I could do a write up on the endgame. But instead I did a big Raid guide instead. Oh my.
Hope this helps others out. Imma post this on Reddit as well, see how well it does.
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I'm here to give some quick beginning tips and tricks on handling some of the games challenging 5-Star Raids yourself.
Whilst joining raids online is going to prove easier times in beating raid battles. Raids are certainly possible to do all on your own. So for those times when you can't go online when you are playing in Transit, or for those who don't have Nintendo Switch Online, this guide is for you.
There are some major benefits of playing solo believe it or not.
- Raids initiated by you will always end with you catching the pokemon, providing it's not one of the special Event Raid pokemon going on at the moment.
- You can get through raid battles faster as you don't have to worry about connecting to other people and waiting for their responses.
- If a Raid Encounter contains a pokemon you don't want to catch (It's got the wrong ability for example), you can back out faster and not worry about letting the team down.
There are however some downsides to solo raids.
- You have to deal with the AI Teams of Pokemon, which can range from sub-optimal to absolutely useless in matches (Hello Cosmic Power Solrock).
- Because you have AI Partners, raids become DPS Rushes trying to KO the Raid Pokemon before it KOs your allies (Who will more likely faint multiple times before you do).
- It can get quite lonely doing raids on your own.
So with the pro's and con's out of the way, here are 21 pieces of advice to making your Solo Raiding Time as simple as possible.
NOTE: This guide will not be talking about the Wishing Piece save exploit nor the Time Travel exploits as future-proofing this guide should those get Patched Out. If you are interested in them, you can read about them elsewhere.
- Make sure you become the champion first before seriously going into Raids.
After beating the game, you get 2000 Watts from each active raid den and 200 Watts from glowing inactive dens. Watts help you get more Pokeballs, TRs and Wishing Pieces to help capture more pokemon. You also exclusively get 3 to 5 star raids in the post-game. So it's always best to get as much benefit out of raids before diving into them.
- Ok, I am the champion, how do Raids Work again?
In the wild area you are looking for giant Red or Purple Beams coming out Raid Dens, follow the sky beams to it and interact with the den to initiate a Raid Battle. Red Beams are common raids, whilst purple beams are rare raids. Purple Beams tend to result in harder raid pokemon to battle, but will give more rewards on winning.
3 Star Raids will have Pokemon Between Level 35 and 40 in them.
4 Star Raids will have Pokemon Between Level 45 and 50 in them.
5 Star Raids will have Pokemon Between Level 55 and 60 in them.
- I want a specific pokemon, can I go to specific den for them?
Yes you can, each den has 2 lists of possible pokemon, one for common raids on the red beam and one for rare raids with the purple beam. Each den tends to have a fixed type of pokemon, so if you find an Ice Type Pokemon in a den, that den will always have Ice Type pokemon in it. Go to website like Serebii for more specific information of what pokemon hide in what dens. https://www.serebii.net/swordshield/maxraidbattles.shtml
- Are pokemon fixed in raid encounters?
The Stats and Abilities of a pokemon are set when the raid becomes activated. So you can't save before the raid and hope for something else if you retry it. It will always be the same pokemon.
- The Worst Enemy in Raid Encounters are the Barriers.
When fighting 3, 4 and 5 star raids. At certain health levels, They will set up a Barrier that will require multiple attacks to break through. 3 Stars and some 4 stars will do this once, whilst 4 and 5 stars will set up barriers twice. Some pokemon will have barriers that have 3 sections, some will have up to 6, on average you'll see 5. Some Pokemon will also set-up barriers instantly at the match begins. You can break 1 stage of a barrier with a regular attack, and 2 stages of a barrier with a Dynamax Attack. It IS Possible to KO a pokemon without breaking all the Barriers, but good luck with the AI Partners.
- Because of Barriers, Status Moves are mostly useless, and attacks are the way to go.
Barriers will also block all status effects moves, as well as secondary effects from move like stat drops and any bonus effects from Dynamax Moves (Note, negative secondary effects to you like recoil damage will still affect you). You can use Status Moves whilst the Barriers are down, but odds are Barriers will be up the majority of the match. Stat raising moves can prove somewhat beneficial for a limited time, but they will eventually be reset by the Raid Target.
- On the bright side, breaking barriers makes the match a lot easier.
Good news is, when you break the barriers, the Raid Target will lose 2 stages of Defence and Special Defence. Thus allowing you to do more damage. After breaking through the second barrier, nearly any attack should be able to KO the raid target at that point. (Yes there are the rare contrary and competitive ability ones that get stronger when the barriers break, but this is a basic guide, we'll save talking about them for another time).
- The Second Worst Enemy are you AI Partners. Acting as a bigger ticking clock than the 10 turn limit.
The AI Partners didn't get the memo that Status Moves aren't always good. And will use stat lowering moves even when Barriers are up. Ideally you just want them to use a hit and break a portion of the barrier. But many a time, they won't. They are also fairly squishy as well. Most likely triggering the 4 KOs the Raid Pokemon needs to kick you out of the raid.
- Realise when the AI Partners will result in unwinnable raids.
Sometimes you get a Raid Team Combo so bad, it will be next to impossible to win. This can be an Eevee/Wobuffet/Solrock combo that won't break through the barriers fast enough. Or in some situations having a Qwilfish healing up Water Absorb pokemon. If you get one of these combinations, just quit and restart.You'll get the same pokemon target and hopefully a better AI Team next time.
- Raid Battles are primarily DPS Races to break the barriers.
With the previous points in mind, our primary goal in raids is to break the barriers and bring the target down to 0 Health as fast as possible. This is before the Raid Target gets the 4 required KOs, probably on our allies, and kicking us out of the raid battle. It's gonna take a bit of luck with the AI, but the majority of the encounters should be winnable.
- Use the highest level pokemon you possibly can.
Raids have no limit on how strong of pokemon you can bring into them, if you bring a level 100, you should bring a level 100. This is also critical for your AI Partners as their level will be 70% of your pokemon's level. So if you bring a Level 100, they will all be level 70, which should help them survive a more attacks. If you beat the game your team will probably be in the Level 50-60 area, and you should be able to handle 3 Star and some 4 Star raids. Wild Area Pokemon should also be at level 60, and if you want some simple quick EXP from Wild Area pokemon, stock up on some Quick Balls from Wyndon and throw them right at the beginning of the match. There is a good chance you will catch them right away and gain a good amount of EXP. As well a strong enough a strong pokemon to tackle some raids as well.
- Use EXP Candies to Level Up one specific raid Pokemon up to Level 100.
Having an all purpose Level 100 pokemon for raids is the fastest way to beat more raids, and the fastest way to get to level 100 is using the EXP Candies from Raid Rewards. Start with the 3 to 4 star raid encounters first with your level 60s, then when you hit Level 70 and nearing 80. You should be able to take on some of the 5 star raids. Now, which pokemon should you level up first for defeating raids? Well...
- DO NOT FALL FOR THE ZACIAN/ZAMAZENTA/ETERNATUS TRAP.
This is going to be controversial but lemme explain. Zacian, Zamazenta and Eternatus are some of the strongest pokemon in the game with unique moves that deal double damage to Dynamax Pokemon. And for raiding with friends online, they are among the best allies you can have in the game for many of the raid encounters due to how powerful this moves are. BUT, This is not the same rules for Solo Raiding. Because for solo there is one significant flaw to them that makes them less than ideal, and that is they are unable to Dynamax. Dynamaxing is very important for Raid Battles, outside of doubling the Health of you pokemon and powering up your moves, it also lets you break through 2 of the Barriers at once, thus ending the battle faster. And we want to end these battles as fast as possible. It is true that you can KO them without breaking all the barriers, but with the AI Partners, don't count on it. So the Zacian/Zamazenta/Eternatus combo. Great pokemon to go raiding online with friends. Not the best for solo efforts.
- So if I'm not using Zacian/Zamazenta/Eternatus, who should I train up first for raids?
My personal advice for your first raid pokemon to train up is Silvally, Silvally has the RKS System Ability, which allows it to transform into any type into the game with the correct Memory held item. Silvally also get's Multi-Attack, a 120 Base Power move that changes type to match whatever Memory Silvally is holding. This makes Silvally one of the most Flexible Pokemon to fight in any Raid Encounter, always being able to be the correct type for the encounter. Silvally also can Dynamax, allowing it to break through 2 Barriers at once, and Multi-Attack transforms into the Max Move for it's appropriate type (Ignore how it appears as Max Strike in the menu, it will transform to the correct type in battle). Add to that some very solid base stats (95 for everything) and Silvally will be able to carry you for a long time until you can get more specific pokemon for certain encounters that will prove better.
- So, how do I get a Silvally?
Since you've beaten the game, just head to the Battle Tower, there is a Gym Challenge Guide with a Type: Null beside her. Talking to her will give you Type: Null. I would recommend turning auto-save off and reseting until you get a Type:Null with an Attack Boosting nature to power-up your Multi-Attacks. After getting your Type:Null, we need to evolve it to Silvally, this is done by Friendship/Happyness. Which can be done the fastest by going to the Pokemon Camp and playing with Type:Null and making Curries. You can also opt to attach the Soothe Bell (Found in Hammerlocke) to double friendship build-up. You need to get about 2 hearts over Type:Null when you talk to it in Pokemon Camp then level it up once to get it to evolve into Silvally.
- Now I have Silvally, what should I use Stats and Moves wise?
