Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Type Weaknesses: Guide To What’s Latest

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is something of a clipping, textureless aquarium, but it surely’s finally out and arguably playable. In the event you will yourself to see beyond appearances, NPC apparitions, and Pokémon trapped behind partitions, and check out not to assume all of the high-performance McChickens you would have as an alternative bought with $60, you’ll find an alluring open world adventure with story options, difficult gym leaders, and a cute Spanish piggy. That piggy and people gym challenges are subject to the identical type chart you’ll recognize from other Pokémon games, but as you wander Scarlet and Violet’s wobbling Paldea region, you would possibly end up in need of a refresher.

A Pokémon’s type (fire, water, or something else) puts it either better off (“it’s super effective!”) or drawback (“it’s not very effective…”) in battle against one other type. All 18 Pokémon types are subject to this natural order—a few of it does feel natural, like fire-types igniting grass-types or water dunking fire—and able to utilizing their double-damage strengths or half-damage weaknesses. This stays true in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but becomes a bit more complex with dual-type Pokémon (the Bug/Steel type Scizor, for instance, or Electric/Fairy type Dedenne), which tackle each its types’ strengths and weaknesses—unless one type has a resistance that cancels out the opposite’s weakness.

Like most Pokémon games, Scarlet and Violet’s type system adds a quirk in the shape of its its Terastallizing mechanic, but it surely otherwise adheres to the franchises’ usual chart. Here is the fundamental rundown, courtesy of Ari Notis’ 2021 Sensible Diamond and Shining Pearl coverage just someday wanting a 12 months ago (time flies when it’s clipping in Pokémon):

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Attack Chart

• Bug beats grass, dark, psychic but is weak against fairy, fire, fighting, flying, poison, steel, ghost
• Dark beats ghost, psychic but is weak against dark, fairy, fighting
• Dragon beats dragon but is weak against steel and doesn’t affect fairy
• Electric beats flying, water but is weak against electric, grass, dragon and doesn’t affect ground
• Fairy beats fighting, dark, dragon but is weak against fire, poison, steel
• Fighting beats dark, ice, normal, rock, steel but is weak against bug, fairy, flying, psychic and doesn’t affect ghost
• Fire beats bug, grass, ice, steel but is weak against dragon, fire, rock, water
• Flying beats bug, fighting, grass but is weak against electric, rock, steel
• Ghost beats ghost, psychic but is weak against dark and doesn’t affect normal
• Grass beats water, ground, rock but is weak against bug, dragon, fire, flying, grass, poison, steel
• Ground beats electric, fire, poison, rock, steel but is weak against grass, bug and doesn’t affect flying in any respect
• Ice beats dragon, flying, grass, ground but is weak against ice and water
• Normal beats absolutely nothing, doesn’t affect ghost in any respect, and is weak against rock, steel
• Poison beats fairy, grass but is weak against ghost, ground, rock, poison and doesn’t affect steel in any respect
• Psychic beats fighting, poison but is weak against bug, steel and doesn’t affect dark in any respect
• Rock beats bug, fire, flying, ice but is weak against fighting, ground, steel
• Steel beats fairy, ice, rock but is weak against electric, fire, steel, water
• Water beats fire, ground, rock but is weak against dragon, grass, water

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Defense Chart

• Bug loses to fire, flying, rock but is hard against fighting, grass, ground
• Dark loses to bug, fairy, fighting but is hard against dark, ghost and isn’t affected in any respect by psychic
• Dragon loses to dragon, fairy, ice but is hard against electric, fire, grass, water
• Electric loses to ground but is hard against electric, flying, steel
• Fairy loses to poison, steel but is hard against bug, dark, fighting and isn’t affected in any respect by dragon
• Fighting loses to fairy, flying, psychic but is hard against bug, dark, rock
• Fire loses to ground, rock, water but is hard against bug, fairy, fire, grass, ice, steel
• Flying loses to electric, ice, rock but is hard against bug, grass, fighting and isn’t affected in any respect by ground
• Ghost loses to dark, ghost but is hard against bug, poison and isn’t affected in any respect by fighting, normal
• Grass loses to bug, fire, flying, ice, poison but is hard against electric, grass, ground, water
• Ground loses to grass, ice, water but is hard against against poison, rock and isn’t affected in any respect by electric
• Ice loses to fighting, fire, rock and steel and only resists ice
• Normal loses to fighting but isn’t affected in any respect by ghost
• Poison loses to ground, psychic but is hard against bug, fairy, grass, poison
• Psychic loses to bug, dark, ghost but is hard against fighting, psychic
• Rock loses to grass, ground, fighting, steel, water but is hard against fire, flying, normal, poison
• Steel loses to fire, fighting, ground but is hard against (deep breath) bug, dragon, fairy, flying, grass, ice, normal, psychic, rock, steel and isn’t affected in any respect by poison
• Water loses to electric and grass but is proof against fire, ice, and water

But about that quirk: Scarlet and Violet most notably alter the sort chart experience with the introduction of Terastallizing, a process that may turn any Paldea Pokémon into gleamy, crystallized versions of themselves once per battle. It requires a smooth onyx Tera Orb, which is unfortunately single use, but will be recharged with Pokémon Center visits or by touching Terastal energy crystals you might find in your journeying.

Terstallizing just isn’t a purely cosmetic reshuffling—it unleashes a Pokémon’s Tera Type, viewable within the Pokémon menu, which may diverge from its usual type, but will still be one among the 18 you already know (bug, dark, dragon, etc.). You should use them strategically. In an early blog post about Scarlet and Violet, developers Game Freak noted that players can provide water-weak Coalossal, a dual Rock/Fire type, a Water Tera Type to “take less damage […] when it gets hit by a Water-type move.”

Tera Types are also individualized, so you would have multiple electric-type Pawmi with all different Tera Types. You may moreover change your Pokémon’s Tera Type by taking down Medali gym leader Larry after which paying the chef at Treasure Eatery 50 Tera Shards, found organically by completing Tera Raids, or available as gifts.

Tera Types’ strengths and weaknesses appear to correspond to their non-Tera types, too, so just keep your well-worn 18 flashcards handy, and also you’re ready for battle.