Gigantamax Raids are challenging, in-person-only Raids that serve as endgame content in Pokémon GO. These Raids demand a minimum of 20 Trainers and careful preparation, including powering up Max Moves, Max Guard, and Max Spirit, depending on your role in the Raid.
In this guide, we’ll begin by covering the combat mechanics, including damage numbers for Max attacks, healing, and shields. We’ll then move into strategies for Raid preparation.
Gigantamax Battle mechanics
Gigantamax Battles are done in teams of four Trainers, and they work completely differently than regular Raids.
In Gigantamax Battles, the combat is divided into two phases:
- Regular attack phase – your Pokémon use their regular Fast Attacks and Charge Attacks to fill up the Max Meter
- Dynamax Phase – once the Max Meter is full, your Pokémon will automatically Dynamax, and you will have access to your Max Attack, Max Guard and Max Spirit
If your Pokémon can Gigantamax, it will Gigantamax, rather than Dynamax. As you will see later on in this article, Gigantmax Pokémon’s attacks are much stronger than regular Dynamax moves.
Gigantamax Battles are more similar to typical RPG party battles, where some Trainers are damage dealers, some heal, and others tank.
Regular Attack Phase
During the regular attack phase, focus on dealing as much damage as possible, as this impacts how quickly your Max Meter fills. The Raid Boss may target either you or your entire team:
- Personal Attack – If you see “Attack Incoming” in the Battle Log, the Boss is targeting you. Try to dodge by following the three vertical white bar indicator above your Pokémon.
- Group Attack – If “<Boss> is preparing a large attack!” appears, the Boss is targeting the whole team. These moves have unpredictable timings and can’t be dodged.
In this phase, collect Max Bubbles, continue attacking, dodge when possible, and fill up the Max Meter quickly.
Dynamax Phase
Once the Max Meter reaches 100%, the team will enter the Dynamax Phase, where you have three turns to use Dynamax moves. During this time, the Boss will not attack. Here is what to do during this phase:
- If you see that your team’s health is low, use Max Spirit in order to recover some damage
- If you levelled up your Max Attack to a high level, deal damage, otherwise use Max Shield to prevent incoming damage in the next phase
Team organisation
Trainers should organize into one of three roles, typically seen in other RPGs:
- Attackers ⚔️ – Those with leveled-up Max Attacks, responsible for dealing damage.
- Defenders 🛡️ – Trainers with leveled-up Max Guard, tanking attacks during the next phase. Using Max Guard taunts the Boss to focus on you.
- Healers ❤️🩹 – Trainers with leveled-up Max Spirit, healing the team.
Using only Max Attacks will not work, and you actually need to strategise around this during the fight.
Key points 💡
- Gigantamaxing is a special form of Dynamaxing where certain Pokémon change appearance and have boosted moves.
- Max Battles are only accessible at specific Power Spots with Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon in the party.
- Large Raids – Up to 40 Trainers can participate in groups of four, needing Max Particles to join. Max Particles are only consumed upon a successful battle.
- Dodging – Swipe to dodge Boss attacks when prompted and collect energy icons to speed up the Max Meter.
- Support Role – Fainted Pokémon can still help; tap the screen to cheer, filling teammates’ meters faster.
Dynamax and Gigantamax moves explained
Dynamax and Gigantamax moves (Max Guard, Max Spirit) can be leveled from 1 to 3 using Stardust and Candy XL. Damage scales with level, with Gigantamax moves being generally stronger.
All Dynamax Attacks (Max Strike, Max Flare, Max Knuckle, etc…) have the same damage per level, the only difference is their typing. The same thing applies to Gigantamax Attacks, with one limitation:
- Gigantamax Pokémon always have the same Gigantamax move, based on their species
- Dynamax Pokémon’s have a different Max Attack, depending and matching the typing of their Fast Attack
| Level | Dynamax Attack Power | Gigantamax Attack Power |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 250 power | 350 power |
| 2 | 300 power | 400 power |
| 3 | 350 power | 450 power |
As you can see, a Level 1 G-Max Moves is equally as powerful as a Level 3 D-Max move, so capturing Gigantamax Pokémon is the real end goal here. But, in order to catch Gigantamax Pokémon, you first have to power up Dynamax Pokémon, and be able to defeat the Gigantamax Raid Boss.
