Excadrill weaknesses, resistances & strengths explained in Pokemon

❘ Published: 2024-04-18T09:55:04

The Pokemon Company

Excadrill is a formidable force in Pokemon battles and using it well can help you defeat any opponent. So, here’s all you need to know about its weaknesses, resistances, strengths, and best moves.

Ground and Steel types are some of the best Pokemon in the franchise, so Gen 5 classic Excadrill is highly sought-after among Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players as it combines the two, and is arguably the most powerful Ground/Steel-type in the meta.

If you want to use this match-winner to send your Pokemon battle opponents packing, here are the weaknesses, resistances, strengths, and recommended moveset for Excadrill.

Excadrill weaknesses explained
Excadrill resistances explained
Excadrill strengths explained
Best moves for Excadrill

Excadrill weaknesses explained in Pokemon

Excadrill is weak to Fighting, Fire, Ground, and Water-type attacks in Pokemon.

While it has an impressive 110 HP stat, its bulk is otherwise underwhelming, with only 60 Defense and 65 Special Defense. To counter these glaring weaknesses to some common Pokemon types, I use the Held Item Air Balloon to prevent it from taking any damage from Ground-type moves and Terastallize Excadrill to Water Tera Type, helping it resist Fire and Water-types while taking only neutral damage from Fighting-type moves.

Excadrill resistances explained in Pokemon

Excadrill’s resistances in Pokemon include Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Normal, Psychic, Rock, and Steel types while it is immune to Electric and Poison types.

With so many handy resistances and two immunities, Excadrill is a defensive beast despite not being too bulky. It cannot be poisoned by Toxic or Toxic Spikes, and cannot be paralyzed by the common Thunder Wave. Also, I’ve found it to be an excellent teammate to Dragon-type Pokemon like Roaring Moon, Baxcalibur, Dragonite, and Salamence in hundreds of battles as it easily tanks hits from threats that trouble them.

Excadrill strengths explained in Pokemon

Excadrill has a phenomenal Attack stat of 135 and deals super-effective damage to Electric, Fairy, Fire, Ice, Poison, Rock, and Steel-type Pokemon with its STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) Ground and Steel-type moves. So, I’ve used Excadrill to KO powerful species like Miraidon and Raging Bolt without effort.

What sets Excadrill apart from other offensive powerhouses is its Mold Breaker ability which ignores the abilities of its opponents when doing damage. So, an Earthquake from Excadrill will still hit a Pokemon with Levitate, such as Hydreigon, Heat Rotom, and Flygon.

The ability to OHKO Heat Rotom is extremely useful because I’ve experienced players commonly using it to Burn Physical Attackers by taking advantage of its immunity to Ground-type moves. But, Excadrill can break through Heat Rotom’s Levitate and take it out in one go, proving instrumental in winning battles.

Best moves for Excadrill in Pokemon

The best moves for Excadrill in Pokemon are Rapid Spin, Earthquake, Iron Head, and Rock Slide.

Rapid Spin is one of the best moves in the meta as it deals some damage, frees you from Hazards and Leech Seed, and gives you a 50% Speed boost. This move has been the winning factor in many of my battles!
Earthquake is the best Ground-type move with a superb 100 base power and is perfectly accurate.
Iron Head is Excadrill’s move of choice against the OP Fairy types, helping it eliminate the dangerous Iron Valiant and Flutter Mane. It also has a 30% chance to make the target flinch.
Rock Slide is the go-to move against Flying types that are immune to Earthquake. Just like Iron Head, even Rock Slide has a 30% to make opponents flinch.

For more guides like this, check out the following: