Shadow raid

Shadow Archen counters

#0566

A Shadow raid boss hits harder than its normal form (Shadow Frenzy), and the Pokemon you catch afterwards is a Shadow. Purified Gems weaken it mid-fight; the simulation does not use them.

Lobby CP

14,705

4,000

Timer

3:00

Attack

173

Defense

Difficulty

0.54

Pokebattler scale

Beating Shadow Archen should take 1 trainer with level 40 counters. Caught CP 939-1,052.

Weak torock1.6xsteel1.6xwater1.6xelectric1.6xice1.6x

Who to bring

IncludeMega Legendary Shadow

Improve your raidweather · friendship · Mega in the lobby · Party Power · Adventure EffectsShow ▾

Weather

★ boosts a type this boss is weak to

No boost Sunny or clear Rainy ★Partly cloudy ★Cloudy Windy Snow ★Fog

Friendship

every trainer in the lobby who is your friend

None Good friend (+3%)Great friend (+5%)Ultra friend (+7%)Best friend (+10%)

Mega in the lobby

a Mega boosts every trainer's attacks: 1.3x of its own type, 1.1x of others

Try a Steel Mega — most top counters attack with Steel

Party Power

Party Play: the charged move after a full meter does 2x

Off 2 trainers 3 trainers 4 trainers

Adventure Effects

only these three change a raid

Behemoth Blade (+10% attack)Behemoth Bash (+10% defense)Dynamic Punch+ (+15% attack vs Mega)

Of the game's eleven Adventure Effects only Behemoth Blade (Crowned Sword Zacian), Behemoth Bash (Crowned Shield Zamazenta) and Dynamic Punch+ (Mega Mewtwo X) change a raid; Roar of Time, Spacial Rend, Freeze Shock, Ice Burn, Sunsteel Strike, Moongeist Beam, Future Sight+ and Dynamax Cannon act outside raids. Dynamic Punch+ only counts against a Mega boss, so it changes nothing here. Sources: the full list, Behemoth Blade / Bash, Dynamic Punch+.

Best counters

Mega, Legendary, Shadow · level 40

The best Shadow Archen counters are Mega Greninja, Zacian (Crowned Sword), Zamazenta (Crowned Shield), Necrozma (Dusk Mane), Kyurem (White) & Shadow Thundurus (Therian).

Suggested party of sixat most one Mega

M. Greninja
Zacian (Crowned Sword)
Zamazenta (Crowned Shield)
Necrozma (Dusk Mane)
Kyurem (White)
S. Thundurus (Therian)

5 more Megas ranked inside the top six — a party can hold only one Mega, so the best one stays and the next non-Mega takes the slot.

Ranked by Estimator (trainers needed); small print: time to winOrder byEstimatorOverall %

1Mega GreninjaMegapartyWater Shuriken / Surf+0.511:29
2Zacian (Crowned Sword)LegendarypartyMetal Claw / Behemoth Blade0.521:32
3Mega Raichu YMegaThunder Shock / Zap Cannon+0.541:34
4Zamazenta (Crowned Shield)LegendarypartyMetal Claw / Behemoth Bash0.541:35
5Necrozma (Dusk Mane)LegendarypartyMetal Claw / Sunsteel Strike0.551:36
6Mega Raichu XMegaThunder Shock / Volt Tackle+0.561:38
7Mega StarmieMegaWater Gun / Liquidation+0.561:39
8Primal KyogreMegaLegendaryWaterfall / Origin Pulse0.591:44
9Kyurem (White)LegendarypartyIce Fang / Ice Burn0.601:46
10Mega LucarioMegaForce Palm / Meteor Mash0.601:46
11Shadow Thundurus (Therian)ShadowLegendarypartyVolt Switch / Wildbolt Storm0.601:46

More orders under All settings (Sort by). The top 15 in detail.

Build and order a party of six →Plan your raid lobby →

Best from your Pokebox

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The Pokebox saved in this browser · each at its own level, IVs and moves.

