Pokemon GO Type Chart: Strengths, Weaknesses and Damage Multipliers

The Pokemon GO type chart has 18 types and uses the same matchups as the main Pokemon games, but with different numbers. A super effective hit does 1.6x damage, a resisted hit does 0.625x, and there are no immunities: a matchup that would be immune in Scarlet and Violet does 0.39x in GO instead.

How does the Pokemon GO type chart work?

Every move has one type, and every Pokemon has one or two. When a move hits, the game compares the move’s type with the defender’s types and multiplies the damage. That’s the whole system.

The matchups themselves come straight from the main series. Water beats Fire, Fire beats Grass, Grass beats Water, and so on through all 18 types, including Fairy, which joined the main games in 2013 and has been part of GO since launch day in July 2016. What Niantic changed is the size of each bonus or penalty, which is why charts copied from a Switch guide will give you the wrong numbers. The same triangle is why every generation opens with a Grass, Fire and Water trio, as our list of starter Pokémon by generation shows.

One date matters here. In December 2018, when trainer battles arrived, the super effective bonus quietly went from 1.4x to 1.6x, and the penalties grew to match. So if you see an old raid guide quoting 1.4x, it’s simply out of date.

Pokemon GO damage multipliers vs the main series

Put simply, GO softens the extremes. A 4x weakness in the main games becomes 2.56x, and a full immunity becomes a heavy resistance.

The multipliers stack by multiplication. A Rock move into Charizard (Fire and Flying, both weak to Rock) is 1.6 times 1.6, so 2.56x, and if the attacker is a Rock type in partly cloudy weather, STAB and the weather bonus add two more 1.2x layers on top. The figures above match the community databases that read the game files, such as Pokemon Database’s GO type chart; Niantic itself doesn’t publish a multiplier table.

Pokemon GO type chart: what each attacking type hits

Read this chart from the attacker’s side. “Super effective” is 1.6x, “resisted by” is 0.625x, and the last column is the old immunity, now 0.39x.

Fighting and Ground hit the most types for super effective damage, five each. Normal hits nothing for bonus damage at all, which is why nobody builds a raid team around it (Blissey and Snorlax earn their spots on defense, not offense).

Pokemon GO weaknesses and resistances by type

Now flip it around. Defenders first.

Why does Steel keep showing up everywhere? Ten resistances plus a double resistance to Poison, which is eleven types it shrugs off. Rock and Grass sit at the other end with five weaknesses each. Honestly, that one fact explains a lot of the battle league meta, where Steel types keep showing up and Rock types rarely last.

How do dual types change the multipliers?

For a Pokemon with two types, the game checks each type separately and multiplies the results. Two weaknesses stack to 2.56x. A weakness and a resistance cancel out, leaving you at plain 1x damage, and two resistances (or one old immunity) land on 0.39x.

Gyarados is a good example. It’s Water and Flying. Electric is super effective against both halves, so Electric moves hit it for 2.56x, while Ground moves, which are neutral against Water, drop all the way to 0.39x because Flying double resists them (the Water half doesn’t help or hurt). Want a quick sanity check before a raid? Count the weaknesses and resistances across both types, then multiply.

The catch is that the old immunities still matter a lot, even at 0.39x. Sending a Psychic attacker into a Dark raid boss isn’t a total loss in GO the way it is on Switch, but you’re doing well under half damage, and the boss isn’t slowing down for you.

Which weather boosts which type in Pokemon GO?

Weather adds a flat 1.2x to moves of the boosted types, on top of STAB and type effectiveness. It also makes wild Pokemon of those types appear more often and spawn at higher levels.

In practice, weather can decide a close raid. A Rock type using a Rock move under a partly cloudy sky gets 1.2 times 1.2, so 1.44x before type effectiveness even starts, and against a double weak boss like Charizard that becomes roughly 3.7x in total.

How to use the Pokemon GO type chart in raids and battles

Start with the boss’s types, find its double weakness if it has one, and build around that. It’s the single biggest damage jump available to you (well, unless you also get the weather on your side).

Battle league is different. There your Pokemon also takes hits, so resistances matter as much as raw damage, and a Pokemon with two attacking types of different kinds can threaten more of the opponent’s team. Funny enough, that’s why some slower attackers with great typing beat stronger ones in ranked play.

If you’re also into the main games, our list of every starter Pokemon by generation shows how each starter trio follows the same Fire, Water and Grass triangle. More? See the Pokemon GO section of our blog or the main AgataSmurf blog. Keep the Pokemon GO type chart above bookmarked for your next raid: the matchups haven’t changed since 2018, and these are the numbers the game actually uses.

FAQ

What is super effective damage in Pokemon GO?

A super effective move deals 1.6x damage in Pokemon GO, not 2x as in the main series. If both of the defender’s types are weak to the move, the bonus stacks to 2.56x.

Are there immunities in Pokemon GO?

No. Matchups that are immunities in the main games, like Ground against Flying or Normal against Ghost, deal 0.390625x damage in Pokemon GO instead of zero.

Is the Pokemon GO type chart the same as the main games?

The matchups are the same: every type beats and resists the same types as in the main series. Only the multipliers differ, with 1.6x, 0.625x and 0.39x instead of 2x, 0.5x and 0x.

What is the best defensive type in Pokemon GO?

Steel. It resists ten types and double resists Poison, so eleven attacking types deal reduced damage to it, while only Fire, Fighting and Ground are super effective.

Which types have the most weaknesses?

Rock and Grass, with five weaknesses each. Rock is weak to Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground and Steel; Grass is weak to Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying and Bug.

How much does weather boost damage in Pokemon GO?

Weather adds a 1.2x multiplier to moves of the boosted types. It stacks with the 1.2x same type attack bonus and with type effectiveness.

When did Pokemon GO change its type multipliers?

In December 2018, together with the launch of trainer battles. The super effective multiplier went from 1.4x to 1.6x, and the resistance penalties grew accordingly.