Iron Boulder: Hit (surprisingly) fast and hit hard.
Dom Kovell · 27 days ago(edited)Overview
Iron Boulder hits hard because of 120 base STR and Sharpness, and activating its Quark Drive makes it OHKO most enemies. But Boulder also hits fast at 124 base SPD, and Quark Drive is even more generous to this stat, so Jolly nature can very much decide how you play Boulder.
Strengths
High SPD for a Rock-type and strong STR is already strong, but Sharpness makes it a reliable carry. Its moveset has a lot of coverage and even room for variety.
Weaknesses
Rock + Psychic has a lot of weaknesses, with Psychic only canceling out Rock's weakness vs. Fighting, but otherwise bringing 3 more weaknesses with it. Ground-types with Sturdy are particularly powerful against Boulder.
Recommended build
Nature: Adament to hit harder, Jolly to almost always go first. This choice is amplified more than normal due to Quark Drive. Fire Tera Shard is very strong because of Bitter Blade, and pair it with Healing Charm when you can. Multi Lens: Besides crazy damage, this counters Boulder's weakness against Sturdy Ground Mons.
Moves & abilities
Sharpness: Synergizes with all its egg moves and several of its leveling moves. Moveset: Start with all four egg moves. Psyblade and Stone Axe are key STAB, while Bitter Blade sustains. Level moves: Replace Stone Axe with Mighty Cleave at level 56 for more damage and accuracy, and replace Kowtow Cleave with Swords Dance at level 63 for scaling. Options: Lots of them; these all work with its passive. You can keep Stone Axe if you like its splintering effect, or you can replace it with Stone Edge if you like to gamble. Psycho Cut is there if you like crit-fishing. Sacred Sword is a strong coverage move.
Strategy
Early game: Psyblade has the most reliable accuracy, power, and PP at this stage. Boulder's moveset has very strong coverage. Bitter Blade is very strong sustain as it scales with Sharpness. When possible, keep base PP high enough to avoid Ether-type items crowding your rewards. Mid game: Once you round out your moveset with Mighty Cleave and Swords Dance, Boulder can take on just about everything. Its defensive stats are decent enough that you can usually get away with a single Swords Dance setup, and then Bitter Blade your way back to full HP, sprinkling in more Swords Dances or its other moves for OHKOs against types. Increase PP or get berries to keep your strongest moves up and running at all times. Late game: Since this build tops off at level 63, just rinse and repeat your mid-game strats. Keep an eye out for enemy Mons who you can't OHKO and can retaliate heavily.
Synergies
Pair it with a Mon with Electric Surge to trigger Quark Drive and make Boulder even more beastly. Keep up double battles as often as possible. It also helps that an Electric-type helps out against dangerous Water-types.
Tips for beginners
Bitter Blade is great because it causes sizeable damage while sustaining Boulder's HP. Compare this to non-damaging moves, which can cause you to spiral if you're only healing retaliatory damage. By comparison, if you hit hard enough and can survive any retaliation, then Bitter Blade keeps Boulder up and keeps enemies fainting.
Tips for advanced players
Candy farming for single-hitters - particularly physical ones - can be frustrating, so Boulder is strong because it holds its own while not necessarily needing special synergies. 5-cost is a bit high but still allows it to be paired with other strong, single-hitters.