Max Raid Battle

Artwork of a Max Raid Battle against a Pangoro, drawn by James Turner

A Max Raid Battle (Japanese: マックスレイドバトル Max Raid Battle) is a type of Pokémon battle featured in Pokémon Sword and Shield in which four Trainers battle a wild Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon, which remains Dynamaxed for the whole battle.

In the games

The player can start a Max Raid Battle by interacting with an active Pokémon Den, indicated by a beam of light shooting up from it. If a den is inactive, the player can throw a Wishing Piece into it to summon a Dynamax Pokémon.

When starting a Max Raid Battle, players can see a silhouette of the Dynamax Pokémon, its types, and a star rating of its difficulty. The current weather is also displayed, though this weather does not carry into the battle. The loss condition, "The battle ends when Pokémon faint four times or the battle lasts for 10 turns", is displayed in the lower left corner. Additionally, the player can see the other three Trainers participating and the Pokémon they have selected to enter. Players have a time limit to select their Pokémon before the Max Raid Battle automatically starts with the Pokémon they have selected by default.

Players can only find up to three different star ratings at a time in their own dens, depending on their game progress:

Four Trainers are required to conduct a Max Raid Battle. The player can connect with other players to challenge a Max Raid Battle by using the Y-Comm over the internet or local wireless. If there are less than four players, then the game will randomly select NPC Trainers to fill in the remaining slots.

Battle

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Modified damage formula (it seems moves can be reduced to 0 damage) and OHKO accuracy formula under effect of mysterious barrier, which moves with charging turn are used immediately. Cheer mechanics table, see this tweet for reference

Each Trainer uses a single Pokémon (from either their party or Box) against the Dynamax Pokémon. If a Trainer's Pokémon faints, they can cheer^[1] on the remaining Trainers as they attempt to complete the Max Raid Battle, which has the potential to generate positive effects such as healing or setting up Reflect; the fainted Pokémon will automatically be revived at full health the following turn. If the challengers' Pokémon faint a total of 4 times (even if it is the same Pokémon) or if the 10-turn limit is reached, the Max Raid Battle is lost. If both the Dynamax Pokémon and the 4th challenger Pokémon are knocked out in the same move (such as through the recoil effects of moves such as Brave Bird), the battle is counted as a loss for the challengers. If the Dynamax Pokémon is successfully defeated, all four Trainers can attempt to catch the Dynamax Pokémon and receive several various rewards based on the Dynamax Pokémon that was encountered. A Max Raid Battle can be repeatedly attempted until either the player wins (regardless of capture success) or when the dens reset.

Only one Trainer can Dynamax their Pokémon during a Max Raid Battle; unlike the wild Dynamax Pokémon, this transformation only lasts for the normal three turns. Each turn, one Trainer receives Dynamax Energy; only that player can Dynamax that turn, and if they do not, this energy is passed to another player next turn. The order is based on the order of which players joined the raid, so the player who hosts the Max Raid Battle will always be the first to have the option to Dynamax.

Depending on the star level, the Dynamax Pokémon may be able to use regular moves in addition to Max Moves. It can also attack up to three times per turn, and use any of its moves without regard to PP limitations. Prior to its first move on a turn, it also has a chance to create a shockwave, which accomplishes several things at once:

• If the Dynamax Pokémon has a non-volatile status condition, it is removed;
• If the Dynamax Pokémon has had any of its stat stages reduced, those stat stages are reset to 0; positive stat stages remain as they are;
• All stat stages for the player's Pokémon and their teammates are reset to 0, regardless of whether they were positive or negative;
• Any Abilities from any of the player's or teammates' Pokémon become suppressed if they are on the list of Abilities ignored by Mold Breaker. Other Abilities that are not on that list, such as Speed Boost or Defiant, can continue to function after the shockwave.

