This article is about the feature in Pokémon GO. For the feature in Pokémon Sword and Shield, see Max Raid Battle.
Promotional artwork featuring Raid Battles
A Raid Battle (Japanese: レイドバトルRaid Battle) is a type of battle in Pokémon GO that takes place at a Gym. The goal of a Raid Battle is for players to collaboratively defeat the Raid Boss, a giant Pokémon with significantly inflated stats, within the time limit. Each Raid Boss is stationed at a particular Gym for a limited period of time, and players must use a Raid Pass to challenge it. As with other battles at Gyms, up to twenty trainers can join to fight the Raid Boss. After defeating the Raid Boss, players receive a variety of rewards and are given the opportunity to catch the Raid Boss.
A raid is a battle where you and up to 20 other Trainers work together to defeat the Raid Boss—an extremely powerful Pokémon. Win to receive fantastic rewards and a chance to catch a stronger-than-normal Pokémon of your own!
List of Raid Bosses
This article contains old or outdated information, or has not been updated in a while. Please check the content of this article and update it as required.
The following lists all the available Raid Bosses as of February 19, 2022. The icon indicates Raid Bosses that have a chance of becoming Shiny during the bonus challenge.
From 5:00 a.m. to 8:59 p.m. local time, a Raid Egg may randomly spawn at any Gym, which does not already have a Raid Egg or Raid Boss, with a timer counting down until it hatches. Raid Eggs normally have a one-hour timer, but it may be shortened during certain in-game events. Once the egg hatches, the Raid Boss appears, and a new timer begins counting down until the Raid Boss disappears. Normally, Raid Bosses have a 45-minutes timer, but this can also vary during some in-game events. Effectively, a raid may begin any time from 6:00 a.m. to 9:59 p.m., and the latest a raid may be challenged is 10:44 p.m.
While a Raid Boss is present, a player may join a raid to challenge it by spending one Raid Pass. And during this time, Gym defenders cannot be challenged, cannot be fed Berry treats, and will not experience motivation decay. Players will also not be able to deploy any more Pokémon to defend the Gym.
When a player uses a Raid Pass to join a raid, they enter a lobby with a two-minute countdown (from when the first player in that challenge entered the lobby), after which the Raid Battle immediately begins. While in the lobby, players can choose their team of six Pokémon to battle, use items from their Bag, or invite friends to raid remotely. The game automatically recommends a party to use based on the Raid Boss's weaknesses, as well as resistances against its move set. In the lobby, the player can see the other players currently waiting in that same lobby, along with which teams they belong to and whether their party has any Mega-Evolved Pokémon. Each lobby can hold up to 20 players; once a lobby has 20 players, newly joining players will instead be placed in a separate lobby for a separate challenge of that Raid Boss. If a player specifically chooses to quit a Raid Battle, either from the lobby or after the start of the Raid Battle, they cannot rejoin that same challenge*. Players can also opt to join a private group using a specific group code.
A Raid Pass is not removed from the Bag until the Raid Battle officially commences. After spending a Raid Pass, a player may repeatedly attempt that same raid until either they defeat the Raid Boss or the raid's timer expires. Raid Passes are not refunded if the player fails to complete a raid.
Difficulty
The difficulty of a Raid Battle varies depending on its level (also referred to as its tier or a by a star rating). A raid's difficulty can be seen even before the Raid Boss hatches, and it also determines the Raid Egg's color. A one-star raid typically has a basic Pokémon that can often be defeated by a single player, while five-star raids normally have Legendary Raid Bosses which may require at least several players to work together to defeat. Introduced on August 27, 2020 are Raid Battles featuring Mega-Evolved Raid Bosses of four-star* difficulty, known as a Mega Raid. On May 3, 2022, Raid Battles featuring Legendary Mega-Evolved Raid Bosses of six-star difficulty was introduced, which replaces both Legendary and Mega Raids during this time period.
Raid Bosses of the same tier all have in common a fixed HP value, Attack and Defense multiplier, and time limit for the raid. The following table details the Raid Eggs and values associated with Raid Bosses at each raid level.
