Pokémon Type Chart Explained: Multipliers, Dual Types, Immunities and GO Differences

The Pokémon type chart is an 18-by-18 grid that decides how much damage a move deals based on one simple comparison: the type of the move against the type (or two types) of the Pokémon it hits. In the main series games the answer is always one of four multipliers — 2x for super effective, 1x for neutral, 0.5x for not very effective and 0x for a complete immunity — and Pokémon GO keeps exactly the same relationships but compresses the numbers to 1.6x, 0.625x and roughly 0.39x. Learn how the stacking works and how to read the chart defensively, and you can work out any matchup in the series without memorising all 324 squares.

How do the multipliers work in the main series?

The chart used today has been unchanged since Generation VI introduced the Fairy type in 2013, so it covers everything from X and Y through to Scarlet, Violet and Legends: Z-A. Only the move's type and the defender's types matter: the attacker's own typing plays no part in effectiveness (it earns a separate same-type attack bonus instead). Most matchups are neutral. A Fire move against a Grass Pokémon reads 2x; the same move against a Water or Fire Pokémon reads 0.5x; and a small number of pairings, covered below, read 0x and deal no damage at all. Because one move produces one reading per defending type, single-type Pokémon are simple, and the interesting maths starts with dual types.

How does dual typing stack the maths?

Multipliers multiply — they are never averaged and never added. If a move is super effective against both of a defender's types, 2x times 2x gives the famous 4x weakness: a Ground move into a Steel/Rock Pokémon such as Aggron, or an Ice move into a Dragon/Ground Pokémon such as Garchomp. If it is resisted by both types, 0.5x times 0.5x leaves just 0.25x damage. A weakness and a resistance cancel neatly back to neutral: a Fighting move is super effective against Normal but resisted by Poison, so against a Normal/Poison Pokémon it deals ordinary 1x damage. The one absolute rule is that an immunity overrides everything. Electric moves are super effective against Water, but a Water/Ground Pokémon such as Swampert takes nothing at all, because 2x times 0x is still 0x. This is why adding a second type can transform a Pokémon's defensive life rather than merely adjusting it.

Which immunities should you memorise first?

Only eight of the 324 matchups deal no damage, and they are the highest-value facts on the whole chart. Ghost is immune to Normal and Fighting moves — and Normal is in turn immune to Ghost, the chart's one mutual stand-off. Ground moves cannot touch Flying Pokémon. Electric moves cannot touch Ground Pokémon. Psychic moves cannot touch Dark Pokémon. Poison moves cannot touch Steel Pokémon, which also cannot be poisoned at all. Dragon moves cannot touch Fairy Pokémon, an immunity created specifically to give Dragon a hard counter in Generation VI. Abilities and a few unusual moves bend these rules — Levitate grants a Ground immunity, and Freeze-Dry is deliberately coded to hit Water super effectively — but the eight chart immunities are the foundation everything else is built on.

How do you read the chart defensively?

Offence groups neatly: Fighting and Ground are the broadest attacking types, each super effective against five types, while Grass and Bug are resisted by seven. Defence reads differently, because what matters is how many types hit you. Steel is the outstanding defensive type, resisting ten types, taking nothing from Poison, and fearing only Fire, Fighting and Ground. Normal, at the other extreme, has just one weakness (Fighting), one resistance-free profile and a Ghost immunity, which quietly makes it a solid defensive typing. Electric has a single weakness, Ground, offset by its Flying and Steel resistances. The chart's hard cases are combinations rather than single types: a 4x weakness, like Ice/Rock's twin vulnerabilities or Grass/Psychic's to Bug, usually matters more than the raw count of ordinary weaknesses, because one well-chosen move can end the battle before typing nuance gets a say.

How does Pokémon GO change the numbers?

GO uses the identical chart of relationships with softer arithmetic suited to real-time battling. Super effective deals 1.6x rather than 2x, resisted deals 0.625x rather than 0.5x, and the two stack to 2.56x or about 0.391x for double weaknesses and double resistances. Crucially, GO has no true immunities: a matchup that would deal 0x in the main series is converted into the same 0.391x tier as a double resistance, so a Ground move still chips a Flying Pokémon rather than whiffing completely. Where an immunity-tier matchup meets another resistance — a Fighting move into a Ghost/Bug Pokémon, say — the multipliers stack once more to roughly 0.244x, the weakest hit possible in the game. Same chart, same instincts about what to bring; just expect advantages to swing battles a little less violently, and never count on an immunity to save you.