Best Attackers by Type

This list is a comprehensive index of the overall best attackers for each and every type in Pokemon Go at the time of its current edition. If you're looking for a Pokemon to fill a niche within a specific type, then this resource is sure to lead you in the right direction.

How This List is Calculated

The Pokemon on this page are listed by type in descending order of power. The primary metric used to decide their placement is ER. This metric puts a heavy emphasis on DPS, but also takes into consideration TDO in order to attempt to discover the strongest overall performance of a given Pokemon when compared to others. Because of the way that this metric works, the Pokemon here are not always ordered according to which has the highest DPS. It's entirely possible that the highest DPS option may show up 2nd or 3rd within a type if its bulk is low enough. That said, our list is also manually ordered to a certain degree in order to highlight the Pokemon highlighted in roughly the order of actual utility. It's also possible that Pokemon not listed on this page could potentially find niche utility in future raids, but rest assured that the Pokemon near the top of these lists are exemplary candidates for their given types.

If you'd like to see how these Pokemon rank yourself, we recommend that you take a look at the DPS/TDO Spreadsheet, which is what we've used to make these calculations.

For more in-depth breakdowns into each type, check out our ongoing Typing Review series, which analyzes each type in Pokemon Go and takes a look at how they may or may not pan out in the future:

One of the weakest types in Pokemon Go, Bug tends to be a low-priority when it comes to raiding teams. Its main problem is the fact that it competes with a few extremely powerful types, leaving it outclassed when it doesn't have 2x effectiveness. In general, raising a Bug Type team is less for the sake of utility and more for the prestige of completing teams for every type.

Dark Type has the advantage of dealing Super Effective damage to two of the most powerful types in the game, making it a great choice for many raid teams. And while it was the once-and-former "runner up" type, the introduction of Brutal Swing on a few of the stronger Dark Type attackers turned the game on its head and made it an oppressive type. It's not called for extremely often, but when it is, Dark is a top pick.

Dragon is among the most potent types in the game, and the go-to type when it comes to slaying other dragons. Every raid team should have a full set of powerful dragons ready to go, as literally every generation beyond Generation 2 has at least one Legendary Dragon, with many sporting multiple. They compete with Ice and Fairy which take neutral damage from and double-resist incoming Dragon Type attacks respectively, but neither can keep up with the tremendous DPS that Dragon Types can leverage against their own kind.

Electric is a bit limited on paper, hitting only two types in the game for Super Effective damage. However, these two types combined represent a tremendous number of Pokemon, so an investment in Electric Type damage will definitely pay off. Electric may not reach the numbers of some other types, but in general they're well on the high end of the spectrum, and tend to remain very competitive with or outright dominant over their competition.

Fairy tends to be the "tank" type when it's Super Effective, using their unique resistances to survive heavy hits where other types would fall quickly. And while their DPS isn't the worst, it's definitely behind much of the competition, though still very viable. Fairy is genuinely less of a priority than many other types, but it's definitely not the worst type to invest in.

Fighting is one of the premier types of Pokemon Go, hitting a lot of Pokemon for Super Effective damage while staying high on the general DPS list. In general, Fighting Types are a good starting point for building a raid team just to how pervasive and powerful they tend to be.

Fire is among the strongest types in the game, with the top Fire Type Mega Evolutions in particular frequently beating out just about everything else when called for. It has a bit of competition and isn't called for as frequently as some other types, but it's definitely a priority for any raid team.

Without a doubt, Flying is one of the strongest types currently in Pokemon Go. This is owed largely to the sheer power of Dragon Ascent and Rayquaza/Mega Rayquaza, as they stand head-and-shoulders above just about everything else in the game to date.

The top Ghost types tend to be genuinely great Pokemon that can that top the DPS charts handily. In particular, Mega Gengar is an oppressively powerful force that overshadows many Pokemon that seek to rival it, and it's definitely not alone. When something is weak to Ghosts, then Ghosts tend to be one of the best answers, even if they come into a battle while sporting a weakness to whatever they may be fighting.

Grass Types have a fair bit of utility, as they cover potentially important types while tending to resist many common coverage moves. They're reliable and solid, though they also tend to be a bit on the weaker side with at least one or two obvious exception. Grass may not be the most important type, but it definitely has its utility!

Ground is another very pervasive type that hits a lot of other types for Super Effective damage, with its most note-worthy advantage being the fact that it's the only type that Electric is weak to. It's also able to contend with many of the other top types in the game, even when directly competing with them.

Ice is a bit of a strategic type. It's usually not the absolute best outside of 2x effective stages, but that's the key; a lot of Pokemon are 2x weak to Ice. Picking up an Ice Type team is a definite priority for any raider, as it's a pervasive type that can work its magic in a lot of different raids.

Sadly, Poison is probably the single weakest type in the game when it comes to raids. It's only effective against two types, Grass and Fairy, and a pairing of those types to create a double weakness is very rare. On top of that, Poison Types tend to be very lackluster. Unless you already have the other types done and don't mind potentially flushing your Stardust down the toilet, it's best to not worry about making a Poison team.

Psychic is probably the single strongest type in all of Pokemon Go. Despite the fact that only two types are actually weak to Psychic, its sheer power makes it super-dominant  to the point of frequently being a viable type even if the target is 2x weak to another type. 

Despite the fact that anything with a weakness to rock that isn't a double weakness is virtually guaranteed to have other types that can rival it, Rock's high average power and important coverage keeps it extremely valuable, to the point that Rock should be one of the first types that a player starts building for when starting their Raid team.

While the need for Steel Types isn't terribly common, the top Pokemon of this archetype manage to stay very competitive, and tend to rule their matchups. For those making a raid group, Steel Type coverage isn't super-important until suddenly it is.

A straight-forward type, Water doesn't have many interactions to worry about, which means that it tends to be a great all-around choice whenever it's effective. The top Water Types are absolutely able to go toe-to-toe with many of the top types, especially since Primal Kyogre rules these waves.

For all intents and purposes, Normal is not actually a type when it comes to building a raid team. Outside of very specific scenarios or just having fun, Normal Type moves should be TMed away, and Normal Types lacking other useful types and/or enough power to make other move types work for them should be left on the bench. We had to bend the rules here and not go all-in on Normal Type moves to not get into even worse territory than what we already have.