Yeah, but what does his defenses say about Sitrus Berry? I'd much rather use a pinch berry, like Salac or Leichi, to get a last ditch effort on overconfident Pokemon such as faster Starmie or bulky Blissey.
If you're playing Archaeos like this, you're Doing It Wrong<tm>.
Archaoes is obviously not designed to take damage here, as of course it's a terrible idea to even consider thanks to its ability. The only time Archaeos should take damage is from Stealth Rock. Period. You're going to flee at the first sight of a priority user. There is without a doubt. Life Orb is terrible on a Stealth Rock-weak Pokemon such as this, so there are likely a couple items you're only going to exercise:
- Choice Band
- Choice Scarf
- Flying Jewel
- Sitrus Berry
- Expert Belt
Exercising any other item is a waste of time. Salac could work in theory, but now you have to use Substitute and Swords Dance and pray for priority out of the way.
With that in mind, Archaeos will still be pretty bad. The only good news is that it has options after it gets very low on health. As I've stated before, Head Smash
after Weak-Kneed kicks in hits about the same as Rock Slide does outside of Weak-Kneed. You also have Endeavor, which is good enough for last ditch efforts. Steps to use Archaeos:
1: 31 HP IV + 4 HP EVs - This should be painfully obvious. With the IV given, Archaeos will be able to step into Stealth Rock twice still be at full power. Once Archaeos steps in a third time, it's obviously in the range (with the exception of Sitrus).
2: Rock Slide > Stone Edge - Archaeos
cannot afford to miss or else it's screwed.
3: If Stealth Rock is too much, hire a spinner - You have two powerful options: Doryuuzu and Starmie. These guys are effective spinners because they pummel most Spin blockers. Starmie is wonky on Spiritomb sadly, but it does have Thunderbolt to tackle Burungeru.
4: "Revenge Kill purposes only" - If the opponent is Scarfed or has a priority move, you know what to do: don't send it out.
4: If all else fails, don't use it - You're given a choice. I don't think I'd use this guy anyway.
Best moveset above all else for all the sets would look something like this:
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Head Smash
- Endeavor
Choice sets can replace Endeavor with Dragon Claw if they'd like, and Acrobat can be used over Head Smash or Endeavor. I'd probably stay away from U-turn myself, but I guess it can still be deployed as it's always useful whether you're strong or not.
