Pokemon GO Raid Battle Tiers, Bosses & DPS Counters Breakdown
The latest Pokemon GO update added Raid Battles to the game in order to put more emphasis on cooperation between trainers. Each raid pits trainers against a boss monster, which varies in difficulty depending on the tier. So, here’s a breakdown of the different Raid Battle tiers, which bosses you might encounter, and which Pokemon to use to deal maximum DPS.
The breakdown which follows is based on the information gathered by The Silph Road and posted on their subreddit by Redditor pulsivesilver, so a huge thank-you to them.
Starting with Tier 1, the most common Raid bosses are Bayleef, Croconaw, Magikarp and Quilava. The CP of the bosses is usually in the mid to low four-digit values. The best DPS counters are Flareon, Charizard, Gengar for Bayleef, Exeggutor, Venusaur, Jolteon for Croconaw and Golem, Starmie, Vaporeon for Quilava. You’ll probably need to have your Pokemon up to 100% CP in order to fight. On average, your rewards for defeating the boss will be one Golden Razzberry, one Rare Candy, and 0.11 TM. One trainer should be able to finish a Tier 1 boss alone fairly easily.
Next up, Tier 2. The stakes are higher, but one trainer could probably deal with the boss (if you’re around Level 30 or so). The Raid Bosses range between 11.000 and a little over 12.000 CP. Most commonly, you’ll run into Electabuzz (counter with Gengar, Dragonite, Alakazam or Flareon), Exeggutor (Pinsir, Gengar, Heracross), Magmar (Golem, Starmie, Vaporeon), Muk (Alakazam, Espeon, Exeggutor) and Weezing (same counter as Muk). You’ll get between two and three Golden Razzberries, one Rare Candy and 0.14 TM.
Tier 3 requires at least two or three trainers to take down the Raid boss. Of course, you’ll get more rewards for your efforts. Beating the boss will net you about four Golden Razzberries, three Rare Candies and 0.5 TM. You’ll likely run into Alakazam (Gengar, Houndoom, Tyranitar), Arcanine (Golem, Starmie, Vaporeon), Flareon (same as with Arcanine), Gengar (Gengar, Alakazam, Espeon), Jolteon (Gengar, Dragonite, Alakazam, Flareon), Machamp (Alakazam, Espeon, Exeggutor) and Vaporeon (Exeggutor, Venusaur, Jolteon). Their CP will range from 16-17000 to over 22.000.
Finally, there’s Tier 4, and here’s where it really gets serious. To beat a Tier 4 Raid, at least six trainers will have to work together. The CP you’ll be up against will range between low 20.000 to well over 30.000. When you win, you’ll get four or five Golden Razzberries, three Rare Candies and 1.0 TM. You’ll likely run into Blastoise (Exeggutor, Venusaur, Jolteon), Charizard (Golem, Omastar, Sudowoodo), Lapras (Machamp, Heracross, Exeggutor), Rhydon (Exeggutor, Venusaur, Victreebel), Snorlax (Machamp, Heracross, Alakazam), Tyranitar (Machamp, Heracross, Primeape) and Venusaur (Alakazam, Flareon, Espeon).
