Is it possible to do a 3-Star Raid in Pokemon Go by yourself?

A question I hear a lot and see posted often is whether or not someone can beat a 3-Star Raid solo in Pokemon Go. The short answer is yes, but like most short answers in life, this does have an asterisk next to it.

Winning a 3-Star raid by yourself is possible, the photo of this article is of me defeating a 3-Star Raid boss by myself, but it is not always a guarantee.

I know that is an anticlimactic answer, but there are a lot of factors in play that prevents me from giving a straight yes or no answer. Instead of giving a definitive answer, I will instead give advice on how to approach the raid.

If you are going to try a solo 3-Star Raid I recommend using these tips:

Come prepared

Always double-check your Pokemon when preparing for a raid. Before entering the lobby click on a Revive to make sure none of your Pokemon are knocked out. Once that is done click on a Potion to ensure all your Pokemon are at full health.

Even if you are sure they’re all ready to go, double-check anyways. This will ensure all your time in the lobby will be put to better use!

Skip the bells and whistles

Until you’ve done a few 3-Star Raids by yourself I would advise against using Lucky Eggs and Star Pieces, unless you have a huge stockpile and don’t mind.

While it is not pleasant to think about you may not succeed and the time to get into and do the raid will use up a lot of the time each will be active. Save them for a time you can fully utilize them!

Aim for the weak spots

Build your team around the Raid Boss's weaknesses. Hitting the Raid Boss’s weakness will deal the most amount of damage and give you the best chance of winning the raid in the set time limit.

When choosing your team make sure the Pokemon you use have attacks that hit the Raid Boss’s weakness. If you have Pokemon that have both Fast and Charged attacks that are strong against the raid boss even better!

Go for the throat

Always aim for the worst weakness for the Raid Boss. If the Raid Boss has any 4x weakness you will want to build your team around that type. I actually focus on 3-Star Raid Bosses with 4x weaknesses, anything else I try to get someone else to do the raid with me.

2x weaknesses can be taken advantage of but should be considered lesser priority than the 4x.

Bring your A-game

You not only want your team to hit hard you also want them to be able to take a hit as well. As soon as you enter the lobby check the Pokemon that Go suggested for you and swap out any that are weak against the Raid Boss’s typing and any that you feel will not survive long enough to do a decent amount of damage to the boss.

If you do select a team make sure the team saves and does not reset when you return to the lobby!

Stay on target

Do the raid at a time when you are free and somewhere quiet so you can concentrate. You want to be able to give the raid your full attention and your all so having no distractions will help a lot!

Also, this is a weird one but when tapping your Fast Attacks do so on the button for the Charged Attack. This is what I do during raids and battles so as soon as the attack is ready it is used and begin charging again. Doing this will allow you to use the Charged Attacks without having to watch for it to become available, stopping and clicking on it.

Every second counts!

Round 2, fight!

If you don’t first succeed, try again! If you lose the raid and the raid is still active you can try again, don’t let a raid pass go to waste.

Heal your Pokemon, follow the tips below and make the Raid Boss rue the day it decided to best you!

Send invites

While it is possible to win a 3-Star Raid by yourself it is not always a guarantee, even in the best of circumstances.

I still recommend sending invites out to friends who are online to see if any will do the raid with you. Even one friend joining you would make the difference between losing a raid and winning it.

If no one joins in the raid you can always try again, but try not to spam the same friends with raid invites. If they didn’t come the first time, they probably won’t the second, third, fourth, fifth time!

Rally the troops

If you can’t get any friends to help you turn to a wider audience!

Post in online Pokemon Go groups letting people know about the raid and post your friend code so they can add you.

I also recommend the PokeRaid app which is an app that is specifically for people looking for help with raids and those looking to do them. It is free to use and extends your search radius for both participants for your raids and raids you can do to be worldwide!