Is Cradily Good in Black 2 & White 2 Playthrough?
Lileep evolves at level 40. Rock/Grass with AbilitySuction Cups. Decent Sp. Def absorbs special hits. Handles Marlon through Grass and Shauntal through Rock. Four weaknesses including 4x Bug limit its matchups.
Lileep has the type edge here and should clean up Cheren's team.
Roxie's typing presses Lileep's defenses.
Lileep trades roughly evenly with Burgh's team.
Lileep trades roughly evenly with Elesa's team.
Lileep has the type edge here and should clean up Clay's team.
Skyla's team hits Lileep's weaknesses hard.
Drayden's team hits Lileep's weaknesses hard.
Lileep has the type edge here and should clean up Marlon's team.
Cradily trades roughly evenly with Shauntal's team.
Cradily trades roughly evenly with Grimsley's team.
Cradily trades roughly evenly with Caitlin's team.
Marshal's team hits Cradily's weaknesses hard.
Cradily trades roughly evenly with Iris's team.
Lileep can be revived from a fossil obtained on Nacrene City. Revive Root Fossil.
Your Lileep should hit Level 40 before you reach Shauntal, at typical leveling pace.
How to Get Cradily in Black 2 & White 2
You're catching Lileep first, not Cradily. Lileep appears but it's a rare spawn in the encounters below. The step cards map the full 2-stage line with evolution methods between each stage.
How to Obtain Cradily in B2W2
Step 1Catch LileepNacrene City - Nacrene MuseumLv.25Gift from NPCLimitedAnyRevive Root Fossil- Step 2Cradily ✓
Cradily Weakness
Type-wise, Cradily takes extra damage from Ice, Fighting, Bug, and Steel. Storm Drain grants an additional Water immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. Cradily's overall bulk (86/97/107) lets it take a hit or two from most weaknesses before going down.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ice, Fighting, Bug, Steel |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Normal, Electric |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Cradily Weak Against
FragileBest Pokemon Against Cradily
 Heracross BugFighting | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Heracross builds →Close Combat 2x104-122%KO | ||
 Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
 Pinsir Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Pinsir builds →X-Scissor 2x70-82% Brick Break 2x43-51% | ||
 Scolipede BugPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Scolipede builds →Megahorn 2x85-101%KO Rock Smash 2x20-25% | ||
 Leavanny BugGrass | C | |
Heracross BugFighting | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Heracross builds →Close Combat 2x103-122%KO | ||
Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
Pinsir Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Pinsir builds →X-Scissor 2x70-82% Brick Break 2x44-52% | ||
 Emboar FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tepig (Aspertia City Gift) | ||
Scolipede BugPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Scolipede builds →Megahorn 2x88-103%KO Rock Smash 2x21-25% | ||
Heracross BugFighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Heracross builds →Close Combat 2x103-122%KO Megahorn 2x103-122%KO | ||
 Cobalion SteelFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 13 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Cobalion builds →Sacred Sword 2x61-72% Iron Head 2x54-64% | ||
Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
 Ferrothorn GrassSteel | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Ferrothorn builds →Iron Head 2x55-66% Rock Smash 2x19-23% Pin Missile 2x7-9% | ||
 Timburr Fighting | C | |
Heracross BugFighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Heracross builds →Close Combat 2x104-123%KO Megahorn 2x104-123%KO | ||
Cobalion SteelFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 13 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Cobalion builds →Sacred Sword 2x60-71% Iron Head 2x54-64% X-Scissor 2x36-43% | ||
 Mienshao Fighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Mienshao builds →Jump Kick 2x87-102%KO U-turn 2x41-49% | ||
 Terrakion RockFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 22 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Terrakion builds →Sacred Sword 2x80-95% X-Scissor 2x48-56% | ||
Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
Cobalion SteelFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 13 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Cobalion builds →Close Combat 2x78-92% Iron Head 2x53-62% X-Scissor 2x35-42% | ||
 Metagross SteelPsychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Metagross builds →Meteor Mash 2x83-98% Hammer Arm 2x61-72% | ||
 Gurdurr Fighting | C | |
Heracross BugFighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Heracross builds →Close Combat 2x103-122%KO Megahorn 2x103-122%KO | ||
 Sawk Fighting | C | |
In Black 2 & White 2, Conkeldurr's Drain Punch hits Cradily for 78-92%. Volcarona's Fire Blast hits Cradily for 46-55%. Kyurem deals 72-85% with Ice Beam.
 Conkeldurr Fighting | A | |
Recommended Build AbilityGuts ItemLeftovers NatureAdamant Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Conkeldurr builds →Drain Punch 2x78-92% Mach Punch 2x42-49% | ||
 Volcarona BugFire | A | |
Recommended Build AbilityFlame Body ItemLum Berry NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Volcarona builds →Giga Drain21-25% Fire Blast46-55% | ||
 Kyurem DragonIce | B | |
Recommended Build AbilityPressure ItemLeftovers NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Kyurem builds →Ice Beam 2x72-85% | ||
Metagross SteelPsychic | B | |
Recommended Build AbilityClearbody ItemLeftovers NatureAdamant Moves
Damage vs Cradily View Metagross builds →Earthquake34-40% Bullet Punch 2x41-49% | ||
Cradily Evolutions
Evolved from Lileep. Cradily is the final form in this two-stage line. A decent partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are slow to hatch. Attack grew the most through evolution (+40 over Lileep), and Cradily peaks at 495 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
B2W2 Cradily Best Moveset
AbilityStorm Drain redirects Water moves for a Sp. Atk boost, turning a weakness into free power. Rock/Grass at 97/107 defenses absorbs hits while 81 Sp. Atk fires back with boosted coverage. The moveset answers Water teams by absorbing their strongest attacks and retaliating.
Best Build
Cradily best EVs are HP and Sp. Atk
Special Tank Moveset
- Recover
- Giga Drain
- Ancient Power
- Toxic
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Barrier and Curse aren't available any other way for Cradily, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Solar Beam and Stone Edge for solid options.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
It lives in the shallows of warm seas. When the tide goes out, it digs up prey from beaches.
Cradily Black 2 & White 2 Guide
In Black 2 & White 2, Storm Drain changes the entire equation for Cradily. The 495 BST doesn't tell the full story. Ranked C-Tier as a support. Recover with Leftovers is the standard set.
Storm Drain is what you want on Cradily. Every competitive set worth running is built with that ability in mind. The alternatives (Suction Cups) work on paper but Storm Drain is what makes Cradily worth using.
Base 43 Speed is low. Priority moves or Trick Room are the way to go. On offense, Cradily is a special attacker with base 81 Sp. Atk. Defensively? Tanky enough to absorb a few hits. Best used as a support.
For Black 2 & White 2, the core moveset is Recover, Giga Drain, Ancientpower, and Toxic. Recover leads at 0% usage. This set covers the support role with a mix of damage and utility.
Game Availability
Available in 14 titles since its debut in Ruby & Sapphire, Cradily spans 8 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through wild encounters in a solid number of games.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RSDebut
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7LGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves