PokeSurvivor build planner: best moves & evolutions
Pick a partner. Get its score, the two moves to build around, and the exact card each move needs to evolve.
1 Pick your Pokémon
2 Mid-run? Tick the upgrade cards you already took (optional)
966 partners · data from game commit b297089 (2026-10-14) · free, no sign-up
Example: Gengar. Pick any partner to change it.
Gengar
Hex
Lick
What your build is still missing
- You start with Shadow Ball. Swap to Hex when its card shows up.
- Take one Magnet card (+30% experience pickup radius.) to unlock Poltergeist.
- Take one Power card (+10% damage with every move.) to unlock Shadow Punch.
- Level Hex to 5: +2 jumps → +45% damage → -25% cooldown → +2 jumps and +40% damage.
- Level Lick to 5: +40% damage → +25% range → -25% cooldown → Hits in 360° and +50% damage.
15 moves this partner can learn are listed below.
Play PokéSurvivor right here
The official game on the left, this planner on the right: check a build without leaving your run.
Free. The game is by jpter78, shown from pokesurvivor.com, and loads only when you click. Unofficial: we're not affiliated with it.
How playing PokéSurvivor beside the planner works
On a computer, drag the bar between the game and the planner to give either side more room; "Hide game" shrinks it to a strip and your run keeps going. On a phone the game goes full screen and the planner slides up from a button. Runs played here are saved separately from runs on the official site.
Builds players ask about
Picked from questions on r/pokesurvivor and the game's GitHub issues. Click one to load it above.
Every move Gengar can learn
| Move | Type | Kind | Evolves into | Needs card |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tackle | Normal | Melee | Take Down | Vigor |
| Quick Attack | Normal | Dash | Extreme Speed | Sprint |
| Swords Dance | Normal | Buff | None | None |
| Agility | Normal | Buff | None | None |
| Harden | Normal | Buff | None | None |
| Sludge | Poison | Projectile | Sludge Bomb | Power |
| Body Slam | Normal | Melee | Giga Impact | Power |
| Hyper Voice | Normal | Burst | Uproar | Reflexes |
| Poison Sting | Poison | Projectile | Poison Jab | Sprint |
| Toxic | Poison | Trail | Poison Gas | Synthesis |
| Lick | Ghost | Melee | Shadow Punch | Power |
| Shadow Ball | Ghost | Projectile | Phantom Force | Reflexes |
| Toxic Spikes | Poison | Mine | Gunk Shot | Synthesis |
| Substitute | Normal | Turret | Double Team | Armor |
| Hex | Ghost | Chain | Poltergeist | Magnet |
How to use the PokeSurvivor build planner
- Type a partner's name under 1 Pick your Pokémon, or click one of the quick picks. Any of the 966 partners in the game works.
- In the middle of a run, open 2 Mid-run? and tick the upgrade cards you already took. The planner then only lists what you still need.
- Press Show my build. You get the grade and score out of 100, a main damage move, a close-range guard move, and for each one the move it evolves into and the card it needs.
- Read What your build is still missing: which starting move to swap out, which card to take, and the level-up path of each move.
- Copy build puts a one-line summary on your clipboard to paste into a chat or a note.
Not sure which partner to start with? The PokeSurvivor tier list ranks all 966 with the same score, and each name opens its build here.
How a PokéSurvivor build works
Your partner and its move pool
PokéSurvivor is a free browser survivor game by jpter78: you pick one partner and survive waves of enemies. A partner can learn every Normal move plus the moves of its own types, and holds up to 4 moves at a time. You start with your type's starter move, Ember for a Fire partner, which is why the planner sometimes tells you to swap it out.
Levelling and evolving a move
Each move levels up when you pick its card on the level-up screen, up to level 5. 59 of the 64 moves can also evolve once maxed, if you took one specific upgrade card in the same run; the 5 buff moves never evolve. To check one move, or to see every recipe, use PokeSurvivor move evolutions.
A melee move in your active slot cuts damage taken
While the move group in your active slot holds a melee move, every hit you take is 25% smaller. It does not count for a melee move sitting in another slot. The planner's second pick, the close-range guard, is the strongest move your partner can learn that is not ranged.
Type matchups are softer than in the main games
A super-effective hit does ×1.6 instead of ×2, a resisted hit ×0.6 and an immune one ×0.3; with two types the numbers multiply, capped between ×0.3 and ×2.4. The table works both ways, for your attacks and for the shots that hit you. Normal moves are never super-effective, which is why the score counts them at 0.6×.
How the score works, and how fresh it is
PokeSurvivor questions players ask
How important is the Pokémon you choose?
It changes your attack multiplier, HP, speed and which moves you can learn. On our formula the 966 partners score from 6 to 70 out of 100. In an r/pokesurvivor thread asking this, players named Gengar, Mewtwo and Entei; the tier list ranks every partner with the same formula.
Which moves should I choose?
The planner picks two for each partner: the strongest ranged move as main damage and the strongest move that is not ranged as a close-range guard. Strength is damage × projectiles ÷ cooldown, with moves that can evolve counted higher. That is our formula, not the game's, and it is shown in full on this page.
Does a melee move reduce damage even when it isn't my active move?
No. The game checks only the move group in your active slot: while it holds a melee move, every hit you take is cut by 25%. A melee move sitting in another slot does nothing for your defence. Damage from Arceus ignores the cut.
Is there any Mega evolution in the game?
Not in the current game data: none of the 966 partners in the game's Pokédex file is a Mega form.
Is this the official PokéSurvivor site?
No. SurvivorsArcade is an unofficial fan tool with no accounts, and it never asks for a password. The game itself is PokéSurvivor by jpter78 at pokesurvivor.com. Players on r/pokesurvivor have warned about a clone site with its own login, so only sign in on the official site.
Would you play a survivor game with original monsters?
We're thinking about making our own free browser survivor game: new monsters we design ourselves, not Pokémon, not a copy of PokéSurvivor. Nothing is built yet. Tick what you'd want and we'll count it.