Pokémon GO Type Chart: Every Strength and Weakness Explained

Every decision in Pokémon GO — which attacker to bring to a raid, which moves to invest TMs in, how to build your GO Battle League team — comes back to one thing: type matchups.

The catch is that Pokémon GO uses different multipliers than the main-series games. The 2× super effective you know from Sword and Shield becomes 1.6× here. Ghost-type attacks don’t fully shut out Normal-type defenders — they deal heavily reduced but non-zero damage. If you’re applying main-series knowledge directly, you’re missing nuance that makes a real difference in raids and Battle League.

This guide covers the complete 18-type chart, the exact multipliers the game uses, how STAB stacks with type advantage, double weaknesses worth targeting in raids, and how types shape the GO Battle League meta. If you want the full system overview, pair this with the complete Pokémon GO guide.

How Type Effectiveness Works in Pokémon GO

Every attack carries a type, and the game applies a damage multiplier based on how that attacking type interacts with the defending Pokémon’s type or types. Dual-type defenders calculate each type separately and multiply the results together — which is how double weaknesses happen.

Pokémon GO uses a modified multiplier system, not the classic numbers from the handhelds:^[1]

Niantic updated these multipliers in December 2018 when PvP launched and they’ve been stable ever since.^[2]

One important distinction: there are no true immunities in Pokémon GO. In the main series, Ghost-type moves deal zero damage to Normal-type Pokémon. In Pokémon GO, that becomes 0.391× — roughly one-third of normal damage. A Snorlax can technically take chip damage from Shadow Ball; it just takes very little. This applies to all main-series immunities: Ground vs. Flying, Electric vs. Ground, Psychic vs. Dark, Poison vs. Steel, Normal vs. Ghost, and Fighting vs. Ghost all become 0.391× in Pokémon GO rather than zero.^[1]

STAB — The 20% Bonus That Adds Up Fast

STAB stands for Same-Type Attack Bonus. When a Pokémon uses an attack that matches one of its own types, it deals 1.2× damage — a 20% boost on top of everything else.^[3]

Combined with type effectiveness, STAB meaningfully increases your damage output:

For example: Machamp is a Fighting-type using Cross Chop (a Fighting-type move) against a Rock-type defender. That’s 1.2× STAB × 1.6× super effective = 1.92× total. A Slowbro using the exact same Cross Chop gets only 1.6× — no STAB bonus.

This is why you almost always want your raid attackers to have STAB on their moves. A fully powered Mamoswine using Ice Shard and Avalanche (both Ice-type) against a Dragon/Flying raid boss gets 3.07× — nearly triple base damage, and enough to dramatically shorten the fight.

The Complete Pokémon GO Type Chart

The chart below shows effectiveness for each type used as an attacking type. The Near-Immune column (0.391×) marks former main-series immunities — in Pokémon GO these deal very little but still non-zero damage.^[4]

A few standouts to keep in mind:

• Normal hits nothing super effectively — the worst offensive type in the game.
• Steel has the most resistances (10 types deal reduced damage to it), making it the strongest defensive type in PvP.
• Ground has a near-immunity to Flying — Ground-type moves deal only 0.391× against Flying defenders, which is why Flying Pokémon need non-Ground counters.
• Psychic effectively can’t hurt Dark-types — 0.391× is barely noticeable. Don’t TM a Psychic charged move for any Pokémon you plan to use in PvP metas with Dark-type opponents.
• Ghost and Dark both hit Psychic super effectively, making them the premier Psychic-raid counter types.

Double Weaknesses — The Biggest Raid Opportunities

When a Pokémon has two types that share the same weakness, the multipliers stack: 1.6× × 1.6× = 2.56×. Combined with STAB, an attacker dealing a double-weakness hit reaches 3.07× base damage — nearly triple what a neutral attacker does.

Double weaknesses are the single best edge to exploit in raids. If you can field six attackers with STAB hitting a double weakness, you’ll clear in roughly half the time of a standard counter team.

Ice is the most relevant double-weakness type to build for — Dragon/Flying legendaries (Rayquaza, Dragonite, Salamence) rotate through raids constantly, and they all take 2.56× from Ice moves. Building a team of six Mamoswine or Shadow Mamoswine pays off more consistently than almost any other type investment.^[5]

Best Offensive Types for Raids in 2026

Not all types are equally useful in the raid meta. These five cover the widest range of bosses:

Ground — Hits Fire, Electric, Poison, Rock, and Steel super effectively — five targets, the most of any type. Primal Groudon remains the apex Ground attacker and among the highest-DPS options in the entire game. If you’re investing stardust in one type coverage, Ground delivers the broadest return.

