Specialattacking

Specialattacking is a term used in gaming to describe the use of attacks or abilities that rely on a character’s special power rather than physical strength. The concept appears across various game systems, where attacks are often categorized as physical or special, and where a character’s effectiveness with special moves depends on a corresponding stat or resource.

In Pokémon, special attacking is a core gameplay concept. Historically, games distinguished between physical and special moves, with damage from each type calculated using separate Attack (physical) and Special Attack (special) stats. Later generations split the former unified Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense. A Pokémon’s Special Attack determines how much damage its special moves deal, while factors such as nature, effort values, individual values, items, and status effects can boost or limit this power. Strategy often revolves around building a team with strong special attackers and managing type matchups, coverage moves, and speed to outpace opponents.

Beyond Pokémon, the term can describe any character or class that relies on magic, tech, or skill-based power rather than melee or brute force. In many RPGs, “special attacks” consume mana or energy and scale with intelligence, spirit, or a similar stat. In real-time games and MOBAs, special attacking may refer to ability usage, cooldown management, and resource conservation, as opposed to basic auto-attacks.

See also: Special Attack (stat), Physical attack, Magic (gaming), Ability usage.