Raid Level
Egg
Time limit (s)
Boss HP
Multiplier
180
600
0.5974
3,600*
0.73
300
9,500*
0.79
15,000*
22,500
A Raid Boss's CP, as displayed during the raid, is determined using the standard CP formula. Note that the Attack and Defense multipliers are not factored into this calculation.
where
is a fixed Boss HP value based on the raid level
= base Attack + 15
= base Defense + 15
During certain in-game events, the featured five-star Raid Bosses may use a different HP value than normal. Although still classified as a five-star raid in game and yielding the same rewards, these raids have been given unofficial designations as a result of their significantly affected difficulty:
"Tier 6" raids have 50% more HP than standard tier 5 raids (22,500* HP)
During the Raid Battle, all normal battle techniques from Gym battles are available to the players. The Raid Boss attacks similarly to a Gym defender. As such, when a Raid Boss attacks, the damage is applied to all Pokémon on the battlefield. If a Raid Boss knows Hidden Power, it will always be set to Fighting type. The moves that a Raid Boss knows is randomly selected from its standard move pool and will remain the same throughout the entire raid. Therefore, different lobbies of players challenging the same Raid Boss will all battle against the same move set.
The group of players must defeat the Raid Boss within the time limit, otherwise the Raid Battle is lost. If all six of a player's Pokémon faint, the player is returned to the lobby, where they can heal their Pokémon using items from their Bag and choose six Pokémon to use to reenter the battle with; meanwhile the players who still have conscious Pokémon in their party continue to battle the Raid Boss.
Players who raid with friends may deal extra damage depending on their highest Friendship level with another player. These bonuses are
3% for Good Friends
5% for Great Friends
7% for Ultra Friends
10% for Best Friends
Additionally, if any Mega-Evolved Pokémon are present on the battlefield on the players' side, then every Pokémon will deal bonus damage.
30% for all moves of the same types as any of the Mega-Evolved Pokémon's
10% otherwise for all other moves
Damage bonuses do not stack for having multiple Mega-Evolved Pokémon present at once, and only the highest damage bonus will be used.
Bonus challenge
After being defeated, a Raid Boss will shrink down to normal size and can be captured during the bonus challenge. In Mega Raids, a Mega-Evolved Raid Boss will also revert to its normal form. Its stats will be reduced to normal, powered up to level 20 (or 25 if its type has a Weather Boosted), and like Pokémon hatched from Eggs, it will have random IVs of at least 10 per stat. The moves are also randomly re-rolled, so once captured, the Raid Boss may not necessarily know the same moves it used during the raid. Gender is the only fixed property, so different players winning the same raid will always encounter the Pokémon with the same gender. Raid Bosses have a chance of becoming Shiny during the bonus challenge if its Shiny form is obtainable by encounter. Since March 2018, with the introduction of Shiny Pokémon in Legendary raids, a Shiny Pokémon is guaranteed capture when successfully hit by a Ball.
For the bonus challenge, players are given Premier Balls to capture the defeated Raid Boss. These Premier Balls are the only Poké Balls that can be used, but players may still use Berries from their Bag. If the player runs out of Premier Balls, the Raid Boss will flee, but will not flee otherwise. Even if the player fails to catch the Raid Boss, once they have successfully completed a Raid Battle, they cannot participate in it again.
Each player may receive between 6 and 24 Premier Balls for their bonus challenge, in which amount rewarded depends on the player's individual contribution to damage dealt, highest Friendship level with another participant, whether the Gym was under the player's team's control, and how quickly the raid was completed. Any leftover Premier Balls will be discarded and cannot be used for future raid challenges. In Mega Raids, the speed bonus rewards Mega Energies corresponding to the Raid Boss; all other raids reward bonus Premier Balls instead.
Quantifier
Premier Balls
Boss Defeated
+6
Damage (Individual contribution)
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
+0
+1
+2
+3
+4
Gym Control
+2
Friendship level
Friend
Good Friend
Great Friend
Ultra Friend
Best Friend
+0
+1
+2
+4
Speed (% of time used)
≤100%
<75%
<50%
<25%
<10%
+2
+3
+4
+6
+8
150*
175*
200*
225*
250*
Rewards
Upon completing a first attempt of a raid, participants are rewarded 1,000 regardless of victory. Winning a raid rewards all participants:
The following table was last updated November 15, 2020. It shows the quantity per bundle and an estimated probability based on empirical data.[1]
Since December 5, 2019, four-star raids guarantee a Charged TM as one of the reward bundles.[2] Following the retirement of two- and four-star raids, the prizes for one- and three-star raids have been increased to match what used to be given from two- and four-star raids, respectively. [3]
Six-star Legendary Mega Raids yield the same rewards as four-star Mega Raids.
