Pokémon Unite is here, and with it comes a flurry of Pokémon you can take with you into battle. Whether you’re playing with friends or uniting with randoms online, you’ll see a familiar stack of faces with Pikachu, Talonflame, Charizard, and Garchomp all joining the ranks in the newest addition to the Pokémon gaming franchise.
In our Pokémon Unite Lucario build guide though, we’ll fill you in on everything you need to know to get the most out of the all-around warrior who loves to get up close and personal in battle. Lucario is known for being fast-paced and agile, but it needs battle prep to help reach its full potential. So, we’ve put together the best held and battle items, as well as what moves to equip to get the best out of this very versatile fighter.
If you’re looking to know more about where each Pokémon sits in the rankings, you can check out our Pokémon Unite tier list. We’ve also got guides on Pokémon Unite’s Pikachu, Pokémon Unite’s Snorlax, and Pokémon Unite’s Venusaur.
Pokémon Unite Lucario abilities
MOBAs like Pokémon Unite offer the chance to play all kinds of builds. In our guide, we’re leaning into Lucario’s ability to play fast and hard. He’s an all-rounder, sure, but he’s also an attacker who can get into the mix with speed. It’s up to you how you play though. We’ve got a list of everything Lucario has to offer as well as some suggestions on the build that you might want to take into battle to set you up for a win. Lucario’s moveset is very speed-based and as such, we’ve put together an offensive speedster build.
Lucario’s passive ability
| Move name | Attack type | Description |
| Steadfast | Passive | When at low HP, Lucario receives a shield and increased movement speed |
Lucario’s early game abilities
At the very beginning, Lucario can choose one move to use in the early game battle. The second one will automatically apply once level three is reached. Quick attack is all about dealing out damage, lunging Lucario forward at an almost invisible speed that will shock and hurt opposing Pokémon. Meteor smash is a damage and displace move, sending nearby opponents flying. For this build, we’d recommend quick attack first to make for quick escapes in the early game, darting around the map.
| Move name | Attack type | Cooldown | Description |
| Quick attack | Dash | Six seconds | Lunges forward at speed to attack, making Lucario near invisible. It also causes damage on impact with opponents |
| Meteor Smash | Melee | Seven seconds | Lucario blasts forward and punches like a comet to deal damage and displace the opposing Pokémon |
Lucario’s mid-game abilities
Lucario can learn one of two moves for level five. Extreme speed boasts damage at high speeds and even has the ability to reset and restore HP on cooldown if used successfully at point-blank range. Power-up punch, though, is the one we’d recommend for its ability to really cause some damage at rapid speeds.
| Move name | Attack type | Cooldown | Description |
| Power-up punch | Dash | Seven seconds | Lucario charges before unleashing a powerful attack. While charging, Lucario’s movement speed decreases, but it also takes less damage and deals more. This move also dishes out more damage the lower the opposing Pokémon’s remaining HP is and makes the next basic attack boosted. The cooldown is reduced every time a power-up punch hits. Upgrading brings immunity to hindrances while charging |
| Extreme speed | Dash | Nine seconds | Lucario dashes forward at high speed to deal damage. If used at point-blank range on an opponent, the cooldown is reset and it restores HP. The cooldown cannot be used more than once on the same Pokémon. Upgrading temporarily increases attack |
Lucario’s late-game abilities
At level seven, you have another choice to make. It really depends on how you want to play it for the remainder of the battle. If you prefer to keep moving and playing into Lucario’s agile strength, then bone rush is your obvious choice. If you prefer to stand your ground and use continuous damage to destroy the opposing team then you can pick close combat.
| Move name | Attack type | Cooldown | Description |
| Bone rush | Melee/dash | Ten seconds | This is a combo attack that deals damage multiple times, as well as displacing opposing Pokémon. The final attack sends the bone flying. If the move is used again, Lucario will teleport to the bone and do more damage to nearby Pokémon. Upgrading this move makes the second use reset the cooldown of extreme speed or power-up punch |
| Close combat | Melee | Nine seconds | Another combo attack move that deals multiple blows, as well as shoving opposing Pokémon. Upgrade this move to increase damage |
Lucario’s end game abilities
You’ve made it to the end game and Lucario’s Unite move is aura cannon, a devastating AOE attack that deals out some serious damage while also increasing the damage of your power-up punch. Lucario is well-balanced at the core, so you can continue to combine its attack power and movement speed to take you through those final seconds.
| Move name | Attack type | Cooldown | Description |
| Aura cannon | Ranged | Percent based | Deals AOE damage to opponents and increases the damage of the next power-up punch |
What is the best build for Pokémon Unite’s Lucario?
This is one example of a great attack build that will hopefully help Lucario finish opponents without having to worry about retreating from the fight too often. We focus on close-range power plays, with Lucario being embedded deep into fights.
- Level one: quick attack
- Level three: meteor smash
- Level five: power-up punch (replaces meteor smash)
- Level seven: bone rush (replaces power-up punch)
Pokémon Unite best held items for Lucario
Lucario can hold up to three items and for this build, we centre on boosting that damage rate, as Lucario’s strength truly lies in getting into the thick of it when it comes to the battle arena.
- Focus band: gradually recovers HP when it’s low
Attack weight: permanently increases attack upon scoring a goal - Muscle band: increases damage to basic attacks, the more HP the opponent has, the more damage it does
- Scope lens: boosts critical hit damage
- Sp. Atk. specs: special attack increases when scoring a goal
POKÉMON UNITE BEST battle ITEMS FOR LUCARIO
Finally, you can also pick a battle item for Lucario and for this, we’d recommend planning an escape with the eject button for those moments when your attack hasn’t landed the way you wanted it to and you need to retreat to safety.
- Eject button: teleports Lucario quickly away and back to safety
- X attack: raises attack and sp. attack for a short time
- Potion: restores some of Lucario’s HP
- X speed: raises movement speed for a short time
How to get Lucario in POKÉMON UNITE
To unlock Lucario in Pokémon Unite, you’ll just need to head to the Unite Battle Committee and purchase the Lucario license. It costs either 10,000 aeos coins or 575 aeos gems.
If you want to delve deeper into everything you need to know about Pokémon Unite, why not check out our fully-loaded Pokémon Unite’s Gardevoir, Pokémon Unite’s Blastoise, Pokémon Unite’s Pikachu, and Pokémon Unite’s Wigglytuff builds?