Pokemon Legends: Arceus - How to Beat Volo & Giratina (2023)

As any longtime Pokemon fan will already know, a game doesn't always have to end when the credits begin to roll. This is certainly the case with Pokemon Legends: Arceus, anyway, with the developers packing in an impressive amount of post-game content for players to work on after they've completed the game's main story and closed the space-time rift.

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Initially, Pokemon Legends: Arceus players will be tasked with collecting the remaining Arceus plates, which is accomplished by tracking down and catching numerous Legendary Pokemon throughout the Hisui region. Once all but one of the plates have been collected, players will then need to return to the top of Mt Coronet, where their former-friend Volo will finally reveal his true colors.

How to Prepare for the Battle with Volo & Giratina

Unlike earlier Pokemon games, Pokemon Legends: Arceus doesn't place too much emphasis on trainer battles, which can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it makes the whole experience a lot less stressful for players and allows them to focus almost entirely on adhering to the series' iconic "Gotta catch 'em all" motto. Unfortunately, however, it does have its fair share of downsides as well.

Perhaps the biggest of these is that players aren't really required to train up their Pokemon as much as they would be in a traditional gym-centric Pokemon game. This means that a lot of players won't have assembled a well-balanced team by the time they reach the battle with Volo, nor will they have necessarily leveled up the right Pokemon. As such, they'll need to do a little bit of prep work in order to defeat the deranged Ginkgo Guild merchant.

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The fight with Volo is difficult for a few different reasons, the most notable being that he effectively has eight Pokemon in his team, while players remain limited to six. Changes to the battle formula also mean that when a Pokemon is defeated, its replacement is almost guaranteed to get one or even two actions in straight away, allowing it to get an easy KO if it has even the slightest bit of type advantage.

To get around this, players should purchase the crafting recipe for Max Revives from the Craftworks and make sure to head into the battle with at least a couple of them in their inventory. In the event that one of their Pokemon manages to survive one of these early onslaughts, they can then use the extra turn to fully revive one of their fallen Pokemon before taking advantage of the free first hit after their active Pokemon faints the following turn.

Which Pokemon Work Best Against Volo & Giratina?

Players may be tempted to use some of the many Legendary Pokemon that they've just finished catching for the battle with Volo and, on paper, this certainly seems like a good idea. After all, they'll likely be among the highest level Pokemon at most players' disposal and will also have the highest base stat totals to boot. Unfortunately, however, most of these Legendaries are weak against Dragon or Ground-type attacks, and Volo's team is perfectly set up to exploit this. Luckily they too have their own weaknesses.

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Of all of the Legendary Pokemon that players caught leading up to the battle with Volo, Cresselia is arguably the most useful. She has access to both Psychic (Psychic-type) and Moon Blast (Fairy-type), making her an excellent counter for three of Volo's initial six Pokemon. What's more, Lunar Blessing allows her to restore her health when needed and also makes her harder to hit. Even at Level 70, she should be able to do a pretty decent job if used correctly.

Those who chose Oshawott as their starter Pokemon should bring along their Hisuian Samurott, which will come in handy against Hisuian Arcanine as well as Giratina later on. Those who didn't opt for Oshawott can bring Palkia instead, who's a more than capable replacement (especially while in its Origin Forme). Players who picked Cyndaquil at the start of the game should bring along Hisuian Typhlosion, but Heatran can also cover Fire-type attacks if necessary.

If they haven't already, players should catch the Alpha Blissey from the Obsidian Falls area of the Obsidian Fieldlands. It's incredibly bulky, has only one weakness (Fighting), and can be taught moves of just about every type under the sun by visiting the training ground in Jubilife Village (though players should be sure to choose moves that use the Pokemon's Special Attack stat rather than its Attack). As an added bonus, Blissey can also heal itself using Rest, Hard Boiled, or Draining Kiss.

Between those four Pokemon, players should be able to cover all six of Volo's team as well as both forms of Giratina, but they'll definitely want to bring another two Pokemon along just in case. Another Blissey is a solid choice here (the Alpha will respawn when players next visit the area), as too is Dialga (or Palkia if players aren't already using it). For those bringing either or both of the Creation Pokemon, it's definitely worth teaching them Draco Meteor at the training ground, which becomes available after becoming a sixth-star member.

How to Beat Volo and Giratina

In order to beat Volo, players will need to take advantage of the Agile and Strong styles. Before each and every turn, they should check whether switching to an Agile style attack will grant them an extra turn before the opposition's next move. This can be a great way to get in some extra damage (use an Agile attack and then a Strong attack), use a healing move and then an attack, or use both an attack and then a recovery item before the opposition's next turn.

For the first part of the battle, it's simply a case of choosing a Pokemon to target Volo's active Pokemon's weakness, while using any free turns to heal up fallen Pokemon. Realistically, players will need to go into the two-part duel with Giratina with at least two Pokemon still able to fight, as Giratina will probably knock one of them out immediately after it transforms into its Origin Forme. Ideally, though, players will have three or even four battle-ready Pokemon just to be safe.

Running out of Pokemon at any point will result in players needing to restart the entire battle from the very beginning. Their Pokemon will be fully healed prior to retrying, though any items used will be lost for good, so, for those using Max Revives, it may be worth saving before the battle and soft-resetting if they lose. With the right strategy though, they should be able to beat Volo and Giratina, allowing them to move onto the game's very last story mission.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now for the Nintendo Switch.

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