"Soloing tier 2 raids with a single attacker"

#PokemonGO: Here’s a bit of a challenge for you if you’re getting bored of the tier 2 raids: try defeating the boss with a single attacker. It is possible for most of the tier 2 bosses with different movesets if you at least dodge their charge attacks. For the writeup below, I’m relying on PokeBattler simulations and findings for boss stats.Electabuzz (Atk: 142, Def: 125, Quick: Low Kick/Thunder Shock, Charge: Thunder Punch/Thunderbolt/Thunder)Electabuzz should be relatively easy to solo with a single attacker. As an electric type, it’s weak to ground types, and counters like Rhydon and Golem double resist electric attacks. Low Kick as a fighting move does cause Rhydon and Golem a bit of a hassle as it’s super effective against rock types, so Thunder Shock should be the easier move to attack into. Thunder Shock is a terrible defensive move with its base 5 attack (6 with STAB). Your main enemy is not normally the timer in tier 2 raids, so you want to be facing defenders with weak moves if you want to succeed with a single attacker.Out of the potential charge moves, Thunder should be the most predictable and easiest to dodge, but Thunder Punch doesn’t do much damage against ground and ground/rock type counters. With level 30 attackers, if you dodge all specials successfully, there’s a decent number of attackers that could take down an Electabuzz with Thunder Shock/Thunder Punch. All of the attackers listed here, including Rhydon and Golem, with “Power” > 100% should be able to take down the Electabuzz by themselves by just dodging specials. Mostly, the list contains major ground type attackers, but tanky Snorlax, high DPS Dragonite, and Venusaur (remember, grass resists electric for some reason…tell that to trees hit by lightning bolts) all appear capable.Exeggutor (Atk: 166, Def: 115, Quick: Bullet Seed/Extrasensory, Charge: Psychic/Seed Bomb/Solar Beam)Exeggutor is probably the easiest to take down with a single attacker if you have a good Scizor or bug type attacker and you’re facing a grass move Exeggutor. Scizor double resists grass type attacks, and if the Scizor has bug type moves, it will deal double super effective damage into the tier 2 boss with the lowest defense. In fact, with perfect dodging of all moves, a 100% IV Scizor level 39 with Fury Cutter/X-Scissor could theoretically take on almost three boss Exeggutors by itself under the right circumstances. Within level 30 attackers, even a single 1661 CP Venemoth with bug moves could overpower a Bullet Seed/Seed Bomb Exeggutor. That would be a sight to see.Magmar (Atk: 148, Def: 123, Quick: Ember/Karate Chop, Charge: Fire Punch/Flamethrower/Fire Blast)Magmar is practically a sibling to Electabuzz in many ways (nest species, has a baby introduced in gen 2, evolves in gen 4, used to be a terrible 10km egg hatch, gets one quick move of its type and one fighting quick move, has 1-3 bar charge moves of its type, consecutive Pokedex numbers, name gives away its type, has a tail). Much of the story for Magmar is the same as Electabuzz: ground types are a potential counter if it has Ember. The “Punch” move (Fire Punch) hits pretty weakly compared to Flamethrower or Fire Blast. But water tanks like Vaporeon now counter Magmar’s fire typing. Vaporeon excels if Magmar has Karate Chop and is even a better option than Rhydon or Golem for survivability against Ember Magmar.Muk (Atk: 137, Def: 133, Quick: Poison Jab/Infestation, Charge: Dark Pulse/Gunk Shot/Sludge Wave)Usually, Muk is seen as a bulky and reliable defender, but with the HP of all tier 2 bosses seemingly identical, it does not seem like the hardest tier 2 raid boss. I’ve taken down a Poison Jab/Sludge Wave Muk with a single >3,000 CP Rhydon (Mud Slap/Earthquake). Theoretically, even if you dodge only specials, it is still beatable with a single ground move Rhydon or Golem even with level 30 attackers. Rhydon and Golem both benefit from their double resistance to poison attacks while hitting back with super effective ground moves. Muks with Infestation/Dark Pulse will be much harder to take down, but still barely doable with Snorlax at level 30 only dodging specials.Weezing (Atk: 126, Def: 158, Quick: Tackle/Infestation, Charge: Dark Pulse/Shadow Ball/Sludge Bomb)Weezing doesn’t have a stellar reputation as a defender normally, but it’s potentially the strongest tier 2 raid boss because of its high defense statistic, lack of counters that have twice super effective moves against it, and good pool of 2 bar charge moves. Rhydon and Golem don’t resist Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball, and Sludge Bomb hits fairly quickly and is hard to dodge. All of the Weezing that I’ve fought have had Infestation, but a Tackle Weezing might be fairly easy to take down with one attacker as long as you can dodge the charge attacks since Rhyhorn and Golem both resist normal attacks. An Infestation/Shadow Ball Weezing might be a challenge for a single attacker even for top players even if you perfectly dodge all moves. Tyranitar might be able to take it with a little HP to spare, and the other two options are Rhydon and Ursaring (!).EDIT: Thanks to /u/Vandegroen , /u/Tesla__Coil , and /u/NidoJack for pointing out that ground doesn't resist fire, so Golem and Rhydon don't actually have double resistance to Magmar's fire attacks. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2t7a7KX