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Raid tier — Easy Group Shadow Raid

Super Mega Legendary Super Mega Primal Mega Legendary Mega Elite Shadow Tier 5 Tier 5 Shadow Tier 3 Tier 3 Shadow Tier 1 Tier 1 Tier 4 Tier 2

Raid alerts…

Top 15 Shadow Archen counters in detail

Click a row for damage per move, breakpoints and the energy cycle. Click a column to sort. All 30 ranked attackers, with every column, are under All settings.

Trainers1soloable

#	Attacker	Moveset
1	Mega Greninjawaterdarkjoint top pick	waterWater ShurikenwaterSurf+	3,784	1:29	0.51	2.6	263.5%
2	Zacian (Crowned Sword)fairysteel	steelMetal ClawsteelBehemoth Blade	4,979	1:32	0.52	0.8	254.9%
3	Mega Raichu Yelectric	electricThunder ShockelectricZap Cannon+	3,780	1:34	0.54	3.8	248.5%
4	Zamazenta (Crowned Shield)fightingsteel	steelMetal ClawsteelBehemoth Bash	4,172	1:35	0.54	1.0	247.1%
5	Necrozma (Dusk Mane)psychicsteel	steelMetal ClawsteelSunsteel Strike	4,099	1:36	0.55	2.0	243.7%
6	Mega Raichu Xelectric	electricThunder ShockelectricVolt Tackle+	3,510	1:38	0.56	3.0	240.4%
7	Mega Starmiewaterpsychic	waterWater GunwaterLiquidation+	3,701	1:39	0.56	3.3	237.7%
8	Primal Kyogrewater	waterWaterfallwaterOrigin Pulse	5,902	1:44	0.59	2.0	226.3%
9	Kyurem (White)dragonice	iceIce FangiceIce Burn	4,605	1:46	0.60	3.4	221.4%
10	Mega Lucariofightingsteel	fightingForce PalmsteelMeteor Mash	3,826	1:46	0.60	2.3	221.4%
11	Shadow Thundurus (Therian)electricflying	electricVolt SwitchelectricWildbolt Storm	3,659	1:46	0.60	4.4	221.1%
12	Shadow Metagrosssteelpsychic	steelBullet PunchsteelMeteor Mash	3,791	1:49	0.62	2.7	215.5%
13	Mega Mewtwo Ypsychic	psychicPsycho CutpsychicFuture Sight+	6,428	1:50	0.63	2.7	213.2%
14	Mega Metagrosssteelpsychic	steelBullet PunchsteelMeteor Mash	4,911	1:52	0.64	1.8	210.5%
15	Shadow Kyogrewater	waterWaterfallwaterOrigin Pulse	4,115	1:54	0.65	3.4	205.8%

Ordered by Estimator alone, fewest trainers needed first. . The place badge names each row's Overall place on hover.

Times are one trainer with six copies of that attacker, level 40 at 15/15/15, no weather, no friendship, no dodging, Shadow / Mega / Legendary attackers hidden — the same defaults pokebattler.com's own counter pages open with. Open the full counter tool to change any of them. "Details" opens the per-move damage, breakpoints and energy cycle against Shadow Archen.

Estimator is how many trainers of this strength the fight needs. Power is the share of Shadow Archen's HP that six of that attacker remove inside one raid timer, so over 100% means they finish it with time to spare. Faints is how many of the six go down inside that timer.

Hardest movesets to raid against

The same boss is a different fight depending on what it knows. Each row re-simulates the top 6 counters above against one specific moveset; the list is ordered hardest first, and clicking a row filters the whole page to that moveset — the ranking, the estimator and the share link all follow.

Boss moveset	Win % (1)	Overall	Power	Time to win	Faints	Estimator
Random (any moveset)showing	100%	178%	241.9%	1:37	2.4	0.55
Quick Attack / Ancient Power	100%	172%	236.1%	1:39	2.9	0.57
Quick Attack / Crunch	100%	176%	239.2%	1:38	2.4	0.56
Wing Attack / Ancient Power	100%	167%	239.9%	1:38	2.8	0.56
Wing Attack / Crunch	100%	172%	240.3%	1:38	2.4	0.56
Wing Attack / Dragon Claw	100%	207%	245.4%	1:36	2.0	0.54
Quick Attack / Dragon Claw	100%	213%	245.8%	1:35	1.9	0.54

Measured over the top 6 attackers on the list above rather than by re-ranking the whole roster once per moveset — the ordering is what the table is for, and a full re-rank per moveset would cost ten times the page's whole simulation budget. Win % is the share of runs 1 trainers of those attackers finish inside the raid timer. Overall is Pokebattler's published blend on its own absolute scale (higher is easier), not a percentage of the best row the way the ranked table's Overall column is — which is why an easy boss reads well above 100% here.

