Our lord and savior has descended from the heavens above to bless our team and lead us to victory! The good news is that Omanyte is an essentially guaranteed encounter (unless you want Aerodactyl or Kabutops) whose type gives it advantages against the last two gyms. The bad news is that it comes at Level 5 and doesn't evolve until 40. You'll need patience galore in order to get Lord Helix caught up with the rest of your team, but the pay-off is well worth it, as Omastar is one of the physically bulkiest Water 'mons in Kanto. Unfortunately, its low speed can be a hindrance at times, and its typing is far from ideal for a defensive Pokémon. Still, don't count Omastar out; it can serve as a valuable team member for the mid-late game.
Gym #3 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Why have you put Surge off for this long? Furthermore, why are you even considering using Omanyte here? Even with a few extra levels in your pocket, Omanyte doesn't stand a chance at outspeeding any of Surge's Pokémon, and Shock Wave fries it. Omastar fares better, but this gym really should have been beaten a long time ago.
Gym #4 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Oh, the humanity!
Fighting Dojo (Saffron City, Fighting-type): This is a toss up. Omastar has good physical defense, but is weak to the STAB here and doesn't have much to fire back with. The Mankey can be dispatched easily with Surf, as can the Machop, but anything stronger than that should probably be avoided. Don't even think about coming here as an Omanyte.
Rival (Silph Co.): Pidgeot can't do a thing to Omastar, and gets destroyed by Ice Beam. Alakazam can become troublesome if it starts getting up Calm Minds, but its only attacking move is Future Sight. Omastar can win, but it's probably better to let a physical attacker handle this one. Speaking of physical attackers, Gyarados can't do a thing to Omastar, nor can Growlithe or Charizard. Dispatch them with the appropriate STAB move. Blastoise can't be beaten before it takes Omastar out; avoid it. Exeggcute and Venusaur should be avoided like the plague.
Giovanni (Silph Co., Ground-type): The only attack you really need to watch out for is Nidoqueen's Double Kick, and even that fails to 2HKO in the absolute worst situation possible (equal level, 0 Def EVs/IVs, detrimental nature). Spam Surf and win.
Gym #6 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): STAB Psychics that consistently outspeed and hit your weaker defensive stat? That's a solid no for Omastar.
Gym #7 - Blaine (Cinnabar Island, Fire-type): Even though their STAB hits your weaker defense, you still 4x resist it. Like with Giovanni, spam Surf and win.
Gym #8 - Giovanni (Viridian City, Ground-type): In theory, this should be another "spam Surf and win" battle. However, in practice this battle is much more risky. All of his Pokémon are carrying Earthquake now, and although none of them can OHKO you without a crit, most of them can 2HKO you, putting you at risk of crits. You need at least 86 Speed to outspeed Nidoking, his second fastest Pokémon (The 100+ Speed needed to outspeed Dugtrio is unachievable without excessive grinding, and even then, it's unnecessary, as Dugtrio cannot 2HKO). If you can do that, then everything falls to Surf in one hit. Otherwise, you can beat his Rhyhorn and one of his other Pokémon (preferably Dugtrio) with Surf.
Rival (Route 22, pre-Elite Four): Mostly the same as before, except Alakazam is now a solid avoid thanks to Psychic, and Gyarados has Hydro Pump, which hurts quite a bit.
Elite Four Lorelei (Indigo Plateau, Ice-type): If you're leveled for the Champion, then some of her team is takeable; namely, Dewgong, Cloyster, and Jynx's attacks don't hurt much, and they can be taken out with Ancient Power (Surf is better on Cloyster, especially if it's using Dive). Slowbro and Lapras, on the other hand, are much too bulky to fight, and their moves hurt.
Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): The Onix's moves aren't threatening, and they can be beaten with Surf. The other three should not be fought, as they outspeed and have strong Fighting-type moves; notably, Machamp OHKOs with Cross Chop, even if you are leveled for the Champion.
Elite Four Agatha (Indigo Plateau, Ghost-type): The only real issue here is Haunter's Hypnosis+Dream Eater combo, with the other Pokémon having moves that are either annoying or completely non-threatening. Keep your Pokéflute handy and you should have little trouble with this battle.
Elite Four Lance (Indigo Plateau, Dragon-type): Lance is fairly takeable with Omastar. The only moves he really has to hit Omastar are Dragon Rage (laughable) and Outrage (doubly so, unless coming off his Dragonite). Gyarados should go down to Ancient Power, the Dragonair to Ice Beam, and the Aerodactyl to Surf. Try to avoid Dragonite, however, as Outrage coming from it is particularly scary.
Champion Rival (Indigo Plateau): Pidgeot, Rhydon, and Arcanine/Charizard can all be dispatched with Ancient Power/Ice Beam/Surf. Every other Pokemon should be avoided, as Omastar cannot win against them.
Post-Game: Yeah, no. Omastar stands no chance facing an actual god.
