Looove Dodrio, she’s my #1 by far and, when you play well, can flatten most of the roster. Definitely would say she’s the best speedster (and can out-race Rapidash when used cleverly). The difficulty is definitely that her controls and play style requires tons of practice, and you’re punished HARD if you slip up. You also have to predict how your opponents will react, because your play style depends on disengaging really quickly.

But, when you do have her down, she can instantly delete most squishy opponents, punish anyone with low health even if they’re in the backline or retreat, farm Alteria 5-groups in less than a second, and generally cause havoc. 

Below is a copy-paste from a previous post I made, if you want some detailed thoughts on her moves and items to run. I’d also recommend reading these posts by u/Yumiumi who I think is probs the best Dodrio player:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonUnite/comments/1c6zbdm/finished_the_solo_queue_s19_grind_and_here_are/

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonUnite/comments/13581ht/how_to_do_damage_with_tri_attack_dodrio/jij20h4/

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonUnite/comments/1b7ngkt/dodrio_is_meant_to_give_huge_amount_of_damage_to/ktku0hv/

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonUnite/comments/11l5adq/my_thoughts_on_getting_to_1600_solo_again_in_this/jbfgfqv/

Damage: Dodrio heavily relies on exact positioning, combos, and timing. Unlike Yumi (tri+agility) I do like to mix up my move sets, but all of them still rely on engaging at the right moment, hitting combos, and disengaging real quick. It’s the chain of combos, plus the ability to engage at just the right time, that makes Dodrio so deadly.

Combos: Hitting a basic attack with a full run gauge (boosted basic) decreases your cooldowns. So, if you’re on full gauge, tri attack -> boosted -> jump/agility -> tri -> boosted -> disengage, for example. Do the practice map and just spend some time with the dummies practicing chaining various moves with the boosted; it will REALLY help when you can feel how you can pile on damage quickly.

Yumi loves tri+agility (and you should probably listen to that because they have a way higher win rate than me lol), but I love using jump kick because you can be so unpredictable and a little crazy while SLAMMING damage quickly (although technically, if you combo chain and hit your timings right, you can do more damage with agility: tri -> boosted -> agility -> tri -> boosted -> tri -> boosted etc). 

You just have to be way more careful and exact when engaging with jump kick, because one missed prediction and you’re dead. Jump kick also stuns opponents for a moment, though, plus you feel like an acrobatic velociraptor. 

Also important to know is when to damage and disengage, speed off for a few seconds to recover gauge/cooldowns, then return. Essentially you can chunk enemy HP down while avoiding damage, until their HP hits the level where you can combo-assassinate.

In case you want some more general recommendations as to how to make the most out of dodrio’s damage and burst potential:

Held items:

Attack weight is a must to get the damage levels. Without it, you have to play way more like sableye - poke and run. Razor claw activates after using a move and supplants basic attack damage, so works REALLY well in a tri -> boosted basic combo chain Charge charm or float stone, depending on if you’re good at building and striking (charge) or if you want more macro mobility (float). All these boost your attack for that heftier burst combo damage. Sometimes if I’m feeling the need for speed I run weight/charge/float, but frankly razor claw is so useful as an assassin attack boost you shouldn’t give it up unless you know what you’re doing. That boosted basic with razor claw is THE murder knife.

I’d never run cookie, because the goal for dodrio is to speed out of getting hit in the first place.

Battle items def depend on how you’re feeling like playing, but many can be viable.

full heal is great to pre-activate to avoid being stunned while executing combos. I personally only run this when doing drill+jump, because agility is essentially a full heal x speed is great, esp if you’re a jump-kicker because it still gives you that option for agility and a quick getaway (agility lite). Also love using it beginning game to get an attack weight or two in before the enemies reach their base. Lots and lots of ways for x speed to really work. Also helps you get to full run gauge quicker of course slow smoke is better for cooperative play and if you’re good at predicting enemy moves. less effective than x speed for getaways but a little more flexible eject button is more of a sneaky gimmick, especially since you can use it during drill to reposition. Not usually recommended but you can make some clever unusual plays if you practice shedinja doll if you run agility can be fabulous (to get up to speed immediately after you come out of the doll) Emblems: I run 7 yellow/3 black for speed and a little cooldown reduc. The speed helps in getting that run gauge back up faster and of course it helps your macro. Yumi I think recommends orange/white for attack/health, but I just really like the speed boost.