Gigantamax Raids are challenging, in-person-only Raids that serve as endgame content in Pokémon GO. These Raids demand a large group of 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.
While you can raid with up to 40 players in a single lobby, Gigantamax Battles divide Trainers into sub-teams of four, and they work completely differently than regular Raids.
In Gigantamax Battles, combat is divided into two alternating phases:
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Regular Attack Phase: Your Pokémon use their regular Fast Attacks and Charge Attacks to deal damage and fill up the Max Meter.
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Dynamax Phase: Once the Max Meter is full, your Pokémon will automatically Dynamax (or Gigantamax, if capable), and you will have access to your Max Attack, Max Guard, and Max Spirit for three turns.
Gigantamax Battles are highly similar to typical RPG party battles, where some Trainers must act as damage dealers, some heal, and others tank.
Regular Attack Phase
During the regular attack phase, your primary goal is to deal damage and charge the Max Meter as fast as possible while mitigating incoming damage. The Raid Boss will attack you with two distinct move types:
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Targeted Attack: If you see a small “spidey sense” indicator above your Pokémon and “Attack Incoming” in the Battle Log, the Boss is targeting you. Swipe left or right to dodge. Targeted attacks deal immense damage, so dodging is vital.
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Group Attack: If “[Boss] is preparing a large attack!” appears, the Boss is targeting your entire team of four. The timing on these is tricky and dodging them is currently inconsistent. If your Pokémon is low on health, the best strategy is often to switch to a bulkier Pokémon to tank the group hit, saving your primary attacker’s HP.
In this phase, collect Max Bubbles (by dodging into them), continue attacking, and fill up the Max Meter quickly.
Dynamax Phase
Once the Max Meter reaches 100%, your entire team will enter the Dynamax Phase, giving you three turns to use Max Moves. The Boss will not attack during this phase.
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Look at your team’s health bar at the top of the screen. If your team’s health is low, use Max Spirit to heal.
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If you leveled up your Max Attack and the team is healthy, use your Max Attack to deal massive damage.
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If you are acting as a tank, use Max Guard to shield yourself and taunt the Boss for the next Regular Attack Phase.
Team organisation
Trainers should organize into one of three roles:
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Attackers ⚔️: Trainers with maxed-out Max Attacks, responsible for dealing damage.
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Defenders 🛡️: Trainers with leveled-up Max Guard, responsible for tanking attacks and drawing aggro away from the Attackers.
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Healers ❤️🩹: Trainers with leveled-up Max Spirit, responsible for keeping the Attackers alive.
Attempting to win a Gigantamax Raid by exclusively spamming Max Attacks will almost certainly result in failure. You must utilize Healers and Defenders.
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Gigantamaxing is a special form of Dynamaxing where certain Pokémon change appearance and gain a unique, boosted G-Max move.
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Max Battles are only accessible at Power Spots with Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon in your party.
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Max Particles are required to enter, but are only consumed upon a successful battle.
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Don’t Quit! If all your Pokémon faint, do not leave the lobby. Tap the screen to “Cheer” for your team. Filling your cheer meter adds a 20% boost to your team’s Max Meter, helping them reach the Dynamax Phase faster.
Dynamax and Gigantamax moves can be leveled from Level 1 to 3 using Stardust and Candy XL. Leveling up your Max Moves is significantly more important than leveling up your Pokémon’s CP.
Taking a Max Attack from Level 2 to Level 3 offers a much larger damage increase than powering a Pokémon from Level 40 to 50, and it costs far less XL Candy.
All Dynamax Attacks (Max Strike, Max Flare, etc.) have the same damage scaling, differing only in typing. Gigantamax Attacks follow a similar rule but are inherently stronger.
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A Gigantamax Pokémon always has the same G-Max move based on its species (e.g., G-Max Wildfire for Charizard).
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A Dynamax Pokémon’s Max Attack type depends on the typing of its 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 Move is equally as powerful as a Level 3 D-Max move. Catching Gigantamax Pokémon is the endgame goal, but you must invest in Dynamax Pokémon first to defeat them.
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 reduces incoming damage and taunts the Boss to focus its targeted attacks on you during the next Regular Attack Phase.
| Level | Max Guard Shield Power |
|---|---|
| 1 | 20 HP |
| 2 | 40 HP |
| 3 | 60 HP |
While Max Guard only shields the Pokémon that used it, its ability to pull aggro away from your Attackers makes it an indispensable tool for Defenders.
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 of four Trainers.
| Level | Max Spirit Healing Power |
|---|---|
| 1 | 8% HP |
| 2 | 12% HP |
| 3 | 16% HP |
Important note on Max Spirit vs Max Shield
While Max Guard prevents a flat amount of damage (up to 60 HP), Max Spirit heals based on percentage. A Level 3 Max Spirit heals 16% of a Pokémon’s HP. If you are healing a team of four Pokémon that all have roughly 150 HP, a single Max Spirit usage is restoring almost 100 HP across the board. If your team is taking heavy group damage, Healers must prioritize Max Spirit.
Key points 💡
- Max Spirit is a multi-target heal that should be used when available, if your party needs healing
To defeat a Tier 6 Gigantamax Raid, you need a balanced team composition. Ideally, each sub-team of four should have:
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2 Damage Dealers (Attackers)
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1 Tank (Defender)
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1 Healer
Because unlocking and leveling Max Moves is expensive and limited by your daily Max Particle cap, you should specialize your Pokémon into specific roles.
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If you are a Healer, prioritize leveling Max Spirit to Level 3.
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If you are a Tank, prioritize leveling Max Guard to Level 3.
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If you are a Damage Dealer, prioritize leveling your Max Attack to Level 3.
Communicate with your local community before the raid begins to ensure your group of four has the correct roles covered before entering the lobby.
Video recommendation
Although we provide an exhaustive written guide here, Trainer Tips has an excellent video explaining the paradigm shift required to succeed in Gigantamax Raids. We strongly recommend watching it before your next battle:
