SwSh Max Raid Battle Discussion

[Phosphene]

From what I've seen, there's no thread to discuss Max Raid battles and things like strategies and tips so I decided to make one.

Stuff:

1) If you fail to catch a Pokemon from a raid, you can soft reset and try again. Just make sure to save outside the den. I'd like to note, however, that you cannot soft reset to change things like nature, gender, or shinyness. You will get the same Pokemon every time.

2) Dusk and Repeat Balls are better than Ultra Balls when catching Gigantamax Pokemon from what I've seen. I've had Pokemon break out of Ultra Balls more often than Dusk Balls. Serebii has tables with the different encounter rates for online and offline raids.

3) Wobbufett is literally the worst Pokemon an NPC can use. If you see one, just know that it will be dead weight the entire battle.

4) The Galar legendaries cannot Dynamax to my knowledge.

5) Dynamax Cannon, a special Dragon-type move with 5 PP that can be learned by Eternatus, has 100 base power but doubles to 200 BP when used against a Dynamaxed Pokemon. That appears to be stronger than your average Max Move, which seem to be around the 130-110 BP range.

6) Behemoth Blade/Bash are Steel-type physical variants of Dynamax Cannon that Zacian and Zamazenta can use. However, you must have them know Iron Head while they hold the Rusted Sword or Shield] respectively in order to use the move. Like with Eternatus, I don't know if the z-wolves are worth using over a regular Pokemon that can Dynamax.

 

[Esserise]

Since only one player can Dynamax through the whole thing, and neither the wolves nor Eternatus can, generally it is good to have at least one person with one of them around packing their Dynamax counter moves. They really do eat away a nice chunk of damage, even when a barrier is up. And obviously it won't apply in every case, but the wolves are pretty fast so often I find that this happens: I move first and land Behemoth Blade, take out a chunk of health, and the boss immediately throws up a barrier, which then gets two bars taken out by whoever Dynamaxed's Max Move and up to two more by the other Trainers if they choose offensive moves. We get through the barrier phases pretty efficiently that way.

I've actually managed to solo two 5-star raids (against Mr. Rime and Darmanitan, so I did have type advantage, but still) using my Zacian.

 

[Cute Charm]

I find max raids fun.

I hope for people to join the ones I initiate and also stop locking Gigantamax raids one day.

 

[CynthiaLover]

I like Max Raid Battles. Not only is it a cool way to battle, as you have to work as a team, thus you need to coordinate with your allies, but you get multiple rewards whether you catch the Mon or not. My only complaint is that the AI Trainers are horribly outclassed and suffer from a very bad case of artificial stupidity, especially in higher-level Raids, while the opposing AI is pretty smart. Since I live in a rural area with very little interaction with other potential players, I'm stuck using AI allies for Max Raid Battles.

While I do have a second Switch (a Switch Lite, to be exact, thanks to a relative), I don't have either Shield or another copy of Sword, so I'm out of luck (at least until after the holidays, anyway). And now that I have access to 5-Star Raids, more often than not, I get lousy AI Trainers that get utterly creamed, forcing me to restart and pray that the RNG gods give me a bit of good luck for a change. I've only caught 4 5-Star Max Raid Mons (G-Max Butterfree, Pangoro, Glalie, and Hawlucha, all of which I had some form of advantage over), while every other has been complete and total crushing defeats thanks to the dumb ally AI and RNG, even forcing me to abandon those battles entirely because of the AI. I know it's GF's way of "encouraging" players to meet up and do Max Raid Battles together, but not everyone has that luxury. Granted, I've never tried searching for other players via NOS, so I don't know if that'll mitigate my issue, but like I said before, my area is rather rural and out-of-the-way, so unless I get lucky or the internet is able to get around it, I'm out of luck.

But, overall, I like Max Raid Battles. The strategy, planning, and great rewards make them almost addicting. I just hope that a patch or update will come later down the road and "fix" the ally AI issue so it gives people in rural/quiet areas better chances of success.