In three-star Max Raids and higher, the wild Dynamax Pokémon have specific HP thresholds in which they will create a protective barrier with two to eight segments, depending on its defensive power. In three- and four-star Max Raids, the Dynamax Pokémon will create a barrier one time; in five-star Max Raids, it will create a barrier twice, sometimes with the first barrier at the start of the battle. While this barrier is active, damage-dealing moves used against the Dynamax Pokémon are severely weakened and are unable to apply most secondary effects, and status moves used against the Dynamax Pokémon will fail. Damage-dealing moves will deplete one bar of the barrier's strength, except Max Moves and one-hit knockout moves which instead deplete two bars. When the barrier runs out of bars, the barrier is destroyed, the Dynamax Pokémon's Defense and Special Defense will drop by two stages, and it takes a portion of the damage it would have received while its barriers were active.

Some moves work differently when raid bosses use them. For instance, Belch will work regardless of Berries, and some moves with a charging turn (such as Dig) will attack immediately.

Nature Power will always turn into Earth Power, unless a type of terrain is in effect.

The following moves will fail if used in a Max Raid Battle, regardless of which Pokémon they are used by or against:

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Gigantamax raid Capture Value Coefficient values for each Gigantamax species,[2] and for Wild Area News difficulty indexes.[3]

Capture

Upon defeating the Dynamax Pokémon, each player has a single chance to capture it. Multiple players can successfully catch the same Dynamax Pokémon. If a player fails to catch the Pokémon, it disappears for that player. Regardless of whether the capture was successful (or the player declined to catch it), all players will be awarded Exp. Candies, TRs, and other items based on the Pokémon that was fought.

The caught Pokémon's moves and Ability will be the same as it was during the Max Raid Battle; some Dynamax Pokémon encountered in Max Raid Battles will have their Hidden Ability. The caught Pokémon's level will normally be the same as it was during the Max Raid Battle; however, if its level exceeds the player's maximum catchable level for the number of Badges they have, it will become their maximum catchable level instead. If it was a Gigantamax Pokémon, the caught Pokémon will have the Gigantamax Factor. Pokémon caught in Max Raid Battles will also have a number of stats with the maximum 31 IVs and have a raised Dynamax Level, increasingly with the Max Raid's difficulty.

The catch rate for a Dynamax Pokémon depends on several factors, such as whether the player is hosting the raid (the host usually has a higher catch chance) and whether the raid is from a Wild Area News event. They are all calculated with the Pokémon at 1 HP and no status conditions. If the Pokémon escapes, the host player may restart the game (before it autosaves, if the feature is turned on) and reattempt the Max Raid.

The catch rate for Pokémon found in Wild Area News event dens varies based on the current event and encounter slot, and also varies between the host and guest. The calculation is influenced by two values assigned to each encounter slot (one for the host, and another for guests), ranging between 0x0 and 0x6.^[4] Event den Pokémon assigned a value of 0x0 are guaranteed to be captured, and those with a value of 0x6 are uncatchable. Pokémon assigned values 0x1 through 0x5 range from "least difficult to catch" to "most difficult to catch" respectively.^[5]

Trainers

If less than four players initiate a Max Raid Battle, a random selection of these NPC Trainers will populate the vacant positions. The level of their Pokémon is set to 70% of the host player's Pokémon (rounded down), hence a maximum of Lv. 70 if the host player's Pokémon is Lv. 100. Klara^Sw, Avery^Sh, and the Master Dojo Students only appear in the Isle of Armor, while Peony and Peonia only appear in the Crown Tundra.

Despite being depicted with Dynamax Bands, Klara, Avery and Peony will never Dynamax their Pokémon during a Max Raid Battle, nor will any other NPCs.

