Lampent

Using Lampent in a Playthrough

Litwick evolves into Lampent at level 41, and Lampent evolves into Chandelure with a Dusk Stone. Standard Chandelure is a Ghost/Fire special attacker with enormous base 145 Special Attack, solid 90 Defense and Special Defense, and base 80 Speed. Shadow Ball and Flamethrower or Fire Blast provide devastating dual STAB, while Energy Ball, Psychic, Will-O-Wisp, Trick, Calm Mind, Pain Split, and Trick Room give it both coverage and utility. Flash Fire provides a Fire immunity and boosts Fire attacks after absorbing one, Flame Body can burn contact attackers, and from Generation VI onward the Hidden Ability Infiltrator lets Chandelure ignore Substitute and several screen effects. In Generation V the line was coded with Shadow Tag as its Hidden Ability, but that ability was never legitimately obtainable and should not be treated as part of a normal BW playthrough. Mega Chandelure remains Ghost/Fire and rises to base 175 Special Attack, 110 Defense, 110 Special Defense, and 90 Speed; current ability-enabled data gives the Mega Infiltrator. Timid is excellent for standard revenge-killing or Mega sets, while Modest maximizes one of the highest Special Attack stats available.

Lampent in Competitive Pokémon

Chandelure had a small but legitimate BW OU niche and a much stronger BW UU presence. Base 145 Special Attack, Ghost/Fire STAB, Flash Fire, and access to Choice Scarf, Choice Specs, Trick, and coverage make it an exceptionally powerful wallbreaker and revenge killer, while Ghost typing also historically allowed it to block Rapid Spin. A crucial historical distinction is that Shadow Tag Chandelure was never legal in Generation V standard play despite being coded as its Hidden Ability; from Generation VI onward that Hidden Ability was replaced by Infiltrator. Chandelure remained a strong UU-level attacker in later generations, with Infiltrator offering the ability to ignore Substitute and screens while Flash Fire supplied an extra immunity and potential Fire boost. Mega Chandelure is much newer and should be evaluated separately: current data gives it 175 Special Attack, 110/110 defenses, 90 Speed, and Infiltrator, making it an extraordinary special wallbreaker without yet giving it a long historical tier résumé comparable to the base form.

Lampent in Nuzlockes

Chandelure is extremely powerful in Nuzlockes because base 145 Special Attack can end favorable matchups before the opponent has time to accumulate damage, while Ghost typing provides complete Normal and Fighting immunities. Flash Fire can add a third immunity and create a strong Fire boost, making planned switches especially rewarding. The family is not bulky enough to take repeated neutral hits comfortably because base HP is only 60, and Water, Ground, Rock, Ghost, and Dark attacks are all super effective. Flamethrower is generally safer than Fire Blast when the extra power is unnecessary, and Memento should normally be avoided under permadeath rules because it deliberately faints the user. Mega Chandelure improves both defenses to 110 and Speed to 90 while raising Special Attack to 175, giving it a much larger safety margin, but it retains the same five type weaknesses.

Lampent can sense when a person is close to death and follows the victim until it can steal the departing spirit. It normally inhabits deep forests but also wanders quietly through cities and is infamous for lingering around hospitals. In urban areas it may pretend to be an ordinary lamp while waiting for a death. The stolen spirits are used as fuel for the flame inside its glass-like head, giving Lampent its reputation as an emissary of death.