Honestly, Multi-Attack is going to be the primary move you will use in all the battles, so the other 3 moves can be whatever you wish. If barriers are up you do not get the additional effect of the Dynamax Move, but in the instances you get a hit without Barriers Up, I prefer moves that can lower the specific stats of the Raid Target like Max-Wyrmwind from Dragon Claw to lower attack and X-Scissor to lower Special attack, just so the AI Allies faint less at the beginning. EV Stats wise, I run Max Attack and Max Health. Health I find very important in Dynamax Battles as when you are dynamaxed, your health is doubled, So having as much health to double as possible is very helpful in the rare instance you get focused and might get KO'd. Speed I find less helpful as you tend to want an AI Partners to deal an early hit in and hopefully get the barriers to raise before you attack. To raise your EVs, you can either use the Stat Boosting Vitamins at Wyndon or using the Pokejobs And lastly, make sure you max out it's Dynamax Level using Dynamax Candy so you get Double the Health during Dynamax instead of 1.5x the health.
- Dynamax instantly!
With how raids go, the trainer who can Dynamax rotates between the 4 trainers each turn. You will have the ability to Dynamax on Turn 1, 5 and 9. And to be honest, you want to Dynamax instantly every time. Whilst you may miss a double barrier hit, in return you can get a Max Move buff like a group defence raise.. But honestly, the raid might be lost by Turn 5 with the AI Partners so you can't afford to wait. This also increase your bulk with double health, resulting in your pokemon being less likely to faint.
- Ok, so I've got some wins under my belt to Silvally, now what?
Hopefully your raid wins have got you some brand new pokemon to play around with in Raids that will be more beneficial than Silvally now. Along with a number of EXP Candies, Dynamax Candy and TRs to create some super strong pokemon. Use Vitamins and Pokejobs to get the EVs you require. And you should have some brand new pokemon to use. At this point, experiment! The same rules as Silvally apply here to any other pokemon. Focus on Health and Attack (Or Special Attack) for battles. Get it to level 100 and fight more raids to get more pokemon.
- What about Held Items, which should I use?
With Silvally, we were locked into using the Memories for our Held Items, now we are using other pokemon. We can focus on other held items. I will talk over some of the more important ones here.
A note about Consumable Items: Berries and consumables like the Focus Sash will be consumed in Raid Battles, so unless you have an endless stock, I advise against them, don't lose your Focus Sash by mistake
Choice Items: These give a 1.5x boost to Attack, Special Attack or Speed, but lock you into one move. These are the strongest boosts in the game. However, the Choice Items become inactive whilst Dynamaxed. So For the first 3 turns you are basically holding no item. Turn 4 onwards it does give the strongest boost in the game. Online though when you aren't going to be the Dynamax Mon? These are probably the best items to use.
Life Orb: Gives a 1.3x power boost, at the cost of 10% of your health per turn. Life Orb does work during Dynamax, and health loss is based of your Standard health, not your Dynamax Health, meaning you lose about 5% of your health per turn during Dynamax. So this proves to be quite helpful for doing damage. But be careful on getting sniped.
Expert Belt/Various Type Raising items Like Charcoal and Mystic Water: Gives a 20% Attack Boost if you use a Super Effective Move or the Move of that type. Not as strong as Life Orb. But you don't have to worry about health.
Assault Vest/Eviolite: Raises defences if you meet the criteria (Special Defence Raise on Assualt Vest but can't use Status Moves, Eviolite get a Defence and Special Defence boost for Unevolved Pokemon, helpful for certain mons like Corsola) More bulk is always beneficial to worry about less KOs.
Leftovers: Restores 1/16 of your health per turn. Like Life Orb, it's based on original health and not Dynamax Health, so you get 1/32 of your health during Dynamax, making it a bit weaker than normal.
Shell Bell: Recovers your health back according to damage done to your opponent. As Dynamax mons have a lot of health, it means you are doing a lot of damage and recovering a lot of health back in return.
Metronome: Increases move power by 20% each turn on repeated use. Capping out at plus 100% damage. In theory the strongest boost for any Raid Encounters that go past Turn 4 compared to the Expert Belt and similar Items, Turn 5 against Life Orb (Without having to worry about health drops) and Turn 7 against Choice Items. Matches will probably end before it's relevant to be honest. Just need to confirm how it synergises with Dynamax.
- What about Abilities?
Abilities are so big they would require another article to focus on. This is long enough as is. There is however one Ability I want to highlight, and that is Trace.
- Can Trace help me get Hidden Abilities?
Since Raids are the only way to get Hidden Abilities, they can be quite desirable. Some abilities are going to be obvious when you fight them (Gyarados for example, if you don't get hit by Intimidate on match start, it's got Moxie). But you can also use a pokemon with the Trace ability to figure it out. Trace copies the enemies ability, so it let's you scout what the Ability the pokemon has. Trace is exclusive to the Gardevoir Family in this game. You can raise a Trace Gardevoir to use in raid combat. But you can also save before the encounter, jump in with your Trace Gardevoir, find out the ability, then reset and restart the raid with the Pokemon of your choice for the battle.
Well, that should be more than enough to get people started. I hope this solo guide will help you get your pokemon games started. Obviously there are some more complex situations with certain raids (Like the Minimize Clefable Raid and the Obstruct Obstagoon raid), but this should start as a general all purpose starter guide. I hope this helps you out, and happy raiding!
