Merciless - Ability ID 196

In-Game Description

"Always crits slowed, poisoned, paralyzed, or bleeding foes."

Extended In-Game Description

For use in Elite Redux extended ability UI (IMPORTANT: exactly 280-300 chars counted WITH spaces)

Merciless guarantees critical hits against targets with status conditions or speed penalties. Affected targets include poisoned, paralyzed, bleeding foes, Pokemon with lowered Speed stats, or those holding Iron Ball. Absolutely devastating when facing debuffed opponents in battle.

Character count: 281

Detailed Mechanical Explanation

For Discord/reference use

Core Mechanics

Merciless forces critical hits against targets meeting specific conditions:

• Poisoned: Any poison status (regular poison, badly poisoned)
• Paralyzed: Standard paralysis status condition
• Bleeding: Elite Redux's bleeding status condition
• Speed Lowered: Any Pokemon with Speed stat stages below 0 (lowered from base)
• Iron Ball: Pokemon holding the Iron Ball item

Technical Implementation

constexpr Ability Merciless = {
    .onCrit = +[](ON_CRIT) -> int {
        if (gBattleMons[target].status1 & STATUS1_PSN_ANY) return ALWAYS_CRIT;
        if (gBattleMons[target].status1 & STATUS1_PARALYSIS) return ALWAYS_CRIT;
        if (gBattleMons[target].status1 & STATUS1_BLEED) return ALWAYS_CRIT;
        if (gBattleMons[target].statStages[STAT_SPEED] < DEFAULT_STAT_STAGE) return ALWAYS_CRIT;
        if (GetBattlerHoldEffect(target, TRUE) == HOLD_EFFECT_IRON_BALL) return ALWAYS_CRIT;
        return 0;
    },
};

Activation Conditions

1. Status Conditions: Target must have poison, paralysis, or bleeding
2. Stat Stages: Target's Speed must be below 0 (any amount of Speed reduction)
3. Items: Target holds Iron Ball (reduces Speed and grounds Flying types)

Numerical Values

• Critical Hit Chance: 100% (guaranteed) when conditions are met
• Critical Hit Multiplier: 1.5x damage (standard critical hit damage)
• No Additional Damage: Merciless only guarantees crits, doesn't add extra damage beyond the crit multiplier

Affected Moves

• All offensive moves that can normally critical hit
• Does not affect moves that cannot crit (e.g., fixed damage moves)
• Works with multi-hit moves (each hit can crit if conditions are met)

Interactions with Other Abilities/Mechanics

• Stacks with: High critical hit ratio moves (already guaranteed, so no additional benefit)
• Battle Armor/Shell Armor: These abilities prevent critical hits, negating Merciless
• Sniper: Increases critical hit damage to 2.25x when Merciless triggers
• Super Luck: Redundant with Merciless when conditions are met
• Scope Lens/Razor Claw: No additional benefit when Merciless conditions are met

Strategic Implications

• Offensive Synergy: Pairs excellently with status-inducing moves
• Team Support: Benefits from teammates using status moves or speed control
• Move Selection: Prioritize moves that can inflict the relevant status conditions
• Item Synergy: King's Rock/Razor Fang for additional flinch chance on guaranteed crits

Example Damage Calculations

Scenario: Level 50 Pokemon with 100 Attack vs Level 50 Pokemon with 100 Defense

• Normal Hit: 100% damage
• Merciless Critical Hit: 150% damage (1.5x multiplier)
• With Sniper: 225% damage (2.25x multiplier)

Common Users

Merciless is found on Pokemon that often use status moves or have access to moves that can trigger the conditions:

• Toxtricity: Can poison with electric moves
• Crobat: Fast Pokemon that can inflict status
• Ariados: Spider Pokemon with access to status moves

Competitive Usage Notes

• Status Teams: Excellent on teams focused on status condition spreading
• Revenge Killer: Effective against teams that rely on speed control
• Setup Counter: Punishes opponents who use stat-lowering moves defensively

Counters

• Battle Armor/Shell Armor: Completely negates Merciless
• Clerics: Pokemon that can remove status conditions
• Lum Berry/Pecha Berry: Items that cure status conditions
• Natural Cure: Ability that removes status on switch-out
• Speed Boost: Can counteract speed reductions

Synergies

• Toxic Spikes: Automatic poison setup for guaranteed crits
• Thunder Wave: Paralysis support for team
• Sticky Web: Speed reduction support
• Corrosion: Allows poisoning of Steel/Poison types
• Prankster: Priority status moves for setup

Combination Abilities

Depravity: Merciless + Overcharge

• Combines guaranteed crits with type effectiveness manipulation
• Extremely powerful offensive combination

Relentless: Exploit Weakness + Merciless

• Guaranteed crits plus defensive stat targeting
• Devastating against weakened opponents

Version History

• Elite Redux: Expanded to include bleeding status and Iron Ball interaction
• Original: Only affected poisoned and paralyzed targets
• Elite Redux Addition: Added speed reduction and bleeding conditions for more consistent activation