Moves[]
When you vivify the Helix Fossil, you receive a Level 5 Omanyte. This means it will have the moves Constrict and Withdraw to start with. Terrible, of course, but it is only Level 5. The next two moves gained by level up are Bite at 13 and Water Gun at 19. Both of these would be useful were it early game and you were about to face Misty, but at this stage, they're no dice (though Bite mite be worth keeping for some coverage). Keep grinding, and you eventually reach Mud Shot at 22, which is terrible. There appears to be a consistent theme here, as the next couple of moves, Leer and Protect at 31 and 37 respectively are both fairly useless, though Protect less so. Keep it if you feel like you need it. When Omanyte evolves at Level 40, it tries to learn Spike Cannon; don't let it. Again, a useless move comes at level 46 in the form of Tickle. It seems like there's no hope to be found in this line's level up moves, when at Level 55, Ancient Power appears! Huzzah! While it comes off Omastar's weaker Attack, the slim chance of raising all its stats at once is pretty nice, and it's also Rock STAB. Finally, at Level 65, Omastar gets Hydro Pump, the most powerful Water-type move it can learn. The most valuable lesson taught to us by the Omanyte line is that, sometimes, patience is key, and with enough time and effort, any Pokémon can become great.
Of course, it's just as easy to throw this lesson right out the window and delve into this line's TM movepool. It isn't fantastic, but it gets the job done. By the time you revive Omanyte, you will definitely have Surf; teach it to your fossil immediately. Ice Beam from the Game Corner is also a must, netting Omastar the quintessential bulky Water coverage core and making it quite useful against Lance. Blizzard is another option if power is more important than accuracy, however this will very rarely be the case. If you want to take a more defensive route with your Omastar, Toxic and Protect are also options. Outside of that, Rain Dance can be run if you have other Water-types on your team that you wish to support, though this is probably a better choice on Blastoise than Omastar. As for tutor moves, the only ones of note are Rock Slide and Substitute: The former is slightly stronger Rock STAB while sacrificing a secondary effect (because Omastar will never get a flinch off), and the latter is a decent defensive tool.
Recommended Moveset: Surf, Ice Beam, Ancient Power, Substitute
Recommended Teammates[]
Fire-types: Considering one of Omastar's biggest weaknesses is Grass-types, Fire-types that can come in and incinerate them instantly are big helps. In return, Omastar takes care of Ground and Rock-types that otherwise crush Fire-types.
Flying-types: Flying-types are arguably the most synergetic Pokémon to be used with Omastar; they take care of the Grass and Fighting-types that plague Omastar, while Omastar in return deals with the Rock and Ice-types that the birds, bugs, dragons, and bat so fear. Their only overlaps are a weakness to Electric and a strength against Bugs.
Ground-types: Ground-types are the final type necessary to complete Omastar's prior mentioned Flying synergy, taking out problematic Electric-types that otherwise threaten the core. Omastar, in turn, defeats the Ice-types that cause Ground-types to shiver in fear. Special mention goes out to Nidoking, as it can also tank Fighting-type moves directed at Omastar, and can handle Grass-types without much issue with Flamethrower/Ice Beam. Meanwhile, Omastar can check the Ground-types that cause Nidoking to quake in his boots.
Special tanks: Omastar's Special Defense is much weaker than its physical defense. As such, Pokémon that can come in and take special hits for it are much appreciated. Particularly, Lapras has a wide movepool and has an easier time taking out some threats that Omastar can't, such as Ground, Water, and Grass-types, and Lance's Dragonite.
Fast Pokémon: Omastar is quite slow, and as such needs faster teammates in order to eliminate choice threats. In particular, Zapdos is a good choice, as while not insanely fast, it's fast enough, in addition to having all the benefits a Flying-type teammate can bring. As an added bonus, it's not weak to Electric.
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Omastar's stats:
Stat
Range
At Lv. 50
At Lv. 100
HP:
70
130 - 177
250 - 344
Attack:
60
58 - 123
112 - 240
Defense:
125
117 - 194
229 - 383
Sp.Atk:
115
108 - 183
211 - 361
Sp.Def:
70
67 - 134
130 - 262
Speed:
55
54 - 117
103 - 229
Total:
495
Other Pokémon with this total
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Omanyte Line Ratings
Availability
Matchups
Movepool
Survivability
Type Usefulness
Team Role
Offensive Utility
Defensive Utility
Tankiness
Fun Factor
Overall
What Nature do I want? Any Speed-lowering nature is good, as Omastar doesn't need it, and having any other of its stats boosted is a boon. Quiet and Relaxed are particularly good, as they raise Omastar's most important stats. Modest is also fine, but it lowers the power of Omastar's Rock STAB moves, so be careful with that. Defense and Special Defense lowering natures are pretty bad, the former slightly less so as Omastar has a ton of the stuff to work with.
What Ability do I want? Shell Armor. Omastar is far too slow to take advantage of Swift Swim, not to mention you'd need at least one teammate specifically geared to the strategy. Meanwhile, the utility of not having to worry about crits is way too good to pass up.
At what point in the game should I be evolved? Before fighting Blaine, which depending on when you vivify your fossil could be immediately or be gyms away. The latter course is recommended, as it takes slightly less time to get Omanyte up to your team's level.
How good is Omanyte in a Nuzlocke? Not terrible. Sure, there are plenty of other Water-types in Kanto, many of them particularly bulky, but Omastar fills a niche in that it's the only explicitly Defensive one of the bunch. Its level up movepool is bad, but a bit of TM support takes it a long way. If you make a detour to Cinnabar as soon as you're able and grab Omanyte then, it becomes a lot easier to catch it up to the rest of your team, as well as letting it contribute to the Giovanni battle in Silph Co. Just don't train it up in areas with Pursuit users, and Lord Helix won't let you down.
Weaknesses: Fighting, Grass (x4), Ground, Electric
Resistances: Normal, Flying, Poison, Fire (x4), Ice
Neutralities: Rock, Bug, Ghost, Steel, Water, Psychic, Dark, Dragon
