Mega Banette Raid Guide

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Banette (Mega)

Mega Banette is a Mega Raid boss in Pokémon GO. Its best counters are strong Dark types and Ghost types such as Mega Tyranitar, Mega Houndoom, Mega Absol, Darkrai, Mega Gengar, Chandelure, Giratina-Origin, and Mega Banette itself.

You cannot catch Banette in its mega evolved form from the raid. The mega raid boss is always catchable in its base form and as such, the CP ranges are for a regular Banette.

Banette can be caught with the following CP values:

  • 1244 – 1313 CP at level 20, no weather boost
  • 1555 – 1642 CP at level 25 with Fog weather boost

While it is possible to duo this raid, 3-5 trainers with strong counters should be able to take down Mega Banette without too much trouble, regardless of weather. The charge move it has in battle should still be kept in mind, however.

Best Mega Banette Counters Raid icon

In this guide we will cover the strongest Mega Banette counters, the best strategies on how to defeat it, and what CPs you can get when catching a strong Banette.

# Attacker Fast Move Charge Move Faints TTW
1. Tyranitar (Mega) Bite Dark Brutal Swing Dark 10 278.1s
2. Gengar (Mega) Lick Ghost Shadow Ball Ghost 20 285.7s
3. Tyranitar (Shadow) Bite Dark Brutal Swing Dark 14 285.8s
4. Rayquaza (Mega) Dragon Tail Dragon Dragon Ascent Flying 15 312.2s
5. Mewtwo (Shadow) Psycho Cut Psychic Shadow Ball Ghost 23 319.6s
6. Banette (Mega) Shadow Claw Ghost Shadow Ball Ghost 27 326.9s
7. Houndoom (Mega) Snarl Dark Foul Play Dark 16 335.3s
8. Cursola (Shadow) Hex Ghost Shadow Ball Ghost 32 356.9s
9. Tyranitar Bite Dark Brutal Swing Dark 15 338.7s
10. Hydreigon Bite Dark Brutal Swing Dark 19 340.8s
11. Alakazam (Mega) Psycho Cut Psychic Shadow Ball Ghost 27 354.7s
12. Weavile (Shadow) Snarl Dark Foul Play Dark 25 356.2s
13. Drifblim (Shadow) Hex Ghost Shadow Ball Ghost 33 375.2s
14. Lunala Confusion Psychic Shadow Ball Ghost 24 363.2s
15. Giratina (Origin) Shadow Claw Ghost Shadow Ball Ghost 19 363.7s
16. Gyarados (Mega) Bite Dark Crunch Dark 16 364.6s
17. Honchkrow (Shadow) Snarl Dark Dark Pulse Dark 34 386.6s
18. Banette (Shadow) Shadow Claw Ghost Shadow Ball Ghost 44 409.6s
19. Absol (Mega) Snarl Dark Dark Pulse Dark 29 377.3s
20. Gholdengo Hex Ghost Shadow Ball Ghost 23 370.4s
21. Darkrai Snarl Dark Shadow Ball Ghost 21 369.6s
22. Guzzlord Snarl Dark Brutal Swing Dark 19 370.7s
23. Houndoom (Shadow) Snarl Dark Foul Play Dark 25 376.4s
24. Gengar Lick Ghost Shadow Ball Ghost 33 390.9s
25. Chandelure Hex Ghost Shadow Ball Ghost 29 382.6s
26. Deoxys (Attack) Zen Headbutt Psychic Dark Pulse Dark 85 545.2s
27. Mewtwo Psycho Cut Psychic Shadow Ball Ghost 24 377.6s
28. Ampharos (Mega) Volt Switch Electric Brutal Swing Dark 19 379.4s
29. Gardevoir (Mega) Confusion Psychic Shadow Ball Ghost 25 384.8s
30. Hoopa (Confined) Astonish Ghost Shadow Ball Ghost 37 408.6s

Notes

  • (*) marks a legacy Move

Because of Mega Banette’s access to Dazzling Gleam, this guide will be in two parts: battling w/o Dazzling Gleam and w/ Dazzling Gleam.

