maintaining their offensive moves with Bug/Water typing, while Crawdaunt is opting for Bug/Dark for a bit of variety. I may still consider Bug/Water for Crawdaunt, but there are already quite a few Bug/Waters at this point and only 3 Bug/Dark, so I think Dark makes the best fit here for game balance. Crabominable will be keeping the Ice type to live up to its namesake.

2. Abilities

Battle/Shell Armor is receiving a buff that not only gives immunity to critical hits, but also halves damage from Rock and Steel type moves. With Rock an omni-present threat in the Bugmerald world, the player actually has a good reason to utilize Shell Armor for once. Hyper Cutter is remaining an option for Kingler and Crawdaunt to check the doubles threat of Intimidate, and Sheer Force or Adaptability remain incredibly potent offensive powerhouses that they can access as Hidden Abilities. Clawitzer of course maintains its Mega Launcher ability to make the most of its offense. We'll throw in some extra options in Berserk and Storm Drain. There are quite a few Bug/Rock and Bug/Ground types that would love protection from water moves, and Clawitzer itself can always make use of a Sp. Attack boost through either ability.

Crabominable keeps Hyper Cutter and Iron Fist, protecting its offense or boosting it at the player's discretion. For the Hidden Ability, however, we're subbing in some more Shell Armor, baby. More than any other crab here, Crabominable's Bug/Ice typing is loving any protection it can get from Rock and Steel moves.

3. Movepool

Not much needs to be said here, honestly. These Pokemon have some great moves already. We'll be grabbing some egg moves such as Dragon Dance and moving them over to TMs or Tutors, and throwing in some Bug moves at appropriate levels. Pounce, and Struggle Bug at the lower levels, graduating into things like Leech Life, X-Scissor and Megahorn at the bottom of the level-up learnset. No need to mess with anything that's not broken!

Conclusion

We've got quite a few new Bug types that we'll be getting to in the future, but I think these buffs and adjustments do our krabby friends quite well as an introduction into Bugmerald. Keep an eye out for them rounding out the wild Pokemon found while fishing, surfing, and diving!