Best defensive and offensive types, by the numbers

How these numbers were counted

Every figure here is counted from the current type chart, one type at a time. It does not account for stats, moves or abilities, so it is a measure of what a type brings on its own, not a ranking of Pokémon. Use the type chart page to check any single row or column.

Best defensive types

Steel stands far ahead: it resists 10 of the 18 types and is immune to Poison, with weaknesses only to Fire, Fighting and Ground. Fire resists six types, and Poison resists five. On the other side, Grass and Rock are each weak to five types, and Ice is weak to four while resisting only Ice itself. Ghost is unusual because it has two immunities, to Normal and Fighting.

• Steel: 10 resistances, 1 immunity, 3 weaknesses.
• Fire: 6 resistances, 3 weaknesses.
• Poison: 5 resistances, 2 weaknesses.
• Grass: 4 resistances, 5 weaknesses.
• Ice: 1 resistance, 4 weaknesses.

Best offensive types

Fighting and Ground are each super effective against five types, the most of any attacking type. Ground is resisted by only two types, Grass and Bug, and Flying is immune to it, which makes it one of the most reliable attacking types. Fire, Ice and Rock each hit four types for 2×. Dragon hits only Dragon, but very little resists it: Steel takes ½× and Fairy is immune.

• Fighting: 2× against 5, resisted by 5, no effect on Ghost.
• Ground: 2× against 5, resisted by 2, no effect on Flying.
• Fire, Ice and Rock: 2× against 4 each.
• Normal: 2× against none, resisted by Rock and Steel, no effect on Ghost.

Why weak types still matter

A type that looks poor on paper can still be strong. Normal attacks hit nothing super effectively, but Normal Pokémon are weak only to Fighting and are immune to Ghost. Dragon has few strong matchups, but Dragon moves are rarely resisted. Bug and Grass moves are resisted by seven types each, yet both have useful matchups against common Water, Ground, Psychic and Dark types.

Pairing types

The best dual types cover each other’s weaknesses. Steel/Fairy, for example, loses Steel’s Fighting weakness and Fairy’s Poison weakness. Check any pair in the type calculator to see how two types combine, including the 4× weaknesses that come from two types sharing a weakness.