How to Beat 7-Star Swampert Tera Raid: Best Counters and Builds in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Pokemon trainers everywhere rejoice! Swampert has come to 7-Star Tera Raids. Here are some of the best builds and counters to take on the 7-Star Swampert Tera Raid in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

7-Star Swampert Tera Raid Event Dates in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

The 7-Star Swampert Tera Raid event in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet began on Thursday, May 30 at 5 PM PST and will continue until Sunday, June 2 at 4:59 PM PST. The event will occur again a week later on Thursday, June 6 at 5 PM PST until Sunday, June 9 at 4:59 PM PST.

7-Star Swampert Moveset and Tera Type

Swampert will have the Poison Tera type during its 7-Star Tera Raid in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, altering many of its usual strengths and weaknesses as a Water/Ground-type Pokemon. The Poison Tera type will also boost any Poison-type moves added to its repertoire, such as Sludge Wave. Like other 7-Star Raid Pokemon, 7-Star Swampert will have access to more than the usual four moves, have perfect stats, and be at a max level of 100.

7-Star Swampert’s full moveset and abilities are as follows:

Pokemon	Level	Moveset	Ability	Nature	Tera Type
Swampert	100	Sludge Wave Earthquake Hydro Pump Liquidation Muddy Water Yawn	Damp	Relaxed	Poison

Best Builds and Counters for 7-Star Swampert Tera Raid

The Poison Tera type on 7-Star Swampert makes it weak to Ground- and Psychic-type moves. Its hidden ability, Damp, will prevent the use of explosive moves, such as self-destruct, which honestly shouldn’t be an issue.

7-Star Swampert will begin the battle by blasting you with Muddy Water, which will deal some Ground-type damage and lower your accuracy. At 60% time remaining, it will use Yawn to put you to Sleep after two moves, and at 40% time remaining, it will use another Muddy Water. Between all that, Swampert will hit you with its four main moves (Slude Wave, Earthquake, Hydro Pump, and Liquidation) and clear stats on the battlefield at fixed time intervals as all 7-Star raid Pokemon do. 7-Star Swampert’s not too menacing when compared to past Mighty Tera raids, and with a little buildup, you can honestly trivialize the whole fight.

Below are a few recommendations to help you succeed in this challenge:

Araquanid

We recently reported how this Araquanid build, which comes from Reddit user Parallaxal, can make you and your teammates all immune to the 7-Star Swampert raid. Much of the build like EVs/IVs, Nature, etc. doesn’t matter. All you need is an Araquanid with its hidden Ability, Water Absorb, which will negate all Water-type moves, healing you instead of damaging you, a Leppa Berry as its held item, and two moves: Entrainment and Wide Guard. Start the raid by using Entrainment, which will change your teammate’s Abilities into Water Absorb to match yours. Then spam Wide Guard, which functions like Protect but for multi-targeted moves, such as Swampert’s Sludge Wave and Earthquake. You won’t be doing any damage with this build, but it will make you and your teammates invincible, allowing your teammates to take down Swampert without any fret.

Pokemon	Level	Moveset	Ability	Held Item	Nature	Tera Type	EVs/IVs
Araquanid	100	Entrainment Wide Guard	Water Absorb	Leppa Berry	N/A	N/A	N/A

Espathra

If you actually want to damage 7-Star Swampert, Espathra should be your go-to Pokemon. It’s a bit of a glass cannon, but with the right build-up, it can absolutely nuke Swampert even when tackling the raid solo. The main feature of this build takes advantage of Espathra’s Speed Boost Ability in conjunction with stat-boosting moves to help build up Stored Power, which gains 20 power for every increased stat stage, to monstrous levels. The problem here is actually surviving, but if you use Protect or put up a Reflect at the start of battle and can withstand the onslaught of attacks, once you get past 80% time remaining where Swampert resets your stats, you can build yourself up with Calm Mind. After three Calm Minds (and Speed boosts which will happen passively), you should be able to take down Swampert in one or two hits.

Pokemon	Level	Moveset	Ability	Held Item	Nature	Tera Type	EVs/IVs
Espathra	100	Stored Power Calm Mind Lumina Crash Protect / Reflect	Speed Boost	Shell Bell	Modest	Psychic	Sp. Attack & Defense

Vaporeon / Slowbro

Vaporeon seems to be the MVP of many 7-Star raids, and it’s coming in clutch again against 7-Star Swampert. This Vaporeon build is actually very similar to the Espathra build, using stat-boosting moves to increase the power of Stored Power and unleash massive damage. Espathra is likely to pull this off a little quicker, but Vaporeon is a much safer build as it’s able to tank Swampert’s moves and absorb any Water-type damage. If you wanted to, you could also successfully do a very similar build with Slowbro instead, trading out Aqua Ring for Iron Defense. 

Pokemon	Level	Moveset	Ability	Held Item	Nature	Tera Type	EVs/IVs
Vaporeon	100	Stored Power Calm Mind Acid Armor Aqua Ring	Water Absorb	Shell Bell	Modest	Psychic	Sp. Attack & HP

Gastrodon

Gastrodon is lined up well to take on 7-star Swampert without too much difficulty, though it can be a little slow-going with its low-damage output. Hopefully, Gastrodon’s hidden Ability, Storm Drain, which will not only make you immune to Water-type moves (similar to Water Absorb) but also boost your Sp. Attack when hit by one, will help speed things up alongside the Metronome held item, which will increase the power of a move by 20% each time it’s used consecutively. Otherwise, Gastrodon has no weaknesses against Swampert, it’s immune to Poison, and Storm Drain will negate half of Swampert’s moveset, meaning Gastrodon’s largely safe from any kind of damage Swampert can do.

Pokemon	Level	Moveset	Ability	Held Item	Nature	Tera Type	EVs/IVs
Gastrodon	100	Earth Power Mud Slap Recover Acid Armor	Storm Drain	Metronome	Modest	Ground	Sp. Attack & HP

That’s it for the 7-Star Swampert Tera Raid in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. As a reward for taking down the Mightiest Swampert, you’ll gain plenty of EXP Candies, Poison Tera Shards, Herba Mystica, an Ability Patch, TM214, and a smattering of some other goodies. Well worth the effort. Good luck out there, trainer!

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are available now on the Nintendo Switch.