GO Battle League analysis: Is Heatran as good as it is unique?

Heatran is an interesting proposition for Pokemon Go’s GO Battle League as it is one a kind. It is the only Pokemon in the entire franchise that can boast a dual fire and steel-typing.

There are many species that have unique dual typings but given steel’s weakness to fire, Heatran becomes a tantalizing option. As most of you know there’s more to GO Battle League than typing, so let’s see how the Lava Dome Pokemon fits in.

Being a Legendary Pokemon, it is no surprise the Gen 4 ‘mon is more suited to the higher leagues in GBL. It has a max CP of 3,754 which immediately makes it attractive to those looking to bolster their Master League teams.

It can also play a role in Ultra League, although to a lesser extent. In Pokemon Go Heatran can’t have a CP of less than 1,500 so it can’t be used in Great League.

Fascinating combination of fire and steel

Let’s break down its fire and steel-typing before moving on to other aspects. This combination sounds interesting and works in reality, too.

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It has a massive 10 resistances and just 3 weaknesses. All of these and their respective damage multipliers are listed below:

Resistances

• Bug – 39.1% damage
• Dragon – 62.5% damage
• Fairy – 39.1% damage
• Flying – 62.5% damage
• Grass – 39.1% damage
• Ice – 39.1% damage
• Normal – 62.5% damage
• Poison – 39.1% damage
• Psychic – 62.5% damage
• Steel – 39.1% damage

Weaknesses

• Fighting – 160% damage
• Ground – 256% damage
• Water – 160% damage

Moves as good its typing?

Its typing may look fantastic but that means little if it doesn’t have the moves to back it up. Heatran only has two Fast Moves it can currently use:

• Bug Bite – 3 DPT, 3 EPT
• Fire Spin – 3 DPT, 3.33 EPT

Neither are particularly good. They both have basic damage of 3 DPT. As Fire Spin has slightly better energy gains and more importantly a lot better type coverage, it is the best of these two.

Here are Heatran’s Charge Moves:

• Fire Blast – 140 damage, 80 energy
• Flamethrower – 90 damage, 55 energy
• Iron Head – 70 damage, 50 energy
• Stone Edge – 100 damage, 55 energy

With such a high DPE for just 55 energy, Flamethrower is the first choice move in many trainer’s books and rightfully so. This can be complimented by either Iron Head or Stone Edge.

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Given the greater damage and slightly better coverage, we’d recommend Stone Edge. However, this is by no means a clear cut choice and many may prefer having the steel-type move to combat fairy-types.

Heatran stats

Unfortunately Heatran does fall a little short in the stats department. Overall its stats are good – after all it is a Legendary Pokemon – but its their distribution which isn’t ideal.

• Attack: 251 (54 of 827)
• Defense: 213 (50 of 827)
• Stamina: 209 (115 of 827)

While we know GBL favors defensive stats, all of these numbers are very good. They’re comparable to that of Metagross, and we all know how well that pseudo-legend fares.

With Heatran available in Raid Battles until September 10, now is the time to try it out and see if it is worthy of a place in your Master League team.