 

[Phosphene]

And now that I have access to 5-Star Raids, more often than not, I get lousy AI Trainers that get utterly creamed, forcing me to restart and pray that the RNG gods give me a bit of good luck for a change.

This is the main reason why I don't like raids. I don't have the online subscription so I am forced to play with terrible underleveled AIs that often have useless Pokemon (ex: Maractus in an Unfezent raid), which makes the higher star battles very frustrating. I almost feel that GameFreak purposely made the NPCs awful in order to encourage people to buy the online service. I mean, Wobbufett and Togepi should have never even been considered as possible ally Pokemon for example.

Improve the AIs and that would fix a lot of the grievances I have with raids.

 

[CynthiaLover]

This is the main reason why I don't like raids. I don't have the online subscription so I am forced to play with terrible underleveled AIs that often have useless Pokemon (ex: Maractus in an Unfezent raid), which makes the higher star battles very frustrating. I almost feel that GameFreak purposely made the NPCs awful in order to encourage people to buy the online service. I mean, Wobbufett and Togepi should have never even been considered as possible ally Pokemon for example.

Improve the AIs and that would fix a lot of the grievances I have with raids.

Like I said, that's my only real complaint. And it's a pretty big one, too. Improving the ally AI's smarts would be a huge boon, or at least letting their Mons evolve and become stronger as the Raids get tougher. I mean, a Trainer who has a Wishiwashi gets access to its Schooling ability around the time you beat Kabu, as before it's in its pathetic normal state for the early Raids, so why can't the other AI trainers "improve" their Mons in a similar fashion? Like let the little kid Trainer's Magikarp evolve into a Gyarados by the time you get to the 3-to-5 Star Raids, or have said Togepi become a Togekiss by that point. It's not a bad idea to allow that, now is it? The Wobbufett trainer in particular needs an upgrade, as the AI seems to have no clue on how to use it and just uses its moves at random (well, more random than normal, anyway). While I do have an online service (thanks to aforementioned relative, as he gave me his FC along with the Switch Lite as a gift), I don't know if that'll alleviate my issue when it comes to having real players join in or not. Some of my 5-Star Raid Battles ended up having very good luck for a change (the Glalie battle gave me Heatmor, Torkoal, and, to a lesser extent, Eevee, and I used my Cinderace, giving me a HUGE advantage for a change), but others have been either total failures or outright abandoned because of dumb ally AI/smart enemy AI. So, I hope GF gets the message (which they rarely do) and use an update patch to fix that issue, otherwise late-game raids will be almost impossible for players like you and me due to isolated areas/lack of NOS. One can only hope, as I'm getting sick of skipping certain Max Raid Battles (which often have G-Max Mons) because I'm stuck with the horrid AI.

 

[Knightwolf09]

Gotta say the AIs partners are a bit of a peeve of mine too. It's like the system is punishing you for not having online friends by giving you ones that have no benefit. Heck they never even evolve their prevolved pokemon or at least get better ones. And what I'm sure is on purpose. At least one ally is weak to the opposing mon, almost guaranteeing a KO. Raids were definitely not made to play solo.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Gotta say the AIs partners are a bit of a peeve of mine too. It's like the system is punishing you for not having online friends by giving you ones that have no benefit. Heck they never even evolve their prevolved pokemon or at least get better ones. And what I'm sure is on purpose. At least one ally is weak to the opposing mon, almost guaranteeing a KO. Raids were definitely not made to play solo.

That's pretty much the problem in a nutshell. Your "help" is more of a liability, while the opposing AI is pretty smart and knows how to make your life miserable. It really does feel like the game is punishing you for not having any "real" friends to do Raids with. As they say, "With friends like that, who needs enemies", which perfectly sums up the ally AI.

 

[Esserise]

Greetings, Trainers! Today I would like to ask, as a public service, that if you happen to spot a Gigantamax Raid, or any raid really, hosted graciously by someone with an Eternatus and also joined by a handsome fellow in possession of the most staggeringly tough yet remarkably adorable Coalossal, can you like... maybe not roll up with a T-tar and start spamming Earthquake?

