Mega Heracross Pokemon GO Debut: Everything You Need to Know

The much-anticipated Pokemon GO debut of Mega Heracross is approaching fast and most fans of the Bug and Fighting-type Pokemon are buzzing with excitement.

From its release date to the top counters to use against it, here’s everything you need to know about the debut of Mega Heracross in Pokemon GO.

Mega Heracross Raid Day: April 13

Originally discovered in the Johto region, the Bug and Fighting-type Pokemon Heracross was first introduced in the game as a regional Pokemon exclusively located in Latin America, southern parts of Florida, and Texas. For its Mega Evolution, Mega Heracross will make its way into Pokemon GO for all players across the globe on April 13, 2024, Saturday, from 2 PM to 5 PM local time during its dedicated Raid Day event.

Mega Heracross Raid Day Bonuses

Just like every Raid Day ever, there are in-game bonuses players can benefit from. Here is a list of the following bonuses for the Mega Heracross Raid Day:

• Players can receive up to five additional free Raid Passes by simply spinning Gym Photo Discs.
• Pokemon GO will increase the Remote Raid Pass limit for all players to 20 from Friday, April 12, at 5:00 p.m. to Saturday, April 13, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. PDT.
• Lucky trainers have a higher chance to encounter Shiny Heracross from Mega Raids as the shiny odds are increased for the duration of the event.
• After two or more trainers successfully complete an in-person raid, more Pokemon will appear around the Gym that hosted the raid for fifteen minutes.

Additionally, for an extra USD $5.00 (or the equivalent pricing tier in other countries’ local currency), players will be able to purchase a ticket to receive more in-game bonuses. Here are the following bonuses from the event exclusive ticket:

• Eight additional Raid Passes from spinning Gym Photo Discs.
• Increased chances to get Rare Candy XL from a raid.
• Fifty percent more XP from Raid Battles
• Twice the Stardust received from Raid Battles

If those bonuses are not enough, players can also choose to buy a limited-time Heracross Raid Ultra Ticket Box from the in-game shop which will have the event exclusive ticket plus one additional Premium Battle Pass for only USD $4.99. You can also buy this package through the Pokemon GO Web Store.

Is Mega Heracross Good in Pokemon GO?

As mentioned earlier, Mega Heracross coming to Pokemon GO is much-anticipated and that is with good reason. It has a possible maximum Combat Power (CP) of 5,443 CP that stems from its 334 Attack, 223 Defense, and 190 Stamina (which is based on its Health Points).

For its Fast Attacks, Mega Heracross has access to the Fighting-type move Counter and the Bug-type move Struggle Bug, preferably running Counter over Struggle Bug. As for its Charged Moves, it has access to one of the best Bug-type moves in Megahorn, a pretty good Fighting-type move in Close Combat, and good coverage sets with the Ground-type nuke Earthquake and the Rock-type move Rock Blast.

As per Pokebattler, Mega Heracross ranks 23rd overall and 16th amongst all the Mega Evolutions with the optimum move set of Counter and Close Combat.

Top counters and other tips during Mega Heracross Raid Day

As a dual Bug and Fighting-type Pokemon, Mega Heracross has type disadvantages against Flying-, Fire-, Fairy-, and Psychic-type attacks, although the last two types are somewhat resisted due to the typing combination of Mega Heracross.

Considering it is double weak to Flying-types, the top best counters against Mega Heracross are none other than Rayquaza and its three forms (Mega Rayquaza, Shadow Rayquaza, and base-form Rayquaza) running the Flying-type fast move Air Slash and the Flying-type charged move Dragon Ascent. Other good Flying-type counters for Mega Heracross include Shadow Moltres, Shadow Ho-Oh, Enamorus with the Flying-type charged move Fly, Mega Pidgeot, Yveltal, Moltres, and Shadow Staraptor.

In case you do not have a good Flying-type Pokemon, you can always rely on the other weaknesses such as Charizards with the Fire-type charge move Blast Burn or Groudons with the Fire-type charge move Fire Punch.

One last tip, if you are grinding for more candies meant for your Heracross, do not forget to Mega Evolve a Fighting- or Bug-type Pokemon, such as Mega Beedrill and Mega Pinsir (or even a Mega Heracross itself if you already have enough energy for it), for the bonus candies.

With that, we hope you’ll have a great Mega Heracross Raid Day!