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Usually, the respective Speed stats of combatants will determine who goes first in a Pokemon battle. This is due to the fact that most moves have a Priority of 0, however, the spectrum of this mechanic ranges between +5 to -7, meaning that there is a much greater variability of the battle speed than is shown in-game, such as in Pokemon Sword & Shield.
While the rules governing Priority are simple in that moves with a higher value are used first, regardless of the Speed stats of those in battle, there are many ways to take advantage of both increased and decreased Priority moves. The best way to do so is to gauge one's party and consider the various abilities, items, and moves that grant the greatest results when taking on an opponent in Pokemon Sword & Shield.
List Of All Moves With Increased Or Decreased Priority In Generation 8 Pokemon Games
|
Priority Modifier |
Name of Move(s) |
|
+5 |
Helping Hand |
|
+4 |
Max Guard, Obstruct, Protect, Spiky Shield, Baneful Bunker, Detect, Endure, King's Shield, & Magic Coat |
|
+3 |
Quick Guard, Wide Guard, Crafty Shield, & Fake Out |
|
+2 |
First Impression, Follow Me, Rage Powder, Ally Switch, Extreme Speed, & Feint |
|
+1 |
Accelerock, Aqua Jet, Quick Attack, Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch, Vacuum Wave, Water Shuriken, Baby-Doll Eyes, Bullet Punch, Ice Shard, & Mach Punch |
|
0 |
Every other move not mentioned in this table |
|
-1 |
Vital Throw |
|
-2 |
N/a |
|
-3 |
Shell Trap & Focus Punch |
|
-4 |
Revenge & Avalanche |
|
-5 |
Mirror Coat & Counter |
|
-6 |
Teleport, Circle Throw, Dragon Tail, Roar, & Whirlwind |
|
-7 |
Trick Room |
Moves That Affect Priority In Unique Ways
Quick Guard
During the turn it is used, Quick Guard will block almost any incoming move that has increased Priority, such as Aqua Jet or Extremespeed, though will also work on moves that don't deal damage, such as Rage Powder and Baby-Doll Eyes. Quick Guard is special in that it is the only variant of Protect that specifically blocks priority moves, however, interestingly, it only has +3 Priority whereas Protect has +4, which actually makes the former inferior to the latter for defending against high Priority moves.
Trick Room
So far, Trick Room is the slowest move in the game and is guaranteed to be the last move used in a turn thanks to it uniquely possessing -7 Priority. When used, this move will flip the natural turn order for 5 turns, meaning that the lower a pokemon's Speed stat, the sooner they will get to act. This effect, however, does not affect how Priority moves work, so those who end up being the last to move naturally can still use moves like Quick Attack or Bullet Punch to attack sooner.
Pursuit
No other move blatantly laughs in the face of turn order mechanics like Pursuit does, as it is the only move that can allow a pokemon to deal damage before their enemy can switch out. This is noteworthy because switching out is the mechanic that occurs before literally anything else in a turn and is often considered to be outside the factors that can be manipulated or abused by moves, abilities, or items.
Pursuit, despite having a Priority of 0, is the only thing that can break this law, as its effect grants its user the power to strike foes that are switching out, essentially advancing the damage step of a turn before the switching phase; something that is never again seen in the franchise's main series games.
Abilities That Affect Priority & Moves
Gale Wings
This ability, unique to the Talonflame line, increases the Priority of all Flying-type moves by 1, allowing this avian pokemon to get the jump on most foes who don't have a response for their rapid aerial assaults. It should be mentioned that since there are no Flying-type moves that naturally possess increased Priority, Gale Wings can only boost such moves to a maximum of +1.
Prankster
Similar to Gale Wings, but specifically for status moves, Prankster increases Priority by 1. However, it should be mentioned that Dark-type pokemon are immune to the increased priority status moves of those with the Prankster ability.
Triage
Much like the previously mentioned abilities, but significantly more potent, is Triage, which increases the Priority of all healing moves by a massive factor of 3. This includes damage-dealing moves such as Giga Drain and Draining Kiss, so trainers with a pokemon possessing this ability can potentially outspeed opponents using moves like First Impression or Feint. The most limiting factor of this ability, however, is that Comfey is currently the only pokemon who can have Triage.
Queenly Majesty
Another unique ability, Queenly Majesty can only be possessed by Tsareena, though not their previous forms Steenee or Bounsweet. This is a very powerful ability that will outright block any and all incoming moves that have increased priority, including those boosted by Gale Wings, Prankster, and Triage.
Dazzling
Unique to Bruxish, Dazzling is virtually identical to Queenly Majesty in that it blocks any and all incoming moves that have increased Priority.
Stall
While sounding more like a tactic in battle than an ability, Stall, which can only be possessed by Sableye, forces the user to always move last in a turn out of all the combatants. This ability even trumps the normal Speed-related mechanics and Trick Room to make sure that Sableye always makes its move after everyone else.