This raid is not easy at all. Dragon Dance in the regular moveset is cheap as hell, and I hate when GF does that in these 7* raids. I get it; everybody probaby runs train on Sceptile without something pretty drastic like that. But still, a 7* boss that goes to +3, +4, or even +6 behind the scenes in the blink of an eye is a camper move by GF, imo. Maybe I’ll get interested in the raid and enjoy experimenting more later, but right now it feels like a waste of time against an aimbot opponent.
I couldn’t solo this in 3 tries with Azumarill, but I think I could get there with Azu if I really want to keep trying, which I don’t. Even facing a supposedly “greedy” boosting boss — eating super-effective boosted Thunder Punches just isn’t fun. Also passing up Huge Power for Sap Sipper and relying on Azu’s craptastic base 50 Attack stat just never feels right for me, unless it’s a slam dunk solution for a raid, which it isn’t this time. Maybe a nice challenge for Azu fans, but it’s just too much of a try-hard for me. So I decided to go online, and see if random teams could help me catch this 7* Sceptile.
I expected it to be tough with randoms, as it is always hard to find competent teams online. And one of my quick lessons again involved Azumarill fail, as every online Azu teammate was not Sap Sipper, and was practically insta-fainted repeatedly as they Belly Drummed and died over and over burning the timer to no end. So, I now exit every lobby when someone locks in Azu, because the general competence level with those players is worse than horrible. Not surprising really, but eh, whatever.
I finally succeeded online using the support Torkoal below. I don’t remember my teammates exactly, but one of them was a Clefable that did most of the heavy lifting. I’m gonna make a Clefable next for this raid and see how it goes, it certainly looks like it has promise. In the meantime, here’s the mon that helped me get the win:
Torkoal @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
- Lava Plume
- Clear Smog
- Will-o-Wisp
- Iron Defense
Torkoal is as safe as safe gets in terms of support for this raid. In all my random battles, even in ugly losses with terrible teammates, this Torkoal never got below green health. Not once. Heck, it normally spends almost the entire battle at 90% HP or more. Everyone else might be dying around you, but you have nothing to fear if you’re using the fire tortoise.
Start the battle off with Will-O-Wisp to burn Sceptile and provide immediate damage suppression for your team.
Then spam Clear Smog repeatedly until the player stat reset.
Use Iron Defense once after the reset, and you’re basically invulnerable for the rest of the battle.
Continue to be a Clear Smog spambot most of the battle, as you will see that Sceptile is continually using DD against everyone and it snowballs quickly if you don’t do your thing.
Occasionally launch Lava Plumes against the shield as you get the opportunity, since the 30% Burn chance is so nice for the team.
Shell Armor means you can’t be critted, and even if Sceptile gets to +4 or more on those hidden DDances, your Defense is so godly it just doesn’t matter. Your damage output against Tera Dragon Sceptile is next to nothing, so it doesn’t matter much whether you tera or not. Your main job is to extend the battle by suppressing damage and giving your DPS teammates a chance to get rolling. In that support capacity, Torkoal is rock-solid and highly recommended for this Sceptile raid.