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Type Coverage

Steel Type Weakness

What Steel Pokémon are weak to, what they resist and how to beat them.

Steel type weakness is three types: Fire, Fighting and Ground. Steel is the best defensive type in the game: Steel Pokémon resist ten types and are immune to Poison. Steel moves hit Ice, Rock and Fairy for double damage.

Steel weaknesses

Steel Pokémon take double damage from 3 types:

Steel resistances

Steel Pokémon take half damage from:

Steel immunities

Steel Pokémon take no damage from:

What Steel moves are good against

Steel attacks do double damage to:

They do half damage to Fire, Water, Electric and Steel.

Best counters to Steel

The best answer to a Steel Pokémon is something that hits it hard and shrugs off its attacks. These types do both:

  • Firehits Steel for 2×, takes ½× from Steel moves.

Fighting and Ground also hit Steel for double damage but don't resist it, so use them to attack first.

Steel dual types

A second type changes everything. These Steel pairings have the fewest weaknesses:

  • Steel / Fairy: weak to Fire and Ground; immune to Poison and Dragon. Example: Mawile.

  • Steel / Flying: weak to Fire and Electric; immune to Poison and Ground. Example: Skarmory.

  • Steel / Dragon: weak to Fighting and Ground; immune to Poison. Example: Hisuian Goodra.

  • Steel / Bug: weak to Fire (4×); immune to Poison. Example: Forretress.

Check any pair yourself on the type chart.

Tip

Ground is the weakness that catches most Steel types, because Earthquake is everywhere. Steel / Flying (Skarmory, Corviknight) is immune to Ground. Steel / Fairy (Tinkaton, Mawile) takes normal damage from Fighting and is weak only to Fire and Ground.

Building a team around a Steel type? Put it in the team builder and see what the rest of the team needs to cover.

Open the team builder

Questions

What is Steel weak to?

Steel Pokémon are weak to Fire, Fighting and Ground. Each of those does double damage. If the Pokémon has a second type, the numbers can change; check it on the type chart.

What resists Steel moves?

Fire, Water, Electric and Steel take half damage from Steel attacks.

What is Steel good against?

Steel moves do double damage to Ice, Rock and Fairy.

What is the best counter to Steel?

Fire: they hit Steel for double damage and resist its moves. See the full list above.