How does CP relate to damage dealt?

Question

In Pokemon GO each Pokemon has 2 moves, with a number next to them indicating what I assume to be the damage dealt by the move.

This damage dealt seems to be independent of the CP of the Pokemon, I have 700 CP Pokemon that do 5 or 6 damage and I have 100 CP Pokemon that do 15 damage on their basic attacks.

Does this mean that the 100 CP Pokemon actually does more damage than the 700 CP Pokemon?

Answer 1

CP is an aggregate stat based on the Gen VI Pokemon stats and their current level, none of which is shown to players; Silph Road has been datamining this stuff for a while now. So yes, CP will affect an attack's damage in both directions (the attacker's Attk and the defender's Def stats, respectively), but isn't a linear factor.

For example, a 1200 CP Snorlax with a 10 damage attack will do less damage than a 1200 CP Dragonite who also has a 10 damage attack. On the other hand, if the Dragonite attacked the Snorlax and visa versa, the damage would mostly equalize out because of Snorlax's Defense and HP stats, making the fight fairly close.

It's currently unknown if attacks are balanced by DPS, but I believe there's a good chance of it; high damage special attacks have a long attack animation (during which you can't dodge), and a long charge bar; low damage special attacks do not. In my (limited) personal experience, high damage base attacks have a longer attack animation, slowing the attack spam.

The one thing that I view as a major problem is that the Speed stat has no effect on gameplay (that we know of), so Electric types all have very low CP; a 1200 Vaporeon will beat an equivalent level Jolteon (933 CP) as a result.

Answer 2

If all else is equal the damage dealt is proportional of the Attack stat of the pokémon.

Every pokémon has 3 base stats: stamina, defense and attack. Each of them is multiplied by the same factor. And this factor increases as the pokémon is powered up.

In the CP formula the stamina and the defense are square rooted factors and the attack is a linear factor.

This means doubling all stats results in 4-fold increase in CP.

So if all else is equal an 1200CP pokemon causes twice more damage than a 300CP pokemon does.

Damage formula

CP formula

But keep in mind that damage is not everything. You can have a pokémon with low damage but high defense and stamina which is more successful than a pokémon with high damage but low defense and low stamina.

A pokémon with twice more attack serves twice more damage, so it's twice more powerful.

A pokémon with twice more defense receives half damage, so while it lives it can serve twice more damage, so it's twice more powerful.

A pokémon with twice more stamina has twice more hit points, so it can withstand twice more punishment, so while the hp bar depletes it can cause twice more damage, so it's twice more powerful.

So to compare the true combat potential of a pokémon specy, multiply its base stats.

Answer 3

Combat Power (CP) is an overall indicator of the power of your Pokemon.

In other games, you have a lot of stats like

• attack power (physical damage dealt)
• defense (physical damage resistance)
• magic (magic damage dealt)
• spirit (magic damage resistance)
• vitality (increases HP (varies from game to game))

Pokemon Go consolidates a lot of these (not all, HP is still separate), and instead gives you one big indicator of your Pokemon's battle prowess; Combat Power.

This means, of course, that even though someone else's CP may be higher, yours might still win if it is the right type, and if you play the battle skillfully.

Source: Niantic support

Answer 4

Alec has kindly explained how CP affects a Pokémon's overall effectiveness in battle. However, you asked if CP affects the damage of the moves a Pokémon knows - ie, will a 500CP Zubat do more damage with its moves than a 100cp Zubat.

The answer to this question at the moment is, unfortunately, we don't know. Niantic has not released any information on how the game actually works. We can only speculate as to what CP might affect.

On a side note, the moves a Pokémon has are chosen at random, meaning that the aforementioned 100CP Zubat could know sludge bomb (60 damage), while the 500CP Zubat could know Poison Fang (15 damage), or vice versa.

Answer 5

For the easy answer, NO. CP has no value in the damage calculation.

Everyone else is trying to get to the point that CP usually means that pokemon is stronger, but doesn't always.

CP is calculated from ATK (hidden stat, but you can find the equation from online. It derives from the older games stats.), DEF (same thing as ATK, hidden), and HP. The CP is calculated based off those three numbers. It is kind of a generic, "this is about how strong" your pokemon is. The calculation can be found online as well, but the number doesn't really mean anything seeing as it isn't included in any damage or defense calculation.

Answer 6

I've seen vileplumes and venesaurs which have mediocre HP at around 90HP, yet I could hit them with my snorlax's hyper beam 120, and it barely would even do anything to it. Some have stronger attack yet attack much slower, while some have weaker attacks and attack much faster. But I put my chancey in a gym it has 300HP, and it's basic attack is 12, and special is 50, both better than my vaporeon yet it got demolished, so CP definitely makes a difference I just don't know what, I don't know if it builds up your defense against attacks, or makes attacks more effective, but I've seen some vileplumes and venesaurs that were extremely tough to beat, and even with lower HP they were crazy strong and even strong attacks seemed to do little to them.