Pokémon Go Mega Heracross counters, weaknesses and moveset explained

How to defeat the mega evolved Bug and Fighting-type Pokémon.

Guide by Nic Bunce Contributor

Published on April 13, 2024

Mega Heracross the Mega Evolved form of the Single Horn Pokémon, Heracross, is available Pokémon Go.

This is a pretty cool Pokémon, especially if you think bugs are cute. This design takes the humble stag beetle, turns it into a Pokémon, and then mega evolves it - our one note is that Mega Heracross famously has two horns, despite also being the Single Horn Pokémon.

Mega Heracross also takes the crown as the best Bug-type attacker in the game, pushing its cousin Mega Pinsir into close second. Burying the lead slightly, it’s also the best Fighting-type attacker in the game, kicking Mega Blaziken into close second. If you don’t have one, make sure you pick up enough Mega Heracross Energy while you have the chance!

That’s because, like all Mega Evolutions, Mega Heracross can’t be caught directly in Pokémon Go. Instead, you need to keep defeating it in Mega Raids until you’ve collected enough Mega Energy for its temporary evolution.

Below you’ll find Mega Heracross’s counters and weaknesses to help you succeed in Pokémon Go - just remember you need to have a Heracross in your Pokémon storage to perform its Mega Evolution.

On this page:

Mega Heracross counters and weaknesses
Mega Heracross CP
Best Mega Heracross moveset
Everything we know about Heracross

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Mega Heracross counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go

The fastest way to collect Mega Heracross Energy is to defeat one in a Mega Raid. Below you’ll find the counters and weaknesses for Mega Heracross to help you achieve this:

Mega Heracross types - Bug and Fighting-type
Mega Heracross is double weak against - Flying-type attacks
Mega Heracross is weak against - Fairy, Fire and Psychic-type attacks
Mega Heracross is resistant to - Bug, Dark, Fightng, Grass and Ground-type attacks
Mega Heracross Mega counters - Mega Rayquaza is, of course, the king when it comes to Flying-type weaknesses. After this, we’re looking at Mega Pidgeot and Mega Charizard Y, but they’re a distant second and third!
Mega Heracross non-Mega counters - The best team here would be a Mega Rayquaza and five regular Rayquaza – it is miles ahead of the competition. After the noodle dragon comes Shadow Moltres, Shadow Honchkrow, Shadow Staraptor, Yveltal and Enamorous. If you don’t have the Shadows, the regular versions will do, but you will have a harder time on your hands.

Mega Rayquaza and Rayquaza are your top two counters

Number of players to beat Mega Heracross - You’re looking at two Trainers with fully optimal 40 counters at the bare minimum. Aim for six and you should be fine.
Tactics - The tactics here are pretty simple. Make the most of its double-weakness to Flying by chucking your strongest Pokémon at it. If it’s a Legendary Flying type, chuck it into your party!

Mega Heracross CP in Pokémon Go

Below you’ll find the CP levels for battling for Mega Heracross and, if defeated, catching an Heracross after the fight in Pokémon Go:

Mega Heracross Raid CP - 51,078 CP
CP range for catching Heracross - 1693 to 1772 CP
Weather (Rainy/Cloudy) when being caught - 2116 to 2215 CP

The Shared Skies Season is here! Go Fest 2024 may have been and gone, but you can still play around with the Fusion mechanic. Meanwhile, ticket holders can finish Go Fest 2024: A Shadowy Caper and The Dusk Settles. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.

Best Mega Heracross moveset in Pokémon Go

Mega Heracross is actually pretty decent, becoming the best Bug and Fighting-type attackers in Pokémon Go. The issue is that Bug-types are awful, so being best Bug-type is like being the biggest leaf in the forest. Ultimately, it means nothing.

But best Fighting-type? Now that’s interesting.

Technically speaking, Mega Heracross’s best moveset in Pokémon Go would be Counter (Fast) and Megahorn (Bug). However, if you really want to hit the hardest, you’ll be be making the most of its Fighting STAB in match-ups against Pokémon weak to Fighting. This means that the chances are, you’ll want to swap Megahorn for Close Combat.

Of course, there is some overlap here. Psychic, Grass and Dark are weak to Bug, while Fighting is strong against Normal, Rock, Steel, Ice, Dark. This means that if you come across a Dark type,the Counter/Megahorn combo becomes your best bet, but that’s a relatively specific use case.

Interestingly, regular non-Mega Heracross does pretty well across all three of the main leagues, so, even if you don't have the Mega Energy, it can still be an asset to your team.

Here are all the Fast and Charged moves Mega Heracross can use in Pokémon Go:

Fast Moves:

Counter (Fighting)
Struggle Bug (Bug)

Charged Moves:

Megahorn (Bug)
Earthquake (Ground)
Close Combat (Fighting)
Rock Blast (Rock)

Everything we know about Heracross

The Single Horn Pokémon, Heracross, is pretty cool, especially if you like bugs. It fits into the bracket of no-evolution bugs that eventually got a Mega Evolution, with its buddies Scyther and Pinsir (though Scyther eventually grew up into ~~a pair of scissors~~ Scizor).

Despite its pretty impressive strength, it’s perfectly content chilling on the side of a tree, drinking nectar. Plus, it’s pretty cute - just look at that face - what’s not to love?

Heracross is a Bug/Fighting-type with no known evolutions. (Image via pokemongolive.com)

However, our pedantry means that we have to point out its miscategorisation once the 'Single Horn' Pokémon Mega Evolves. If you want to learn more about the first Pokémon in the Pokédex and how it grows up to be the chokiest plant, you can read their official Pokédex entries below:

Heracross: 'It loves sweet nectar. To keep all the nectar to itself, it hurls rivals away with its prized horn. With its herculean powers, it can easily throw around an object that is 100 times its own weight.'
Mega Heracross: 'It can grip things with its two horns and lift 500 times its own body weight. A tremendous influx of energy builds it up, but when Mega Evolution ends, Heracross is bothered by terrible soreness in its muscles.'

It’s also worth pointing out that we are now going to take inspiration from Lilo and Stitch and install doors 501-times the weight of a Mega Heracross (137.8 lbs or 62.5kg - wow that’s a chonky bug).

For those less interested in maths (boo) and more interested in shiny things, you’ll be pleased to know that shiny Heracross was released in August 2021. As a result, Mega Heracross is also in the game, and it looks pretty sweet!

[Gen9] I love Heracross
byu/Carteen_ inShinyPokemon

As you can see above, Mega Heracross is a light purple. Eagle-eyed Trainers will spot that Heracross is sexually dimorphic, too. The ones with bow-shaped tips on their horns are male Heracross, while ones with heart-shaped tips are female. Thanks to Reddit user Carteen_ for the preview, and congratulations on their pincer of shiny stag beetles!

Shiny Mega Heracross is similarly gorgeous. Below, you can see that this colour change is conserved through Mega Evolution (as is often the case). Thanks to Reddit user GabeBit08 for the handy preview!