Dondozo’s a strange choice for a special seven-star Tera Raid inPokemon Scarlet & Violet, being an easily obtainable Pokemon from the base game, and not even a version-exclusive. However, it’s still a seven-star, meaning you can set this Dondozo apart from any other one you catch in the game by giving it the Mightiest Mark.
Even the Pokedex admits that Dondozo is “apparently not very smart,” and this raid shows that, for better or for worse. While other raids will cleverly use coverage, a Pokemon’s ability, or even held items, Dondozo just uses brute force, making it simple to counter.
Donodzo Tera Raid Event Overview
This raid is one of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s slate of events running through September and will last untilThursday, August 8, giving you plenty of time to catch Dondozo.
you may only catchone per save file, and it will have the Mightiest Mark.The first time you win the raid, you’ll alsoreceive the TM for Avalanche.
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The power is doubled if the opponent has attacked already.
Raises Dondozo’s attack and defense, but drops its speed.
Dondozo doesn’t have its hidden ability, but that’s becauseits regular ability,Unaware, is more useful. It means Dondozo willignore your stat changes, making set-upmoves like Swords Dance and Belly Drum pointless.
Sleep is annoyingin Tera Raids, but thankfully, Dondozo willonly use Yawn onceearly on. It alsodoesn’t spamCurselike other raids would,so you don’t have to worry about a Dondozo with max attack.
Dondozo’s main strategy is the same as any little kid playing Pokemon for the first time: just keep attacking until the opponent faints. While that works for the main story, here it meansany Pokemon withgood physical bulkand astrong Electric- or Grass-type movewill be able to do well.
The Best Pokemon To Solo Tera Dondozo
Belliboltreturns as a solid choice for this raid. Itsphysical bulk allows it to survive Dondozo’s Earthquakewith no trouble. Use the following build.
Metronome
Electric Terrain, Parabolic Charge
On the first turn of the raid, useElectric Terrain. This willnegate Yawn, so you won’thave to deal with falling asleep.
If you want to try another build,Misty Terrainis also good forpreventing Pokemon on the field from falling asleep.
From there, simply spamParabolic Charge, terastalizing at the first opportunity. TheMetronomewillmake Parabolic Charge stronger each turnyou use it, and it shouldheal back any damage you take. Other than that, you simply need to outlast Dondozo until its shield is gone.
You can also do this strategy withMiraidon, saving you the turn of setting up Electric Terrain, but Miraidon is frailer and dies more often to Dondozo before the shield goes down.
In the second half of the fight,after it uses Curse, Dondozo willstart attacking you twice. If that’s causing you trouble, try usingChilling Watertolower Dondozo’s attack.
As always, remember toHyper Trainyour Pokemon as well.
If you want to grind out more rewards, Bellibolt is also useful in online raids with this same strategy, though you might want to also bringReflectas a support move if the team you end up with is frail.
