Devourer - Ability ID 520

In-Game Description

"Strong Jaw + Primal Maw."

Extended In-Game Description

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

Devourer combines Strong Jaw and Primal Maw effects. Boosts biting, jaw, and fang moves by 30% damage. When using these moves, the second hit of multi-hit abilities deals 40% damage instead of the usual 25%, making jaw-based attacks devastatingly powerful in combat.

Character count: 293

Detailed Mechanical Explanation

For Discord/reference use

Core Mechanics

Devourer is a combination ability that merges two distinct effects: Strong Jaw's damage boost and Primal Maw's multi-hit enhancement. It specifically targets moves with biting, jaw, or fang-based attacks.

Strong Jaw Component

• Damage boost: 30% (1.3x multiplier) increase to all moves with the FLAG_STRONG_JAW_BOOST flag
• Calculation: Applied as an offensive multiplier in damage calculation
• Stacking: Stacks multiplicatively with other damage boosts

Primal Maw Component

• Multi-hit enhancement: Changes second hit damage from 25% to 40% of first hit
• Activation condition: Only applies to biting/jaw moves that would trigger multi-hit effects
• Parental Bond type: Uses PARENTAL_BOND_PRIMAL_MAW multiplier (0.4 instead of 0.25)

Technical Implementation

// Devourer ability definition
constexpr Ability Devourer = {
    .onParentalBond = PrimalMaw.onParentalBond,
    .onOffensiveMultiplier = StrongJaw.onOffensiveMultiplier,
};

// Strong Jaw damage boost
if (gBattleMoves[move].flags & FLAG_STRONG_JAW_BOOST) MUL(1.3);

// Primal Maw multi-hit enhancement
if (gBattleMoves[move].flags & FLAG_STRONG_JAW_BOOST) 
    return PARENTAL_BOND_PRIMAL_MAW; // 40% second hit instead of 25%

Affected Moves

All moves with the FLAG_STRONG_JAW_BOOST flag receive both benefits:

• Bite: Dark-type physical move, 30% flinch chance
• Crunch: Dark-type physical move, lowers Defense
• Fire Fang: Fire-type physical move, burn/flinch chance
• Ice Fang: Ice-type physical move, freeze/flinch chance
• Thunder Fang: Electric-type physical move, paralysis/flinch chance
• Hyper Fang: Normal-type physical move, 10% flinch chance
• Super Fang: Normal-type physical move, halves HP
• Poison Fang: Poison-type physical move, badly poison chance
• Pluck: Flying-type physical move, consumes berry
• Leech Life: Bug-type physical move, drains HP

Important Interactions

• Multi-hit abilities: When combined with abilities like Parental Bond, Skill Link, or Multi-Hit moves, the enhanced second hit multiplier provides significant damage increases
• Type coverage: Affects moves across multiple types (Dark, Fire, Ice, Electric, Normal, Poison, Flying, Bug)
• Status effects: Many affected moves have secondary effects that aren't enhanced by Devourer
• Critical hits: Both damage boost and enhanced second hit can benefit from critical hits

Strategic Implications

• Physical attacker synergy: Best on physical attackers with access to multiple biting moves
• Multi-type coverage: Provides consistent boost across diverse move types
• Late-game scaling: Becomes more powerful with multi-hit enhancements
• Versatile offense: Combines immediate damage boost with multi-hit potential

Damage Calculations

• Single hit: Base damage × 1.3 (Strong Jaw boost)
• Multi-hit first: Base damage × 1.3 (Strong Jaw boost)
• Multi-hit second: (Base damage × 1.3) × 0.4 = Base damage × 0.52
• Total multi-hit: Base damage × 1.82 (vs normal 1.55)

Common Users

• Physical attackers with diverse jaw-based movesets
• Pokémon with natural multi-hit abilities
• Mixed attackers who can utilize type coverage
• Bulky physical attackers who benefit from sustained damage

Competitive Usage Notes

• Setup sweeper potential: Strong consistent damage boost across move types
• Wall breaking: Enhanced damage helps break through defensive Pokémon
• Type coverage: Multiple move types prevent easy switching
• Multi-hit synergy: Exceptional with abilities that enable multi-hit attacks

Counters

• Physical walls: High Defense still reduces effectiveness
• Ghost types: Immune to Normal-type jaw moves (Hyper/Super Fang)
• Intimidate: Reduces physical attack before damage calculation
• Burn status: Halves physical attack power
• Rocky Helmet: Punishes contact moves (most jaw moves make contact)

Synergies

• Parental Bond: Maximizes the Primal Maw component
• Choice Band/Life Orb: Stacks with Strong Jaw damage boost
• Type-enhancing items: Further boosts specific jaw move types
• Speed control: Allows consistent use of diverse jaw moves
• Setup moves: Swords Dance amplifies the damage boost effect

Version History

• Custom Elite Redux ability combining Strong Jaw and Primal Maw
• Provides unique multi-hit enhancement not found in standard games
• Part of Elite Redux's expanded ability system for enhanced strategic depth