Water-type weakness
Water-type defenders take ×1.6 from Electric, Grass — those are the moves you bring when a Water raid boss or Water-type gym defender is in front of you. Below is the full chart of what hits Water hard, what resists Water, the inverse (where Water attacks shine and where they fall flat), dual-type matchups for the most common Water-pair defenders in the game, and the top 5 attackers per super-effective type pulled from the live tier list.
Single-type Water defenders take ×1.6 from any move of the listed weak-to types. Dual-type Water defenders stack multiplicatively — a second weakness from their partner type can push the multiplier all the way to ×2.56. Resisted attacks deal only ×0.625, and doubly resisted attacks (a stack of two ×0.625) drop damage to roughly ×0.39 — never bring those into a Water fight.
Use Water attackers when the boss in front of you is one of the listed types. Stack STAB (×1.2) on top by picking a Water-type mons that knows a Water fast and Water charged move. The combined multiplier is ×1.92 before weather.
Avoid Water attackers when the defender is one of the listed types. Resisted damage cuts your DPS by 37.5%; doubly-resisted damage cuts it by 61%. In raids this is the difference between a 3-account clear and a relobby.
Most Water-type bosses in the game are dual-type. Combined effectiveness multiplies through both types, so a Water/X defender may be ×2.56 weak to a single attacker type, or fully neutral if the partner type cancels the Water weakness. Pick the attacker type that maxes the multiplier.
| Dual-type | Examples | Top weakness | Mult |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water / Ground | Swampert, Whiscash, Gastrodon | Grass | ×2.56 |
| Water / Flying | Gyarados, Pelipper | Electric | ×2.56 |
| Water / Ice | Lapras, Walrein, Cloyster | Electric | ×1.60 |
| Water / Psychic | Slowbro, Starmie | Electric | ×1.60 |
| Water / Dark | Sharpedo, Greninja | Electric | ×1.60 |
| Water / Dragon | Kingdra, Palkia | Dragon | ×1.60 |
| Water / Steel | Empoleon | Electric | ×1.60 |
| Water / Fairy | Primarina | Electric | ×1.60 |
Leagues: Great / Ultra / Master.
Swampert (CD), Empoleon, Kyogre — Hydro Cannon spammers dominate every league.
Knowing the Water weakness chart matters as much in PvP as in raids — a Water lead into one of the listed weak-to types loses the matchup before shields even come into play. Always check the dual-typing of the opposing lead: a single Water mons is harder to counter than a Water/Y where Y stacks a second weakness.
›What is Water-type weak to in the game?
Water-type defenders take ×1.6 damage from Electric, Grass attacks. Bring an attacker of one of those types to break a Water raid boss or gym defender fastest.
›What resists Water-type attacks?
Water attacks are resisted by Water, Grass, Dragon (×0.625 damage). Avoid sending Water attackers into those defenders.
›What is super-effective against Water?
Water attacks deal ×1.6 to Fire, Ground, Rock. Use Water attackers to clear those defenders quickly in raids.
›Which Water-type mons are best in PvP?
Swampert (CD), Empoleon, Kyogre — Hydro Cannon spammers dominate every league. League fit: Great / Ultra / Master.
›How do dual-type Water defenders compute damage?
The matrix is multiplicative. If a Water/Y dual-type has two weaknesses to the attacking type (one from Water, one from Y), the multiplier stacks to ×2.56 — the maximum without STAB / weather.
The complete attacker-vs-defender chart for every type pairing in the game.
Top S-tier and A-tier attackers grouped by attacker type — full picker for Water bosses.
Pick an actual current raid boss and get counter recommendations scored by tier × type effectiveness.