Hi there trainers!
We’ve all been there – there is a raid you want to do, you’ve got your own account and maybe one or two other people have expressed an interest in doing the raid with you…. but is it enough? Will you end up wasting a pass or is it possible for two or three people to beat a boss that has a maximum raid lobby size of 20? What am I going to need, what should I take into consideration, when should I walk away and when should I risk it and go for glory?
The Bare Essentials
Revives – And plenty of them. Let’s face it if you are taking on a Mega or a Legendary boss in a small team you are going to face casualties. Nothing will bring your attempt to a halt faster than your team fainting and not being able to revive them and send them back in for round 2.
Pre-prepare your teams – You will need to optimise your team for maximum damage. Sure, that recommended team may last longer in battle, however, you will need to ensure that every member of your team is hitting a weakness in the bosses typing, and if there is a double weakness (for example Rayquaza and ice) then exploit it as much as you can (more on this below).
Co-ordination – Maybe you won’t use a mega but if you are planning on doing so communicate to your fellow raiders what you are going to use and, just as importantly, when it is going to come out. Megas give a 10% damage boost to every Pokémon and 30% damage boost to Pokemon of the same typing, but this does not stack so stagger them coming out to keep the mega bonus going as long as you can rather than all coming out first.
Super effective what?
If you just read the above and thought “What?” then please let me explain…
All Pokémon have at least one typing and most have two. Every type of Pokémon has a weakness to at least one other type, an attack of this type inflicts damage known as ‘super-effective’, where a Pokémon has two types and both of those types are weak to the same third type then this is known as a ‘double weakness’. For short man teams, exploiting those weaknesses as much as possible is your best shot at success.
Below is a chart showing all types vs all other types, an example of a double weakness is Rayquaza which is a and Dragon type, both and Dragon are weak to Ice, read down the list to Ice (attacking type) and then read across the line to where it meets and Dragon, both types individually receive super-effective damage from Ice attacks, so a Pokémon with both these types has a double weakness.
If you are facing a boss with two types it is always worth checking for a double weakness, if it is a single type find the typing along the top row and read down for weaknesses – pure Water bosses are weak to Electric and Grass type Pokémon for example.
How is the weather?
Perhaps you have been asked this and wondered ‘what has that got to do with the price of fish?’, this is not just polite small-talk, a change in weather can make all the difference.
Weather conditions affect not just the moves of your Pokémon but the moveset of the boss. Sunny weather can turn a Solar Beam attack from a nuisance into a One-Hit Knock Out nightmare. Swinging the other way though, rainy weather combined with an all Electric team against a Water boss can literally turn the tide. Weather updates on the hour so if it is 10:58 am and there is time to wait, why not wait until 11 am and see if the weather swings in your favour?
If you are remote raiding, it is the weather conditions at the raid bosses location, not yours, that will determine what types are boosted.
A ‘weather boost’ gives a 20% damage boost to all affected move types, combined with type weaknesses, combined with any corresponding mega boost, combined with friendship damage boost, that is a lot of boosting! All of these exist to help you, the trainer, defeat the games most powerful bosses, take advantage, it is literally what they are there for.
https://pokemongohub.net/generation-3/weather-guide/
Let’s be friends!
Obviously, you have to be friends to remotely raid together, but the more you interact with each other the more damage you can do together. Increasing friendship levels with other trainers have other benefits but the one I want to focus on is the damage bonus, details as below. Goes almost without saying, a higher friendship bonus equals more damage.
https://pokemongohub.net/post/guide/friendship-level-bonuses-in-pokemon-go/
Final thoughts
I’ve rambled enough. Give it a go, know your own team, trust the people you are battling with and don’t be afraid to fail, you can always try again. The feeling of taking on a raid boss with just one or two others, working together against the odds to take it down, sometimes only just in the nick of time, is why I keep playing.
Good luck out there trainers and stay safe!
