Would Life Orb or Choice Specs benefit my Porygon-Z more?

Question

I'm talking strictly from a damage perspective before defenses with the move in question being Tri Attack.

Porygon-Z
Adaptability
Tri Attack
SpAtk @ lvl50: 205

I appreciate the help, I'm not too savvy on the calculations. If there's anything else you'd need for the math let me know.

Answer 1

Just depends on what you want. If you want to be able to switch up moves, then go for Life Orb. If you want to have more immediate power, then go for the Specs. The only problem with the Specs is if you use Porygons best move (in my opinion) Tri-Attack, then a ghost type can switch in and force you to switch out. Other than the force switching out, the specs is a great choice. Specs give you 1.5x damage with moves, while the Life Orb only gives you 1.3x damage.

Answer 2

The Choice Specs would help more-

Tri Attack's base power is 80

80 x 1.3(Life Orb) = 104
80 x 1.5(CS) = 120

So the Choice Specs would help in dealing more damage. But Choice Items aren't always the better choice. Check this for more info.

Hope I helped,
Protean-Frokie

Comments

I apologize, I guess I should clarify a bit.  My dilemma is the boost to Move Damage vs the boost to Special Attack.

Tri Attack = 80 Power,  doubled by the Adaptability STAB. So 160 Power x1.3 with 205 Special attack..
Or 160 Power with 205 x1.5 Special attack.

I don't know how to calculate the Special Attack and how much that actually effects damage.  I am assuming the specs will be higher damage overall. But by how much is what I'm really after.

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I think you should fix your Q then, because what you're saying here and what you're saying in the q have no relation.

Answer 3

If you want to switch moves I would recommend Life Orb.

If you are looking for the power then use Choice Specs.

If you want to switch moves but having the power of Choice Specs for one turn
I would recommend Normal Gem

Answer 4

For these calculations, the target is a level 50 Zangoose with 31 IVs, 0 EVs and a neutral Nature for Special Defense.

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Choice Specs Calculation: 232-274 Damage

This will make your Special Attack stat 307, which is 41 more than your Special Attack with a Life Orb. This will also do 29 to 35 more damage than our Life Orb calculation.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Porygon-Z Tri Attack vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zangoose: 232-274 (156.7 - 185.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Life Orb/Normal Gem Calculation: 203-239 Damage

This will make your Special Attack stat 266, which is 41 less than your Special Attack with Choice Specs. This will also do 29 to 35 less damage than our Choice Specs calculation.

 252+ SpA Life Orb Adaptability Porygon-Z Tri Attack vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zangoose: 203-239 (137.1 - 161.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Calculator used.