If Mega Banette does not have Dazzling Gleam, this will be one of the easiest Mega Raid you can go against. As long as you have good Dark type counters of at least Level 30, you have a decent chance. Hydreigon is the safest counter to use since it resists all but Dazzling Gleam, and doesn’t really need Brutal Swing as long as its level is high enough. With Brutal Swing, however, it is a top counter.

To show you how great Hydreigon is with Brutal Swing, when I ran simulations, two players with no Friendship bonus, each with 6 Level 25 Hydreigons with 0% IVs, can duo Mega Banette. Imagine using maxed or near maxed Hydreigons instead, plus Friendship Bonus.

If Mega Banette does have Dazzling Gleam, stay away from Dark types and lean into your Ghost types instead. Gengar (both Mega and regular) and Chandelure would be the best counters. You can still use Dark-types like Darkrai and Yveltal, as long as you dodge the Dazzling Gleam.

Mega Banette Duo

As mentioned earlier, Mega Banette can be duoed if prepared beforehand. For Mega Evolution, either Dark or Ghost Mega would be great, but Mega Houndoom will be the safest one since it doesn’t fear Dazzling Gleam.

  • Speaking of Dazzling Gleam, against that move, Mega Gengar would be great along with Gengar, Chandelure, and Mewtwo with Shadow Ball. Darkrai, Yveltal, and Giratina-Origin can be serviceable if you dodge.
  • Against Shadow Ball, any Dark-type would be at play here, but Hydreigon, Weavile, Yveltal, and Darkrai are great options. You can use the same mons against Thunder, but Hydreigon and Giratina-Origin are honorable mentions for resisting Electric moves.

As long as you have the counters that are least level 30 and have the Friendship Bonus, you should have no issue beating Mega Banette in a duo.

How to get Shiny Banette and shiny Mega Banette

Like all Mega Raid Bosses, you can catch the shiny version of Banette from a raid, and also in the wild potentially, if you can find it!

Regular Sprite Shiny Sprite

Shiny Mega Banette is only obtainable via Mega Evolution.

Mega Banette Sprite Shiny Mega Banette Sprite

Mega Banette Facts

Banette (Mega) Ghost
Max CP 4336
ATK 312 DEF 160 HP 162
Weak to Strong Against
Ghost Dark Ghost Psychic

Mega Banette Moveset Analysis

Mega Banette can have the following moves in a raid battle and when captured as its base form:

Fast Moves Charge Moves
  • Shadow Claw Ghost
  • Hex Ghost
  • Shadow Ball Ghost
  • Thunder Electric
  • Dazzling Gleam Fairy

While it is true that Shadow Ball gets STAB (or same type attack bonus), since you would generally use Dark types to beat Mega Banette, Shadow Ball is the best Charged Move you can go against, unless you’re planning on beating it using Ghost types. Even if you resist it, try to dodge as much as you can since it is still powerful.

Thunder, while less powerful, is very hard to dodge. It also eliminates Mega Gyarados and Yveltal in the running for counters, but Dragon types like Hydreigon and Giratina-Origin will take their place.

Dazzling Gleam will be the bane of your Dark types, but Ghost types will have their day against the move, since they only fear the Shadow Ball variant.

Shadow Claw has STAB, but doesn’t generate energy very quickly, and Hex has one more base power than Shadow Claw and generates energy much faster, making it the deadliest fast move, especially if it’s combined with Dazzling Gleam or Shadow Ball.

How to Get Mega Banette

In order to get Mega Banette you will need 200 Mega Energy for the initial evolution, then it is possible to evolve that particular Banette again for free after a cooldown period. The cooldown period depends on their mega level, and you can use mega energy to evolve quicker if you don’t want to wait for the end of the cooldown period.

Mega Energy can be obtained via Mega Banette Raids, and once you have evolved Mega Banette, you can earn 5 Mega Energy per candy while walking it as your buddy. You can walk any Shupper or Banette to earn Mega Energy, as long as you have previously evolved one to register it to your Mega Pokédex.

Author & tags

Ysmael
Ysmael
Avid Pokémon Fan since 2000

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