Gengar solo raids can be completed around Level 30. Gengar is a Level 3 Raid boss in Pokémon Go. Gengar possesses a dual Ghost and Poison typing resulting in several readily available counters which include Groudon, Mewtwo, Tyranitar and Metagross.
Gengar’s Raid Boss CP is 21207 and its stats are as follows:
- HP: 3000
- ATK: 201.48
- DEF: 124.83
From this, we judge Gengar to be moderately challenging for level 30 Players. This is a comprehensive guide to solo raiding the Ghost giant.
Gengar solo raid counters
Gengar
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| Weakness Ground Dark Ghost Psychic | Boosted by Fog Cloudy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gengar counters analysis
As visible from the table above, most of Gengar’s counters are based around strong Psychic, Dark and Ground types.
Mewtwo
Mewtwo is always an excellent choice possessing 300 ATK and access to powerful Psychic and Ghost type moves. However, Mewtwo is also weak to all of Gengar’s moves bar Focus Blast. Nonetheless, Mewtwo is still an effective choice against Gengar due to its high DPS. It is also important to note that as Mewtwo is an EX raid boss, it is rather hard to obtain.
Tyranitar
Tyranitar is an effective counter to Gengar due to its [Dark] Typing, which allows it to resist Gengar’s Ghost moves and deal super-effective damage to Gengar. Additionally, Tyranitar’s Rock Typing affords it a resistance to Sludge Bomb. By using a Bite/Crunch moveset, Tyranitar is capable of devastating Gengar who do not have Focus Blast. Tyranitar is also more easily obtainable than Mewtwo and other legendaries being a tier IV raid boss and also capturable in the wild.
Metagross
Metagross, a Psychic and Steel type Pokémon, is an effective tank against Gengar utilising a devastating combination of Zen Headbutt and Psychic in order to deal high amounts of damage.
Gengar
Gengar is a Ghost and Poison type Pokémon who is great against itself. It is incredibly frail though, so it is best kept as a lead or your first few ‘mons in the team. Shadow Claw is preferable, but it is a rare legacy so Hex is serviceable.
Groudon
Groudon is an excellent counter to Gengar by virtue of its Ground typing, which gives it a resistance to Sludge Bomb, and its good overall bulk. Groudon’s Ground typing also gives it STAB on its super-effective Mud-Slap/ Earthquake set. Groudon also benefits from being a recent tier 5 raid boss. However, this is counterbalanced by the fact that Groudon is a legendary and thus candy availability is low.
Lugia
Lugia is one of the best counters on this list due to its high max CP, stunning defensive bulk and a Psychic typing which grants it a resistance to Focus Blast. Lugia’s best moveset would be Extrasensory/Future Sight which is super-effective and gets STAB. However, Lugia’s attack stat is a disappointing 193 meaning that Lugia is reliant on its teammates to deal damage. Lugia is also hampered by its lack of availability for newer players due to its legendary status.
Fight overview
Gengar is similar to Alakazam and Machamp in stats. This means that Gengar is a very strong offensive Pokémon but with weak defences thus making our job easier. Gengar is also weak to some of the highest DPS attackers in the metagame including Tyranitar, Mewtwo, Metagross and Groudon, thus making the task of countering it easier. However,
Gengar has a strong offensive movepool to complement its offense-geared stats and many of its counters are weak to at least one move in Gengar’s movepool. This makes dodging a necessity in order to solo raid Gengar. Thankfully, of Gengar’s 3 possible charged moves, Shadow Ball and Focus Blast have long dodge windows, however, Sludge Bomb is more challenging.
Gengar Move Difficulty
Gengar has access to the following moves (Base Power factors in STAB):
- Hex Ghost (Fast), damage output of 12
- Sucker Punch Dark (Fast), damage output of 7
- Focus Blast Fighting (Charged, 1 Bar), damage output of 140
- Shadow Ball Ghost (Charged, 2 Bars), damage output of 200
- Sludge Bomb Poison (Charged, 2 Bar), damage output of 160
Note: All calculations for Damage output are base off a single energy cycle and STAB is factored in!
From this list we can immediately see that the most challenging moveset would be Hex/Shadow Ball or Hex/Sludge Bomb and the weakest would be Sucker Punch/Focus Blast.
Below is a table showing all possible movesets of Gengar organised from least to most challenging. This is determined by calculating the total damage output done in a single energy cycle.
| Difficulty | Fast Move | Charged Move |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | Sucker Punch Dark | Focus Blast Fighting |
| Moderate | Hex Ghost | Focus Blast Fighting |
| Sucker Punch Dark | Sludge Bomb Poison | |
| Sucker Punch Dark | Shadow Ball Ghost | |
| Challenging | Hex Ghost | Sludge Bomb Poison |
| Hex Ghost | Shadow Ball Ghost |
Weather influence
It is advised to attempt to solo Gengar under Windy weather. This boosts Psychic moves while leaving all of Gengar’s moves unboosted. Failing this, you should attempt to solo Gengar under Sunny, Partly Cloudy or Rainy weather since none of Gengar’s moves are boosted. Below is a reference table.
| Weather | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudy | – | Boosts Fighting Types and Poison Types |
| Windy | Boosts Psychic Types | – |
| Fog | Boosts Dark Types | Boosts Dark types and Ghost Types |
| Sunny | Boosts Ground Types | – |
| Other Weather | – | – |
Author’s Notes
It is recommended that you only solo Gengar once your Pokémon are at level 30 or above to have the highest chance of success. It will take some investment in candy, stardust and effort, but it gives you the best chance of succeeding.
There are many more choices that are equally good as counters against Gengar including Honchkrow, Banette, Absol, Rhyperior, Espeon, and even a Shadow Ball Raikou. However, these were not listed as the list of counters above was deemed to contain a sufficient number of counters by the author.
Also remember to pay attention to the moves that Gengar is using. These moves can affect the choice of counters and can prove to be the difference between winning and losing the match. A list of suggested counters for each moveset is listed below but this is by no means and exhaustive list:
- vs Focus Blast Gengar, it is recommended to use a team mostly comprised of Psychics
- vs Shadow Ball Gengar, Dark Types are the best choice since they can resist all of Gengar’s moves.
- vs Sludge Bomb Gengar priority should be placed upon Tyranitar with a mix of Dark types and Psychic Types following afterwards.
When raiding pay attention to the weather. The weather is crucial in any match, especially in raids. As said earlier, it is best to attempt to battle Gengar in Windy weather.
Finally, remember that Gengar’s defensive stats are rather weak meaning that it can be dispatched easily if you have the right Pokémon. The author has successfully soloed Gengar with this setup, so godspeed and good hunting!
