Pokemon Sword & Shield Type Chart: every type strength, weakness and resistance detailed

The key to victory in any Pokemon game is understanding types, strengths, weaknesses and resistances. Pokemon Sword & Shield are no different - and so we've got a shiny new type chart to help you come up with a game plan.

Pokemon Types have been a staple of the series since its debut, though the number of types have somewhat grown. A Pokemon's type, which is based on its design and natural habitat, is vital. It determines the moves that Pokemon can use, but also more crucially the different attacks and moves that each individual Pokemon can find itself vulnerable. Pokemon can be single-type or dual-type, split between two affinities - but thankfully there's no such thing as triple type Pokemon. Even so, with single type and double type critters, there are a lot of potential combinations - hundreds, in fact.

Types interact in a way that adds up as common sense, but it still sometimes isn't all that obvious. The perfect example are the starter Pokemon, which are fire, water and grass. If you use a Fire-type move on a Grass-type Pokemon, for instance, you'll be greeted with the classic "It's super-effective" text. If you use a water-type move on an grass-type Pokemon, it'll unsurprisingly not be very effective. In a worse-case scenario, a move might not do anything at all. On this page, we've got a handy chart - and for those who prefer text, a nice bullet-point list - so you can figure out strengths and weaknesses at a glance.

Pokemon Sword & Shield Type Chart: strengths, weaknesses and resistances listed

There are 18 Pokemon types in all: Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Flying, Fighting, Poison, Electric, Ground, Rock, Psychic, Ice, Bug, Ghost, Steel, Dragon, Dark and Fairy. Here's a full type chart showing how they all interact. Here's how to use the chart:

• If you're attacking, work from your type on the left to the enemy type on the top. If defending, do the opposite - find your type on the top and work left to the attacker list.
• A 1x indicates an attack will do standard damage based on your Pokemon and the move's stats.
• A 2x indicates a Super-effective move - it'll do double the normal amount of damage.
• A 0.5 indicates a Not very effective move - it'll do half the normal amount of damage.
• A 0 indicates a Not effective move, which won't do any damage at all.

If you prefer your strengths and weaknesses to be written out a little more in black-and-white, here they are by Pokemon type. In this table...

• The Super Effective Vs. column shows what the type on the left is effective against in battle.
• The Not Very Effective Vs. column reveals the types the attacking type (on the left) will do less damage to. Immunities are also listed here - they're always last, and are denoted by brackets.
• The Resist Damage column shows you what moves won't be very effective against the Pokemon type on the left when it is defending.
• The Weak Vs. column reveals what types the type listed on the left will suffer super effective moves when attacked by their moves.