Best Steel-type Attackers in Pokémon GO

Ranking Methodology

Every attacker on this page is scored by the same raid simulator. Here is what each column in the table means and how the default settings are chosen.

DPS (Damage Per Second)

Sustained damage per second from the Pokémon's best fast and charged move combination, with energy gain, charged animation time, and a one-bar penalty for nuke movesets all baked in. This is the raw output number, before relobby downtime is applied.

TDO (Total Damage Output)

How much damage one Pokémon deals before fainting. TDO factors in the attacker's HP, defense, and the boss's incoming damage, so bulkier attackers will have higher TDO at the same DPS.

Faints

Lives needed to defeat the raid boss, computed as boss HP divided by TDO. A lower number means fewer relobbies. Our default relobby time is 10 seconds, but this can be configured.

TTW (Time To Win)

Estimated seconds to defeat the boss at this moveset's sustained DPS. Useful for answering the question “Can I solo this raid?”

eDPS (Effective DPS)

The default ranking value. eDPS blends DPS and TDO with the cost of relobbying after a faint, so a glassy nuker and a tanky bruiser are scored on equal footing. Higher is better.

Default simulation settings

Defaults assume Level 40 (max without Candy XL), 15/15/15 IVs, no weather boost, no friendship bonus, no Party Power, and no Mega boost from a teammate. Every setting can be adjusted in the settings panel above the table to reorder the list to fit your own raid setup.

Level

Level 40 is the default because it only requires regular Candy. Level 50 adds another ~10% damage but takes Candy XL, so it sits behind the level toggle.

Weather

Weather boost adds 20% damage to moves matching the active weather (e.g. Sunny boosts Fire, Grass, and Ground damage by 20%). Off by default so the rankings hold up in any forecast. Set the active weather to see how the list shifts.

Friendship

Friendship multiplies your damage from 3% (Good) up to 12% (Forever). Off by default since not every player has a Forever Friend on every raid.

Party Power

In Party Play raids, every player charges a meter with fast attacks. Once full, their next charged move deals 2× damage. The simulator uses a cycle-averaged model, so spammy movesets see a smaller boost than slow nukes. Off by default to match solo raid expectations.

Mega boost

While a Mega-Evolved Pokémon is on the field, it boosts damage for allies of the same type by 30% and other types by 10%. Off by default, so the ranking does not assume a friend is running the matching Mega.

Rejoin time

The simulator assumes a 10-second rejoin between team wipes. Lower it to model a faster relobby; eDPS rewards attackers that survive long enough to skip the rejoin.

Legacy / Elite TM moves

Legacy moves (the kind requiring an Elite TM) are included by default and marked with an asterisk in the table. Disable the toggle to rank only more accessible (but often lower DPS) movesets.