Golurk

Using Golurk in a Playthrough

Golett evolves into Golurk at level 43, producing a Ground/Ghost physical attacker with base 124 Attack, 89 HP, and base 55 Speed. Earthquake or High Horsepower and Shadow Punch or later Poltergeist provide powerful STAB, while Dynamic Punch, Drain Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Stealth Rock, and Fly give Golurk unusually broad physical coverage. Iron Fist boosts punching moves by 20 percent, No Guard makes every move used by or against Golurk hit regardless of accuracy, and Klutz suppresses most held-item effects and is generally the least useful ordinary ability. Ground/Ghost grants complete Electric, Normal, and Fighting immunities plus a quadruple Poison resistance, but Water, Grass, Ice, Ghost, and Dark attacks are super effective. Brave is excellent for Trick Room and Adamant maximizes damage in ordinary play. Mega Golurk keeps Ground/Ghost typing and base 55 Speed but rises to base 159 Attack, 105 Defense, and 105 Special Defense; in current ability-enabled data it gains Unseen Fist, allowing contact moves to deal reduced damage even through protection.

Golurk in Competitive Pokémon

Standard Golurk was one of BW NU's premier physical threats. Ground/Ghost gives it three immunities, strong complementary STAB, and a useful matchup into common Fighting-types such as Sawk and Primeape, while base 124 Attack lets Choice Band sets 2HKO much of the tier with the correct move. Iron Fist powers up Shadow Punch and punching coverage, while No Guard supports perfectly accurate Dynamic Punch and other normally unreliable attacks; Golurk can also use the switches it forces to set Stealth Rock. Its base 55 Speed is the main obstacle, leaving it vulnerable to revenge killing and preventing it from sweeping faster offensive teams without Trick Room or substantial support. Mega Golurk is far newer and should be treated separately from that established résumé. Current data gives it base 159 Attack, 105 Defense, 105 Special Defense, and Unseen Fist, dramatically improving both immediate power and durability while leaving the same low Speed and five weaknesses intact.

Golurk in Nuzlockes

Golurk is very useful in Nuzlockes because Electric, Normal, and Fighting immunities create completely safe entries against known attacks, while base 124 Attack makes its retaliation extremely dangerous. Iron Fist strengthens reliable punching coverage, whereas No Guard can make inaccurate moves perfectly reliable but also guarantees that opposing attacks aimed at Golurk will not miss, removing an occasional source of luck. Water, Grass, Ice, Ghost, and Dark attacks remain serious threats, and base 55 Speed means Golurk often has to absorb one before moving. Mega Golurk improves both defenses to 105 and Attack to 159, making it much safer against neutral physical and special damage, but does not fix the Speed issue or its type weaknesses. Adamant or Brave are natural choices, with Brave especially useful on Trick Room teams.

Golurk was built by ancient people as a heavy laborer and guardian of both humans and Pokemon. It follows its master's orders with extreme loyalty and can retract its limbs to expose energy outlets, using those openings like rocket thrusters to fly at very high speed despite its enormous size. A seal on its chest restrains the mysterious internal energy that powers it; if the seal is removed, Golurk can enter a violent uncontrolled rampage capable of reducing a town to rubble. One theory proposes that a perpetual-motion mechanism inside its body produces effectively limitless energy, but this has never been proven.