In Pokemon, there’s more to battling than simply throwing out your lead monster and commanding it to obliterate the opponent. Granted, that strategy may work from time to time, but the battle system is much deeper than that. There are types to take into consideration, weaknesses and strengths each Pokemon possesses that make it more or less effective given the situation.
There are a total of 18 types in the Pokemon universe. Each pocket monster has an affinity for one or two different types, which makes putting together a team of six an exercise in variety. You want to make sure all of your bases are covered, and that you’re prepared for whatever your adventure may throw at you. To help you strategize, we’ve put together a chart that lists how strong or weak each type is versus the others.
Pokemon Type Chart (Generation VI)
This is the current Pokemon Type Chart for Generation VI and onward. That means everything released since Pokemon X and Y in 2013 follows this structure including Pokemon GO and all of the latest Nintendo Switch games.
As a reminder, a Super effective attack does double the amount of damage (200%). If you manage to stack two weaknesses at once, you can actually do 4x damage.
Looking for a list of Pokemon Type Resistances? We have a chart for that too!
| Attacking Type | Super Effective Against | Weak To |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | N/A | Fighting |
| Fire | Bug Grass Ice Steel | Ground Rock Water |
| Water | Fire Ground Rock | Electric Grass |
| Grass | Ground Rock Water | Bug Fire Flying Ice Poison |
| Flying | Bug Fighting Grass | Electric Ice Rock |
| Fighting | Dark Ice Normal Rock Steel | Fairy Flying Psychic |
| Poison | Fairy Grass | Ground Psychic |
| Electric | Flying Water | Ground |
| Ground | Electric Fire Poison Rock Steel | Grass Ice Water |
| Rock | Fire Flying Ice Bug | Fighting Grass Ground Steel Water |
| Ice | Dragon Flying Grass Ground | Fighting Fire Rock Steel |
| Bug | Dark Grass Psychic | Fire Flying Rock |
| Dragon | Dragon | Dragon Fairy Ice |
| Ghost | Ghost Psychic | Dark Ghost |
| Dark | Ghost Psychic | Bug Fairy Fighting |
| Steel | Fairy Ice Rock | Fighting Fire Ground |
| Fairy | Dark Dragon Fighting | Poison Steel |
| Psychic | Fighting Poison | Bug Dark Ghost |
Looking at the chart, simple logic can inform how many of the types might behave. For example, it makes sense that fire types are weak to water types, or that fighting types can handle rock types with ease. Other interactions in this vein include flying versus bug, ground versus electric, ice versus rock, and bug versus grass.
Even some of the more fantastical types can be deduced this way. Take the fairy type, for example. It’s strong against the dark type, which makes sense if you consider the traditional fairy archetype in fantasy literature and film. By that same token, ghost types are effective against psychic types, and dragon types are weak to fairy attacks.
Older Generation Type Changes
If you're playing a game from before then, there are a few changes you should be aware of.
- For Generation II - Generation V (Gold and Silver through Black and White 2)
- Ghost and Dark are only half as effective against Steel.
- For Generation I (Red and Blue)
- Bug is Super Effective against Poison.
- Poison is Super Effective against Bug.
- Psychic Pokemon are immune to Ghost moves.
- Ice moves deal normal damage to Fire Pokemon.
There are several interactions, however, that may not be obvious at first. For instance, ice types are weak to steel attacks, for some reason, and bug attacks are super effective against psychic types. Similarly, ground attacks are strong against poison types.
There are a few instances of a type being weak against itself, as well: dragon types take extra damage from dragon attacks, and ghost attacks are super effective against ghost types. This is particularly useful to know in Pokemon Sword and Shield, as there are both dragon and ghost type gym challenges.
Pokemon Damage Multipliers
In regular Pokemon the damage multipliers are straightforward:
- Immune means the Pokemon takes 0 damage from moves of that type.
- Not Very Effective means 0.5x damage was done.
- Super Effective means the Pokemon takes 2x, or double, the damage.
- If you manage to stack two weaknesses at once, you can actually do 4x damage.
In Pokemon GO, however, the ratios are different.
- Immune means the Pokemon takes 0.39x damage from moves of that type.
- Not Very Effective means 0.625x damage.
- Super Effective means the Pokemon takes 1.6x damage.
- If you manage to stack two weaknesses at once, you can actually do 2.56x damage.
And there you have it—a quick rundown of type effectiveness in Pokemon. Hopefully this chart helps trainers conquer the Pokemon League and become the new champion!
