How to Beat Moltres in Pokemon Go

Team Valor’s mascot Moltres is the next Legendary Pokemon to come to Pokemon Go. Players will have […]

November 9, 2017, 5:25pm

Team Valor’s mascot Moltres is the next Legendary Pokemon to come to Pokemon Go. Players will have from July 31 to August 7 to catch Moltres, a Fire/Flying dual type that should present a unique challenge for trainers in Raid Battles.

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Moltres has an entirely different set of strengths and weaknesses than Articuno. While it has a much higher Attack stat than Articuno, its Defense is much lower and it has a critical “double weakness” to Rock-Types that should make Raids go a lot quicker. Because of its lower Defense and the double weakness to Rock, we’re guessing that Pokemon Go players will be able to take down Moltres in groups of 5 or higher.

Most raid battles come down to a combination of having a numbers advantage and having luck on your side. Here’s a couple of tips that could also help you beat Moltres in battle:

Rock N’ Roll

Earlier this month, multiple websites (ourselves included) recommended that Pokemon Go players stockpiled as many Golem as they could to prepare for the upcoming storm of Legendary Pokemon. Unfortunately, Golem wasn’t as effective as players hoped against Articuno and Lugia, as both had Charge attacks that could wipe out Golem in a single attack. However, Golem and other Rock-Type Pokemon should more than redeem itself against Moltres due to Moltres’s double weakness against Rock-Type attacks.

The key to defeating Moltres quickly will be loading up as many Pokemon that can use Stone Edge as possible. When factoring in same type attack bonus (STAB) Stone Edge is the third most powerful attack in Pokemon Go, and that’s before taking a Pokemon’s weaknesses into account.

A single Stone Edge attack from a Rock-Type Pokemon will have a whopping base damage of 232 before factoring in Attack and Defense stats. That’s a ton of damage, more than we’ve seen against any Legendary Pokemon so far in the game.

The good news is that there is a ton of Rock-Type Pokemon that can use Stone Edge in Pokemon Go. Kabutops, Tyranitar, Rhydon, Sudowoodo, Magcargo, and Onix can all learn Stone Edge, so you should have lots of Pokemon to choose from in raids.

Other Weaknesses

Moltres has several other critical weaknesses that should make it easy prey for Pokemon Go players. Like Articuno, Moltres is weak to Electric-Type attacks, which means Pokemon like Ampharos and Jolteon can dish out a lot of damage to Moltres…even if it doesn’t have the same resistances to Moltres’s attacks like Rock-Type Pokemon do.

As a Fire-Type Pokemon, Moltres is also weak against Water-Type attacks. Vaporeon is another solid choice to round out your team, especially as it has a high Stamina stat and a resistance to Fire-Type attacks.

Another Pokemon that gets brought up a lot as a Moltres counter is Omastar. Because Omastar is a Rock/Water dual-type, it has a critical double-resistance to all Fire-Type attacks. That means that all of Moltres’s attacks will only do half as much damage as they would to a normal Pokemon. Omastar also has access to several Rock-Type attacks, including Ancient Power and Rock Blast.

Kabutops and Kingdra also have double resistances to Moltres’s Fire-Type attacks, so if you’re looking for a “wall” to anchor your team, considering adding one of those Pokemon to your sixth slot.