The number of random bundles rewarded depends on the raid level and scales upward with the number of Premier Balls earned. The following table shows the number of random bundles rewarded based on the Premier Balls earned from:
Damage
Gym Control
Speed (this does not apply to Mega Raids, in which speed does not reward Premier Balls)
Number of random bundles
Premier Balls
+0
×2
×3
×4
×4
+1
×3
×4
×5
×5
+2
×3
×5
×6
×6
+3
×3
×5
×7
×6
+4
×3
×6
×7
×7
+5
×3
×6
×7
×8
+6
×3
×6
×8
×8
+7
×3
×6
×8
+8
×4
×7
×8
+9
×4
×7
×9
+10
×4
×7
×9
+11
×4
×8
×9
+12
×4
×8
×10
+13
×4
×8
×10
+14
×4
×8
×10
Trainer Achievements
This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Mechanics on how/which achievements are awarded
Raid Battle Trainer Achievements is a feature that was added to Raid Battles on June 24, 2021. Upon successfully completing a Raid Battle, a screen will display any individual achievements earned by players during that raid. Trainer Achievements have no effect on the other rewards earned from a raid. Each type of achievement can only be awarded to at most one player, and each player can only earn at most one achievement.
The following lists all the Trainer Achievements that can be awarded from a raid:
Charged and Ready — Performed ___ Charged Attacks
Final Strike — Delivered the final attack
Flush with Friends — Battled with ___ friends in the raid
Hardest Hitter — Dealt ___ damage
Mega Master — Used a Mega-Evolved Pokémon in battle
Raid Buddy — Brought a Buddy Pokémon into battle
Stamina Specialist — Battled for ___ seconds
Style Savant — Dressed to Impress
The Big One — Brought the largest Pokémon into battle
Traveler — Joined from ___ km away
Walk Star — Walked ___ km yesterday before the raid
EX Raids
An EX Raid invitation
Exclusive Raids (abbreviated as EX Raids) are five-star raids that require an EX Raid Pass to join. EX Raid Passes are given out to players that have completed a raid at a chosen EX Raid Gym in the previous week. These EX Raid Gyms are generally situated at sponsored venues or in parks, and they can be identified by an "EX Raid Gym" label on the top right-hand corner of the Gym screen and by a darker green shade on the map. The EX Raid Pass is a one-time offer, and should a player not be present, the pass will expire and disappear from their inventory. During an EX Raid, players without passes cannot see the Egg or Raid Boss, and if they attempt to interact with the Gym, they will be informed that the Gym is closed and will reopen when the EX Raid has ended.
With few exceptions, EX Raids typically occur once every calendar week, on no particular day of the week, with the respective EX Raid Passes automatically distributed at least one week in advance. Each player can only receive one EX Raid Pass per distribution, even if they have raided at multiple Gyms selected for an EX Raid that week.
If a player receives an EX Raid Pass from a scheduled distribution, they may invite only one Ultra Friend to the EX Raid; however, even if the friend declines, they will not be able to issue another invitation. Although a player may hold multiple EX Raid Passes at once, they may only have one EX Raid Pass via invitation at a time. If a player wishes to invite a friend who already has an EX Raid invitation, the game will not allow it until that invitation is first used, expired, or declined. Players also cannot send invitations to EX Raids that have already started.
Very rarely, EX Raids may be cancelled for various reasons (such as a Gym being removed or major real-world incidents). Players with the respective EX Raid Passes usually have been compensated with 50,000 and five Premium Raid Passes. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, EX Raids have been indefinitely suspended since March 2020. Genesect, which was originally scheduled to be the next EX Raid Boss, has since been featured in standard five-star raids instead.
The following lists all the EX Raid Bosses by availability dates in reverse chronological order.
During the Pikachu Outbreak event on August 9–15, 2017, special Raid Bosses were available at Pokémon GO Park events in Japan. These Raid Bosses have not been made available since the event. These were all classified as level 4 Bosses.
Mewtwo was also available as a level 5 Raid Boss during the event on August 14, 2017, at Yokohama Stadium, marking the first time that it had become available to players. Players who win the raid will also receive a minimum of 50 Premier Balls (instead of 6) for their bonus challenge.
Raid Days (also known as Special Raid Challenges) are time-limited events which allow players to defeat a Raid Boss within a three-hour window. Most Gyms during this period of time will have the Boss active for the three hours, and if the Boss is defeated, the Pokémon encounter afterwards will have a 10% chance of becoming Shiny.[4] Players may receive up to five free Raid Passes from Gyms during the three hour window. Raid Days often include event-exclusive moves, which may be known by the featured Pokémon if obtained during the raid hours (including via evolution or capture outside of raids).
