Drapion was first introduced in Generation IV or the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl for the NDS. Drapion evolves from Skorupi starting at level 40, and in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, aside from evolving it is only encountered in Safari Zone/Great Marsh areas. For some reason, Drapion is one of the few Pokemon which has an extremely rare Poison/Dark dual-typing, making its weaknesses somewhat elusive. In case you forgot or are a newcomer to the series, read on below for more details on Drapion weaknesses in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Drapion Stats
Drapion is a Poison/Dark-type Pokemon. With that in mind, its only weakness is Ground-type attacks thanks to it being part Poison. Meanwhile, Drapion is completely immune to Psychic and as a Poison-type Pokemon, it cannot get poisoned — except by a Pokemon with the Corrosion Ability. It also takes reduced damage from Poison, Ghost, Grass, and Dark moves.
It’s somewhat important to remember that Drapion has lower Special Defense stats compared to its Physical Defense. This suggests that you should use Special Ground attacks such as Mud Slap, Mud Bomb, and Earth Power to maximize your damage output. For convenience, below is the table that lists Drapion’s type weaknesses and strengths in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
| 4x Damage | 0.5x Damage | 0 Damage |
| Ground | Poison | Psychic |
| Ghost | ||
| Grass | ||
| Dark |
Together with Drapion, here is a (very short) list of all Pokemon with Poison/Dark dual-typing:
- Grimer (Alolan Form)
- Muk (Alolan Form)
- Stunky
- Skuntank
- Drapion
A captured Drapion can have these abilities:
- Ability:
- Battle Armor: Prevents the opponent from landing a critical hit.
- Or Sniper: Critical hits will now do 2.25× damage instead of 1.5× damage.
- Hidden Ability:
- Keen Eye: Prevents other Pokemon from lowering accuracy stat and ignores the target’s evasion.
If you’re looking to get one for your party, here’s the moves Drapion will get in each level:
- Base Move: Thunder Fang – Electric
- Base Move: Ice Fang – Ice
- Base Move: Fire Fang – Fire
- Base Move: Poison Sting – Poison
- Base Move: Leer – Normal
- Base Move: Hone Claws – Dark
- Base Move: Fell Stinger – Bug
- Level 9: Poison Fang – Poison
- Level 12: Bite – Dark
- Level 15: Toxic Spikes – Poison
- Level 18: Bug Bite – Bug
- Level 21: Venoshock – Poison
- Level 24: Knock Off – Dark
- Level 27: Scary Face – Normal
- Level 30: Pin Missile – Bug
- Level 33: Toxic – Poison
- Level 36: Night Slash – Dark
- Level 39: Cross Poison – Poison
- Level 44: X-Scissor – Bug
- Level 49: Acupressure – Normal
- Level 54: Crunch – Dark
Related:
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl: What is Quagsire’s Weakness
Both Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl are available now on the Nintendo Switch.