Youngster Noah Galar Sword and Shield Types: Water Poison Ability: Intimidate Held item: Focus Sash Qwilfish♂ Lv.1-70 Brine Water Special   --       Waterfall Water Physical   --       Poison Jab Poison Physical   --       Pin Missile Bug Physical   --	Office Worker Dean Galar Sword and Shield Type: Fighting Unknown Ability: Inner Focus Held item: None Throh♂ Lv.1-70 Mega Punch Normal Physical   --       Revenge Fighting Physical   --       Bind Normal Physical   --       Brick Break Fighting Physical   --	Gentleman Martin Galar Sword and Shield Types: Rock Psychic Ability: Levitate Held item: None Solrock Lv.1-70 Cosmic Power Psychic Status   --       Rock Throw Rock Physical   --       Psychic Psychic Special   --       Rock Polish Rock Status   --	Pokémon Breeder Kit Galar Sword and Shield Types: Ghost Grass Ability: Steelworker Held item: None Dhelmise Lv.1-70 Gyro Ball Steel Physical   --       Slam Normal Physical   --       Shadow Ball Ghost Special   --       Giga Drain Grass Special   --
Office Worker Portia Galar Sword and Shield Type: Fire Unknown Ability: Gluttony Held item: None Heatmor♀ Lv.1-70 Fire Lash Fire Physical   --       Bind Normal Physical   --       Thunder Punch Electric Physical   --       Slash Normal Physical   --	Madame Sophie Galar Sword and Shield Type: Grass Unknown Ability: Water Absorb Held item: None Maractus♀ Lv.1-70 Sucker Punch Dark Physical   --       Giga Drain Grass Special   --       Solar Beam Grass Special   --       Pin Missile Bug Physical   --	Beauty Catherine Galar Sword and Shield Type: Fairy Unknown Ability: Serene Grace Held item: Focus Sash Togepi♀ Lv.1-70 Life Dew Water Status   --       Ancient Power Rock Special   --       Draining Kiss Fairy Special   --       Swift Normal Special   --	Doctor Janet Galar Sword and Shield Type: Normal Unknown Ability: Immunity Held item: None Snorlax♂ Lv.1-70 Giga Impact Normal Physical   --       Body Slam Normal Physical   --       Crunch Dark Physical   --       Stomping Tantrum Ground Physical   --
Police Officer Sean Galar Sword and Shield Type: Fire Unknown Ability: Drought Held item: None Torkoal♂ Lv.1-70 Rapid Spin Normal Physical   --       Flame Wheel Fire Physical   --       Flamethrower Fire Special   --       Clear Smog Poison Special   --	Dancer Patricia Galar Sword and Shield Type: Water Unknown Ability: Schooling Held item: None Wishiwashi♀ Lv.1-70 Liquidation Water Physical   --       Aqua Tail Water Physical   --       Whirlpool Water Special   --       Brine Water Special   --	Schoolboy William Galar Sword and Shield Type: Ground Unknown Ability: Own Tempo Held item: Focus Sash Mudbray♂ Lv.1-70 Strength Normal Physical   --       Rock Tomb Rock Physical   --       High Horsepower Ground Physical   --       Superpower Fighting Physical   --	Schoolgirl Isabella Galar Sword and Shield Type: Water Unknown Ability: Swift Swim Held item: Focus Sash Magikarp♂ Lv.1-70 Flail Normal Physical   --       Tackle Normal Physical   --       Hydro Pump Water Special   --       Curse Unknown Status   --
Model Nicki Galar Sword and Shield Type: Electric Unknown Ability: Volt Absorb Held item: None Jolteon♂ Lv.1-70 Double Kick Fighting Physical   --       Quick Attack Normal Physical   --       Electro Ball Electric Special   --       Swift Normal Special   --	Cabbie Alfie Galar Sword and Shield Type: Psychic Unknown Ability: Shadow Tag Held item: None Wobbuffet♂ Lv.1-70 Counter Fighting Physical   --       Mirror Coat Psychic Special   --       Safeguard Normal Status   --       Amnesia Psychic Status   --	Black Belt Oscar Galar Sword and Shield Types: Fighting Flying Ability: Limber Held item: None Hawlucha♂ Lv.1-70 Wing Attack Flying Physical   --       Feather Dance Flying Status   --       Flying Press Fighting Physical   --       Thunder Punch Electric Physical   --	Backpacker Amelia Galar Sword and Shield Type: Fairy Unknown Ability: Magic Guard Held item: Focus Sash Clefairy♀ Lv.1-70 Life Dew Water Status   --       Follow Me Normal Status   --       Dazzling Gleam Fairy Special   --       Disarming Voice Fairy Special   --
Pokémon Breeder Poppy Galar Sword and Shield Type: Electric Unknown Ability: Static Held item: Focus Sash Pikachu♂ Lv.1-70 Thunderbolt Electric Special   --       Quick Attack Normal Physical   --       Iron Tail Steel Physical   --       Electroweb Electric Special   --	Lass Ivy Galar Sword and Shield Types: Dark Ice Ability: Pressure Held item: None Weavile♀ Lv.1-70 Metal Claw Steel Physical   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Assurance Dark Physical   --       Ice Shard Ice Physical   --	Poké Kid Freya Galar Sword and Shield Type: Normal Unknown Ability: Adaptability Held item: Focus Sash Eevee♀ Lv.1-70 Helping Hand Normal Status   --       Round Normal Special   --       Quick Attack Normal Physical   --       Bite Dark Physical   --	Musician Arthur Galar Sword and Shield Types: Poison Fire Ability: Corrosion Held item: None Salazzle♀ Lv.1-70 Flamethrower Fire Special   --       Fire Lash Fire Physical   --       Sludge Bomb Poison Special   --       Curse Unknown Status   --

