PokéSurvivor Physical vs Special Split: All 65 Moves

How the physical/special split works

	Physical moves (24)	Special moves (35)
Your damage uses	Attack	Special Attack
Enemies resist with	Defense	Special Defense
Boosted by	Swords Dance, Dragon Dance	Nasty Plot
Typical kinds	Melee, dashes, boomerangs, rocks, mines	Projectiles, beams, bursts, auras, chains

Stronger side. The in-game ATK shown in the Pokédex is the larger of a Pokémon’s physical and special attack. Moves on that side hit exactly as hard as before the update; moves on the other side deal less, in proportion (for example Machamp hits hard with Karate Chop and weakly with Shadow Ball).
Defenses matter a little. Enemies resist physical moves with Defense and special moves with Special Defense. A base value of 75 is neutral; very high defenses cut damage by up to 22% and very low ones raise it by up to 25%.
It works both ways. Each enemy attacks with its own stronger side, which you block with your Defense or Special Defense. Arceus’ Judgment attacks and trap damage ignore all of this.
Level-up cards double your odds. When the game picks new moves to offer, moves on your stronger side get twice the weight. Each card shows Physical or Special and warns you when a move would fall below about 95% of your best damage.
Run summary. The pause screen now lists each move with its category, total damage and damage per second, plus all your stats.

Swords Dance, Dragon Dance and Nasty Plot

Swords Dance and Dragon Dance now raise only physical Attack. The new Nasty Plot raises Special Attack and sits in the Normal move pool, so any Pokémon can learn it. Buffs deal no damage, never evolve, and the game stops offering new buffs once you already carry two.

Buff	Raises	Base effect
Swords Dance	Physical Attack	+13% per stack, up to 5 stacks
Dragon Dance	Physical Attack	+11% per stack, up to 5 stacks, shorter cooldown
Nasty Plot	Special Attack	+13% per stack, up to 5 stacks
Agility	Speed	+10% per stack, up to 5 stacks
Harden	Damage reduction	+7% per stack, up to 5 stacks
Aqua Ring	HP regeneration	+1.6 HP/s per stack, up to 4 stacks

Stacks last 7 seconds (Aqua Ring 8) and refresh with each new stack; upgrade cards improve the base values. Pair the dance that matches your main move: Nasty Plot with a special gunner, Swords Dance with a melee bruiser. Bonds let a buff fire alongside an attack from one slot.

All 65 PokéSurvivor moves by category

Category	Moves
Physical (24)	Aerial Ace (Flying), Bite (Dark), Body Slam (Normal), Bonemerang (Ground), Bug Bite (Bug), Bulldoze (Ground), Flame Wheel (Fire), Karate Chop (Fighting), Lick (Ghost), Metal Claw (Steel), Meteor Mash (Steel), Poison Sting (Poison), Psycho Cut (Psychic), Quick Attack (Normal), Razor Leaf (Grass), Rock Slide (Rock), Rock Throw (Rock), Spikes (Ground), String Shot (Bug), Substitute (Normal), Tackle (Normal), Toxic Spikes (Poison), Vine Whip (Grass), Wing Attack (Flying)
Special (35)	Aura Sphere (Fighting), Bubble (Water), Bubble Beam (Water), Bug Buzz (Bug), Confusion (Psychic), Dark Pulse (Dark), Dazzling Gleam (Fairy), Discharge (Electric), Dragon Rage (Dragon), Ember (Fire), Fairy Wind (Fairy), Fire Spin (Fire), Flamethrower (Fire), Flash Cannon (Steel), Grass Knot (Grass), Gust (Flying), Hail (Ice), Heat Wave (Fire), Hex (Ghost), Hydro Pump (Water), Hyper Voice (Normal), Ice Beam (Ice), Mud Shot (Ground), Night Shade (Dark), Petal Blizzard (Grass), Powder Snow (Ice), Psybeam (Psychic), Psychic (Psychic), Shadow Ball (Ghost), Sludge (Poison), Thunder Shock (Electric), Thunderbolt (Electric), Toxic (Poison), Water Gun (Water), Will-O-Wisp (Fire)
Buff (6)	Agility (Normal), Aqua Ring (Water), Dragon Dance (Dragon), Harden (Normal), Nasty Plot (Normal), Swords Dance (Normal)

The game sorts status-style moves by what they do: traps and hits (Spikes, String Shot, Substitute) are physical; effects and energy (Toxic, Hail, Will-O-Wisp) are special. Evolutions keep the category of the original move; see every evolution on the move evolutions page.

