More than 400 Pokémon are available for capture in the Paldea region of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. These include a mix of brand new monsters and returning favorites; trainers will be able to find natives of every prior Pokémon region somewhere in Paldea.
One such Pokémon is Altaria, originally from the the Hoenn region. After evolving from Swablu at level 35, Altaria can become quite a threatening opponent. For anyone struggling to deal with an enemy Altaria, here’s everything to know about Altaria’s weaknesses and counters in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
Strengths of Altaria
Before going over the weaknesses and counters for Altaria in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, it’s important to understand what the Pokémon’s strengths are. Altaria is a Dragon/Flying-type that can hit Dragon, Fighting, Bug and Grass-types for super effective damage with its same-type attack bonus moves alone.
Altaria has equal Attack and Special Attack stats. As a result, it is a rare example of a true mixed attacker that can benefit from running physical or special moves. Along with learning powerful STAB moves like Draco Meteor and Brave Bird, Altaria gains access to coverage moves like Moonblast, Heat Wave, Ice Beam and Earthquake. If it opts to run a physical set, it can also benefit from Dragon Dance as a set-up move.
However, Altaria’s greatest strength is its bulk, as it has a commendable 90 Defense and 105 Special Defense. For this reason, Altaria tends to be more of a support Pokémon in competitive play. In this role, it can make use of moves like Tailwind, Perish Song, Protect, Will-O-Wisp, Helping Hand and Haze.
Altaria weaknesses and counters in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Altaria’s most glaring weakness is the fact that it takes quadruple damage from Ice-type attacks. As a result, strong Ice-types like Cetitan, Iron Bundle, Baxcalibur and Chien-Pao can give Altaria a lot of trouble. While it can learn Fire-type moves to somewhat alleviate this problem, the fact is just about any Pokémon that can learn Ice Beam will be among the biggest weaknesses and counters for Altaria in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
Meanwhile, Altaria is also weak to Rock, Dragon and Fairy. Although it has coverage moves to deal with most of these bad match-ups, Altaria has no way to hit Fairy-types for super effective damage unless it Terastallizes into a Poison or Steel-type and then uses Tera Blast. As a result, strong Fairy-types are the most consistent counters to Altaria.
Here are some of the best Fairy-types to consider using against Altaria:
- Wigglytuff
- Gardevoir
- Dachsbun
- Florges
- Sylveon
- Mimikyu
- Hatterene
- Scream Tail
- Flutter Mane
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