Professor Willow's Global Challenge 2018
The first three Raid Challenges, the Legendary birds, were unlocked as part of Professor Willow's Global Challenge 2018, which ran over six days over the period from June 30 to September 2, 2018. As all three parts were successfully completed, all three legendary birds were available to players again from September 13 - 20, 2018 as part of the Ultra Bonus Event.[5]
The times for these raid challenges have so far been held at the same time:
Asia-Pacific: 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. JST (GMT +9)
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. UTC (GMT +0)
The Americas and Greenland: 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. PST (GMT −8)
Lapras was featured for a Raid Day as part of Extraordinary Raid Week 2019. The Lapras Raid Day took place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time on May 25 or, for Asia-Pacific only, May 26, 2019.
For Professor Willow's Global challenge 2019, which ran in conjunction with GO Fest, the Legendary beasts were featured, but without any event-exclusive moves. These Raid Days all took place from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time.[7]
During the Evolution Event, a Raid Day featuring all three stages of the Kantostarter Pokémon took place on December 7, 2019, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time.
A Raid Day featuring Lickitung with the event-exclusive move Body Slam was included as part of the Valentine's Day 2020 event. Any Lickilicky evolved from Lickitung during the event period will also know Body Slam. The Lickitung Raid Day took place on February 15, 2020, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time.
As part of the Pokémon Day 2020 celebration, a Raid Day featuring both Gengar and Nidorino wearing party hats took place on March 1, 2020, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time. Like with the previous Gengar Raid Day, any Gengar caught or evolved into during the event period will know the event-exclusive moves Lick and Psychic.
As part of the Halloween 2020 celebration, a Raid Day featuring Alolan Marowak took place on October 31, 2020, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time. Any Alolan Marowak caught during the event period will know the event-exclusive move Shadow Bone.
As part of the Pokémon Day 2021 celebration, a Raid Day featuring Legendary birds took place on February 28, 2021, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. Any Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres caught during the event period will know the event-exclusive moves Hurricane, Thunder Shock and Sky Attack respectively. During this event players could use Charged TMs on Shadow Pokémon to forget the move Frustration and the appearance of Team GO Rocket grunts at Pokéstops and in balloons was increased.
Legendary Raid Hours were introduced to increase opportunities for more players to participate in Legendary Raids. Initially as an experiment, the event was known as Legendary Lunch Hour, in which level 5 Raid Bosses spawned in many Gyms all at once from 12 p.m. and remained for an entire hour until 1 p.m. After receiving player feedback, the hour was changed to start at 6 p.m. and remain until 7 p.m. Raid Eggs will also spawn with a 20-minute timer before the start of the raids. Only Gyms that do not currently have Raid Bosses or Eggs may spawn a raid for Legendary Raid Hour.
Dialga - Mar. 13, 2019, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. [8]
Giratina (Origin Forme) - Apr. 10, 2019, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. [9]
Latios - Apr. 19, 2019, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (unannounced)
Groudon - May 1, 2019, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (unannounced)
Since June 5, 2019, there has been a Legendary Raid Hour every Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time.[10] Exception were on July 10 and July 31, 2019, when the Raid Hour was skipped due to the Legendary Raid Boss rotating the same day, which would have resulted in different Raid Bosses depending on the time zone. The Raid Hour for Mewtwo, on September 18, 2019, was also cancelled for most nations following reports of raids not appearing in New Zealand and appearing 30 minutes ahead of schedule in South Australia and Northern Territory; a makeup date was rescheduled for October 8, 2019, with players being able to obtain two additional free Raid Passes during the hour.
Due to the gathering restrictions put into effect because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Raid Hour on March 18, 2020, was cancelled, and no Raid Hours took place until May 6.
Updates
On February 3, 2019, the HP of three-, four-, and five-star Raid Bosses were increased by 20%. This adjustment was made to account for the recently increased multiplier for super effective moves.
On August 27, 2020, Raid Battles have been consolidated from five levels to three; level 2 Raid Bosses were added to the level 1 pool, and level 4 Raid Bosses were added to the level 3 pool.[11]
On September 3, 2020, the amount of Mega Energies earned from a Mega Raid was significantly increased.[12]
A Raid Battle was first seen in Legend? Go! Friends? Go!, where a group of Trainers, including Ash, teamed up to battle a Lugia that appeared in Vermilion City. However, Lugia was able to easily withstand all of the attacks thrown at it and defeat its opponents with little effort.
icon indicates Raid Bosses that have a chance of becoming Shiny during the bonus challenge.
