STAB stands for "same-type attack bonus". When a Pokémon uses a damaging move that matches one of its own types, the move does 1.5 times the damage. Pikachu is an Electric type, so its Thunderbolt gets the bonus. Its Quick Attack is a Normal move, so it doesn't.
That's the whole rule. It gets more interesting when you add type matchups on top.
Some examples
A Pokémon with two types gets STAB on both of them. Here are a few Pokémon with one move that gets the bonus and one that doesn't.
| Pokémon | Its types | Move with STAB | Move without STAB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pikachu | Electric | Thunderbolt (Electric) | Quick Attack (Normal) |
| Charizard | Fire/Flying | Flamethrower (Fire) | Dragon Claw (Dragon) |
| Garchomp | Dragon/Ground | Earthquake (Ground) | Stone Edge (Rock) |
| Gengar | Ghost/Poison | Shadow Ball (Ghost) | Thunderbolt (Electric) |
| Lucario | Fighting/Steel | Aura Sphere (Fighting) | Dark Pulse (Dark) |
| Gyarados | Water/Flying | Hydro Pump (Water) | Earthquake (Ground) |
Charizard is a good one to remember. Dragon Claw doesn't get STAB because Charizard isn't a Dragon type, even though it looks like a dragon.
How STAB adds up with type matchups
STAB and type matchups multiply together. A super effective move does 2 times the damage. If it also has STAB, that's 2 × 1.5, which is 3 times.
| Situation | STAB | Type effectiveness | Total multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral hit, no STAB | ×1 | ×1 | ×1 |
| Neutral hit, STAB | ×1.5 | ×1 | ×1.5 |
| Super effective, no STAB | ×1 | ×2 | ×2 |
| Super effective, STAB | ×1.5 | ×2 | ×3 |
| 4× weakness, STAB | ×1.5 | ×4 | ×6 |
| Super effective, Adaptability | ×2 | ×2 | ×4 |
| 4× weakness, Adaptability | ×2 | ×4 | ×8 |
| Not very effective, STAB | ×1.5 | ×0.5 | ×0.75 |
Look at the last row. A move with STAB that is not very effective still does less than a plain hit with no bonus. Hitting the weakness matters more than matching your type. Against a Ground type, Pikachu's Thunderbolt does nothing at all, STAB or not, so a Grass move like Grass Knot is the better pick.
To learn which types beat which, read the type chart for kids or open the type pages.
Why it matters when you pick moves
STAB is the reason most Pokémon want at least one move of each of their own types. A 90-power move with STAB hits like a 135-power move without it. That is close to a 150-power Hyper Beam from a Pokémon that isn't Normal type, and Hyper Beam makes you skip your next turn.
A good simple plan for a moveset:
- One strong move of the Pokémon's first type.
- One strong move of its second type, if it has one.
- One move of a different type that hits the Pokémon your STAB moves can't. Players call this "coverage". It is a fan word, not a game term.
- A fourth move that helps, like a status move or another coverage move.
Our moves list lets you filter by type, so you can find a Pokémon's best STAB moves.
Adaptability: the double bonus
The Ability Adaptability raises STAB from 1.5 times to 2 times. In our data it belongs to Eevee, Porygon-Z, Crawdaunt, Dragalge and a few others, plus Mega Lucario and Mega Beedrill.
Porygon-Z is a good example. It is a pure Normal type, so with Adaptability its Normal moves hit twice as hard as they would without a type match.
STAB and Terastallization
In Scarlet and Violet, a Pokémon can Terastallize and change its type. It keeps STAB on its old types and gets STAB on its new Tera Type too. If the Tera Type matches one of its own types, the bonus for that type goes up from 1.5 to 2 times. With Adaptability on top, it becomes 2.25 times.
The Stellar Tera Type works differently. Each move type gets a one-off boost the first time it is used. Read Tera Types explained for the details.
Moves that never get STAB
Some moves can't get the bonus however you use them.
- Status moves, like Thunder Wave, because they do no damage.
- Moves with fixed damage, like Seismic Toss and Night Shade, which deal damage equal to the user's level.
- Struggle, the move a Pokémon uses when it has no PP left. It has no type, so it can't match anything.
Some moves change type, and then the new type counts. Weather Ball becomes a Fire move in harsh sunlight, so a Fire-type Pokémon using it in the sun gets STAB.
STAB in Pokémon GO
Pokémon GO has STAB too, but it is smaller. There the bonus is 1.2 times (20%). It was 1.25 times before 21 June 2017, which is why some old guides still say 25%.
Practise it
Our Pokémon School lesson on STAB, one of the Plus lessons, walks through the same idea with examples you can tap. The type master game is good practice for spotting which hits are super effective, which is the other half of the damage sum.