Level 25To Donphan

DonphanLast stage shown

#0232 · GENERATION 2

Donphan Build Guide

Ground

Physical hazard support and removal

Build a Donphan team ↓

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Custom Pokédex collection.

Starter moveset

Generation 9 · casual singles · base form

ITEMLeftovers

ABILITYSturdy

NATUREImpish

Earthquake

Rapid Spin

Stealth Rock

Knock Off

How to play

Use favorable matchups to set Stealth Rock or remove hazards from your side with Rapid Spin. A successful Rapid Spin also raises Speed; Knock Off can remove an eligible held item.

Watch out for

Key risk. Ghost types block Rapid Spin, preventing its removal effect. Sturdy requires full HP and can be disabled by chip damage. Water, Grass and Ice attacks threaten Donphan, and this set has no direct recovery move.

About this example

This editorial starting point is not a ranked-format recommendation or a legality check. It does not specify EVs or Tera type. Moves, items and abilities here do not change the builder score.

BATTLE PLAN

When to attack, set up or switch

Use favorable matchups to set Stealth Rock or remove hazards from your side with Rapid Spin. A successful Rapid Spin also raises Speed; Knock Off can remove an eligible held item.

Hazards are sitting on your side

Ghost types block Rapid Spin, so check who is active before spending the turn. Knock Off is the Dark move that hits Ghost targets for 2×, which is how Donphan clears the blocker rather than walking around it.

You want to set Stealth Rock instead

Sturdy needs the turn to begin at full HP, and Leftovers only works after the turn ends — Water, Grass and Ice each deal 2×, so a hit taken on the hazard turn cannot be undone by the held item.

What does a safe pivot mean?

A teammate uses a switching move to bring Donphan in. A slower pivot may take the opponent’s hit first. Turn order and the opponent’s move still matter.

ITEM & ABILITY

How this build works

A successful Rapid Spin raises Donphan’s Speed as it clears the field, but a Ghost type on the opponent’s side blocks the removal outright. Sturdy only exists at full HP, and Leftovers pays HP back at the end of the turn rather than the moment Donphan is hit.

Watch the tradeoff. Ghost types block Rapid Spin, preventing its removal effect. Sturdy requires full HP and can be disabled by chip damage. Water, Grass and Ice attacks threaten Donphan, and this set has no direct recovery move.

These battle mechanics do not change the builder’s type-and-base-stat score. The tool does not simulate moves, abilities, held items or damage.

COMPARE YOUR OPTIONS

Donphan or Swampert?

Swampert offers Water typing and different hazard support, but this example does not remove hazards.

Base stats · standard forms in the local Generation 9 dataset
Stat	Donphan	Swampert
HP	90	100
Attack	120	110
Defense	120	90
Sp. Attack	60	85
Sp. Defense	60	90
Speed	50	60

Base stats are not final battle stats. Level, nature, IVs, EVs and battle effects affect the result. Check availability in your game before choosing an alternative.

Teammate ideas

A Grass-resistant partner helps against its weaknesses. A Water teammate resists Water and Ice; keep enough special damage in the remaining slots.

Corviknight

Resists Grass and can pivot another teammate into play; Ice damage is neutral.

Read Corviknight guide →Compare teammates →

Milotic

Resists Water and Ice and adds special damage with recovery.

Read Milotic guide →Compare teammates →

These are typing-based starting pairs, not a complete competitive team. Check the remaining four slots and your game’s rules.

Compare computed teammate suggestions →

Alternative: Swampert

Swampert offers Water typing and different hazard support, but this example does not remove hazards.

Read Swampert guide →

Try Swampert →

Type matchups

Weak to

Water2×Grass2×Ice2×

Resistances and immunities

Electric0×Poison0.5×Rock0.5×

Typing only. Abilities, items and battle effects can change these matchups.

HP90

Attack120

Defense120

Sp. Attack60

Sp. Defense60

Speed50

Evolution chain

Phanpy#231
Level 25
Donphan#232

Standard main-series evolution conditions. Regional forms and games with special evolution systems can differ.

Build your Donphan team

Start with Donphan. Add teammates and compare your type-and-base-stat score.

Gen 9 · National Dex · Casual Settings & scope

GameFormat

Format scope · casual planning

Base species #001–1025, using Generation 9 data. A casual planning pool, not a VGC, ranked, or Showdown National Dex legality validator. Regional, Mega and alternate forms are not included yet.

SLOT 01#232

Donphan

Ground

SLOT 02

SLOT 03

SLOT 04

SLOT 05

SLOT 06

Understand your team

Offense82

Defense60

Coverage28

Synergy17

Types & base stats only · Not a win probability.

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Key insights

Grass attacks threaten 1 of 1 teammates, with no teammate resisting them by type.
Ice attacks threaten 1 of 1 teammates, with no teammate resisting them by type.
Your own types can hit 5 of 18 single-type targets super effectively. Actual move coverage can differ.
No teammate has a base Speed of 100 or higher. Consider adding a faster option.

Detailed type analysis · all 18 types

Incoming damage assumes typing only. 0× = immune, ½× / ¼× = resistant, 2× / 4× = weak. Resistance counts include immunities.

Incoming damage by attacking type
Attack	Donphan	Weak	Resist
Normal	1×	0	0
Fire	1×	0	0
Water	2×	1	0
Electric	0×	0	1
Grass	2×	1	0
Ice	2×	1	0
Fighting	1×	0	0
Poison	½×	0	1
Ground	1×	0	0
Flying	1×	0	0
Psychic	1×	0	0
Bug	1×	0	0
Rock	½×	0	1
Ghost	1×	0	0
Dragon	1×	0	0
Dark	1×	0	0
Steel	1×	0	0
Fairy	1×	0	0

Offensive type coverage

Against single-type targets, using only same-type attacks. This is not coverage against every dual-type species.

NormalNeutral

Fire✓ Super effective

WaterNeutral

Electric✓ Super effective

GrassResisted

IceNeutral

FightingNeutral

Poison✓ Super effective

GroundNeutral

FlyingImmune target

PsychicNeutral

BugResisted

Rock✓ Super effective

GhostNeutral

DragonNeutral

DarkNeutral

Steel✓ Super effective

FairyNeutral

How is the score calculated?

Offense (25%): neutral-or-better type coverage and strongest attacking base stats. Defense (30%): team resistances, unprotected and repeated weaknesses, and 4× vulnerabilities. Coverage (25%): fraction of 18 single-type targets hit super effectively by your own types. Synergy (20%): teammates resisting each other’s weaknesses, physical/special/bulk stat signals and base Speed ≥100. Scores are rounded to 0–100; the total uses the displayed subscores.

Rating bands: Excellent ≥80, Good ≥65, Fair ≥45, Poor below 45. An empty team has no rating.

Small teams are provisional and are not given a separate completion bonus. Adding a Pokémon can lower the score if it creates new weaknesses or lowers averages. These initial heuristics have not been calibrated against battle outcomes.