As announced earlier this week, the next Tera Raid event in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will be a spotlight event that features two Dragon-type Pokemon: Hydreigon in Scarlet and Dragapult in Violet. Both of these Pokemon boast really good stats, so you’d better come prepared if you want to do these raids over the weekend. Here’s what you need to know about both raid events.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Hydreigon and Dragapult Raid Guide

Note: Tera Types are Random!

Similar to the Tyranitar and Salamence raids, Hydreigon and Dragapult will both appear with a random Tera type when you check the den. This is important to note because, unlike the Cinderace or Charizard raids, you can’t rely on just one Pokemon and expect the same results every time you do the raid. Some types will be more difficult than others, and depending on the Pokemon you’re using, they may be difficult enough that you’ll have to bring out something else instead. 

With that being said, you can prepare for the raid to an extent by training Pokemon that are resistant to Hydreigon and Dragapult’s original typing. Terastalized Pokemon retain STAB on moves from their original typing, so having a Pokemon that can take hits from those types will always be beneficial.

For this particular guide, we’ll go over each Pokemon briefly, noting what Tera types to look out for and what Pokemon may work. Keep in mind that Hydreigon and Dragapult will only appear in 4 or 5-star event raids, so they won’t be as tough as 6 or 7-star raids.

Hydreigon, the Brutal Pokemon

Tera types to be wary of:

• Steel (Flash Cannon)
• Fire (Fire Blast, Heat Wave, Flamethrower)

Recommended Pokemon types:

• Fairy (Azumarill, Sylveon, etc.)
• Fighting (Iron Hands, Lucario, etc.)

First up, we have Hydreigon, a Dark/Dragon dual-type Pokemon. This fella is actually a little tougher than other Tera raid Pokemon because while Hydreigon has five weaknesses (including a 4x weakness to Fairy), it can get behind that through Terastalization. Fortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that Fairy types resist Dark-type attacks and are immune to Dragon-type attacks, so Fairy is still the best choice against most Tera types.

On the off-chance that you do find a Steel-type Hydreigon, then you’ll need to be careful as it may have Flash Cannon. For these raids, Fighting types are great, as they’ll do supereffective damage against Steel and will also be resistant to Hydreigon’s Dark-type moves. Lucario’s especially useful in the right scenario, being resistant to both Dark and Dragon, but do note that Hydreigon does have access to a few Fire-type attacks and a powerful Fighting-type move in Focus Blast.

Even without Steel Typing, Hydreigon’s Flash Cannon can still be a problem if you haven’t trained your Pokemon fully. Fortunately, Azumarill actually only takes normal damage from Steel attacks due to Water being resistant to Steel. This makes Azumarill one of the best choices for Hydreigon raids, with the only supereffective attack in Hydreigon’s arsenal being Thunder Fang, a Physical attack that scales with the Hydreigon’s lower Attack stat.

Dragapult, the Stealth Pokemon

Tera types to be wary of:

• Electric (Thunder, Thunderbolt)
• Flying (Acrobatics)

Recommended Pokemon types:

• Fairy (Sylveon, Dachsbun, etc.)
• Normal (Maushold, Blissey, etc.)

Dragapult is arguably the easier of the two featured Pokemon as it actually has no answers to Fairy-type Pokemon. It has no access to Steel or Poison-type moves, meaning that the only way for a Fairy-type Pokemon to take supereffective damage from Dragapult is via a second typing (such as an Electric-type move against Azumarill). Dragapult is quite flexible stat-wise, allowing it to do good damage with both Physical and Special-type attacks.

Fairy is once again the best type to use for this raid. If you’re against a Tera type that resists Fairy, then use another STAB move if your Pokemon is a dual-type. The only downside to dual-type Fairy Pokemon is their potential weakness to Dragapult’s other moves. Ghost/Fairy types such as Mimikyu and Flutter Mane will struggle against Dragapult’s Ghost-type STAB moves, and hard-hitting attacks in Thunder, Hydro Pump, and Fire Blast will hit even harder with the corresponding Tera type.

Alternatively, you can go for a more supportive build with Normal types. Normal-type Pokemon are immune to Ghost-type attacks, and with no access to Fighting-type moves, Dragapult can’t deal any form of supereffective damage against them. You won’t be pumping out huge numbers yourself unless you can Terastalize into something relevant or have enough setup, but you’ll be helping the team out via heals, buffs, and/or status effects.

And that about covers what you need to know about the upcoming Hydreigon and Dragapult raids! As with every Tera Raid event, these spotlight raids are set to go live over the weekend. Here are the exact times for various timezones:

• PT: January 5 at 4 PM to January 8 at 3:59 PM
• ET: January 5 at 7 PM to January 8 at 6:59 PM
• UTC: January 6 at 12 AM to January 8 at 11:59 PM
• HKT: January 6 at 8 AM to January 9 at 7:59 AM

Good luck Trainers, and prep those Azumarills! Consider checking out our Cinderace Solo guide if you’re ready for this weekend’s raids but missed out on the Cinderace event last week.