PokéPath TD Tier List - Data-Driven Analysis (Functionality)
Hi everyone, this is POKEPATH.IO. This is the second article in the PokéPath TD Tier List - Data-Driven Analysis series. While the first article focused on raw damage output, this article evaluates Pokémon based on their Functionality - including tier lists for Burn and Poison abilities, Slow and Stun capabilities, Healing abilities, and special utility Pokémon like Persian and Ditto.
Tier List Of Functionality
This functionality tier list ranks Pokémon based on their utility abilities including burn/poison, crowd control, healing, and special support capabilities.
Functionality tier list for PokéPath TD. Special Pokémon ratings are explained in the Special Abilities section below.
For Poison and Burn Pokémon: Ariados and Swalot have the highest single-target and AoE poison DPS respectively, rated A tier due to percentage damage limitations. Charizard has similar burn DPS to Infernape but with larger range, rated A tier (personal preference), while Infernape is B tier.
For Slow and Stun Pokémon: Corsola is undoubtedly S tier. Shuckle paired with Berry Juice provides excellent slow effects, S tier. Whiscash has terrain limitations but strong slow effects, A tier. Electrode is controversial - effective with its exclusive item but struggles to stun without it, C tier.
This image was created with the PokéPath TD Tier List Maker.
Test Methodology
This test evaluates Pokémon functionality in PokéPath TD through two categories: Burn/Poison abilities and Slow/Stun capabilities. For Burn and Poison tests, targets have 530,000 HP and are vulnerable to damage-over-time effects, with performance measured by DPS and total damage. For Slow and Stun tests, targets have 100,000,000 HP to ensure survival throughout testing, with performance measured by average enemy movement distance (lower = better control). Since stun effects are probability-based, each Pokémon was tested 10 times and results were averaged to reduce variance.
Burn/Poison Test Settings
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Target HP | 530,000 |
| Immune to Poison | ✗ No |
| Immune to Burn | ✗ No |
| Immune to Stun | ✓ Yes |
| Immune to Slow | ✓ Yes |
| Test Duration | 35 seconds (real-world time) |
| Game Speed | 1.75x |
| Test Position | Position 1 |
| Performance Metric | DPS & Total Damage |
Slow/Stun Test Settings
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Target HP | 100,000,000 |
| Immune to Poison | ✓ Yes |
| Immune to Burn | ✓ Yes |
| Immune to Stun | ✗ No |
| Immune to Slow | ✗ No |
| Test Duration | 35 seconds (real-world time) |
| Game Speed | 1.75x |
| Test Position | Corsola: Position 4, Others: Position 1 |
| Test Iterations | 10 times per Pokémon |
| Performance Metric | Avg. Enemy Movement Distance |
Tower Positions
The diagram below shows the tower positions used in testing. Most Pokémon were tested at Position 1 (default position), while Pokémon with donut-shaped attack ranges (e.g., Corsola) were tested at Position 4 to optimize their performance.
Pokémon Functionality Rankings
Poison and Burn Abilities
Below is a ranking table showing Pokémon with Poison and Burn abilities, sorted by their DPS performance against enemies with 530,000 HP. You can toggle between different target counts to see how these Pokémon perform in single-target vs multi-target scenarios.
| Rank | Pokémon | DPS | Total Damage (30s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | ariados | 5,645 | 197,629 |
| #2 | swalot | 3,914 | 137,000 |
| #3 | arbok | 3,075 | 107,650 |
| #4 | weezing | 2,728 | 95,490 |
| #5 | infernape | 1,797 | 62,900 |
| #6 | charizard | 1,777 | 62,216 |
| #7 | torkoal | 844 | 29,535 |
Slow and Stun Abilities
This ranking shows Pokémon with crowd control abilities (slow and stun effects), sorted by their control effectiveness. The metric used is average enemy movement distance over 35 seconds - lower distance means better crowd control. Each Pokémon was tested multiple times to reduce random variance from stun probability.
| Rank | Pokémon | Avg Distance (30s) |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | corsola | 2,088 px |
| #2 | whiscash | 2,092 px |
| #3 | shuckle | 2,230 px |
| #4 | dewgong | 2,305 px |
| #5 | ferrothorn | 2,328 px |
| #6 | dunsparce | 2,423 px |
| #7 | tangrowth | 2,516 px |
| #8 | electrode | 2,716 px |
| #9 | ampharos | 2,717 px |
| #10 | cryogonal | 2,719 px |
| #11 | lapras | 2,780 px |
Healing Abilities
The following Pokémon have healing abilities that restore 1 heart with a 2.5% chance per attack. They are ranked by attack speed (lower speed = faster attacks = more healing opportunities). All healing Pokémon have the same heal probability, so faster attackers will trigger heals more frequently.
| Rank | Pokémon | Attack Speed (ms) | Heal Probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luvdisc | 710 | 2.5% |
| 2 | Whimsicott | 1,190 | 2.5% |
| 3 | Breloom | 1,850 | 2.5% |
| 4 | Meganium | 2,000 | 2.5% |
Special Abilities
Special Pokémon are relatively rare, so tier ratings are provided directly.
| Pokémon | Ability | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Persian | Greed | Money farm core, S tier |
| Ditto | Transform | Universal Pokémon for all team compositions, S tier |
| Smeargle | Sketch | Shiny farm core, late-game investment, S tier |
| Comfey | Triage | Attack speed boost, useful in shiny/money farms and DPS teams, A tier |
| Honchkrow, Xatu | Frisk | Large range and fast attack speed, A tier |
| Grumpig | Frisk | Can be placed on grass terrain, useful on specific maps, B tier |
| Sunflora | Power Aura | Useful for some DPS teams and achievement unlocks, B tier |
| Farfetch'd | Critical Aura | Critical damage boost, rarely used in DPS teams, D tier |
Summary
This functionality analysis complements the DPS tier list to provide a complete picture of Pokémon strength in PokéPath TD. The next article in the series will present a combined, comprehensive tier list that considers both damage and functionality together.