Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: Best Steel-Type Paldean Pokémon

Ever since being introduced in Gneration II, Steel-type Pokémon have been used mainly for their highly effective tank qualities as the type with the highest base Defense among all Pokémon. Further, Steel has the most resistances of any type, not to mention an immunity to Poison attacks.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet make good use of the type, though only one of the listed Paldean Pokémon is a pure Steel-type. However, thanks to Tera Type, you may be able to find Pokémon with a Steel Tera Type, giving you more tactics in battle.

Also check: Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Best Paldean Fairy & Rock Types

The best Steel-type Paldean Pokémon in Scarlet & Violet

Below, you will find the best Paldean Steel Pokémon ranked by their Base Stats Total (BST). This is the accumulation of the six attributes in Pokémon: HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Each Pokémon listed below has at least a 480 BST.

While the top two Pokémon are two of the strongest non-legendary, mythical, or Paradox Pokémon in the game, that doesn’t mean the others aren’t worthy of your team. In fact, you may find the evolution process for those top two to be a bit too cumbersome. Still, they may be worth the effort as they only have 20 BST less than most Paradox Pokémon, 40 less than the pseudo-legendary inspired Paradox Pokémon, and 20 less than the hyphenated legendary foursome of Chien-Pao, Chi-Yu, Ting-Lu, and Wo-Chien.

The list will not include legendary, mythical, or Paradox Pokémon.

Click the links for the best Grass-type, best Fire-type, best Water-type, best Dark-type, best Ghost-type, and best Normal-type Paldean Pokémon.

1. Gholdengo (Steel and Ghost) – 550 BST

Gholdengo and Gimmighoul (specifically) were first introduced through a website with the latter in its Chest Form and then Pokémon GO, where players spun yellow stops to find Gimmighoul in its Roaming Form and potentially a ??????? gold coin. Roaming Form Gimmighoul looked like it belonged in the movie A Bug’s Life!

Gimmighoul evolves into Gholdengo once you’ve collected 999 Gimmighoul coins while roaming in Paldea. If you see a tiny bug-looking thing on top of a crate or object, hit A and it’ll likely be Gimmighoul.

The “Gold Surfer” Gholdengo – actually the Coin Entity Pokémon – is actually made up of those coins you collected. It’s a good tank, but an even better special attacker with 133 Special Attack, 95 Defense, 91 Special Defense, and an unusual-for-a-Steel-type 84 Speed. Its only glaring attribute is 60 Attack, but special attacks with STAB like Flash Cannon or Shadow Ball will work well.

Gholdengo holds weaknesses to Ground, Ghost, Fire, and Dark, though there are no double weaknesses. Being dual Steel- and Ghost-type means Gholdengo is immune to Normal, Fighting, and Poison. It only suffers normal damage from Water and Electric attacks, resisting all other types not yet named.

2. Kingambit (Dark and Steel) – 550 BST

A new evolution introduced in Scarlet & Violet, Kingambit resembles a samurai of lore with its helm and imposing figure. The final evolution of Pawniard, Kingambit evolves in a peculiar way. First, you must equip your Bisharp with the Leader’s Crest. Then, with Bisharp you must defeat three Bisharp that also hold the item. Pawniard evolves at level 52 into Bisharp, so this is the earliest you can have a Kingambit.

Kingambit is formidable, trading speed for all-out physical prowess. It has 135 Attack, 120 Defense, and 100 HP, not to mention a respectable 85 Special Defense. It’s a great tank. However, Kingambit has 60 Special Attack and 50 Speed, though it’s more than strong enough to take a hit and dish it out as well.

Kingambit holds weaknesses to Fire and Ground with a double weakness to Fighting. The latter is concerning as many types can learn Fighting-type attacks. However, thanks to its typing, Kingambit is immune to Poison and Psychic.

3. Tinkaton (Fairy and Steel) – 506 BST

Tinkaton is an uncommon three-stage evolution for a Steel-type and even more so for a Fairy-type. The Fairy- and Steel-type Pokémon is the final form of Tinkatink. Tinkatink evolves at level 24 into Tinkatuff, which then evolves at level 38 into Tinkaton.

Tinkaton is the only Pokémon with a 506 BST. It has 105 Special Defense, 94 Speed, and 85 HP. It rounds out its attributes with 77 Defense, 75 Attack, and 70 Special Attack. It holds weaknesses to Ground and Fire with immunities to Poison and Dragon.

4. Revavroom (Steel and Poison) – 500 BST

Revaroom looks more apt to be on Wacky Races than to be a Pokémon, yet the Multi-Cyl Pokémon is no pushover. The Steel- and Poison-type Pokémon evolves at level 40 from Varoom, and supposedly has Starmobile forms, yet to be released (and likely for the DLC).

Revavroom is fast for a Steel-type, but it is a car, after all. It has 110 Attack, 90 Speed and Defense, and 80 HP. It’s not cut out for specials with 67 Special Defense and 54 Special Attack. Revavroom holds a weakness to Fire and a double weakness to Ground. It’s immune to Poison.

5. Orthworm (Steel) – 480 BST

Orthworm is steel version of an earthworm, essentially. It’s both the only non-evolving Pokémon and the only pure Steel-type on the list. While it is Steel-type, Orthworm is mostly red except for the second segment, which is steel.

Orthworm is your typical Steel-type: high defense, low speed. It has a whopping 145 Defense to go along with 85 Attack and 70 HP. However, the tradeoff for such a high Defense is having 65 Speed, 60 Special Attack, and 55 Special Defense. Orthworm was made to be a physical tank, not a special attacking tank. 

Now you know the best Paldean Steel-type Pokémon in Scarlet & Violet. Which of these Steel-type Pokémon will you add to your party?

Also check: Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Best Paldean Psychic Types