Key points 💡
- Gigantamax moves are much stronger than Dynamax moves. Gigantmax Pokémon are the end goal, not strong Dynamax Pokémon.
- You should power up Dynamax Pokémon to be able to get Gigantamax Pokémon, and then don’t spend any more resources on them if not neccessary
- Like with Dynamax Pokémon, you can use Candy and Max Particles to unlock Max Moves and level them up for stronger effects! Working on Max Moves will award XP, too.
- Gigantamax Pokémon can learn up to three Max Moves: a unique attack, Max Spirit, and Max Guard.
- While a Pokémon is Gigantamaxed, their first Max Move is a powerful G-Max Move. Each species of Pokémon capable of Gigantamaxing has a unique G-Max Move, which may not be the same type as its Fast Attack.
Max Guard
Max Guard is a single-target shield move that redirects the Boss’s attacks toward you after the Dynamax phase, acting as a tank. This defensive move is often overlooked, but it is incredibly important, as it taunts the Gigantamax Boss to attack you after the Dynamax phase! Here’s the shielding power at each level:
| Level | Max Guard Shield Power |
|---|---|
| 1 | 20 HP |
| 2 | 40 HP |
| 3 | 60 HP |
Max Guard only shields the Pokémon that used it, not the entire Raid Party. Max Guard is surprisingly strong, especially for Pokémon that could benefit from some extra tankiness.
Key points 💡
- Max Guard is a strong single-target shield that forces the Boss to attack you after the Dynamax phase ends
- Max Guard prevents damage during the regular attack phase
Max Spirit
Max Spirit heals the entire Raid Party. While the heal per Pokémon is lower than Max Shield’s protection, it benefits the entire team:
| Level | Max Spirit Healing Power |
|---|---|
| 1 | 8% HP |
| 2 | 12% HP |
| 3 | 16% HP |
Important note on Max Spirit vs Max Shield
It may appear at first that Max Spirit is not as good as Max Shield when it comes to preventing damage.
Since most Pokémon have around 130 HP to 160 HP, you may be tricked into thinking the following:
- A perfect IV Charizard has 147 HP at 2497 CP
- Level 3 Max Spirit will heal him for 16% × 147 HP = 23.5 HP
- Level 3 Max Shield prevents 60 HP damage, which means that one Max Shield is worth 2.5 Max Heals!
Although this is true for solo raiding, we must not forget that Max Spirit heals the entire party. Since a Gigantamax Raid party is limited to four Trainers, a level 3 Max Spirit will deliver its 16% heal 4 times.
Key points 💡
- Max Spirit is a multi-target heal that should be used when available, if your party needs healing
Optimal Team composition and pre-raid preparation
A big factor for defeating Gigantmax Raids is your team composition. Ideally, you want each team of four to have the following setup:
- 2 Damage Dealers
- 1 Tank
- 1 Healer
These roles can feel confusing, as there is nothing in the game that formally says you are a damage dealer, tank, or a healer, so what are we talking about here? Well, it turns out that powering up Max moves is expensive.
Actually, it is so expensive that it makes sense to “specialise” each Pokémon into a role of their own, at least for the time being. What this means, is that we recommend powering up one of your Max Moves to the limit, depending on which role you will be taking in the Gigantamax Raid:
- If you are a Healer, prioritise powering up Max Spirit
- If you are a Tank, prioritise powering up Max Guard
- If you are a Damage Dealer, prioritise powering up Max Attacks
Talk with your community, and prepare your Pokémon accordingly. With time, you will likely have Pokémon with all Max abilities powered up to Level 3, but if you are just starting, prioritise your resource usage.
Video recommendation
Although we do provide an exhaustive written guide here, we think that Trainer Tips video is also an excellent way to get familiar with Gigantamax Raids, and we strongly recommend you watch it before the next Gigantmax Raid:
