Do you have to think differently from other competitive formats when making movesets for Legends ZA?

Question

When making movesetsfor Legends ZA, with the real time combat, the cool downs, and other changes, do you kinda have to think differently then competitive movesets?

Comments

Yes, Legends ZA is radically different from other pokemon games in terms of mechanics, so competitive strategies and movesets for it are also very different.

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So based on cool downs and real time, etc, what kind of moveset structure would you suggest?

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Are you making movesets for battling other players(competitive) or for battling in game NPCs? I havent played Legends ZA, so I cant really give advice on movesets for it. You can get advice for movesets on other websites like Smogon forums.
Link: https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/pok%C3%A9mon-legends-z-a.974/

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I think in ZA the competitive and in-game would be the same, I just want to make good choices in general, I've never known how to make a good moveset, just copy others...

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I've found I change my playthrough team slightly when doing competitive, for instance  giving a pokemon a setup move is nice in competitive but not worth it in the playthrough as you're (sweeping generalisation) 3HKOing in the former but generally 1-2HKOing in ZA

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One major difference is that since speed is no longer a comparative stat between the combatants, but rather a stat that reduces move cooldown, it is less important to max it out with common opponents' speeds in mind. Moves have a minimum cooldown, so for instance there is entirely no point in increasing your speed beyond the point at which all your moves have already reached their minimum cooldown. Investing in HP is more relevant now even for sweepers who would have traditionally focused on outspeeding opponents.

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yes with no abilities and speed only reducing cooldowns it is different.

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in za, i like having 4 attacks so i can spam crazy attacks without wait. this is subjective though

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https://www.smogon.com/articles/plza-brawls
LZA has hitboxes. People are using Stunfisk because it's harder to hit.

Answer 1

In short, yes you have to think differently. The speed stat works differently so you don’t need to worry about speed creeping or out speeding common threats. A lot of moves work differently causing them to be worse or better than they normally are.
Example: Dragon Rush in used over Dragon Claw because Dragon Rush is basically guaranteed to hit, meanwhile foes can run away from Dragon Claw causing you to miss the attack.
The other big difference is that trainers have an easy way to dodge an otherwise deadly attack thanks to Mega Evolution making your Pokemon immune to damage while you Mega. There are a lot of other smaller things that affect battle as well, such as the time it takes to use the move and the moves cooldown.

Now I'm going to show you how to make a competitively viable set. As an example, I’m going to build a competitive Clefable set as I guide you through making a set.

Step 1. Select an item for your Pokemon. Generally if the Pokemon can hold a Mega Stone it should hold the Mega Stone. Otherwise damage boosting items or Leftovers are good choices. For my Clefable, I’m going to use Clefabilite.

Step 2 Select a move set for your Pokemon. When making a move set, you should normally start with a strong STAB attack. Typically the best STAB to pick for the Pokemon is the strongest STAB, though there are some exceptions like Ice Bream over Blizzard. For my Clefable, I’m going to choose Moon Blast. If your Pokemon has 2 types, it’s generally best to include a STAB attack for both types.
Next you want to figure out your other moves. Generally you can figure this out through trial and error and what you want from your Pokemon. So for Example, I want a specially bulky Clefable that can kill dragons and water types, so I’m going to choose Moonlight and Calm Mind to tank hits and defeat Dragon types with my STAB. For my final move, I’ll use Thunder Bolt to deal with water types.

Step 3. Now you need a nature and EVs. Typically you want to invest in what your Pokemon is doing. Don’t invest in Speed unless you’re using a Pokemon that’s too frail to use bulk and if speed is going to be better. Pokemon like this include Mewtwo and Greninja. So for my Clefable, I want it to be bulky, so I’m going to max out HP and split the rest of my EVs between Special Attack and Special Defence. For a Nature, you should pick one to boost your most important stat (typically Atk/SpAtk) and reduce the attack stat you aren’t using. for my Clefable, I’m going to use a Modest Nature, which reduces physical Attack and boosts Special Attack.

TLDR: yes you have to think differently

Source: Experience

Comments

In the comments of the original question, OP was wondering about how to make a good moveset as well. I think to improve this answer a little more, you could read more of the comment thread and touch upon that?

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K I’ll add that once I have some spare time.