Solarbeam

Why is solarbeam such a weak move, when it's so strong in the anime? I remember the first time a pokemon of mine, Ninjask in Emerald, learnt solarbeam I was so disappointed that it had only 120 power, while it was taking two turns to hit. It was my favorite move too. Are any of you disappointed by that?

*sigh* SolarBeam is rather strong by competitive standards. 120 base power isn't something to scoff at (do you even wonder why moves like Close Combat and Hydro Pump are used a LOT competitively?).

Also, the anime doesn't follow the games entirely, like SolarBeam needing only 1 turn to hit and Hyper Beam not making the user rest after using it.

PlatinumDude said:

*sigh* SolarBeam is rather strong by competitive standards. 120 base power isn't something to scoff at (do you even wonder why moves like Close Combat and Hydro Pump are used a LOT competitively?).

Also, the anime doesn't follow the games entirely, like SolarBeam needing only 1 turn to hit and Hyper Beam not making the user rest after using it.

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120 per two turns is 60 per one. Simple math. Also, I know that the anime doesn't follow the games entirely, I'm only saying that I was disappointed to find out.

Rothometapratis said:

120 per two turns is 60 per one. Simple math. Also, I know that the anime doesn't follow the games entirely, I'm only saying that I was disappointed to find out.

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You seem to have forgotten that SolarBeam doesn't need a charge-up turn in sunny weather, making it a useful STAB move on Chlorophyll users, as well as a coverage move on Fire Pokemon that learn the move.

That being said, SolarBeam sees use on Sun teams only.

Do remember that that the charging, which can be negated, is its only downside. In sun, it becomes a 100 accuracy move with 120 power, which is very powerful. But yeah, only in sun teams is it useful.

I dislike moves that require two turns to fire, or require one turn of resting afterwards. Such as Solar Beam and Hyperbeam. Never used them much in the games, if at all.

I agree that in the anime, Hyper Beam specifically but also Solar Beam seem very very strong. More so in the early seasons at least, when they weren't as eager to imitate game mechanics as they've become in later seasons (imo).

But they are supposed to be ultimately strong moves. Before Frenzy Plant and whatnot, Solar Beam was kind of the ultimate grass type move, no? And I don't think it's weak in the games. 120 base power is strong, you know. It's just the 2 turns thing that is very annoying. I'm not speaking competitively here though, because I'm never speaking competitively ^^

also in earlier generations, there were far fewer moves with high power (or otherwise), hyper beam was the only move above 120 in Gen 1 from memory and they pretty much all had two turn requirements, so yeah back in the day the emphasis on power in the anime would be more relevant.

Just for reference, I here bring some anime pics of pokémon solarbeamin'. It sure is a gorgeous move~



At least Venusaur seems to really want to charge up before firing, so the "wait one turn first" is probably in the anime as well, but turns don't exactly work the same there (pokémon often attack twice in a row etc) so that's probably why it appears to be a bit overpowered in the anime?

I'd use a power-enhancing item like Miracle Seed, Grass Gem or Meadow Plate to raise the power of Solarbeam. Sunny Day would help too if you want to attack quickly with it.

Yeah as others have stated, it is not a great move unless in the sun, but if used on a sun team is is one of the best moves possible. 120 power STAB Solarbeam from Venusaur can quickly wreck teams and is a very common sight in OU.

I see nobody noted an error in the topic maker's 'simple math'. 120 power in two turns is not 60 each turn. Well, first of all, in a practice, 60 x 2 is better than 120 (though it's about 1 or 2 HPs lost, so we can skip this 'problem').
But there's also a good side of 2 turn charge instead of hitting 60 twice. Let's find some grass special move with power 60. If you hit Slowbro with it, he'll propably survive and use Slack Off (if his trainer thinks, I might have mistaken the name, but it works like a Recover) making him, most lilkely, survive the second hit. Solarbeam would do the job immidiately.
Of course, it's easier to Protect against it, but saying that Solarbeam is a weak move, proves lack of understanding it's tactical uses. Also, it's immensely superior to Frenzy Plant and such, as it's only downfall can be easily removed.
I always liked my Arcanine to have Solarbeam, Sunny Day and Flash Fire making him immune to fire and resistant to water moves after using Sunny Day. It' kinda fun to beat Misty with a fire Pokemon OHKO'ing her whole team (sometimes taking two turns to beat Golduck, as he might have Cloud Nine) :D

I think Solar Beam is weaker than, say, Hyper Beam, because Grass is super effective against some things whereas Normal isn't, and Sun can make Solar Beam into a real killer when the delay is cut out. Also the 100% accuracy with a 120 power move needs to invoke some kind of cost, but I feel that the Gen 1 moves were a bit limited in this aspect haha.

The Power Herb, although consumable, does allow for a one time only one turn Solarbeam. I use the power herb a lot in competitive play, because I like to use a lot of moves that charge on the first turn.

AlexOzzyCake said:

I think Solar Beam is weaker than, say, Hyper Beam, because Grass is super effective against some things whereas Normal isn't, and Sun can make Solar Beam into a real killer when the delay is cut out. Also the 100% accuracy with a 120 power move needs to invoke some kind of cost, but I feel that the Gen 1 moves were a bit limited in this aspect haha.

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+ Solarbeam actually gets STAB on most monz that would even consider using it. Hyper Beam has Porygon-Z and... not much else. 120 BP with 100 AC and a decent STAB/coverage type is too good to not have some sort of drawback, I think.

All moves 120 and above have some debilitating effect equipped to them. Either a recharge, Charge time, Recoil, or Status drop. Some suffer from horrible accuracy and those that can correct the accuracy through combination attacks can also lost more accuracy with a well placed counter.

They are too powerful to exist without these drawbacks.

Solarbeam kills with sun weather teams, I don't know what you're talking about. lol

Without sun weather teams, it's not the best move to use. It's kind of like hyper beam. :p

CloysterOyster said:

I'd use a power-enhancing item like Miracle Seed, Grass Gem or Meadow Plate to raise the power of Solarbeam. Sunny Day would help too if you want to attack quickly with it.

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Those items only raise the power by around 10%... so instead of being 120 power it would become 132... Which doesn't really make much of a difference when you think about it. Better off giving it an item that might actually be useful for something else. Like the Leftovers or the Shell Bell or the Quick Claw.

I don't think Solarbeam is a weak move at all. Personally, it's a move that I would love to use on my teams if only it weren't for having to wait a turn.

Solar beam has always been one of my favourite moves, it's always slaughtered the opposing Pokemon all over the wall. Hehe.
If you hate the charge turn, just use Sunny Day, a lot of grass Pokemon can learn it, after that you can just blast it over and over, and it does even more damage, so solar beam and sunny day are great, unless you're up against a Charizard or something (But you shouldn't be stupid enough to use a grass type against fire anyway)
Oh and if you're Groudon, you know Solar Beam and have the Sunny Day ability, so you can smash water type pokemon with a fire type also!