Examples: Attack vs Special Attack

Values are the game’s damage multipliers (1.00 = baseline) for physical and special moves, with base Defense and Special Defense.

Pokémon	Type	Physical	Special	Def	Sp. Def	Stronger side
Machamp	fighting	1.42	1.06	80	85	Physical
Alakazam	psychic	0.97	1.44	45	95	Special
Gengar	ghostpoison	1.06	1.42	60	75	Special
Scorbunny	fire	1.09	0.92	40	40	Physical
Sobble	water	0.92	1.08	40	40	Special
Slaking	normal	1.58	1.22	100	65	Physical

Starters: physical or special?

All 29 starters with their stronger side. Many are close to even, so a good move on the weaker side can still be worth taking.

Pokémon	Type	Physical	Special	Def	Sp. Def	Stronger side
Bulbasaur	grasspoison	0.97	1.06	49	65	Special
Charmander	fire	0.99	1.03	43	50	Special
Squirtle	water	0.96	0.97	65	64	Special
Psyduck	water	0.99	1.06	48	50	Special
Slowpoke	waterpsychic	1.06	0.92	65	40	Physical
Chikorita	grass	0.97	0.97	65	65	Even
Cyndaquil	fire	0.99	1.03	43	50	Special
Totodile	water	1.06	0.94	64	48	Physical
Treecko	grass	0.95	1.06	35	55	Special
Torchic	fire	1.03	1.08	40	50	Special
Mudkip	water	1.08	0.97	50	50	Physical
Turtwig	grass	1.07	0.95	64	55	Physical
Chimchar	fire	1.02	1.02	44	44	Even
Piplup	water	0.98	1.04	53	56	Special
Snivy	grass	0.95	0.95	55	55	Even
Tepig	fire	1.05	0.95	45	45	Physical
Oshawott	water	1.00	1.05	45	45	Special
Chespin	grass	1.04	0.96	65	45	Physical
Fennekin	fire	0.95	1.04	40	60	Special
Froakie	water	1.01	1.04	40	44	Special
Rowlet	grassflying	1.00	0.97	55	50	Physical
Litten	fire	1.06	1.03	40	40	Physical
Popplio	water	1.00	1.06	54	56	Special
Grookey	grass	1.06	0.92	50	40	Physical
Scorbunny	fire	1.09	0.92	40	40	Physical
Sobble	water	0.92	1.08	40	40	Special
Sprigatito	grass	1.04	0.95	54	45	Physical
Fuecoco	fire	0.95	1.05	59	40	Special
Quaxly	water	1.06	0.97	45	45	Physical

Updating an older build? Check your partner’s side first, then swap off-side moves for on-side ones of similar kind. The builds page lists a physical and a special option for each template, and the PokéSurvivor tier list marks every move’s category.

FAQ

Does PokéSurvivor have physical and special moves?

Yes, since the 18 October 2026 update. Physical moves deal damage with your Pokémon’s Attack and special moves with its Special Attack. Enemies reduce physical damage with their Defense and special damage with their Special Defense. Buff moves have no category.

How many physical and special moves are there in PokéSurvivor?

Of the 65 moves, 24 are physical, 35 are special and 6 are buffs (Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, Agility, Harden, Aqua Ring and Dragon Dance).

What does Nasty Plot do in PokéSurvivor?

Nasty Plot is a Normal-type buff added on 18 October 2026. It deals no damage and stacks Special Attack while active (+13% per stack, up to 5 stacks at base). Because it is in the Normal pool, every Pokémon can learn it.

Do Swords Dance and Dragon Dance still boost every move?

No. Since 18 October they raise only physical Attack, so they only boost physical moves. Use Nasty Plot for special moves.

Which moves appear more often on level-up cards?

Moves on your Pokémon’s stronger side (physical if its Attack is higher, special if its Special Attack is higher) appear twice as often as off-side moves. Level-up cards also show each move’s category and warn you when it would deal noticeably less damage with your partner.

Is my old build weaker after the physical/special update?

Not if its moves match your partner’s stronger side: those hit exactly as hard as before. Only off-side moves lose damage, in proportion to the gap between Attack and Special Attack.

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