We all remember the incredible success of Pokemon GO when it launched initially way back in 2016. In what feels like decades ago, the time of Pokemon GO’s release was something truly special. It seemed like there was finally some peace in the world and the entire planet was united. However, due to a lack of engaging features and Pokestops in less populated areas, Pokemon GO fell off the radar of most people.
If you thought that the game was dead though, you couldn’t be more wrong. During the past 4 years, Pokemon GO has managed to maintain a very dedicated fanbase that has continued to push Niantic to make the game better. And, Niantic has delivered as well. Pokemon GO in 2021 is an entirely different beast from what it was way back in 2016. So many new features have been added that it might be one of the best mobile games out right now.
Niantic has been hard at work to improve Pokemon GO. The game has seen many additions in the past couple of years including GO Battle league, better raids, new special research missions, a plethora of events, and much more. All of these things combined with the incredible adaptability to the lockdown (with the inclusion of remote raids) have led to Pokemon GO having its biggest year in 2020. Not only that, but the AR game continues to evolve and grow as well.
At the end of 2020, Niantic announced that it was going to increase the level cap to 50, giving older experienced players more incentive to continue playing. In addition to that, Niantic has also introduced the Pokemon GO Tour: Kanto event, a celebration of the first region of Pokemon which takes place later this month. However, the lead up to the event has been just as, if not more exciting.
Raikou Raid Guide
We’ve seen multiple region collection challenges and other limited research questlines every week. In fact, Johto and Hoenn collection challenges were arguably some of the best content that Niantic has managed to pump out into the game. And, all these events bring new Tier 5 legendary raids and much more with them as well.
Last week, the Johto event kicked off with Entei raids for an entire week. And now, Entei has been replaced by Raikou which will eventually be rotated out by Suicine next week. This is not the first time Raikou has been in the tier 5 raid pool though but a lot has changed since the legendary electric beast was conquering gyms around the world.
Raikou can be extremely useful in raids and Team GO Rocket battles against anything that’s vulnerable to electric attacks. Therefore, having one in your roster is an absolute must. Furthermore, completing the collection of Entei, Raikou, and Suicine will give you those bragging rights over your friends. And, if we’re talking about bragging rights, nothing beats a shiny legendary and players have a chance to get a shiny Raikou during tier 5 raids.
So, here’s everything you need to know about Raikou Tier 5 legendary raids:
How long are the Raikou Tier 5 raids going on for?
Raikou is a part of rotation between the three legendary beasts Entei, Raikou, and Suicine. It appeared at 10 am local time on January 31st and will continue to appear in tier 5 raids in gyms around the world until 1 pm local time on Thursday, February 4th. So, this means that you have roughly 5 days to defeat it and add it to your Pokemon roster.
What are the 100% IVs for a Raikou?
As we’ve mentioned before, Raikou is a beefy legendary and will definitely come in handy during many battles. And, if you’re serious about your Pokemon GO business, getting a Raikou with good IVs must be one of your top priorities. How do you know if a Pokemon has good stats though? Well, the way raid encounters work in Pokemon GO is that once you defeat a Pokemon and get to the encounter, it will have a certain CP. The higher that CP, the better the stats it would have.
Not only that, but a favorable weather condition would also give it a weather boost, meaning that you’ll get a Pokemon with a much higher CP/level. And, as we all know that the raid encounter stats have a floor and cannot be lower than 10/10/10. This means that all raid bosses will fall between a range of CP values with the lower bound being 10/10/10 and the higher bound being 15/15/15 or 100% or 4 Star.
In addition to that, the weather boosted IVs will also be different from the normal ones. For Raikou, these CP levels might be lower than what you’d expect from a beefier legendary. However, its usefulness in GO Battle league and raids cannot be understated. Here are the 100% IVs for normal and weather boosted Raikou:
- Level 20 Raikou: 1889 CP to 1972 CP. So, 100% IV Raikou will have a CP value of 1972.
- Level 25 Weather Boosted Raikou: 2361 CP to 2466 CP. Therefore, 100% IV Weather Boosted Raikou will have a CP value of 2466.
What moves does Raikou have in Pokemon GO?
Raikou is primarily an electric type beast so you’ll most probably fight one with electric moves. However, its moveset is not limited to electric moves. Here are the moves that a Raikou might have during raids:
- Fast Moves: Thunder Shock, Volt Switch
- Charge Moves: Thunder, Thunderbolt, Wild Charge, Shadow Ball
As you can see, apart from the usual electric type moves, a Raikou is also capable of attacking with a Shadow Ball charged move, which is a ghost type move. This mixes things up a bit and can make Raikou a bit more tricky to deal with if you’re not careful.
During most of your Tier 5 Raikou encounters in Pokemon GO though, it will have electric moves. The combination of something like the Volt Switch and Thunderbolt is the tamest with Thunder Shock and Wild Charge being harder to deal with. However, if a Raikou does have Shadow Ball as its charged move, you won’t have the double resistance anymore making the raid just a bit harder.
