For Black & White, we rate Donphan B-Tier: a solid option in Black & White for the right team. At 500 BST, it fits the wallbreaker role. Earthquake with Leftovers is the standard set.

What is Donphan weak to?

In Black & White, Donphan's biggest threats include Gyarados (Water), Exeggutor (Grass), and Lapras (Ice), all carrying super-effective STAB moves.

What is the best ability for Donphan?

Sturdy is the go-to ability for Donphan. It prevents being KOed from full HP, leaving 1 HP instead. Its hidden ability Sand Veil can work in specific setups.

What role does Donphan play in battle?

Base 50 Speed is low. Priority moves or Trick Room are the way to go. On offense, Donphan is a physical attacker with base 120 Attack. Defensively? Enough bulk to take a hit or two. Best used as a wallbreaker.

What are the best moves for Donphan?

For Black & White, the core moveset is Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, and Ice Shard. Earthquake leads at 24% usage. Earthquake provides reliable STAB damage.

Donphan - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Physical

Wallbreaker

BTier

50Speed · Slow

Stats & Training

Attack and Defense carry most of Donphan's stat budget. Speed's the obvious dump stat. Moderately hard to find and yields 2 Attack and Defense EVs. Follows a medium-fast 1M XP curve.

Base Stats

High

HP90

Attack120

Defense120

Sp. Atk60

Sp. Def60

Speed50

Total500

Details

Catch Rate

Challenging60 / 255

Growth Rate

Medium Fast1M XP

Height1.1 m

Weight120.0 kg

Base XP175

Abilities

SturdyTop Pick

Prevents being KOed from full HP, leaving 1 HP instead. Protects against the one-hit KO moves regardless of HP.

Sand VeilHA

Increases evasion to 1.25× during a sandstorm. Protects against sandstorm damage.

EV Yield

HPAtk+1Def+1SpASpDSpe

Attack training target

Pokedex Entries

It attacks by curling up, then rolling into its foe. It can blow apart a house in one hit.

Donphan Weakness

Donphan is weak to Water, Grass, and Ice. On the flip side, it's immune to Electric-type moves entirely. Donphan's physical bulk (base 120 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.

Donphan Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
2x (Weak)	Water, Grass, Ice
0.5x (Resist)	Poison, Rock
0x (Immune)	Electric

Type ChartAvg

3Weak

2Resist

1Immune

Score-1

Gen V Type Chart

Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)

4xCritical

None

2xWeak

Water Grass Ice

½xResist

Poison Rock

¼xResist

None

0xImmune

Electric

STAB (5)

Fire Electric Poison Rock Steel

How to Beat Donphan in Black & White (Best Counters)

TyranitarThreatens with Ice Beam, outspeeds, excellent bulk RockDark	S
Recommended Build AbilitySand Stream ItemChopleberry NatureAdamant Moves PursuitSTAB CrunchSTAB Superpower Thunder Wave Damage vs Donphan Pursuit 11-13% Crunch 22-26% Superpower 22-26% View Tyranitar builds →
GarchompOutspeeds DragonGround	S
Recommended Build AbilityRough Skin ItemFocus Sash NatureJolly Moves EarthquakeSTAB OutrageSTAB Swords Dance Stealth Rock Damage vs Donphan Earthquake 27-32% Outrage 33-39% View Garchomp builds →
JirachiThreatens with Ice Punch, outspeeds SteelPsychic	A
Recommended Build AbilitySerenegrace ItemLeftovers NatureCareful Moves Iron Head U Turn Ice Punch Healing Wish Damage vs Donphan U Turn 9-10% View Jirachi builds →
ExcadrillOutspeeds GroundSteel	A
Recommended Build AbilitySandforce ItemChoice Scarf NatureJolly Moves EarthquakeSTAB Rapid Spin Iron Head Rock Slide Damage vs Donphan Earthquake 28-33% Rapid Spin 9-11% Rock Slide 7-8% View Excadrill builds →
BlisseyWears down with Toxic, cures status via Natural Cure, outspeeds Normal	B
Recommended Build AbilityNatural Cure ItemLeftovers NatureBold Moves Soft Boiled Seismic Toss Thunder Wave ToxicUtility View Blissey builds →

Black & White Evolution

Evolved from Phanpy. Donphan is the final form in this two-stage line. A massive partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are average hatch time. Attack grew the most through evolution (+60 over Phanpy), and Donphan peaks at 500 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

2 Forms

#231Phanpy

Level 25

#232Donphan

Stat Comparison 2 Stages

Phanpy

Ground

Donphan

Ground

ATK

120+60

DEF

120+60

SP.ATK

60+20

SP.DEF

60+20

SPE

50+10

BST

330D-Tier

500A-Tier+170

ROLE

Balanced

Wallbreaker

TYPE

Physical

Breeding

Very Easy

Breed with Donphan to get Phanpy eggs easily using 181 partners from the Ground egg group. Notable egg moves include Ancient Power, Body Slam, Counter and 8 more.

Egg Groups

Ground

Gender

♂50.0%♀50.0%

Hatch Time

20 cycles·5,140 steps

Quick~5 min with Flame Body

Egg Moves

11moves

Breed With (best first)

Black & White Donphan Best Moveset

Donphan's job is getting Stealth Rock up and staying on the field. Leftovers provides passive recovery each turn, Sturdy helps it stick around, and max HP and Defense EVs prioritize longevity.