Simulating each boss moveset…

Archen weaknesses and resistances

Every one of the 18 attacking types against this boss's typing. GO multipliers: 1.6x super effective, 2.56x doubly, 0.625x resisted, 0.39x doubly resisted.

rock1.6x steel1.6x water1.6x electric1.6x ice1.6x fighting1x ghost1x grass1x psychic1x dragon1x dark1x fairy1x normal0.63x flying0.63x poison0.63x ground0.63x bug0.63x fire0.63x

Weak (5)
Neutral (7)
Resists (6)

It resists normal0.625xflying0.625xpoison0.625xground0.625xbug0.625xfire0.625x— bringing one of those is throwing damage away.

What Archen throws at you

Its standard movepool, with the damage window a dodge has to beat.

Fast moves

Move	Power	Energy	Duration	Hits at
flyingWing AttackSTAB	10	+11	1.0s	0.75s
normalQuick Attack	10	+13	1.0s	0.45s

Charged moves

Move	Power	Energy	Duration	Hits at
dragonDragon Claw	45	-33	1.5s	0.90s
rockAncient PowerSTAB	70	-33	3.5s	2.85s
darkCrunch	65	-33	3.0s	1.10s

Catch CP

What the encounter after the fight can hand you.

IV spread	CP at L20	CP at L25 (weather boosted)
6/6/6floor	939	1,174
7/7/7	951	1,189
8/8/8	963	1,205
9/9/9	976	1,220
10/10/10	989	1,236
11/11/11	1,001	1,252
12/12/12	1,014	1,268
13/13/13	1,027	1,284
14/14/14	1,040	1,300
15/15/15hundo	1,052	1,316

Caught CP range 939 - 1,052, or 1,174 - 1,316 when the weather boosts it.

A raid encounter is level 20 (level 25 weather boosted) and cannot roll an IV below 6/6/6 — a Shadow raid's floor is 6, not the usual 10. Anything outside the first range is not this raid's reward.

Shadow raid floor. A Shadow Raid encounter rolls a minimum of 6/6/6, so this band starts at 939, not at the 989 a 10/10/10 catch would give. pokebattler.com's own page for a Shadow boss prints that 10/10/10 value as its floor — it is applying the standard-raid rule — so expect its range to start 50 CP higher than this one. LeekDuck's published band agrees with the table above.

When it is in raids

From the raid schedule, refreshed daily.

Archen is not on the raid schedule right now. The simulation above is still exact for the tier chosen — any boss can be simulated, current or not.

All settings

Shadow Tier 3: 4,000 HP, 3:00 timer, boss Attack 173 / Defense 79 (15/15/15 at tier CPM 0.76).

Raid bossAttacker levelAttacker IVsWeatherFriendshipDodgingTrainers in the lobbyMega in the lobbyParty Play trainersBoss fast moveBoss charged moveSort by

Attackers allowed

ShadowMega and PrimalLegendary, Mythical, Ultra BeastLegacy and Elite TM moves

Share these exact settings

Every column, and pokebattler.com's own rank

On a phone the list shows estimator, time to win and faints. Overall, Power, win chance, CP, DPS and TDO appear on a wider screen.

