Tera Raids in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are similar to the raids in the Sword and Shield games where trainers team up with others to fight and defeat a Terastallized monster.
You can go up against Terastallized pocket monsters throughout the Paldea region. However, the ones you will encounter in Tera Raids will be extra powerful and will require you to work with your teammates to win.
You should take a Pokemon that is good at hitting hard while being able to tank some damage when playing solo. However, things are slightly different when you are playing with a premade team in the online mode. In such an environment, you will want to have a team with strong supports along with heavy hitters.
This is especially important because, unlike solo raids, raiding as a team will involve a reduction in raid time every time your or your teammates' Pokemon faints. Therefore, you will want critters that can heal HP and status conditions of the squad while also inflicting them on the Raid Boss.
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This guide will give you a list of five Pokemon that can perform brilliantly as a support for your team in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Tera Raids.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's views.
Chansey, Slowbro, and 3 other Pokemon that shine as supports in Scarlet and Violet's Tera Raids
1) Chansey
Chansey is one of the best supporting pocket monsters to take into Tera Raids. It is exceptionally bulky and performs best when 252 EVs are put in its HP and Defense stat.
Chansey will be very difficult to knock out and it will constantly provide support to your team. Having an Eviolite on Chansey will give a 1.5x boost to both its defensive stats.
Its hidden ability, Healer, has a 30% chance of healing its allies' status conditions during the battle. Natural Cure is also a good power, but won't be all that useful because Chansey will not be switching out.
As for the moveset, having Light Screen, Life Dew, Helping Hand, and Charm will make it the perfect support.
2) Slowbro
Slowbro is a Water-Psychic type that can make excellent use of Tera Water during Raid battles as it does away with more than half of its weaknesses. It is best to build it up as a tank with 252 EVs in HP and Defense, in order to absorb damage while it chips down at the opponent's health and attacking power.
In terms of moves, Yawn, Chilling Water, Psychic, and Rest are excellent choices for Slowbro. Yawn will put the opponent to sleep while Rest will bring Slowbro up to full health and put it to sleep. Chesto Berry is a good item to have as it wakes the Pokemon up immediately after using Rest.
Chilling Water and Psychic are both STAB attacks with the former even reducing the opponent's Attack stat by a single stage every time it hits.
3) Polteageist
Polteageist is a Ghost-type Pokemon introduced in Generation IX. The ideal Tera typing for it will depend on who you are going up against, and like the others, will mostly come in handy as a defensive option.
The Clear Amulet will protect it from getting any of the stats it boosts from being lowered by an enemy's abilities. You should put 252 EVs in its HP and Special Attack, and have the ability Weak Armor.
Poleteageist's moveset in this build will have Skill Swap, Strength Sap, Nasty Plot, and Shadow Ball. Its strength lies in using a turn one Skill Swap that will exchange your Weak Armor ability for your opponent's. This is particularly useful in taking away abilities like Defiant, from the likes of Kingambit, which boost the creature's stats instead of lowering them when hit by a stat-lowering move.
Strength Sap will help you regain HP and a STAB Shadow Ball after a couple of turns of Nasty Plot will do an immense amount of damage.
4) Bellibolt
Bellibolt is an Electric-type Pokemon that can be used as a supportive special attacker. It has really good HP that is perfected by the 252 EVs that you should put in that slot along with its Special Attack.
Its moveset involves Slack Off, Electric Terrain, Acid Spray, and Discharge. Slack Off helps Bellibolt recover HP after it has taken some damage. Setting up Electric Terrain means no pocket monster on the field can fall asleep, while also boosting the power of Electric-type moves.
Hitting opponents with Acid Spray before hitting them with your STAB special attacks will cause even more damage due to the two-stage special defense fall. Giving it the Expert Belt will boost its STAB moves' powers by 20% if they are super-effective.
5) Grimmsnarl
This Dark/Fairy type from the Galar region is an excellent supporting Pokemon, and it can also hit sufficiently hard when in a fix, given its excellent Attack stats. For a supportive build, it is best to divide the EVs as 252 for HP, 116 for Defense, and 140 for Special Defense in order to make it last the longest time on the battle field.
Grimmsnarl's moveset for this build has Misty Terrain, Reflect, Fake Tears, and Spirit Break. Misty Terrain protects all allies from all status conditions and having the Pokemon hold a Terrain Expander will make it last for eight instead of five rounds, unless overruled by some other terrain.
Reflect boosts your and your allies' defenses and Fake Tears lowers the same for your opponent. Spirit Break goes through the Raid Boss' shield and lowers their Special Attack. Since Grimmsnarl is quite slow, having the Prankster ability is important to make sure your non-damaging moves gain added priority.
All of these Pokemon can do extremely well in absorbing attacks while providing utility to their allies. Using them in online Tera Raids against strong Raid Bosses will give you and your allies a considerable boost in your win rate.
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