With all the complaining about Alola pokemon sucking, a question

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Higher defenses are usually preferred over high HP. Rotom-W and Skarmory are usually considered bulky, while Wailord and Drifblim aren't. High HP has side benefits, like letting you get off more recoil moves without dying, but, defenses are usually the way to go.

It's also good to specialize your defenses. Typing aside 70/130/50 is better than 70/90/90, as long as you know what hits to take.

>>29823224

I looked up the averages for stats for fully evolved Pokemon and found that for HP the average is 80, and for both defenses it's 83. 80 and 83 is 163, but that's also factoring in overpowered legendaries. I'd say a combined bulk of 160 should be considered average.

Lycanrok night has a combined bulk of 160 in both stats, so when people say he has shitty frail defenses can I say they are objectively wrong then?

typing is a huge part of being "bulky" rotom-wash and spiritomb have almost exactly the same defenses, but the latter is considered much more bulky due to its ability to resist common attack types

in other words there is no magic number, having high hp as opposed to high defenses isn't a big deal (a high enough number in either will compensate for the other)

>>29823309
>Lycanrok night has a combined bulk of 160 in both stats, so when people say he has shitty frail defenses can I say they are objectively wrong then?

no because like that other guy said, specialized defense is better than having mediocre defenses in both stats.

85/75/75 is PAINFULLY average and isn't that good

>>29823320
the former, rather. kill me

>>29823337

I know it isn't good, but it is average. I was merely making the point that people saying he was squishy with shit defences are wrong/exaggerating. It's bulk is almost exactly average in both categories.

The better a Pokemon can take an attack can be determined by multiplying their HP stat and their Defence stat (not their base stats their actual stats).
This means ideally the sweet spot is when the HP stat is equal to the Defence stat
HP behaves a little differently than the other stats since it's minimum is higher than other stats (A base stat of 100 HP gives you a stat of 341 at lvl 100 with a neutral nature and no EVs while other stats would be 236 under the same conditions)
So ideally to survive a physical hit you want to have your base stat defences a little higher than your HP but if you go too far in that direction and your defence stat is higher than your hp stat is starts to get worse again.

Of course high HP helps with both the physical and special side at the same time and is better against moves like Seismic Toss

>>29822922
Bulk is more than stats. You need good typing and resistances, reliable recovery, and/or a good ability.

Pure bulk and nothing else is bad. Look at, say, Eviolite Munchlax or Dusclops. Plenty of bulk, but they just sit there and take hits passively.

Rotom-W might have only base 50 HP, but it has amazing typing, resistances, and Levitate. It works well in defensive cores because of its utility.

Judging a mon's devensive worth based solely on its stats will tell you nothing. Vikavolt, for example, has okayish defensive stats. However, it has a great typing + Levitate, great offenses with STAB Volt Switch, and good potential synergy.

>>29823481
Well put. also when you have a pokemon whose HP is more than twice as high than either of its defenses, like hariyama, you get more bang for your buck by investing 4 EVs in def and 4 in Sdef than you do by investing 8 in HP

>>29823558

Oh, and about HP vs. Defense:

Dealing damage uses a mathematical equation that uses the relevant attack and defense stats to calculate damage. The equation produces a number, which is removed from the target's HP pool.

Basically, high defense means that you take lower amounts of damage.

High HP means you have a 'longer lifebar' and can take more damage than a mon that has lower HP.