Best Build

Solid pick

Hazard Setter

Ability

Sturdy

Item

LeftoversSUSTAIN

Best Nature for Donphan

Impish+DEF

Donphan best EVs are HP and Defense

EVs

Atk

Def

Hazard Setter Moveset

EarthquakeSTAB
Stealth Rock
Rapid Spin
Ice Shard

Recommended Teammates

NinetalesDecent

ScizorDecent

Moves

Breeding opens up real options for Donphan. Ancient Power and Body Slam come exclusively from egg moves, and they're worth the effort. The rest of the kit covers basics through Earthquake and Bulldoze and coverage across 9 types.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Bulldoze

C6010020Ground

Lv 1

Defense Curl

———40Normal

Lv 1

Fire Fang

C659515Fire

Lv 1

Growl

——10040Normal

Lv 1

Horn Attack

—6510025Normal

Lv 1

Thunder Fang

C659515Electric

Lv 6

Rapid Spin

S5010040Normal

Lv 10

Knock Off

C6510020Dark

Lv 15

Rollout

—309020Rock

Lv 19

Magnitude

——10030Ground

Lv 24

Slam

—807520Normal

Lv 25

Fury Attack

D158520Normal

Lv 31

Assurance

—5010010Dark

Lv 39

Scary Face

——10010Normal

Lv 46

Earthquake

S10010010Ground

Lv 54

Giga Impact

B150905Normal

TM Moves

TM45

Attract

C—10015Normal

TM78

Bulldoze

C6010020Ground

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM26

Earthquake

S10010010Ground

TM49

Echoed Voice

—4010015Normal

TM42

Facade

C7010020Normal

TM21

Frustration

——10020Normal

TM68

Giga Impact

B150905Normal

TM74

Gyro Ball

D—1005Steel

TM10

Hidden Power

—6010015Normal

TM15

Hyper Beam

C150905Normal

TM84

Poison Jab

C8010020Poison

TM17

Protect+4

C——10Normal

TM44

Rest

C——10Psychic

TM27

Return

D—10020Normal

TM05

Roar-6

C—10020Normal

TM69

Rock Polish

D——20Rock

TM80

Rock Slide

C759010Rock

TM94

Rock Smash

D4010015Fighting

TM39

Rock Tomb

—609510Rock

TM48

Round

—6010015Normal

TM37

Sandstorm

D——10Rock

TM71

Stone Edge

C100805Rock

HM04

Strength

C8010015Normal

TM90

Substitute

C——10Normal

TM11

Sunny Day

C——5Fire

TM87

Swagger

——9015Normal

TM06

Toxic

C—9010Poison

Egg Moves

Egg

Ancient Power

D601005Rock

Egg

Body Slam

C8510015Normal

Egg

Counter-5

D—10020Fighting

Egg

Endeavor

D—1005Normal

Egg

Fissure

——305Ground

Egg

Focus Energy

———30Normal

Egg

Head Smash

B150805Rock

Egg

Heavy Slam

D—10010Steel

Egg

Ice Shard+1

S4010030Ice

Egg

Mud-Slap

D2010010Ground

Egg

Snore

—4010015Normal

Tutor Moves

Donphan can't learn any Tutor moves

Reminder Moves

Rem

Charm

——10020Normal

Rem

Double-Edge

B12010015Normal

Rem

Endure+4

D——10Normal

Rem

Flail

——10015Normal

Rem

Last Resort

B1401005Normal

Rem

Natural Gift

——10015Normal

Rem

Odor Sleuth

———40Normal

Rem

Tackle

D5010035Normal

Rem

Take Down

—908520Normal

Transfer Moves

Gen

Gen 4

Captivate

——10020Normal

Gen 4

Headbutt

C7010015Normal

Gen 3

Mimic

———10Normal

Gen 4

Secret Power

—7010020Normal

How to Get Donphan in Black & White

Donphan isn't available in the wild in Black & White. Start by transferring Phanpy from Silver, Crystal, or Scarlet. The evolution path from Phanpy to Donphan is covered in the steps below.

How to Obtain Donphan in Black & White

Step 1Obtain Phanpy
Also found in:
Silver Crystal Ruby Emerald FireRed Diamond
Train until Level 25
Step 2Donphan ✓

Donphan Guide

For Black & White, we rate Donphan B-Tier: a solid option in Black & White for the right team. At 500 BST, it fits the wallbreaker role. Earthquake with Leftovers is the standard set.
In Black & White, Donphan's biggest threats include Gyarados (Water), Exeggutor (Grass), and Lapras (Ice), all carrying super-effective STAB moves.
Sturdy is the go-to ability for Donphan. It prevents being KOed from full HP, leaving 1 HP instead. Its hidden ability Sand Veil can work in specific setups.
Base 50 Speed is low. Priority moves or Trick Room are the way to go. On offense, Donphan is a physical attacker with base 120 Attack. Defensively? Enough bulk to take a hit or two. Best used as a wallbreaker.
For Black & White, the core moveset is Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, and Ice Shard. Earthquake leads at 24% usage. Earthquake provides reliable STAB damage.

Game Availability

Available in 16 titles since its debut in Gold & Silver, Donphan spans 9 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through wild encounters in most mainline games.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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