Cloyster is an excellent choice for Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and its high Defense makes it particularly good against Cinderace.
Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are fun but difficult boss battles, and trainers should optimize their builds for even strong Pokémon like Cloyster. Even when entering a Raid with others, trainers can only use one of their own Pokémon, so the right choice can make all the difference. The Water- and Ice-type Cloyster is definitely in that window for the ‘right choice,’ with a few caveats on the build.
Cloyster has an absolutely monstrous Defense of 180 and can withstand any Tera Raid Boss focused around physical attacks, such as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet‘s Cinderace Tera Raid that’s right around the corner. In such a situation, defense takes care of itself, so trainers should focus on maximizing damage. With only 95 Attack and 85 Special attacks, they will want to catch one with the ‘Skill Link’ Ability. Skill Link ensures that any 2-5 multi-strike moves will always hit five times, leaping over the power gap it has with other top-tier Pokémon.
Best Cloyster Moves For Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
According to the Youtube channel RandomRam, trainers should catch a Shellder in the East, West, and South Paldean Seas. In Generation IX, Cloyster only learns Icicle Spear on evolution and Razor Shell on reaching level 5, so a properly trained Shellder will be needed to get the moves for this build. In addition, it should be trained up against Pokémon with Attack EVs.
Like with the signature move focus for Skeledirge’s Tera Raid build in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Cloyster’s best build is focused around its signature move, Icicle Spear, an Ice-type 2-5 multi-strike physical attack. With Skill Link, this will always hit five times, and the same type of attack boost synergy means it will hit hard. Shell Smash, learned by Shellder at level 44, pushes this even further in battle. Every use of this move raises the user’s Defense and Special Defense by one tier and their Attack, Special Attack, and Speed by two tiers.
In a Tera Raid, the battle strategy is to use Shell Smash to pump up Cloyster’s Attack, augment its defense, and then lay into the enemy with consecutive uses of Icicle Spear. This can turn Cloyster into a multi-hit wonder that would make Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Azumaril blush. All that’s left is to round out the build with a Focus Scarf to prevent any OHKO from the boss.
Source: Youtube/RandomRam