In this post, we will explain everything you need to know about Pokémon Go strengths, weaknesses, resistances, vulnerabilities, and immunities. The aforementioned elements are vital in both trainer battles and raids as they will help you understand what types of Pokémon work best against certain opponents. This way you will maximize your attack effectiveness and minimize the damage your Pokémon receive in fights.
So, without further ado let's jump into it!
Pokémon Go Battle Terminology Explained
First off, it is important to understand the terminology of Pokémon Go in terms of strengths, weaknesses, resistances, vulnerabilities, and immunities.
Strength and Weakness are terms used when the Pokémon is attacking, while Resistances and Vulnerabilities are used when the Pokémon is on the defensive side. When a Pokémon attacks, we take into account its attack type against the opponent Pokémon's type. When a Pokémon is attacked, we take into account its type against the opponent's attack.
- Strengths (Strong Against): When a Pokémon of type X is strong against Pokémon of type Y, it deals more damage to Pokémon of type Y.
- Multipliers (Damage Dealt):
- Strong against both types (2x Super Effective): 2.56x
- Strong against one type (Super Effective): 1.6x
- Multipliers (Damage Dealt):
- Weaknesses: When a Pokémon of type X is weak against Pokémon of type Y, it deals less damage to Pokémon of type Y.
- Multipliers (Damage Dealt):
- Weak against both types (Not Very Effective): 0.391x
- Weak against one type (Not Very Effective): 0.625x
- Multipliers (Damage Dealt):
- Resistances: When a Pokémon of type X is resistant to Pokémon of type Y, it receives less damage from attacks of type Y.
- Multipliers (Damage Received):
- One type resistant against attack: 0.625x
- Both types resistant against attack: 0.391x
- Multipliers (Damage Received):
- Vulnerabilities: When a Pokémon of type X is vulnerable to Pokémon of type Y, it receives more damage from attacks of type Y.
- Multipliers (Damage Received):
- One type vulnerable to attack: 1.6x
- Both types vulnerable to attack: 2.56x
- Multipliers (Damage Received):
- Immunities: There are very few immunities in Pokémon Go and according to Niantic they do not completely nullify the damage taken but they reduce it even more.
One thing I have omitted here is what happens when for instance one type of a two-type Pokémon is resistant to an attack type and the other is vulnerable to the same attack type. Or in reverse, when an attack type is strong against one Pokémon type and weak against the other one.
What seems to happen is that vulnerabilities and resistances negate each other on dual-type Pokémon. For instance, Lapras is a Water & Ice type Pokémon. However, let's look at its vulnerabilities and resistances:
Lapras Vulnerabilities | Lapras Resistances |
---|---|
Electric | Water |
Fighting | Ice |
Grass | |
Rock |
The interesting thing here is that as an Ice-type Pokémon, Lapras should be vulnerable to fire, but as a water-type Pokémon, it should be resistant to fire. In the end, these two offset each other and Lapras receives normal damage from fire-type attacks.
This is quite important when you are looking for the best dual-type Pokémon to use.
Pokémon Go Strengths, Weaknesses, Resistances, Vulnerabilities, and Immunities Chart
Type | Strong Against | Weak Against | Resistant To | Vulnerable To | Immune |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bug | Dark Grass Psychic | Fairy Fighting Fire Flying Ghost Poison Steel | Fighting Grass Ground | Fire Flying Rock | |
Dark | Ghost Psychic | Fairy Fighting Dark | Dark Ghost | Bug Fairy Fighting | Psychic |
Dragon | Dragon | Fairy Steel | Electric Fire Water Grass | Fairy Dragon Ice | |
Electric | Flying Water | Dragon Electric Ground Grass | Electric Flying Steel | Ground | |
Fairy | Dark Dragon Fighting | Fire Poison Steel | Bug Dark Dragon Fighting | Poison Steel | |
Fighting | Dark Normal Ice Steel Rock | Bug Fairy Flying Ghost Psychic Poison | Rock, Bug, Dark | Fairy Flying Psychic | |
Fire | Bug Grass Ice Steel | Dragon Fire Rock Water | Bug Fire Grass Ice Steel | Ground Rock Water | |
Flying | Bug Fighting Grass | Electric Rock Steel | Bug Fighting Grass | Electric Ice Rock | Ground |
Ghost | Ghost Psychic | Normal Dark | Poison Bug | Ghost Dark | Normal Fighting |
Grass | Ground Rock Water | Bug Dragon Fire Flying Grass Poison Steel | Electric Grass Ground Water | Bug Fire Flying Ice Poison | |
Ground | Electric Fire Rock Poison Steel | Bug Flying Grass | Poison Rock | Grass Ice Water | Electric |
Ice | Dragon Flying Grass Ground | Fire Ice Steel Water | Ice | Fighting Fire Rock Steel | |
Normal | Ghost Rock Steel | Fighting | Ghost | ||
Poison | Fairy Grass | Poison Ghost Ground Rock Steel | Fairy Fighting Grass Poison | Ground Psychic | |
Psychic | Fighting Poison | Dark Psychic Steel | Fighting, Psychic | Bug Dark Ghost | |
Rock | Bug Fire Flying Ice | Fighting Ground Steel | Fire Flying Normal Poison | Fighting Grass Ground Steel Water | |
Steel | Fairy Ice Rock | Electric Fire Steel Water | Bug Dragon Fairy Flying Grass Ice Normal Rock Poison Psychic Steel | Fighting Fire Ground | Poison |
Water | Ground Fire Rock | Dragon Grass Water | Fire Ice Steel Water | Electric Grass |
Type Effectiveness Chart by Niantic
Below you will find the Pokémon Go strengths, weaknesses, resistances, vulnerabilities, and immunities chart as shared by Niantic. While the information is identical to our table it may be a better-suited format for some players.
- Y-axis = Attacking
- X-axis = Defending
- Green circle = Super effective
- Red triangle = Not very effective
- White space = Normal effectiveness
- Black X = Immune
Additionally, below you will find the attack type strengths as shared by Pokémon Go's Twitter account:
So this is everything you need to know about Pokémon GO strengths, weaknesses, resistances, vulnerabilities, and immunities. While you are here, you may want to check our Pokémon GO Eevee evolutions guide or the best Master League Pokémon in Pokémon GO, or check the rest of our Pokémon Go guides!
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