A new month (and a new year) are here, which means that a lot of changes have arrived in the mobile AR world of Pokemon GO. In addition to the New Year festivity that is currently raging, there are also all of the usual new month rotations to keep an eye on eye. That means new spawns, new Field Tasks, new events, and even some rotating Battle Raid bosses to challenge, defeat, and capture.
The January 2022 calendar of events if jam-packed and players should have no time staying busy in the game this month. After players finish battling Kyurem at the end of this week, it will be time for January’s first Legenday Raid Boss to appear in the form of Heatran. This is a popular Pokemon in the metagame, but due to its unique dual-typing, Pokemon GO players will want to carefully plan their battle roster to make sure they take advantage of a particular double weakness.
Heatran’s unique dual-typing means there are going to be a handful of things to keep in mind when preparing a battle roster for this fight. Players should be aware that Heatran has a ton of resistances. Start out by avoiding these types that Heatran features double resistance against: Bug, Fairy, Grass, Ice, Poison, Steel. Keep all of those options off of the roster and instead populate the team with Pokemon that are Ground, Fighting, and Water-types. Heatran is double weak to Ground-type attacks, so that is where players should really focus their efforts.
Best Heatran Counters
- Garchomp - Mud Shot/Earthquake
- Landorus - Mud Shot/Earthquake
- Groudon - Mud Shot/Earthquake
- Exadrill - Mud Slap/Drill Run
- Rhyperior - Mud Slap/Earthquake
- Golurk - Mud Slap/Earth Power
- Flygon - Mud Shot/Earth Power
- Rhydon - Mud Slap/Earthquake
Trainers should keep in mind that the Battle Raid can still be won even if players don't have the supreme counters listed above. The important thing is to just recognize the boss' weakness and stick to that strategy. In the case of Heatran, that means identifying the best Ground-type Pokemon available and putting them to good use. It is well worth burning through some Candy and TMs to get those Pokemon powered up and equipped with solid Ground-type move sets, as well. Players who follow those steps and stick to a group of 4+ players should have no problems powering through these battles.
In the coming weeks, we should learn more about what other events will be arriving during the early days of the Season of Heritage. Be sure to check back in the near future for more Pokemon GO strategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.