Pokémon Damage Formula — Complete Calculation Reference

01At a glance

The damage formula has been broadly stable since Gen 5 with only minor numerical edits across generations. The structural shape — base damage, then a chain of multipliers — has stayed consistent.

Every modifier applies in a fixed order. The damage calculator at /calculator on Pokékipe uses the canonical @smogon/calc engine; this page documents the underlying math.

02The formula

The Pokémon damage formula in its standard form. Every modifier applies on top of a base damage value computed from level, base power, and attack/defense stats.

Base damage

Where:

• Level — attacker's level (50 in standard tournament play; 100 in some legacy formats; 5 in Little Cup).
• Base Power — the move's base power (e.g. 80 for Ice Beam).
• Attack — the attacker's Attack stat (physical moves) or Special Attack stat (special moves).
• Defense — the defender's Defense stat (physical moves) or Special Defense stat (special moves).
• ⌊x⌋ — floor function (round down to integer).

Final damage

Each modifier is applied in sequence, with the result floored to integer at each step. The exact engine ordering is deterministic; the only randomness is in the Roll modifier (and crit rolls).

03All damage modifiers

Each multiplier in the damage formula corresponds to a real-world game mechanic. The table below covers every standard modifier — anything that doesn't fit here is an edge case or an ability-specific modifier.

Ability-specific modifiers

A subset of abilities apply additional damage modifiers beyond the standard table. Examples:

• Sheer Force — moves with secondary effects gain +30% damage; the secondary effect is suppressed.
• Tough Claws — contact moves gain +30% damage.
• Strong Jaw — biting moves gain +50% damage.
• Iron Fist — punching moves gain +20% damage.
• Reckless — recoil moves gain +20% damage.
• Sand Force — Rock/Ground/Steel moves gain +30% damage in sand.
• Solar Power — special moves gain +50% damage in sun (with 1/8 HP cost per turn).
• Pixilate / Aerilate / Refrigerate — Normal moves change type and gain +20% damage.
• Protosynthesis / Quark Drive — highest stat boosted by 30% (50% if Speed) under triggering condition.

04The damage roll

Every damaging move applies a random damage multiplier between 0.85 and 1.00 inclusive. The result is a 15% maximum variance per hit — which produces the "rolls" players read in damage calculations.

The 16 possible rolls are uniformly distributed — each value has 1/16 (6.25%) probability. In a damage calc reading like "81% – 96% damage", the lower bound is the 0.85 roll and the upper bound is the 1.00 roll.

05Critical hits

Critical hits multiply damage by 1.5× from Gen 6 onward (down from 2× in earlier gens). The base critical-hit rate is 1/24 (≈4.17%) from Gen 7 onward; was 1/16 (6.25%) in Gen 2-6.

Crit-rate stages

Critical hits use a stage system. Each modifier adds to the user's crit stage; the stage determines the rate.

Crit-modifying sources

• +1 from move — high-crit moves (Slash, Crabhammer, Razor Leaf, Stone Edge, etc.).
• +1 from ability — Super Luck on the user.
• +1 from item — Razor Claw or Scope Lens held by the user.
• +2 from setup move — Focus Energy raises crit stage by 2.
• Always-crit moves — Wicked Blow, Surging Strikes, Frost Breath, Storm Throw always crit regardless of stage.
• Crit-prevention abilities — Battle Armor and Shell Armor prevent the user from being critically hit.

06Spread moves in Doubles

Multi-target moves (spread moves) hit multiple Pokémon simultaneously in Doubles formats. Each individual hit is reduced to 75% of its single-target damage value.

Common spread moves: Earthquake, Heat Wave, Surf, Discharge, Make It Rain, Astral Barrage, Glacial Lance, Blizzard, Hyper Voice (with Pixilate/Refrigerate), Rock Slide.

Single-target vs spread math

• Single-target move — full damage to one Pokémon. No 75% modifier.
• Spread move (Doubles) — 75% damage to each of up to two opponents. Total potential damage scales above 100% if both targets exist.
• Spread move targeting one Pokémon — when only one opposing Pokémon is on the field (e.g. one fainted), the move deals 75% damage to that one target despite hitting alone. This is a Doubles-specific quirk.

Allied immunity

Spread moves hit the user's ally too unless the ally is immune via type or ability. Earthquake hits both opponents AND the user's ally — unless the ally has Levitate, Flying-typing, Air Balloon, or similar Ground immunity. This is one of the most common team-building considerations in Doubles.