 

[BlueWaves]

I don't see a dedicated thread, but here's the thread to discuss Max Raid Battles. Thanks to Serebii, we now have the game's max raid catch rates:

That includes online and offline multiplayer. So much for doing these in groups.

 

[Cute Charm]

Raids are pretty much the only thing I feel like they dropped the ball with.

Like they had the potential to be something great and to bring in a non-pvp multiplayer aspect to the games and then...that happened. I mean why include catch rates and not make a special new ball for the new mechanic? Why make the notifications overly happy instead of "Noooo, I failed!" And broadcast your cheerful failure to the random people that are receiving notifications from the broken servers?

They had forever to think about this, and yet it's still broken and could been executed much, much better.

 

[Sakuraa]

Oh, the catch rate in offline is naturally 100%....so that's why I was always able to catch everything I've found, including 2 Gigantmax Corviknight and a Gigantamax Centiscorch. I thought I was just lucky. Now I'm a bit disappointed.

 

[Esserise]

Making the offline catch rate 100% feels very backwards to me. I can kinda see where they're coming from - beating a 5-star raid on your own with the phenomenally shitty AI partners they usually supply you with is no easy feat. But Max Raids are so clearly meant to be a multiplayer feature. That's what I love most about them, that they let me battle and interact with other players in a non-PvP setting. And yet they make you less likely (drastically so in the case of Gigantamax forms) to catch what it is you're working with other people in order to take down? Sure, it's easier when you have real partners with good Pokémon... but it's also more fun, until you fail to catch yet another Gigantamax (and now you'll always know that the host had a considerable statistical favor and that you were just a stepping stone to their success). And now, why wait for someone else to spot a G-Max Pokémon that you'll only have a meager chance of catching, when you could instead just do soft-resets until you brute force your way through one on your own game with a 100% catch rate?

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

until you brute force your way through one on your own game with a 100% catch rate?

Maybe they thought making it ridiculously difficult to achieve as a single player would “balance” the situation?

 

[CynthiaLover]

So, unless it's a "special event" type Mon for a Max Raid Battle (like Butterfree, Corviknight in Shield, Drednaw in Sword, and now Snorlax), every catch offline is 100%? Then how come I failed to catch a 5-Star G-Max Sandaconda a while back? Repeatedly, mind, as I tried seven times in that one particular Max Raid Battle, and failed all seven times, eventually just taking the other rewards and moving on. I'm not usually one to doubt Serebii, as he's usually always right, but I'm not sure if those numbers are 100% correct, as I'm not the only one who as failed a Max Raid Battle catch outside of "special event" Mons. I've even seen a few Youtube Let's Play videos showcasing failed Max Raid Battle catches. While 99% of other Max Raid Battles I've done have ended in victory (outside of special event Mons), there have still been a few that didn't end in a successful catch, like my aforementioned Sandaconda or a Centiscorch I tried to catch earlier today. I'm not sure if those numbers are completely accurate, at least for offline. I've never done online or multiplayer, so I can't confirm anything there, but I'm not sure the offline data is correct, as, to my knowledge, there have been a few reported Max Raid catch failures, myself included. They might want to look those numbers over again just to be sure, as I've seen and heard of other catch failures in offline Max Raid Battles.

