Luxray help, anyone?

[Weasel Overlord]

Hm, okay, now I know the perfect moveset for a Luxray (or at least, the one I would like to have) goes like this;

Ice Fang
Thunder Fang
Thunder Wave
Crunch (?)

But, because I am a cretin, mine is now lv.50 and minus Ice Fang. So. My question is this. Is there a good move to replace Ice Fang with? Looking in my 'dex, I can only see a few alternatives;

Hidden Power - This one is always iffy to me. Every time I use that IV calculator thingy for this move, it gives me a different power/type at every level. Is this meant to happen? And will it set at the one I want it to be, if I learn it at the correct level? Does that even make sense?

Roar - This would be effective for switching out pre-paralysed pokemon after a good Thunder Wavin', but ideally, I'd like to mix it with another status inflictor, so perhaps Swagger? For that, I'd be looking at something like this:

Roar
Swagger
Thunder Wave
Thunder Fang/Crunch (?)

Iron Tail - Could be useful, but I don't like its accuracy.

I'm not willing to scrap my Luxy to breed a new one with Ice Fang, so. Some opinions please!

[classy_cat18]

Thunder Fang's a must. Luxray should have at least one damaging Electric type move. I personally don't like messing with Swagger since the foe still has a chance to hit me with his heightened attack.

That's my two cents. Take it or leave it.

[Phoenixsong]

Spark is better than Thunder Fang, though. Higher accuracy. If you're using Thunderwave you don't really need the higher paralysis chance that Spark also gives you, but still. Accuracy.

As for your Hidden Power dilemma... well, it shouldn't be changing every level. Hidden Powers are calculated based on a Pokémon's IVs, which are set in stone the moment the Pokémon is encountered (or right after you take the egg from the Daycare, but before it hatches). It can't change. Either you're not entering the data into the calculators correctly or the calculator that you're using doesn't work.

If you want to know for sure what your Luxray's Hidden Power type is, you can save, teach it HP, and then do one of two things: either battle a Kecleon, or, since those are kind of hard to come by, you can simply battle a bunch of wild Pokémon of various types and use process of elimination. There was a great spot in Emerald that had every single type you'd need to test HP out, but I know of no such place in DP. That also doesn't tell you HP's power, so eh. Bottom line is, if you don't know Luxray's IVs, you won't be able to calculate HP to any real degree of accuracy.

Furthermore, Hidden Power is special in this generation. If you're really at a loss then I suppose you can try it, but a physical Luxray won't do well with it, especially if it's not at power 60 or above.

[Weasel Overlord]

Yeah, I think it's cos I haven't tracked my EVs. I tested it on loads of wild pokies, and it turned out to be Ghost type, so I restarted and decided to not bother with it.

At the moment, it's looking like Iron Tail is gonna be the better option; and I need to decide between Spark and Thunder Fang. Since I need a Thunder Wave tm anyway, I reckon that I'll keep them both until I get it.

[Blademaster]

-Thunder Fang
-Crunch
-Iron Tail
-Thunder Wave

There ya go.

[AdventureSerum]

Well, mine has Crunch, Thunder, Thunderbolt, and Spark. I don't know if that's particularly helpful or not, but there you are.

[Houndoom_Lover]

I personally like Charge. It knows that, yep, I think. >_< *goes to check* Crunch, Charge, Spark, Thunderfang- That's what mind has, with a Thunderplate attached to it ^_^

[Phoenixsong]

The problem with moves like Charge is that a) it doesn't help that much on movesets with only one benefiting attack, and b) there's not much point in it. You can either Charge on the first turn, deal no damage and possibly take damage or get KO'd before you can attack for double damage next turn, or you can simply use the offensive move twice. After two turns you'll have done approximately the same amount of damage, but this way if you are interrupted by some other attack before you use the move on the second turn, at least you did damage on the turn before.

It's a matter of preference, really, but the bottom line is that it won't do much good on a set like WO's with only one Electric-type move to benefit from it. (Although Spark and TF are identical in terms of damage, so effectively you've still only got two copies of the same attack.)

Yeah... without Ice/Fire Fang, Iron Tail is really your only other option. I'd still go with Spark over TF, but that's just another matter of preference. Flinch chance or Accuracy... personally, I'd go for accuracy, but yeah. Whatever.

[Weasel Overlord]

Yeah, I agree with you Phoenix. I've never seen the point in Charge, really, but then I've always preferred attacking moves over defensive ones.

Methinks it's definitely gonna be Iron Tail and Spark. Accuracy rules over flinching any day. :D

Thanks everyone!