07Cross-gen variations

The damage formula has been broadly stable since Gen 5, with changes confined to specific multipliers.

The Gen 7 changes (crit rate 1/24, burn DoT 1/16) were paired with the paralysis Speed change (was -75%, became -50%). The cumulative effect: Gen 7 status conditions are less debilitating than pre-Gen 7 versions.

08Worked examples

Three example calculations to walk the formula through realistic scenarios.

Example 1: Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteor on Heatran

Setup: Latios (Choice Specs, max SpA, +0 stage) using Draco Meteor (130 BP, special, Dragon) against Heatran (max HP, +0 SpD, neutral nature).

• Base damage from formula: ~88 with the stat ratios.
• STAB: × 1.5 (Latios is Dragon-type) → 132.
• Type effectiveness: Dragon vs Steel/Fire = × 0.5 (resisted) → 66.
• Choice Specs: × 1.5 → 99.
• Roll: × 0.85 to × 1.00 → final damage 84-99.
• Heatran has 415 max HP; the hit deals ~20-24% — a 5-hit KO under perfect rolls.

Example 2: Crit Tauros Body Slam in RBY OU

Setup: Tauros (RBY, 110 Speed = ~21% crit rate, max Atk) using Body Slam (85 BP, physical, Normal) against Snorlax. Crit lands.

• Base damage: with Tauros's offense and Snorlax's bulk, around 90.
• STAB (Normal on Normal-type Tauros): × 1.5 → 135.
• Type effectiveness: Normal vs Normal = × 1.0 (neutral).
• Crit (Gen 1 rules, × 2): 270.
• Roll: × 0.85 to × 1.0 → final 230-270.
• Snorlax in RBY OU has ~520 HP → the hit deals ~44-52%.

Example 3: Spread Earthquake in VGC

Setup: Choice Banded Earthquake from a Doubles attacker against a 4× Ground-weak Levitate-less target.

• Base damage: high — 100 BP physical with Choice Band 1.5×.
• STAB if Ground-typed user: × 1.5.
• Type effectiveness: × 4 (4× weak target).
• Spread reduction: × 0.75 (multi-target).
• Roll: × 0.85 to × 1.0.
• Result: typically OHKO. The 4× type advantage compensates for the spread reduction.

09Common misconceptions

Several damage-related claims are wrong. The corrections are based on engine behaviour.

• "A higher SpA always means higher damage" — wrong. The Attack/Defense ratio matters. A 100 SpA attacker against 100 SpD defender deals the same calculation as a 200 SpA attacker against 200 SpD.
• "Crit damage is doubled in modern gens" — wrong. Crit damage is × 1.5 from Gen 6 onward. The × 2 multiplier applied only in Gen 1-5.
• "Burn cuts all damage in half" — wrong. Burn halves PHYSICAL Attack only — special moves are unaffected. Guts ignores burn's Atk reduction.
• "Spread moves hit each opponent for full damage" — wrong. Spread moves deal 75% damage in Doubles (single-target moves deal 100%). The 75% multiplier applies even when only one opponent is on the field.
• "Reflect / Light Screen halve damage in all formats" — almost true. They halve damage in Singles (× 0.5) and reduce damage by ~33% in Doubles (× 0.667). Aurora Veil works the same way.
• "The damage roll is always uniform between 85-100%" — correct. The roll has 16 distinct values (0.85, 0.86, ..., 1.00) uniformly distributed. Damage calculators read this directly.
• "Tera STAB is double STAB" — partially correct. Tera Type matching gives 1.5× STAB; if the move's type ALSO matched the user's ORIGINAL typing, the boost rises to 2× (Adaptability-equivalent). Pure Tera-Type-but-not-original-type moves stay at 1.5×.

10Where to go from here

The damage formula combines multiple mechanic layers. The pages below cover the layers individually.

• Type chart — Type Chart covers the type-effectiveness multiplier in full.
• Status conditions — Status Conditions covers burn (-50% physical Atk) and other DoT effects.
• Speed mechanics — Speed & Priority covers move ordering, which determines which side's damage applies first.
• Run a calculation — /calculator uses the @smogon/calc engine to apply this formula with all modifiers automatically.
• Glossary — every term used above is defined in the Competitive Glossary.