What is the best moveset for Ho-Oh in Pokemon GO? (March 2023)

As part of Pokemon GO's Festival of Colors, Ho-Oh has been sighted as a five-star raid boss. Due to this, plenty of trainers have been able to battle and capture the Legendary Pokemon from the Johto region.

Thanks to its exceptional maximum defense and attack stats, Ho-Oh can be quite useful in battles in Pokemon GO. It can be a solid attacker in PvE formats like raids, but Ho-Oh's durability gives it even more viability in PvP arenas, particularly the Ultra and Master Leagues.

As a Legendary Pokemon, Ho-Oh also benefits from a diverse collection of moves to help give it a leg up over the competition.

But which moveset is ideal for Ho-Oh in Pokemon GO? The answer may depend on a few factors.

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Ho-Oh's optimal movesets in Pokemon GO for March 2023

Ho-Oh has access to many different move types in Pokemon GO battles (Image via Niantic)

Depending on whether a trainer wishes to use Ho-Oh in PvE or PvP battles, they'll probably need a different moveset for it. This is due to the nature of both formats, as PvE opponents tend to be easier to predict and counter than in PvP bouts.

As a result, Ho-Oh tends to need a moveset with more elemental type coverage in PvP than it normally would in PvE, where a Pokemon GO player can selectively use Ho-Oh as a hard counter to a raid boss, set of gym defenders or Team GO Rocket foe.

Recommended movesets for Ho-Oh in Pokemon GO

• PvE - Hidden Power (Flying) and Brave Bird. Alternatively, use Incinerate and Brave Bird or Incinerate and Sacred Fire, depending on the opponent.
• PvP - Incinerate, Brave Bird, and Earthquake. Alternatively, use Incinerate, Brave Bird, and Sacred Fire.

As players may have noticed, one of Ho-Oh's strengths is its ability to utilize various different attacks of distinct elemental types. As a Flying/Fire-type in Pokemon GO, Ho-Oh benefits the most when using Flying and Fire-type moves, as their damage is increased when used by Ho-Oh thanks to the Same Type Attacker Bonus (STAB). However, a different strategy is called for when this Legendary Pokemon is used in PvP.

Simply put, Ho-Oh can still deal quality damage with a mono-type moveset in PvP, but the unpredictability of opponents can be a problem. To avoid being hard countered, players can dip into other move types to give Ho-Oh an edge in PvP.

Specifically, Earthquake stands out in particular, as it's capable of countering both Electric and Rock-type opponents, both of which deal super effective damage to Ho-Oh. Rock-types are a problem in particular, as Ho-Oh is twice as weak to Rock-type attacks since it's a Fire/Flying-type.

This just leaves Water-type opponents and moves as the sole primary problem for Ho-Oh in PvP. Unfortunately, nothing in Ho-Oh's collection of learnable moves can counter Water-types.

However, a trainer who knows how to formulate a quality team can bolster Ho-Oh by pairing it with a switch Pokemon capable of countering Water-type enemies. This Pokemon obviously depends on the PvP format being played, but wise trainers can cover up Ho-Oh's weaknesses as much as possible while keeping it on the battlefield.