Zapdos Raid Guide

Zapdos

Zapdos raid is a Tier 5 Legendary Raid Boss in Pokemon GO. Zapdos Boss CP is 46418 and it has only two weaknesses due to its Electric and Flying type: Rock and Ice.

• 1930 – 2015 CP catch range (Level 20, no weather boost)
• 2413 – 2519 CP catch range (Level 25, boosted by Windy or Rainy weather)

Ambitious players, with the introduction of friendship, weather, and Mega Pokemon may attempt a duo, however realistically a group of four or more is a safe bet. Shiny Zapdos is available from raids as of July 2018.

This guide has been updated with counters relevant for the Pokémon GO Fest 2021.

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Zapdos Counters

The following Pokémon are considered to be best Zapdos counters in a raid battle:

Zapdos Counters Explained

Zapdos counters are strongly based around Rock and Ice type attackers, and follow a similar pattern as other Legendary bird counters. Zapdos can relatively easily be countered with Pokemon that take reduced Electric damage:

• Rhyperior, Mamoswine and Golem are all examples of mixed Ground types with strong Rock moves.
• The majority of Rock-typed Zapdos counters have access to Smack Down, an excellent move for dealing with Flying types
• The majority of Ice-typed Zapdos counters are bulky attackers, such as Mamoswine and Mega Abomasnow.

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Zapdos Moves and Move Sets

Zapdos moves are mostly Electric-type moves, with Drill Peck Flying and Ancient Power Rock thrown in the mix for PvP viability and lore fluff. Consequentially, 60% of the time, you will face Zapdos with Electric moves:

Fast moves	Charge moves
Charge Beam Electric	Zap Cannon Electric Thunder Electric Thunderbolt Electric Drill Peck Flying Ancient Power Rock

Zap Cannon, Thunder and Thunderbolt are all relatively similar, but Zap Cannon will hurt the most. Comparatively speaking, Thunder is often the easiest Electric move to be faced against.

Drill Peck can be problematic, as it’s only a 33 Energy move. Zapdos can charge and fire Drill Peck quite frequently, which makes it quite dangerous in longer raid battles. Eventually, dodge fatigue results in more damage taken compared to Thunderbolt. Drill Peck also deals a significant amount of damage compared to Thunder and Thunderbolt.

Ancient Power is not a major concern, but it does fit in the same problem bucket as Drill Peck: frequent activation, dodge fatigue and unusual typing (Rock!)

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Weather

Rainy weather is not going to be your friend with Zapdos, but thankfully its the only concern. Otherwise on the positive end, Windy will merely allow it to be a higher level when caught, and Partly Cloudy and Snow will provide the extra benefits needed to take it down faster.