Forays into Pokémon GO are a big deal, and trainers only have one month to interact with the select Legendary Pokémon that Niantic has launched to the masses. From January 7 to February 4, all trainers have the opportunity to meet Heatran, a legendary Pokémon of Fire and Steel types. Taking him down will prove problematic, but with detailed planning and creating the ideal team, you'll be able to take down Heatran and add him to your growing Pokémon collection.
This time Heatran has a chance to be a Shiny.
Heatran's weaknesses and resistances
Heatran is a Fire and Steel-type Pokémon, so it only has a handful of weaknesses and even more resistances. However, you need to know which ones are to understand what is needed for an ideal list. Heatran is weak for these types of Pokémon:
Heatran is resistant to Pokémon that use this type of move:
- insect
- Dragon
- Fata
- steering wheel
- Erba
- Ice
- Normal
- Psychic
- Poison
- Steel
Ideally, we recommend that you bring a Water or Fire-type Pokémon, so Heatran's moves have no effect on your Pokémon. If you carry a Fire type, they might use Fire moves to damage Heatran because it's a Steel-type, despite the fact that it's also a Fire-type.
Heatran counters
The ideal choices for facing Heatran in battle lean towards powerful Ground-type Pokémon. You want to rely on the use of Pokémon such as Groudon, Rhyperior, Garchomp, Excadrill, or Swampert. Swampert would be an ideal choice to use against Heatran because he is a Land and Water type, which means that Swampert could have Mud Shot for his quick move and therefore have Hydro Cannon or Surf for his Charge attack.
However, Heatran now takes a lot of additional damage from Ground-type Pokémon. Trainers will want to act on this beating and focus on the ground moves and take their time when battling the legendary Pokémon from the lava dome.
Mamoswine is another great Ground-type striker. However, being a type of ice too, it's best to keep it in your collection. Heatran has too many Fire-type moves to potentially clean the floor with Mamoswine and a single type of Steel that could also cause significant damage. It's best to rely on the alternate Ground-type Pokémon you've collected from your extended Pokémon GO travel.
Moves of Heatran
When you face Heatran, the Pokémon will have several moves ready to use against you. These attacks could affect your choice of Pokémon to bring into battle. Heatran movesets include:
- Fire Spin (quick attack)
- Fire Blast (Charge)
- Flamethrower (charge)
- Iron head (charged)
- Insect bite (quick)
- Stone Edge (charge)
Not many Earth types are weak to these Fire, Steel, Rock, or Bug-type attacks, but they can't hold up well either. Trainers will need to have durable and sturdy Ground-type Pokémon in their arsenal to take down Heatran. When choosing a team to take on it, consider your Pokémon's defenses and the types of moves available.
How to fight Heatran
You can fight Heatran at raids that occur through Pokémon GO. It appears in five-star raids, so be on the lookout for these five-star locations to see if Heatran gets here. If you try to find Heatran but fail, you could coordinate with friends to team up to take down this legendary creature.
You need a raid pass to enter a battle of Heatran. Each trainer receives a Raid Pass once per day by spinning a Poké Stop and receiving one. If you want to do another raid that day, you need to purchase a Premium Raid Pass from the store for 100 Pokécoins.
To catch Heatran, you will have to rely on the use of Premier balls. These are the special Pokéballs you receive for your participation in the raid. You receive them in multiple ways:
- The level of your gym badge in the Raid Gym
- The overall performance of your team
- Your performance in battle
- Does your team control the Raid Gym?
The best you and your teammates do in the gym, and if you fight by one of your team, it will give you additional Premier balls. The more Premier Balls you have access to during the raid, the more chances you have of trying to catch Heatran before he escapes.