Isle of Armor only

Pokémon Trainer Klara Isle of Armor Sword Types: Poison Psychic Ability: Quick Draw Held item: None Slowbro♀ Lv.1-70 Scald Water Special   --       Shell Side Arm Poison Special   --       Focus Blast Fighting Special   --       Psychic Psychic Special   --

Pokémon Trainer Avery Isle of Armor Shield Types: Poison Psychic Ability: Quick Draw Held item: None Slowbro♂ Lv.1-70 Scald Water Special   --       Shell Side Arm Poison Special   --       Focus Blast Fighting Special   --       Psychic Psychic Special   --

Master Dojo Student Isle of Armor Sword and Shield Type: Water Unknown Ability: Swift Swim Held item: None Poliwhirl♂ Lv.1-70 Waterfall Water Physical   --       Body Slam Normal Physical   --       Ice Punch Ice Physical   --       Brick Break Fighting Physical   --

Master Dojo Student Isle of Armor Sword and Shield Types: Ground Dark Ability: Anger Point Held item: None Krokorok♀ Lv.1-70 Stomping Tantrum Ground Physical   --       Crunch Dark Physical   --       Thunder Fang Electric Physical   --       Fire Fang Fire Physical   --

Crown Tundra only

Pokémon Trainer Peony Crown Tundra Sword and Shield Types: Steel Rock Ability: Sturdy Held item: None Aggron♂ Lv.1-70 Crunch Dark Physical   --       Iron Head Steel Physical   --       Stone Edge Rock Physical   --       Body Press Fighting Physical   --

Pokémon Trainer Peonia Crown Tundra Sword and Shield Types: Rock Dragon Ability: Strong Jaw Held item: None Tyrantrum♀ Lv.1-70 Stone Edge Rock Physical   --       Crunch Dark Physical   --       Dragon Claw Dragon Physical   --       High Horsepower Ground Physical   --

Special Max Raid Battles

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

In the climax of Pokémon Sword and Shield, as well as several times in the post-game story involving Sordward and Shielbert and in the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, the player will participate in Max Raid Battles that are often required to progress the story. In these battles, the player will have access to their full party. Initially, the player will be paired with special NPC partners, but eventually, the player will be challenged to fight their opponents by themselves.

These special Max Raid Battles experience some differences compared to the Max Raid Battles available in the Wild Area, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra. The battles do not have a 10-turn time limit, nor will they be forcibly ended after Pokémon have fainted 4 times. The player is also not limited to a single Pokémon, and may use their full party in the manner of a normal battle; fainted Pokémon will not automatically be revived, and the Cheer option is unavailable.

Tower summit

In this semi-scripted Max Raid Battle, the player and Hop will try to fight Eternatus in its Eternamax form, but will be unable to do anything against it until they summon Zacian and Zamazenta with the Rusted Sword and Shield they found in the Slumbering Weald. The player cannot Dynamax their Pokémon in this fight. After the battle, the player will catch Eternatus in a Poké Ball of their choice, with a 100% guaranteed success rate.

