Best Espathra Tera Raid builds in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

With every new special Tera Raid added to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, players work to discover new tech that will allow them to counter some of the strongest Pokémon appearing in these challenging events. With the introduction of the Mighty Cinderace, Espathra has become one of the most-used Pokémon in Tera Raids, and here is how you can build out your Psychic-type for battle. 

Even outside of the seven-star Cinderace raids, Espathra is a strong Psychic-type that has a lot of versatility for other strong raids too. It can act as a good support Pokémon while also dealing decent damage, with multiple builds that work across the board. 

The main thing you want to remember when training an Espathra is EV spread. The moves translate for multiple different Pokémon, but the EV spread is the most important thing you want to focus on depending on which raids you plan on going into. Here are some options to cover your bases in different scenarios.

Best Espathra Tera Raid builds in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

In most cases, Espathra will be running its signature Lumina Crash attack and one or more support moves such as Reflect and Light Screen. You don’t need to bring both screens on specific builds, but if you are gunning for a more general approach and just want a Pokémon that will work in most scenarios, you can run both. 

Lumina Crash is a fairly powerful Special Psychic attack that also lowers the target’s Special Defense by two stages once it connects. This can open up a lot of additional support opportunities even if you aren’t the one dealing the majority of the damage. 

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The rest of your moveset, which item you bring, your ability, and the EV spread will change depending on the type of build you are working toward. 

Mighty Cinderace or physically defensive build

Cinderace in seven-star raids has no moves that can hit Espathrea for super effective damage, but it still hits like a truck on the physical side of things. Building an Espathra with EV’s focused on Defense and Special Attack will allow you to tank more hits, support your team, and heal without taking too many risks. 

• Tera Type: Psychic
• Ability: Opportunist
  • When an opposing Pokémon raises its stats, the Pokémon with this Ability will also raise the same stats by the same number of stages as the opposing Pokémon.
• Nature: Modest (+ Special Attack, – Attack)
• Held Item: Shell Bell
• EV spread
  • 4 HP
  • 252 Defense 
  • 252 Special Attack
• Moves
  • Lumina Crash
  • Reflect
  • Helping Hand/Stored Power
  • Roost/Feather Dance/Calm Mind

General Tera Raid build

This is a more general Espathra raid build that can be used in a number of different situations. The main focus is on setting up Reflect or Light Screen and then either setting up itself or working to deal damage when given the opportunity.

• Tera Type: Psychic
• Ability: Opportunist
  • When an opposing Pokémon raises its stats, the Pokémon with this Ability will also raise the same stats by the same number of stages as the opposing Pokémon.
• Nature: Modest (+ Special Attack, – Attack)
• Held Item: Shell Bell
• EV spread
  • 152 HP
  • 252 Special Attack
  • 106 Speed
• Moves
  • Lumina Crash
  • Reflect
  • Light Screen/Helping Hand/Stored Power
  • Roost/Light Screen/Calm Mind