Pokémon GO: Is Roserade Good?

Roserade has always struck me as a rather romantic Pokémon, image-wise; a mysterious and dashing masked combatant with blooming flowers in both hands. Tell me you couldn’t see such a thing on the cover of a steamy love novel or a movie starring Errol Flynn. But obviously, looks aren’t everything in the world of Pokémon battles. With grace and showmanship must come actual capability, or you stop being dashing and start being a circus clown. So, with that in mind, how is Roserade in Pokémon GO?

As a Grass/Poison type, Roserade’s affinities breaks down like this:

• Vulnerable to: Fire, Flying, Ice, Psychic
• Resistant to: Fighting, Water, Electric, Fairy, Grass
• Ineffective against: Bug, Dragon, Fire, Flying, Grass, Poison, Steel, Ground, Rock, Ghost
• Effective against: Water, Fairy

Not the best loadout, admittedly, but what Roserade lacks in Type exploitations, it makes up for in speed and strength.

Is Roserade Good in Pokémon GO?

Here are the moves in Roserade’s kit:

Quick Moves

• Razor Leaf (Grass)
• Poison Jab (Poison)
• Bullet Seed (Grass, Elite TM)

Charge Moves

• Dazzling Gleam (Fairy)
• Sludge Bomb (Poison)
• Solar Beam (Grass)
• Grass Knot (Grass)
• Weather Ball (Fire, Elite TM)

Roserade’s defense and stamina aren’t anything to write home about at 185 and 155, respectively, but it’s got a surprisingly high base attack at 243, plus a respectable max CP of 2,971. The obvious problem here is that with so many weaknesses and unimpressive defense, Roserade is a bit of a glass cannon, unable to take a solid punch. But that’s the trick of it; Roserade isn’t supposed to take punches.

Roserade is not a front-line Pokémon, but a specialist meant to be kept at the back of the line for very specific occasions. When you’re up against a Pokémon in Roserade’s strike zone, you wanna try to wear them down with something a little tougher in the defense department. When they’re a little weaker, have Roserade swoop in and deliver a decisive blow before it has a chance to retaliate. With its grass moves, you can use this method to take down even notably strong Water types like Kyogre or Swampert, and if you’re lucky enough to have the TM for Weather Ball, you can even go toe-to-toe with Ice and Steel types like Mammoswine or Metagross, which would normally be inadvisable.

Remember, Roserade is not the leader. It’s the lancer, the second-in-command, the blue ranger. If your lead Pokémon is Ken the Eagle, Roserade is Joe the Condor, if anyone got that reference.