Pokémon Go Xerneas counters, weaknesses and moveset explained
The legendary stag can now be battled in Pokémon Go!
Xerneas, the life Pokémon, was the first Gen 6 legendary Pokémon to arrive in Pokémon Go.
If you want to add this magical stag to your collection, you'll need to have a good understanding of Xerneas's counters and weaknesses before you meet it in battle. You can now catch a shiny Xerneas in Pokémon Go!
Like all legendary Pokémon, Xerneas appears in five-star raids and, to ensure its defeat, you'll want to battle it alongside a group of trainers, which, thanks to the Remote Raid passes, you can now do at home.
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Xerneas counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go
Below you can find Xerneas's weaknesses and some counter ideas which will help you defeat it in Pokémon Go:
- Xerneas type - Fairy-type
- Xerneas is weak against - Poison and Steel-type attacks
- Xerneas is resistant to - Bug, Dark and Fighting-type attacks
- Xerneas is super-resistant to - Dragon-type attacks
- Xerneas Mega counters - Mega Gengar, Mega Rayquaza and Mega Beedrill
- Xerneas non-Mega counters - Dusk Mane Necrozma, if you have it, is the best counter. Shadow and regular Metagross follow, along with Shadow Excadrill, Nihilego and Shadow Gengar.
- Number of players to beat Xerneas - Ideally you're looking at three to seven trainers, depending on levels and counters.
- Tactics - There are a lot of strong Steel-type attackers in the game, with most players having access to at least one Metagross. The more the merrier - but if you don't have them, pick your strongest Steel-types before looking at your Poison-types, which tend to be a little squishier.
Xerneas CP in Pokémon Go
Here are the CP ranges you can expect to see when battling or attempting to catch Xerneas in Pokémon Go:
- Raid Boss CP - 45,899 CP
- CP when being caught - 2073 to 2160 CP
- Weather boosted CP (Cloudy) when being caught - 2591 to 2701 CP
Xerneas Moveset in Pokémon Go
When it comes to Xerneas's best moveset in Pokémon Go, we recommend having Geomancy (Fast Move) and Giga Impact (Charged Move). Geomancy is a Legacy move, so you'll either need to catch one with it or use an Elite Fast TM!
Xerneas can use a variety of Fast and Charged moves in Pokémon Go, including:
Fast Moves:
- Tackle (Normal)
- Zen Headbutt (Psychic)
Legacy Fast Moves:
- Geomancy (Fairy)
Charged Moves:
- Close Combat (Fighting)
- Giga Impact (Normal)
- Megahorn (Grass)
- Moonblast (Fairy)
- Thunder (Electric)
The Shared Skies Season is here! Go Fest 2024 may have been and gone, but you can still play around with the Fusion mechanic. Meanwhile, ticket holders can finish Go Fest 2024: A Shadowy Caper and The Dusk Settles. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.
Everything we know about Xerneas
Xerneas was the mascot for Pokémon X and, alongside Yveltal and Zygarde, is part of the Aura Trio of the Kalos region.
Xerneas and Yveltal are counterparts to each other - Xerneas embodies life, while Yveltal is a force of death.
Using its horns, Xerneas is able to grant life to the world and, at the end of it's lifespan, Xerneas is able to release this energy into the world surrounding it, before transforming into a giant tree where it will sleep for 1000 years.
The inspiration for Xerneas very clearly comes from a stag, with the design for its antlers possibly being drawn from the Eucaldoceros. This is an extinct breed of deer whose fossils have been found throughout Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. These fossils suggest that the Eucaldoceros had impressive branching antlers, which split in multiple places.
Good luck catching Xerneas in Pokémon Go!