Houndoom: Best Moveset and PVP Guide

The world of Pokémon has been a growing phenomenon since 1996, when the first pair of video games came out in stores. There are almost 900 individual Pokémon identified by the PokéDex and in this article, we are going to tell you everything you need to know about one of them – Houndoom. Houndoom is a dual-type Fire/Dark Pokémon introduced in Generation II of the core game series. It is the final and only evolution of Houndour, also a Generation II Pokémon, which evolves into Houndoom starting at Level 24. Houndoom also has a Mega Evolution.

In this article, we are going to tell you all the information you’ll need if you want to breed an Houndoom in any of the games. We’re going to focus on both the core games, as well as other popular video games based on the Pokémon franchise.

Best moveset

In the Pokémon GO videogame, the best moves for your Houndoom are Fire Fang and Foul Play if you’re battling Pokémon in Gyms. Namely, this moveset gives you the highest total DPS and is, likewise, the best moveset for PVP battles. The official description for Fire Fang reveals the following: “The user bites with flame-cloaked fangs. This may also make the target flinch or leave it with a burn”; as for Foul Play, the attack is described as follows: “The user turns the target’s power against it. The higher the target’s Attack stat, the greater the damage it deals.”

Other moves that Houndoom can learn across other games are:

• Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Houndoom
• Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Houndoom
• × indicates a move that cannot be used in Generation VIII

By leveling up

Level	Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr.	Acc.	PP
1	Inferno	Fire	Special	100	50%	5
1	Nasty Plot	Dark	Status	—	—%	20
1	Thunder Fang	Electric	Physical	65	95%	15
1	Leer	Normal	Status	—	100%	30
1	Ember	Fire	Special	40	100%	25
4	Howl	Normal	Status	—	—%	40
8	Smog	Poison	Special	30	70%	20
13	Roar	Normal	Status	—	—%	20
16	Bite	Dark	Physical	60	100%	25
20	Taunt	Dark	Status	—	100%	20
26	Beat Up	Dark	Physical	—	100%	10
30	Fire Fang	Fire	Physical	65	95%	15
35	Payback	Dark	Physical	50	100%	10
41	Flame Charge	Fire	Physical	50	100%	20
45	Foul Play	Dark	Physical	95	100%	15
50	Flamethrower	Fire	Special	90	100%	15
56	Crunch	Dark	Physical	80	100%	15
60	Nasty Plot	Dark	Status	—	—%	20
65	Inferno	Fire	Special	100	50%	5

By TM

TM	Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr.	Acc.	PP
TM05	Roar	Normal	Status	—	—%	20
TM11	Sunny Day	Fire	Status	—	—%	5
TM12	Taunt	Dark	Status	—	100%	20
TM15	Hyper Beam	Normal	Special	150	90%	5
TM17	Protect	Normal	Status	—	—%	10
TM22	Solar Beam	Grass	Special	120	100%	10
TM23	Iron Tail	Steel	Physical	100	75%	15
TM30	Shadow Ball	Ghost	Special	80	100%	15
TM32	Double Team	Normal	Status	—	—%	15
TM35	Flamethrower	Fire	Special	90	100%	15
TM36	Sludge Bomb	Poison	Special	90	100%	10
TM38	Fire Blast	Fire	Special	110	85%	5
TM41	Torment	Dark	Status	—	100%	15
TM42	Facade	Normal	Physical	70	100%	20
TM44	Rest	Psychic	Status	—	—%	10
TM45	Attract	Normal	Status	—	100%	15
TM46	Thief	Dark	Physical	60	100%	25
TM50	Overheat	Fire	Special	130	90%	5
TM58	Endure	Normal	Status	—	—%	10
TM61	Will-O-Wisp	Fire	Status	—	85%	15
TM63	Nasty Plot	Dark	Status	—	—%	20
TM66	Payback	Dark	Physical	50	100%	10
TM68	Giga Impact	Normal	Physical	150	90%	5
TM78	Snarl	Dark	Special	55	95%	15
TM79	Dark Pulse	Dark	Special	80	100%	15
TM82	Sleep Talk	Normal	Status	—	—%	10
TM85	Dream Eater	Psychic	Special	100	100%	15
TM87	Swagger	Normal	Status	—	85%	15
TM90	Substitute	Normal	Status	—	—%	10
TM96	Strength	Normal	Physical	80	100%	15
TM98	Rock Smash	Fighting	Physical	40	100%	15

Houndoom PVP Guide

In this section of our article, we are going to give you a detailed PVP guide for Houndoom, which can be applied to all known Pokémon video games. The guide is going to include several categories which are going to help you prepare a strategy involving Houndoom for your games.

Weaknesses and Counters

As a dual Dark- and Fire-type Pokémon, Houndoom is super effective against Grass-, Ice-, Steel-, Psychic-, and Ghost-type Pokémon. It is weak against Fighting-, Ground-, Rock-, and Water-type Pokémon and it is immune to Psychic-type moves completely. It receives normal damage from Normal-, Flying-, Poison-, Bug-, Electric-, Dragon-, and Fairy-type Pokémon.

Stats and Abilities

Houndoom’s Stats, based on the most recent available data, are:

Stats	Base Stats	Min-	Min	Max	Max+	Min-	Min	Max	Max+
HP	75	150		182		291		354
Attack	90	99	110	142	156	194	216	279	306
Defense	50	63	70	102	112	122	136	199	218
Special Attack	110	117	130	162	178	230	256	319	350
Special Defense	80	90	100	132	145	176	196	259	284
Speed	95	103	115	147	161	203	226	289	317

In Pokémon GO, Houndoom has a Base Stamina of 181, a Base Attack of 289, and a Base Defense of 194.

As for its abilities, they are:

• Early Bird: The Pokémon awakens from sleep twice as fast as other Pokémon. (or)
• Flash Fire: Powers up the Pokémon’s Fire-type moves if it’s hit by one.
• Unnerve: Unnerves opposing Pokémon and makes them unable to eat Berries. (Hidden Ability)
• Solar Power: Boosts the Sp. Atk stat in harsh sunlight, but HP decreases every turn. (Mega Houndoom)

Houndoom item guide

The best item you can give to your Houndoom in the more recent games is the Houndominite, which will allow it to evolve into Mega Houndoom. Other useful items include Choice Band (An item to be held by a Pokémon. This curious headband boosts Attack but only allows the use of one move) and Leftovers (An item to be held by a Pokémon. The holder’s HP is slowly but steadily restored throughout every battle).