	Types: Poison Dragon Ability: Pressure Held item: None
Eternamax Eternatus Lv.60
Cross Poison Poison Physical Max Ooze   --       Dragon Pulse Dragon Special Max Wyrmwind   --       Flamethrower Fire Special Max Flare   --       Dynamax Cannon Dragon Special Max Wyrmwind   --

Sordward and Shielbert

While the player and Hop pursue Sordward and Shielbert, they force these Pokémon to Dynamax in each Stadium in Galar. The player is tasked with defeating these Pokémon, which belong to Gym Trainers, to take them out of their frenzied state and restore safety to the area. Because these Pokémon belong to Trainers, the player does not have the opportunity to catch them.

The first Stadium attacked is Turffield's, then both Hulbury and Motostoke Stadiums. The player cooperates with Hop, Piers, and each Stadium's Gym Leader to resolve the crisis. After the player defeats all three and confronts the brothers in Wedgehurst, they'll cause more disruptions in the Stadiums in Stow-on-Side, Ballonlea, Circhester, and Hammerlocke. This time, multiple Dynamaxed Pokémon will attack each stadium, and the player and their friends will need to split up to deal with one of them each, with the exception of Ballonlea Stadium, where they discover that Bede took care of them all by himself.

Turffield Stadium	Hulbury Stadium	Motostoke Stadium	Stow-on-Side Stadium
			Pokémon Sword
Type: Grass Unknown Ability: Queenly Majesty Held item: None Dynamax Tsareena♀ Lv.62 Power Whip Grass Physical Max Overgrowth   --       High Jump Kick Fighting Physical Max Knuckle   --       Play Rough Fairy Physical Max Starfall   --       Zen Headbutt Psychic Physical Max Mindstorm   --	Types: Water Flying Ability: Intimidate Held item: None Dynamax Gyarados♂ Lv.62 Waterfall Water Physical Max Geyser   --       Stone Edge Rock Physical Max Rockfall   --       Crunch Dark Physical Max Darkness   --       Avalanche Ice Physical Max Hailstorm   --	Type: Fire Unknown Ability: Drought Held item: None Dynamax Torkoal♂ Lv.62 Lava Plume Fire Special Max Flare   --       Earthquake Ground Physical Max Quake   --       Body Press Fighting Physical Max Knuckle   --       Iron Tail Steel Physical Max Steelspike   --	Type: Fighting Unknown Ability: Iron Fist Held item: None Dynamax Conkeldurr♂ Lv.62 Thunder Punch Electric Physical Max Lightning   --       Ice Punch Ice Physical Max Hailstorm   --       Hammer Arm Fighting Physical Max Knuckle   --       Stone Edge Rock Physical Max Rockfall   --
Stow-on-Side Stadium	Circhester Stadium		Hammerlocke Stadium
Pokémon Shield	Pokémon Sword	Pokémon Shield
Type: Ghost Unknown Ability: Pressure Held item: None Dynamax Dusknoir♀ Lv.62 Ice Punch Ice Physical Max Hailstorm   --       Earthquake Ground Physical Max Quake   --       Thunder Punch Electric Physical Max Lightning   --       Shadow Punch Ghost Physical Max Phantasm   --	Type: Rock Unknown Ability: Sand Force Held item: None Dynamax Gigalith♂ Lv.62 Rock Slide Rock Physical Max Rockfall   --       Earthquake Ground Physical Max Quake   --       Stone Edge Rock Physical Max Rockfall   --       Throat Chop Dark Physical Max Darkness   --	Types: Ice Ghost Ability: Snow Cloak Held item: None Dynamax Froslass♀ Lv.62 Icy Wind Ice Special Max Hailstorm   --       Shadow Ball Ghost Special Max Phantasm   --       Thunder Electric Special Max Lightning   --       Psychic Psychic Special Max Mindstorm   --	Type: Dragon Unknown Ability: Mold Breaker Held item: None Dynamax Haxorus♀ Lv.62 Outrage Dragon Physical Max Wyrmwind   --       Earthquake Ground Physical Max Quake   --       Iron Tail Steel Physical Max Steelspike   --       Giga Impact Normal Physical Max Strike   --