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Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s seven-star tera raids continue into July with a level 100 Sceptile with the Mightiest Mark. Sceptile gains the Dragon-type to match its Mega Evolution, and true to form is built around out-speeding and overpowering any potential opponent.
Luckily for players, Sceptile doesn’t have a hidden ability that helps it in raids, so the only thing you have to worry about is its moveset and working around the AI. However, between a move with a high critical rate, being able to hit you multiple times per turn, and special moves, Sceptile can overwhelm even the best defenses if you’re not careful.
Event Information
This raid will be available in two blocks.The first round will go until Sunday, while the second will go from July 5-7.
Playerscan catch one Mightiest Mark Sceptile per save file, but if you complete the raid multiple times, you’ll have a boosted chance to receive Herba Mystica and other rewards. The first time you beat Sceptile, you’ll also obtain the TM for the move Breaking Swipe.
Sceptile’s Kit
Sceptile’s moveset issimple but deceptively tricky,with pretty much every move being able to complicate your attempt if it doesn’t just outright knock you out.
130
Physical
90
Is three times as likely to land a critical hit compared to other moves.
-
Raises the users' Attack and Speed.
60
Lowers the attack of the opposing Pokemon. Also hits all enemies on the field.
75
100
No secondary effects.
There are a lot of things to be concerned about in Sceptile’s moveset. The most obvious threats are Sceptile using Dragon Dance to max out its Attack and Speed, or landing a critical hit with Leaf Blade, which, at maximum Attack, can one-shot even incredibly bulky Pokemon.
However, Breaking Swipe can be a problem due to the fact that, technically,Sceptile gets four turns for every turn you get,you just don’t see these other turns because the enemy is attacking the other trainers.
This is how raid bosses can seemingly increase their stats faster than should be possible. They’re using their stat-boosting move on the turns you don’t see.
Unfortunately, Breaking Swipe is a move that hits all enemies on the field, so if Sceptile uses it against another trainer, it hits you, resulting inSceptile effectively being able to hit you twice from the start, and up to three times if it uses it on a turn where it uses Earthquake.
Thankfully, as far as I can tell, Sceptile will only use Breaking Swipe on one trainer each turn.
The final issue is Thunder Punch,which can paralyze your Pokemonand potentially force it to lose a turn if you’re unlucky.
Due to all of this, Sceptile is very difficult to solo, and requires trainers who want to try it on their own (or just don’t want to deal with online raids), to rely on either something very fast, something very strong, or something very bulky.
How To Defeat Tera Sceptile
If Azumarill uses its hidden ability Sap Sipper, it becomes immune to three of Sceptile’s five damaging moves, and it will only use Thunder Punc repeatedly.
However, this still isn’t an easy fight, andrequires a very precise setup and avoiding an unlucky crit or paralysis from Sceptile. Use this build:
252 Attack, 252 Defense, 4 HP
+Def/-Sp.Def, Speed, or Sp.Atk
Use Chilling Water three times, thenimmediately Terastalize into the Fairy Typeso you’re no longer weak to Thunder Punch.
On the turn you terastalize, use Aqua Ring.Sceptile will reset your stats immediately afterwards.From there, use Belly Drum to max out your attack.
Belly Drum is an Egg Move for Azumarill, so you need to use aMirror Herbto learn it.
After that, the strategy is tospam Play Rough until Sceptile faints.If you’re consistent enough, it’ll heal you enough that Thunder Punch can’t one-shot you.
This a strategy that uses an easy-to-obtain Pokemon in exchange for being very skewed by RNG, both in your favor and against you.
Of these options,the most in your control is resetting until you get an NPC that has Staraptor or Tauros.You can also use this build in online raids to hopefully get allies who are also doing decent damage or more efficient at lowering Sceptile’s stats.
Generally speaking,it’s not worth using the Heal Cheer if you get paralyzed,because then you have to hope for a high roll and you get back above half health.
If you’re solo,you should reset if you lose your Tera at any point, because while Azumarill has the Water-type,Thunder Punch will one-shot it consistently. If you’re in an online raid,switch to using Chilling Water and Cheers to support your team.
