Utility
Balanced
295Low
25Very Slow
DTier

Mid-stage Pokemon like Duskull rarely see competitive play outside of special formats. It's a waypoint on the road to Dusknoir, which is where the real potential kicks in. Introduced in Gen 3. Normal and Fighting moves can't touch it, and only 2 types hit it super-effectively.

Defense and Sp. Def carry most of Duskull's stat budget. HP's the obvious dump stat. Common in the wild and yields 1 Sp. Def EV. Follows a fast 800K XP curve.

Base Stats
295Below
HP20
F
Attack40
D
Defense90
B
Sp. Atk30
F
Sp. Def90
B
Speed25
F
Total295
Low <60
Avg 60-89
High 90-149
Top 150+
EV YieldDefeating Duskull yields +1 SpD
HPAtkDefSpASpD+1Spe
Details
Catch190EasyFast800,000 XP0.8m / 2'07"15kg / 33.1 lbs59Base XP
Pokedex Entries

I’ve heard that the children of Hisui all begin to behave once they’ve been told the story of how this Pokémon roams about before the witching hour to spirit away misbehaving children.

Legends Arceus

Duskull Weakness

Excellent

Duskull's Ghost typing leaves it vulnerable to Ghost and Dark moves. It shrugs off Normal and Fighting-type attacks completely. Levitate grants an additional Ground immunity, reshaping the matchup chart.

4xCriticali
None
2xWeaki
½xResisti
¼xResisti
None
STAB (2)i
2Weak
2Resist
3Immune
Scorei+4
Abilities
LevitateEvades ground moves.
FriskHAReveals an opponent's held item upon entering battle.
Levitate grants Ground immunity

Three stages ahead. Duskull grows into Dusclops, then pushes on to Dusknoir. Check the evolution methods below. For breeding, average hatch time with a decent partner pool via one egg group. The evolved forms gain up to 230 total stats over Duskull.

How to Evolve

3 Forms
Duskull
#355Duskull
37
Level 37
Dusclops
#356Dusclops
Trade + Reaper Cloth
Dusknoir
#477Dusknoir
Stat Comparison 3 Stages
Duskull
Ghost
HP
20
40+20
45+5
ATK
40
70+30
100+30
DEF
90
130+40
135+5
SP.ATK
30
60+30
65+5
SP.DEF
90
130+40
135+5
SPE
25
25
45+20
BST
295C-Tier
455C-Tier+160
525B-Tier+70
ROLE
Balanced
Balanced
Attacker
TYPE
Utility
Physical
Physical
Breeding
Easy

Breed Duskull easily with 19 breeding partners from the Indeterminate egg group.

Egg Groups
Indeterminate
Gender
50.0%50.0%
Hatch Time
25 cycles·6,425 steps
Moderate~6 min with Flame Body
Breed With (best first)
gardevoirgalladegastrodonshelloskirliaraltsgengarrotomhauntergastlydusknoirdrifblim

Best Build

Legends: Arceus uses different battle mechanics.

Competitive build content is not applicable for this game. Select a main series game for builds.

Not a lot to pick from. Duskull gets Shadow Ball and Hex for same-type damage, and Grass and Bug coverage and more rounds things out. You're building around what's available rather than choosing from a deep bench.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1
Absorb
2010025Grass
Lv 6
Shadow Sneak+1
4010030Ghost
Lv 11
Hex
6510010Ghost
Lv 18
Leech Life
8010010Bug
Lv 25
Dark Pulse
8010015Dark
Lv 34
Shadow Ball
8010015Ghost
Lv 43
Psychic
9010010Psychic

TM Moves

Duskull can't learn any TM moves

Egg Moves

Duskull doesn't have any Egg moves

Tutor Moves

Src
Tutor
Calm Mind
20Psychic
Tutor
Charge Beam
509010Electric
Tutor
Dark Pulse
8010015Dark
Tutor
Ice Beam
9010010Ice
Tutor
Icy Wind
559515Ice
Tutor
Leech Life
8010010Bug
Tutor
Ominous Wind
601005Ghost
Tutor
Psychic
9010010Psychic
Tutor
Rest
10Psychic
Tutor
Shadow Ball
8010015Ghost

Duskull appears at decent spawn rates across 3 spots in mid-game routes. Sort by Best below if you want the highest rate, or Earliest if you want the quickest access point in your playthrough.

Best Locations

Walking encounters at walking across 3 spots for Duskull. Sorted by progression so you can see what's reachable at your current point in the game.

Arena's Approach
GrassUncommonNight
EASY
Avalanche Slopes
GrassUncommonNight
EASY
Deadwood Haunt
GrassUncommonNight
EASY
  • Duskull is meant to evolve into Dusclops. At 295 BST, the stats aren't there for competitive play yet. Pre-evolution Pokemon rarely hold up against fully evolved threats.

  • Watch for Misdreavus (Ghost) and Absol (Dark) when using Duskull. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Only 2 weaknesses means fewer dedicated counters to worry about. At base 25 Speed, Duskull won't outrun any of these threats so switching to a resist is usually the safer play.

  • Duskull evolves into Dusclops at level 37. Duskull is the base form in a 3-stage evolutionary line.

  • Levitate is what you want on Duskull. Every competitive set worth running is built with that ability in mind. The alternatives (Frisk) work on paper but Levitate is what makes Duskull worth using.

  • Base 25 Speed is low. Priority moves or Trick Room are the way to go. On offense, Duskull is leaning toward the physical side (base 40 Attack). Defensively? Enough bulk to take a hit or two.

  • Duskull appears in 16 games, including Ruby & Sapphire, FireRed & LeafGreen, and Emerald.

Available in 16 titles since its debut in Ruby & Sapphire, Duskull spans 7 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through catching or hatching as a base form in most mainline games.