 

[Esserise]

So, unless it's a "special event" type Mon for a Max Raid Battle (like Butterfree, Corviknight in Shield, Drednaw in Sword, and now Snorlax), every catch offline is 100%? Then how come I failed to catch a 5-Star G-Max Sandaconda a while back? Repeatedly, mind, as I tried seven times in that one particular Max Raid Battle, and failed all seven times, eventually just taking the other rewards and moving on. I'm not usually one to doubt Serebii, as he's usually always right, but I'm not sure if those numbers are 100% correct, as I'm not the only one who as failed a Max Raid Battle catch outside of "special event" Mons. I've even seen a few Youtube Let's Play videos showcasing failed Max Raid Battle catches. While 99% of other Max Raid Battles I've done have ended in victory (outside of special event Mons), there have still been a few that didn't end in a successful catch, like my aforementioned Sandaconda or a Centiscorch I tried to catch earlier today. I'm not sure if those numbers are completely accurate, at least for offline. I've never done online or multiplayer, so I can't confirm anything there, but I'm not sure the offline data is correct, as, to my knowledge, there have been a few reported Max Raid catch failures, myself included. They might want to look those numbers over again just to be sure, as I've seen and heard of other catch failures in offline Max Raid Battles.

I'm a little confused by the data as well, but a different aspect of it. Today, Serebii put up this page, laying out the contents of "event dens." I'm not sure what exactly that means, but it seems to me that maybe the two ongoing events consist of more than just increases in G-Max Butterfree, Drednaw, Corviknight, and Snorlax? I have noticed and thought it was odd that several times now, I've spotted G-Max Sandaconda in dens that they aren't normally listed as appearing in (specifically, they are listed there as appearing in two dens in the Dusty Bowl, but I found one just last night in the den that's next to the entrance to Motostoke). Perhaps the ones you weren't able to catch were at these "event dens" and thus did not fall under the "standard" Gigantamax catch rate?

 

[CynthiaLover]

I'm a little confused by the data as well, but a different aspect of it. Today, Serebii put up this page, laying out the contents of "event dens." I'm not sure what exactly that means, but it seems to me that maybe the two ongoing events consist of more than just increases in G-Max Butterfree, Drednaw, Corviknight, and Snorlax? I have noticed and thought it was odd that several times now, I've spotted G-Max Sandaconda in dens that they aren't normally listed as appearing in (specifically, they are listed there as appearing in two dens in the Dusty Bowl, but I found one just last night in the den that's next to the entrance to Motostoke). Perhaps the ones you weren't able to catch were at these "event dens" and thus did not fall under the "standard" Gigantamax catch rate?

I doubt it. Otherwise explain the Centiscorch that I failed to catch today. It wasn't even a G-Max Centiscorch, just a run-of-the-mill one, and after five attempts (with a few extra soft-resets due to bad AI roulette luck), I still didn't get it, forcing me to give up on it. I dunno 'bout you, but I think Serebii needs to run those numbers through the calculator again, since it can't be 100% success rate if it's capable of failing. As for these "event dens" stuff, I doubt it plays a role except with the previously mentioned "event" Mons, especially since these "event dens" have very little, if any, backbone information on them. Besides, in my playthrough, when it came to that 5-Star Sandaconda, it was the very same den that I caught my previous G-Max Sandaconda, yet I caught the first one without fail while the second one was a seven-time failure, even when I used a Repeat Ball for extra reassurance. Unless these "event dens" get more info on them to explain and prove their "role", I think that those calculations are off and need some reevaluating.

 

[Phosphene]

I don't see a dedicated thread, but here's the thread to discuss Max Raid Battles.

After scrolling through the SwSh threads, it seems there already is a thread for Max Raid Battles.

@colours should there be a merge between this thread and the other Max Raid discussion thread?

 

[colours]

After scrolling through the SwSh threads, it seems there already is a thread for Max Raid Battles.

@colours should there be a merge between this thread and the other Max Raid discussion thread?

done

also notifying OP of this @BlueWaves

 

[Couple's Consoling]

Oh, the catch rate in offline is naturally 100%....so that's why I was always able to catch everything I've found, including 2 Gigantmax Corviknight and a Gigantamax Centiscorch. I thought I was just lucky. Now I'm a bit disappointed.

Wait, really? Huuuuuuuuh. Wow. I mean, feels kind of weird, but given how HARD some offline max raid battles can be, I think this is... actually kind of balanced. If you can deal with having a magikarp and a solrock on your team and still take down a 5 star gigantamax, you DESERVE that catch.