Moltres Pokémon GO Raid Guide: Weakness and counters

Moltres is back in Pokémon GO Raids from August 2 - August 12. This powerful Fire and Flying-type Pokémon is one of the three original Legendary Birds in the Pokémon franchise and is a mascot for one of the three Pokémon GO teams.

Moltres is a solid Pokémon to add to your Pokémon GO collection. It is more powerful in Raids than Ho-Oh in both the Fire and Flying-type categories, but isn't super highly ranked versus other alternatives. You will need an Elite TM to get the powerful Sky Attack Charged Move.

However, being such an iconic Pokémon and no slouch makes Moltres well worth raiding for over the next ten days.

Here's everything you need to know before you take on Moltres in Pokémon GO:

Moltres has a 2x weakness to Rock-types, and single weaknesses to Electric and Water-type attacks. It has a range of resistances, including a 2x resistance to Bug and Grass-type attacks. Crucially it also resists Fairy-type moves, which is a powerful category in PvP. However, there are not a lot of Fairy-type Pokémon in Raids that make this a useful resistance there.

Here are the best counters to use when battling Moltres in Pokémon GO:

You might notice that these are virtually the same Pokémon that were great counters to take on Ho-Oh in Pokémon GO. Both Moltres and Ho-Oh have the same typing, so any Pokémon you powered up for that Raid will be useful here.

Once again that means we have some easily accessible counters. Rampardos, Rhyperior, Gigalith and Tyrantrum are all reasonably budget Pokémon and have spawned in the wild frequently. That means that even lower level trainers should be able to get a team of Moltres counters together.

Outside of Rock-types, Mega Rayquaza (with a Rock-type move!) and Primal Kyogre are also good choices to take on this Raid.

Yes, Moltres can be shiny in Pokémon GO. The chance of getting a shiny Moltres from a Pokémon GO Raid should be about 1/20.

Mega Evolutions can help you get more candy and XL candy with every catch. Having a mega level 3 active that boosts candy for Fire and Flying-types will give you an extra 2 candy per catch, as well as a 25% bonus to your XL candy chance.

Here are the Pokémon you can Mega Evolve to get more Moltres candy in Pokémon GO.

Of these Mega Pokémon, two stand out. Both Mega Rayquaza and Mega Aerodactyl will both boost Candy and Candy XL for Moltres whilst also being good counters. You should use either of these Pokémon when you can during these Raids.

Don't have Mega Rayquaza yet? It returns on August 3.

Any Pokémon with a 2x weakness isn't that hard to take down. High level trainers with Party Play can take on this Moltres Raid in a group of three. However, the safest minimum amount of Trainers is five.

Lower level trainers should aim for at least seven when battling Moltres if they want to make sure they can take down this Raid easily.

Here are the CP values to keep your eye out for to know if you have a 100% Moltres in Pokémon GO after you complete the Raid.

Weather boost can help you save candy, get better IVs and benefit from power boosts on your team. Here are the weather effects to keep an eye on when taking on these raids.

If you're looking for a weather boosted Moltres in Pokémon GO, you will want to keep your eyes peeled for either Sunny or Windy weather.

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