#	Attacker	Moveset	Overall	Power	Est.Estimator	TimeTime to win	Faints	Win % (1)	CP	DPS	TDO
1	Mega Greninja waterdarkmega Water Shuriken / Surf+	Water Shuriken / Surf++17 more movesets	91%	263.5%	0.51	1:29	2.5	100%	3,784	45.9	1183
2	Zacian (Crowned Sword) fairysteel Metal Claw / Behemoth Blade	Metal Claw / Behemoth Blade+7 more movesets	100%	254.9%	0.52	1:32	0.8	100%	4,979	45.8	2701
3	Mega Raichu Y electricmega Thunder Shock / Zap Cannon+	Thunder Shock / Zap Cannon++35 more movesets	82%	248.5%	0.54	1:34	3.7	100%	3,780	45.2	912
4	Zamazenta (Crowned Shield) fightingsteel Metal Claw / Behemoth Bash	Metal Claw / Behemoth Bash+7 more movesets	97%	247.1%	0.54	1:35	1.0	100%	4,172	42.7	2028
5	Necrozma (Dusk Mane) psychicsteel Metal Claw / Sunsteel Strike	Metal Claw / Sunsteel Strike+14 more movesets	87%	243.7%	0.55	1:36	2.0	100%	4,099	42.3	1508
6	Mega Raichu X electricmega Thunder Shock / Volt Tackle+	Thunder Shock / Volt Tackle++35 more movesets	81%	240.4%	0.56	1:38	2.9	100%	3,510	42.4	1067
7	Mega Starmie waterpsychicmega Water Gun / Liquidation+	Water Gun / Liquidation++44 more movesets	79%	237.7%	0.56	1:39	3.2	100%	3,701	42.0	1006
8	Primal Kyogre watermega Waterfall / Origin Pulse	Waterfall / Origin Pulse+5 more movesets	81%	226.3%	0.59	1:44	1.9	100%	5,902	39.4	1400
9	Kyurem (White) dragonice Ice Fang / Ice Burn	Ice Fang / Ice Burn+17 more movesets	73%	221.4%	0.60	1:46	3.3	100%	4,605	38.5	952
10	Mega Lucario fightingsteelmega Force Palm / Meteor Mash	Force Palm / Meteor Mash+23 more movesets	78%	221.4%	0.60	1:46	2.2	100%	3,826	38.2	1270
11	Shadow Thundurus (Therian) electricflyingshadow Volt Switch / Wildbolt Storm	Volt Switch / Wildbolt Storm+9 more movesets	70%	221.1%	0.60	1:46	4.4	100%	3,659	39.4	771
12	Shadow Metagross steelpsychicshadow Bullet Punch / Meteor Mash	Bullet Punch / Meteor Mash+15 more movesets	74%	215.5%	0.62	1:49	2.6	100%	3,791	37.4	1172
13	Mega Mewtwo Y psychicmega Psycho Cut / Future Sight+	Psycho Cut / Future Sight++26 more movesets	73%	213.2%	0.63	1:50	2.6	100%	6,428	38.1	1175
14	Mega Metagross steelpsychicmega Bullet Punch / Meteor Mash	Bullet Punch / Meteor Mash+15 more movesets	76%	210.5%	0.64	1:52	1.8	100%	4,911	36.4	1590
15	Shadow Kyogre watershadow Waterfall / Origin Pulse	Waterfall / Origin Pulse+5 more movesets	68%	205.8%	0.65	1:54	3.3	100%	4,115	35.5	944
16	Mega Swampert watergroundmega Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+11 more movesets	72%	204.6%	0.65	1:55	2.2	100%	4,401	35.2	1272
17	Kyurem (Black) dragonice Dragon Tail / Freeze Shock	Dragon Tail / Freeze Shock+11 more movesets	66%	202.6%	0.66	1:56	3.6	100%	4,605	35.4	903
18	Mega Diancie rockfairymega Rock Throw / Rock Slide	Rock Throw / Rock Slide+5 more movesets	69%	200.7%	0.67	1:57	2.6	100%	4,346	34.6	1247
19	Shadow Rampardos rockshadow Smack Down / Rock Slide	Smack Down / Rock Slide+5 more movesets	61%	199.7%	0.67	1:58	5.3	100%	3,298	35.7	642
20	Mega Mewtwo X psychicfightingmega Psycho Cut / Dynamic Punch+	Psycho Cut / Dynamic Punch++26 more movesets	69%	198.2%	0.67	1:58	2.3	100%	6,112	35.2	1242
21	Shadow Dialga steeldragonshadow Metal Claw / Iron Head	Metal Claw / Iron Head+5 more movesets	66%	195.5%	0.68	2:00	2.9	100%	4,038	33.5	1025
22	Shadow Raikou electricshadow Thunder Shock / Wild Charge	Thunder Shock / Wild Charge+9 more movesets	63%	194.8%	0.69	2:00	3.7	100%	3,452	33.7	859
23	Regieleki electric Thunder Shock / Thunder Cage	Thunder Shock / Thunder Cage+11 more movesets	60%	193.5%	0.69	2:01	4.9	100%	2,803	34.6	698
24	Zeraora electric Volt Switch / Plasma Fists	Volt Switch / Plasma Fists+9 more movesets	63%	193.2%	0.69	2:01	3.5	100%	3,419	33.7	919
25	Shadow Greninja waterdarkshadow Water Shuriken / Hydro Cannon	Water Shuriken / Hydro Cannon+14 more movesets	60%	192.5%	0.69	2:02	5.1	100%	2,654	34.3	682
26	Xurkitree electric Thunder Shock / Discharge	Thunder Shock / Discharge+7 more movesets	61%	192.1%	0.70	2:02	4.5	100%	3,937	33.3	735
27	Shadow Rhyperior groundrockshadow Smack Down / Rock Wrecker	Smack Down / Rock Wrecker+15 more movesets	65%	191.9%	0.70	2:02	2.7	100%	3,733	33.2	1094
28	Mega Manectric electricmega Thunder Fang / Wild Charge	Thunder Fang / Wild Charge+14 more movesets	61%	190.1%	0.70	2:03	4.1	100%	3,580	32.9	781
29	Shadow Empoleon watersteelshadow Steel Wing / Hydro Cannon	Steel Wing / Hydro Cannon+19 more movesets	63%	189.5%	0.71	2:04	3.2	100%	2,900	32.6	976
30	Shadow Electivire electricshadow Thunder Shock / Wild Charge	Thunder Shock / Wild Charge+9 more movesets	58%	188.2%	0.71	2:05	5.2	100%	3,079	33.2	656