Water — Three super-effective targets (Fire, Ground, Rock) plus excellent bulk and wide availability. Primal Kyogre and Shadow Swampert are the benchmarks. Water covers Ground-type raid bosses that would otherwise wall Electric teams.

Ice — Ice’s value is almost entirely about Dragon-slaying, but Dragons dominate the legendary raid rotation year-round (Rayquaza, Garchomp, Dragonite, Salamence, Landorus), and most carry a secondary Flying or Ground type that creates a double weakness. Mamoswine is the budget pick; Shadow Mamoswine is the investment pick.

Rock — Hits Flying, Bug, Fire, and Ice. Rock teams almost never have a wasted slot because Flying-type legendaries are among the most common raid bosses. Rampardos has absurd attack for a non-legendary; Shadow Rhyperior brings bulk and durability alongside similar DPS.

Fighting — Hits Normal, Ice, Rock, Dark, and Steel. The Steel and Dark coverage is particularly valuable against legendary Pokémon with Steel as a secondary type and against Dark-type raids. Lucario, Conkeldurr, and Terrakion are the meta picks.

In my experience raiding regularly, building three or four powered-up Mamoswine is the single best preparation investment for the year — Dragon-type legendary rotations are almost guaranteed to come around quarterly, and having the double-weakness counter ready saves stardust, remote raid passes, and lobby time.

Type Strategy in GO Battle League

PvP is a different game from raids. Raw DPS determines raid winners; in GO Battle League, type matchups interact with shielding decisions, energy generation speed, and Pokémon bulk. Some types that underperform in raids dominate PvP because of their resistance profiles.^[6]

Ghost and Dark are premier PvP types because of one interaction: Psychic attacks, which many PvP Pokémon rely on, deal only 0.391× to Dark-types and 0.625× to Ghost-types. This makes Umbreon, Giratina, and Gengar survivable against a large portion of the meta. Shadow Ball (Ghost) and Foul Play (Dark) are two of the strongest charged moves in any league.

Steel walls almost everything. With 10 resistances, Steel-type Pokémon tank damage that would KO most other types. Bastiodon (Rock/Steel) is a fixture in Great League specifically because it outlasts opponents on sheer durability. Registeel and Steelix fill similar roles in higher leagues.

Fairy provides a near-immunity to Dragon (Dragon-type attacks deal only 0.391× against Fairy defenders), which counters the Dragon-heavy attackers that dominate Ultra and Master League. Togekiss and Sylveon are consistent presences at those levels.

One practical note on Psychic in PvP: If you’re building a team for a league where Dark-types are common — Umbreon in Great League, Obstagoon in Great or Ultra, Darkrai in Master — Psychic charged moves are nearly useless. Save those TMs for matchups where they count. The dark type counters guide covers the best options for facing Dark-type opponents, and the flying type counters guide covers the Flying matchup in detail.

Quick Reference — Counters by Raid Boss Type

Conclusion

Type effectiveness is one of those systems that rewards players who understand it at a deeper level than “Fire beats Grass.” Once you know that STAB combined with a double weakness gives you 3.07× damage, that Psychic attacks are functionally dead against Dark-types, and that no true immunities exist in Pokémon GO, your team-building decisions stop being guesses and start being math.

The quick reference tables above will carry you through most raid situations. Build a Mamoswine or two for Dragon raids, a Rhyperior or Rampardos for Flying bosses, and a solid Fighting team for Steel legendaries — that covers the majority of the yearly rotation. For PvP, remember that Steel, Ghost, and Dark types earn their place in the meta not just through damage output but through the resistance profiles that keep them standing longer than everything else on the field.

References

1. Niantic. “Type Effectiveness in Battle.” Pokémon GO Help Center, 2024.
2. GamePress. “Type Effectiveness Multiplier Change.” GamePress Pokémon GO, 2024.
3. Bulbapedia. “Same-type attack bonus.” Bulbapedia — The Community-driven Pokémon Encyclopedia.
4. Pokémon Database. “Pokémon GO Type Chart.” Pokémon Database.
5. Pokémon GO Hub. “Best Raid Attackers.” Pokémon GO Hub DB.
6. PvPoke. “Great League Rankings.” PvPoke — Pokémon GO PvP Resource.

Michael R.

I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.