How many people do you need to defeat Raikou in a Tier 5 Pokemon GO Raid?
There have been legendary Tier 5 raids in the past where people have been able to defeat the raid boss alone. This is done via a combination of high level super effective mega Pokemon and shadow Pokemon with some really good dodging skills. However, Raikou is definitely not one of those Pokemon.
Not only does it not have any substantial weaknesses to mega evolved Pokemon in the game thus far, it also doesn’t have many effective shadow counters. Furthermore, Raikou has a lot of HP so bringing it down can be tricky even for multiple people. On our scale of raid difficulty, Raikou is virtually impossible to defeat alone. As for 2 people, technically it is possible but you need perfect Level 50 counters, clear weather, and the 2nd person needs to be your best friend. We still wouldn’t recommend doing it with two people though.
Things start to look much easier when you have 3 people though. If 3 people go into a raid against Raikou with some decent counters, it is easily manageable for anyone above level 30. If you have lower leveled players though, we recommend adding more people. And, anything above the 4-person mark is a bonus and would speed up the raid process.
If you don’t have enough friends to fight against a Raikou though, we recommend using a third-party app like PokeRaid that lets you add and invite other people to raids. Not only is it extremely helpful for finishing raids, but it also ends up giving you some nice XP as the friendship level increases with these players.
Best Counters for Raikou Raid in Pokemon GO
Now, despite being a pretty useful and beefy legendary, Raikou is incredibly simple to deal with. If you’re in clear weather, this simplicity multiplies and you could probably complete the raid with your eyes closed. Since it is an electric type Pokemon, most of your raid counters will be Ground-type Pokemon, which are super effective against electric types.
Furthermore, the counters for Raikou aren’t very hard to obtain either and there’s a high chance that you have plenty of them in your roster already if you’ve been playing for at least a year. For instance, one of the best counters for a Raiku is a Rhyperior with Mud Slap and Earthquake. Rhyhorn has appeared twice during community days last year and you should have plenty of Rhyperiors in your storage.
Not only that, but a lot of budget counters for Raikou are also surprisingly its main counters like Excadrill and Mamoswine. If you’ve been relying on Mega evolved Pokemon during your previous raids though you’re out of luck as Raikou doesn’t really have any super-effective mega counters. However, a Mega Gengar can still be used in the raid if you have one.
As for the Shadow Pokemon, the best counter for Raikou is a Shadow Mamoswine. Other honorable mentions include a Shadow Mewtwo and Shadow Flygon, both of which aren’t nearly as effective as a Rhyperior. Overall, all you need is a good roster of ground-type Pokemon with Ground-type moves like Mud-Slap, Earthquake, Bulldoze, and Drill Run. Here is the full list of best counters and their moveset for defeating Raikou:
Best Budget Counters:
- Rhyperior: Mud Slap and Earthquake
- Excadrill: Mud Slap and Earthquake
- Rhydon: Mud Slap and Earthquake
- Mamoswine: Mud Slap and Earthquake
- Golurk: Mud Slap and Earth Power
- Donphan: Mud Slap and Earthquake
- Golem: Mud Slap and Earthquake
Best Normal Counters:
- Rhyperior: Mud Slap and Earthquake
- Excadrill: Mud-Slap and Drill Run
- Garchomp: Mud Shot and Earthquake
- Groudon: Mud Shot and Earthquake
- Landorus: Mud Shot and Earth Power
- Krokodile: Mud Slap and Earthquake
Best Shadow Counters:
- Mamoswine: Mud-Slap and Bulldoze
- Mewtwo: Psycho Cut and Psystrike (Legacy Move)
- Flygon: Mud Shot and Earth Power
- Swampert: Mud Shot and Earthquake
- Nidoking: Poison Jab and Earth Power
How to catch a Shiny Raikou in Pokemon GO?
During the next 5 days, you’ll also have a chance to encounter a Shiny Raikou. Usually, catching a normal Raikou is pretty straightforward as getting an excellent throw with a golden razzberry isn’t hard. The Pokemon doesn’t bounce around too much. All you have to do is to make the circle small enough for an excellent throw and leave the ball. After that, once Raikou attacks, throw the curveball midway through its animation for a guaranteed excellent throw.
As for the shiny though, we know that shiny legendary Pokemon have a 100% catch rate meaning that you won’t even have to get a good throw to catch it. So, we’d recommend feeding it Silver Pinap or a normal Pinap berry for extra candy. As for the encounter, that depends on your luck. Getting a Shiny Raikou isn’t very common and you’d probably have to do many raids before you encounter one.
If you don’t get one though, don’t fret as the Shiny Raikou isn’t the most distinguishable and attractive shiny. It is essentially just an orange version of the yellow beast, which makes it much less recognizable as compared to something like a Shiny Rayquaza.
For more on Pokemon GO challenge and raid guides, stay tuned!