Pokémon Unite: Best Crustle Build to Become a Bruising Defender

Crustle joined the Pokémon franchise in Generation V. The unmistakable Stone Home Pokémon has been a mainstay in players’ teams ever since. Now, in Pokémon Unite, the Bug-Rock type Pokémon is one of the go-to Defenders and is one of the easier Pokémon to master.

Crustle is part of the Defender class, specialising in endurance and displacements. The following build will help this Pokémon to thrive in battles in Pokémon Unite.

Below, you’ll find all of the details for this build, but first, here’s a quick look at how to make the best Crustle build in Pokémon Unite:

• Role: Bruiser Defender
• First Move: Shell Smash
• Second Move: X-Scissor
• Battle Item: Potion
• Held Items: Assault Vest, Float Stone, Leftovers

Optimum role of Crustle in Pokémon Unite

In order to tweak your Crustle build, press ZL in the pre-game lobby to see the Battle Prep page. From here, you can select the items to use during the battle, as well as direct your selected moves. This can also be done before entering the pre-game lobby via the Battle Prep section at the main menu.

Being part of the Defender class, Crustle is well-suited to playing in the top lane, happy to participate in light skirmishes until the time comes to engage in team fights, where Crustle begins to really shine.

Possessing four-star endurance, it’s clear that Crustle is well-suited to being a Defender. With three-star support, you become a valuable asset to any team, bringing extra hindrance to the table.

This Crustle build is assembled to perfect its abilities and become as effective as possible. Providing a solid front-line option, Crustle is the bane of all squishy Attackers.

With the chosen abilities, Crustle moves towards your opponent at great speed, receiving stat increases before dashing into the enemy, knocking them back, and finally stunning them to leave them susceptible to damage from either yourself or your allies.

Optimum moveset of the Crustle build in Pokémon Unite

Its passive ability increases your defence stats every time that you receive damage – something which inevitably will happen due to spending most of your time up close and personal with your opponents. Crustle’s Unite move grants a shield and makes nearby opponents unable to act, dealing damage. The more you are attacked during this time, the more damage this ability does.

• Basic Attack: “Becomes a boosted attack with every third attack. When this boosted attack hits, it deals damage to opposing Pokémon in the area of effect and decreases their movement speed for a short time.”
• Passive Ability, Sturdy:“Every time the Pokémon loses a certain amount of HP, its Defence and Sp. Def are increased.”
• Unite Move, Rubble Rouser: “Grants the user a shield for a short time and leaves nearby opposing Pokémon unable to act, dealing damage over time. If the user receives damage while this move is in effect, the move deals additional hits to nearby opposing Pokémon.”

When choosing your Level 4 move, Shell Smash offers the best option for this build. Granting you offensive stats and a short burst of movement speed, Shell Smash is an excellent gap-closer and makes it difficult for opponents to avoid you.

With Shell Smash, it allows you to deal more damage at the expense of your defence stats. Whilst this may be daunting due to Crustle being a front-line Pokémon, you will have plenty of defensive stats and will not massively feel the effects of the defence drop.

At Level 11, Shell Smash upgrades into Shell Smash+, which furthers the stat increases given by this ability.

Sticking to the game plan of gap-closing, X-Scissor allows you to do exactly this, making it the best option for your Level 6 ability.

Dashing forwards and inflicting knockback on your opponent (stunning them if you shove them into an object) allows you, or your team, to follow up with damage as your opponent’s unable to do anything.

At Level 13, X-Scissor+ reduces the cooldown of the ability, meaning that you are able to use it multiple times in team fight scenarios.

Best battle item for the Crustle build in Pokémon Unite

Official Description: “Restores some of your Pokémon’s HP.”

It is important to make the most of your passive ability and not to be worried about taking damage. Taking a potion into battle gives you the opportunity to stack your passive ability while also healing up in or out of combat.

With a cooldown of only 30 seconds, don’t be afraid to use it when you see fit: it’s never a bad thing to be full on HP.

Best held items for the Crustle build in Pokémon Unite

Official Description: “When the Pokémon is not in combat, it recovers 2% of its max HP every second.”

Being a Defender, Crustle will be in and out of combat for the entirety of the game, whether travelling down its lane to assist your allies or moving towards a goal. Regaining 2 per cent of its HP every second not only goes hand-in-hand with your passive ability, but it also increases your sustainability massively. So, Leftovers is a top held item to equip for the best Crustle build.

Official Description: “When the Pokémon is not in combat, it is granted a shield that nullifies Sp. Atk damage equal to 15% of its max HP.”

Being a Defender requires you to soak up a lot of damage which would otherwise be inflicted on your team. With the Assault Vest, you are able to mitigate big damage due to Crustle’s massive health pool.

Opponents that specialise in special attack moves will wonder why they barely dent your HP whilst you charge towards them, making it very difficult for them to remove you from the fight.

Official Description: “Increases movement speed by 20% when the Pokémon is not in combat.”

Again focusing on Crustle’s lane swapping and downtime, the Float Stone allows you to get to other places faster. Float Stone, paired with Leftovers and your Potion, allows you to seamlessly move from one fight to another with your health bar still being very healthy.

How to use the best Crustle build in Pokémon Unite

By following this build, you will have an unstoppable defender in your midst that’s capable of nullifying damage, locking down enemy opponents, and constantly restoring your HP.

Your combo should consist of using Shell Smash and moving toward your opponent, basic attack, basic attack, (whilst doing these basic attacks, try to line up your opponent with an object).

Next, when you do manage to align them with an object, use X-Scissor to keep them locked down for a period of time, using your third basic attack to trigger an area of effect attack to slow them down. Repeat this process until either you or an ally defeats the opponent.