Lucario has always been a dynamic Pokemon, and that remains true in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.
The Smash Bros. fighter uniquely boasts strong Attack and Special Attack stats, letting it excel with a variety of movesets. For example, you might give it Fighting-Type moves that utilize both its attack stats so you can hit whichever defense your opponent lacks. Or you might prioritize Special moves since Lucario’s Special Attack is slightly higher. Or maybe you’ll load Lucario with TMs so it can attack with four different elements. The choices are endless!
Because of this, it can be overwhelming to decide on a moveset for Lucario. In truth, Lucario’s best moveset will depend on your team and how you plan to use it. After all, someone focusing on beating the game will have different priorities compared to someone trying to use Lucario in tournaments. Because of this, let’s look at a few movesets that fit Lucario in different contexts. Hopefully, these will give you ideas for how you want to play this monster.
Best nature for Lucario in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
The best nature for Lucario in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is Jolly. It’ll provide an increase to your Pokemon’s attack power at the cost of Sp. Attack. That will work perfectly for the movesets we have down below. Lucario has a better set of physical moves, so sacrificing Sp. Attack will have no downside.
Though, if you are looking for a more casual build, almost any other nature will do. However, you preferably would want one of the following natures so that you won’t have a slightly weaker Lucario.
- Hardy
- Docile
- Bashful
- Quirky
- Serious
Best EVs for Lucario in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
Since you want your Lucario to hit very hard and have priority in attacking, you will put most of your EV points into Attack and Speed. Since EV training has been made a lot easier in modern games, just buy up a bunch of Carbos and Protein until your Pokemon can’t take any more. With the remaining points left over, give your Lucario Iron.
The EV distribution should be somewhere around 252 points in Attack and Speed with 4 in Defense. If your points are slightly off by a few digits like 250/250/8, that will still do fine.
Best casual playthrough moveset for Lucario
For someone focusing on beating the main story of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet and dipping their toes into the postgame, here’s a solid moveset to use.
- Close Combat
- Meteor Mash
- Extreme Speed
- Swords Dance
This moveset focuses on Lucario’s physical attack. It doesn’t use any TMs at all, so it’s very low investment too. Swords Dance will greatly increase your physical attack, which will help Lucario overwhelm opponents it can excel against. Once you boost your stats, your attack choices are up to you.
Close Combat is your bread and butter. This packs a whopping 120 base power, though it lowers your defense stats per cast. Fortunately, once Lucario is boosted by Swords Dance, you should knock out most Pokemon in one hit.
Meteor Mash is a strong Steel-Type attack that can hit Pokemon that resist Close Combat, which gives Lucario impressive coverage.
Finally, Extreme Speed is a super powerful Quick Attack. If you’re afraid of something being faster than you once your defenses are down, use Extreme Speed to strike your enemy first.
This moveset will let Lucario succeed in almost any fight you throw it at. That said, it can be customized to fit your tastes too. For example, you could swap Extreme Speed for a Ground-Type attack to hit more Pokemon for Super Effective damage. To this end, Lucario naturally learns Bone Rush, though it can learn the more powerful Earthquake as a TM.
Lucario may also learn Heal Pulse if you’d prefer it to have a recovery option. Equip the moves you want to use the most.
Best VGC competitive moveset for Lucario
Right now, Lucario has very low usage in competitive double battles. That doesn’t mean Lucario is bad, just that it doesn’t fare well in this format against some of the more popular Pokemon. That said, of the players that use Lucario, these moves are seen more frequently than others.
- Bullet Punch
- Protect
- Close Combat
- Vacuum Wave
Lucario learns Bullet Punch as an Egg Move, giving it a priority STAB attack. Vacuum Wave similarly comes with a priority boost, and it also uses Lucario’s Special Attack for a change. Protect is a common move in doubles, as it allows clever players to predict an opponent’s attacks and block them. Some players opt to use Drain Punch as well, giving Lucario a way to deal damage while restoring its health.
Lucario isn’t a meta-defining Pokemon, so find what works for you in this format. Who knows, maybe you’ll come up with a build that will push Lucario’s usage higher.
Smogon recommended moveset for Lucario
If you’re playing Pokemon Showdown, Lucario is currently ranked in the UnderUsed (UU) tier for Scarlet & Violet. This is beneath the popular OverUsed (OU) tier, but again, this doesn’t mean Lucario is bad. It simply isn’t matching up well enough to other common threats. Meanwhile, Lucario will fare better against the other monsters facing it in the UU tier.
As of writing, Smogon recommends this moveset:
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Meteor Mash
This is kind of like a mix of our previous two movesets. The difference here is that Smogon recommends holding the Life Orb (which boosts damage at the cost of damaging the holder per turn).
Best Tera for Lucario in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
The best Tera-Type for Lucario in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is Normal Tera-Type, which let it deal boosted damage with Extreme Speed.
It can’t be stressed enough that Lucario’s best moveset depends on your team. A meta or recommended moveset means nothing if it doesn’t complement your other Pokemon. These movesets should serve as solid starting points, but you should experiment with other moves to see what works for you. No matter which path you take, enjoy using your Lucario!