How accurate is this? Same top pick as pokebattler.com on 26 of 27 lists checked, 90% of its top tens shared; weakest on Mewtwo's default list (7 of 10).

Ranking. Our full ranking against the page pokebattler.com serves for the same boss and settings, on 27 boss and filter combinations read live (2026-10-04): 242 of 270 top-ten places shared, the same #1 on 26. On the six fixed reference bosses (read 2026-10-03): 85% top-ten overlap with its default filters, 83% with Shadow, Mega and Legendary on. A close top three is shown as a tie because the order inside it is below what we can measure.

Time to win. Graded with Pokebattler's own movesets against every boss moveset, average per boss: Tier 1 and 3 +0.1% to +1.2%; Tier 5 −2.9% to +1.3%; Mega −1.1% to +2.6%; Shadow Tier 5 −1.8% to +0.3%. One attacker can be off by more: median 1.6%, worst 15%, RMS per boss moveset 2.05%.

Known weak spots.

Mewtwo (Tier 5, default filters) shares 7 of Pokebattler's top 10: Absol, Incineroar and Salamence sit just outside ours, Polteageist, Cursola and Hisuian Typhlosion just inside.
Groudon (Tier 5, default filters) shares 7 of 10; its Grass and Water counters run 2-6% fast here.
Tier 5 times run about 2-3% fast for attackers that faint often, and 2-3% slow on Mega Charizard Y and Mega Beedrill, whose counters resist the boss.
Tier 1 lists are the least checked: Combee (Tier 1) shares only 3 of Pokebattler's top 10, with Gigalith first here where Pokebattler puts Rhyperior.

This boss on pokebattler.com (its Shadow boss page; the ordinary boss's page is a different, easier fight). Boss-by-boss accuracy report.

Ranked 30 attackers in 0.5 s (50 Monte Carlo runs each, seed 1). Same boss on pokebattler.com. The same ranking as JSON: /api/raids/rank.