Aug 9, 2017

Huge update of Pokémon Go: Raid Battles and new items!

A banner for the Pokemon Go tutorial about Raid Battles against Pokemon Gym Bosses and new game items
It’s so nice to see how a favourite game develops and becomes even more interesting! In the case of Pokémon Go, its evolution happens not as fast as some enthusiastic Pokémon trainers expect. But still, the game continues surprising and presenting new cool features.

To the first anniversary of Pokémon Go, we’ve got a huge update of the gameplay. It concerns battles in Gyms and some additional bonus items. 

Let’s figure out what these changes are all about!


Raid Battles in Pokémon Go

Now players can attack powerful Pokémon during Raid Battles. Those Pokémon are called Gym Bosses and only concerted actions of many trainers can help to defeat them.

Which Gyms propose Raid Battles? On the in-game map, search for Gyms with huge eggs on the top. Eggs have timers, which show when a Raid Battle can be begun.

Different levels of dificulties of Raid Battles in Pokemon Go.
Which types of Raid Battles exist? Depending on the power of Gym Bosses, there are five types of Raid Battles in Pokémon Go. The two easy have pink eggs. Two difficult levels have yellow eggs. The most powerful Pokémon are in purple eggs – they are extremely rare, legendary.

How to participate in a Raid Battle? Pokémon trainers should be at least of 5th level and have Raid Pass – a special item that allows becoming a part of a Raid Battle. Players can have one free Raid Pass per day, getting them from a Gym. In the shop, we can buy Premium Raid Passes and spend one for one Raid Battle. With a Raid Pass, visit a Gym with approaching Raid Battle, tap the “Battle” button, or join a close group of organized raiders. Up to 20 players can participate in one Raid Battle. Considering rarity of Raid Passes, it is better to spend them on Raid Battles of third and fourth levels of difficulty – with yellow eggs.

How to battle during Raids? The process is quite the same as in usual Gym Battles. Players have to tap for activating fast attacks of their Pokémon and gaining special energy for charged attacks – tap and hold for activating them. The only unique thing in Raid Battles is the absence of splashes before charged attacks of Gym Bosses, so players will not know when to swipe for dodging. But we can watch attentively the animation during Raid Battles to predict charged attacks.

A tutorial Pokemon Go - How to battle Pokemon in Gyms

What can we get from Raid Battles? Along with the excitement of playing the game in a group of adherents, players will get many cool items. Most of them were specially created for Raid Battles. But the most interesting achievement is a chance to catch a weaker copy of a Gym Boss. To get that chance and to get the items, trainers should have free slots in their Pokémon Storages and virtual Bags.

All the Items from Raid Battles

Raiders can get:

A game item in Pokemon Go Premier Ball - for catching Gym Boss Pokemon after a Raid Battle
Premier Ball – a PokéBall with a special design. Can be used only for catching Gym Bosses – players will face a weaker copy of that powerful Pokémon (of 20 level, the same as after hatching from eggs)

A game item in Pokemon Go Golden Razz Berry - for holding powerful Pokemon in PokeBalls
Golden Razz Berry – this item significantly increases chances to keep caught Pokémon inside of the PokéBall.

A game item in Pokemon Go, Rare Candy - for evolving any Pokemon
Rare Candy – it can be used for evolving any Pokémon.

A game item in Pokemon Go, Technical Machines - for getting new attacks for a chosen Pokemon
Technical Machines – these items allow replacing fast and charged attacks of a chosen Pokémon. It happens on a random basis. 

A game item in Pokemon Go, Revives - for reviving a fainted Pokemon
Revives – to cure injured Pokémon.

XP in Pokemon Go - a game character (Pokemon trainer) and his experience level
Experience Points for in-game progress.











Does the update make the game better?
Apart from new possibilities of the Pokémon Go gameplay, we can point to obvious improvements of the game from the useful gaming’s point of view. 

So, Raid Battles help to develop:

  • #Sociability – there are lots of possibilities for communications between friends and even for getting new friends with similar interests;

  • #Planning – players need to be self-organised for participating in Raid Battles;

  • #Attention – it will be difficult to defeat a really powerful Pokémon without dodging. And it is hard to know when to dodge without observing actions of Gym Bosses very attentively.

We suppose this is not the last update for Pokémon Go – many new exciting features wait for us in the future. And you can read about them on the Very Good Games blog! Follow us on social networks to stay in touch:

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A logo of Pokemon Go - a link to the tutorial with game tips and tricks on the gaming blog Very Good Games


Another one cool game with Pokémon is Pokémon Duel:

A banner for the review of the Pokemon Duel game


For adventures in virtual worlds, check this collection of free online games:

A banner for the collection of adventure games on the gaming blog Very Good Games


A banner for the Pokemon Go section on the gaming blog Very Good Games