How to solo Grass Serperior 7-star Tera Raid in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's latest 7-star Tera Raids feature a Grass Tera Type Serperior as their boss. You can battle and catch the Gen V Grass-type starter from September 19, 2024, at 5:00 pm PDT until September 22, 2024, at 4:59 pm PDT. It will reappear again from September 26-29 within the same timeframe. However, can you beat this boss solo? The answer is yes, and fairly easily.

There are multiple ways to approach soloing Mighty Serperior in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's 7-star Tera Raids, and it's worth examining some of the best examples so that you'll be prepared to beat this foe bearing the Mightiest Mark even if you can't invite your fellow trainers to lend a hand.

Grass Serperior's strengths, weaknesses, and stats in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet raids

Mighty Serperior in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet raids (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Tera Type: Grass
Ability: Contrary
IVs: 31 IVs in every stat
Nature: Modest
Usable Moves: Leaf Storm, Gastro Acid, Dragon Pulse, Iron Tail, Sweet Scent, Glare, Breaking Swipe

Since Terastallization doesn't change Serperior's type in this situation, it retains the same resistances and weaknesses that it ordinarily has in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet in its standard form. This means that Serperior will be weak against the following attack types:

Bug
Fire
Flying
Ice
Poison

Meanwhile, as a Grass-type Pokemon, Serperior will resist the following attack types, so they should be avoided:

Electric
Grass
Ground
Water

Best solo counter to Grass Serperior in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet raids

Galarian Slowking is a perfect fit for soloing Mighty Serperior raids in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (Image via The Pokemon Company)

This Pokemon Scarlet and Violet raid strategy involves utilizing Galarian Slowking and a specific moveset to debilitate Serperior and leave it relatively toothless as it is pelted with a Poison-type arsenal. Skill Swap is key, as it swipes Serperior's Contrary ability, allowing the boss' stats to be lowered as necessary—of utmost importance is that Acid Spray must melt away its Special Defense.

The full loadout for this solo Galarian Slowking build can be found below:

Tera Type - Poison
Ability - Curious Medicine
Moveset - Skill Swap, Acid Spray, Sludge Bomb, Nasty Plot
Nature - Modest
EV Point Distribution - 252 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 Def
Held Item - Shell Bell

Keep in mind that it is understood that the Pokemon will have maxed out IVs in all of its stat categories

How to beat 7-star Grass Serperior in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet raids

Galarian Slowking should be able to comfortably solo Mighty Serperior (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Before diving too deeply into this Pokemon Scarlet and Violet raid, it's important to know the raid behavior of Serperior before starting so you can prepare for what it's planning to do at certain points. Mighty Serperior's approximate raid behavior can be found below:

98% Raid Time - Serperior activates Sweet Scent.
85% Raid Time - The raid party's status and stats will be reset, Serperior attacks with Breaking Swipe.
75% HP or 75% Raid Time - Serperior activates its Tera Energy shield.
75% Raid Time - Serperior reduces the raid party's Tera Orb charge.
65% HP - Serperior's stats and status will reset.
40% HP - Serperior uses Glare.

Based on this behavior, you can follow these steps to help you beat Grass Serperior solo in this 7-star raid:

On Turn 1, activate Skill Swap to negate Serperior's Contrary ability and give it to Galarian Slowking instead.
On Turns 2-4, use Acid Spray to deal super effective damage and lower Serperior's Special Defense stat.
Once your Tera Orb is charged, Terastallize into a Poison-type and continue using Sludge Bomb to deal damage until Serperior resets its stats and status effects at 65% HP.
Use Acid Spray for the next three turns to reduce Serperior's Special Defense six stages again.
Continue using Sludge Bomb until you've defeated Serperior.
In the event that Serperior removes Contrary from Galarian Slowking, use Nasty Plot to boost Galarian Slowking's Special Attack.

With the strategy above, Serperior should be a pretty easy solo raid in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. It can't mitigate much of Galarian Slowking's Poison-type damage with diminished Special Defense stats, and the lack of Contrary will prevent Serperior from gaining stat boosts when debuffs are used on it. All in all, this solo strategy shouldn't take long and should net you plenty of rewards.