Like any gaming phenomenon with a Deep History, Pokémon Go has become more and more complex since its release. This of course has made mastering the game a little difficult for new players or those returning after a long hiatus. Thankfully, we are here to help with our 10 Expert Tips for Mastering Pokémon Go from a Day 1 Player! From taking advantage of friendships and field research tasks to special search strings for easier Pokédex management, these tips will get you up to speed in no time.
Table of Contents
Do not purify Shadow Pokémon
Shadow Pokémon are special versions that have been corrupted by Team Rocket. When you encounter a shadow Pokémon in a Team Rocket battle, it will have a red glow, indicating its corrupted state. Although purifying them will increase their IV, the 20% damage buff Shadow Pokémon receive typically far outweighs this which you’ll greatly appreciate in battles.
Build up your Stardust!
Although it may seem like you have a lot of Stardust, trust me, you don’t. Indeed, as you increase the levels of your Pokémon, you will need more and more of this to keep the gains coming. As such, do not waste it on any old Pokémon, and carefully select those you want to boost. For example, those with the highest IV that excel in Raids or perhaps a super rare shiny that you just want to use as a flex. Engaging in Player versus Player (PvP) battles is the most effective way to earn Stardust in Pokémon Go.
Carefully Clear Storage After Hunts
Efficient management of Pokémon storage is needed to avoid hitting storage limits during special events and prevent last-minute frantic transfers. However, this should be done with care, you don’t want to accidentally clear a 100% IV or shiny Pokémon you were desperate to catch. Believe me, this is extremely painful when it happens! Favouriting Pokémon is a great way to prevent this from happening.
Level up Friendships
Building and maximizing friendships in Pokémon Go becomes a key strategy for gaining experience points (XP). Indeed, there are significant XP bonuses associated with reaching different friendship levels, ranging from 3,000 XP for Good Friends to a substantial 100,000 XP for Best Friends. Coordinate with friends to synchronize lucky egg usage during friendship level-ups for further gains.
Master Quick Catching
The first thing most players will do to speed up catching is to turn off the Niantic AR; however, this does not get rid of the lengthy catching animation that also gets old fast. Thankfully there is a way to skip this to speed up catching as follows:
- Encounter a Pokémon.
- Press and hold on to the berry button.
- Throw your Poké Ball.
- Swipe the berry button to the middle of the screen.
- Tap on the screen to close the berry option.
- Hit the flee button after the ball hits the Pokémon.
Make use of Search Strings
This tip for Mastering Pokémon Go is a real gem and will completely transform how easily you manage your Pokémon roster. Simply put, Search Strings are shortcodes you can drop in the search bar of your Pokémon Inventory to filter out only certain Pokémon. Some useful search strings are as follows:
- “age:0”: Shows Pokémon caught in the last 24 hours.
- “!shiny”: Excludes shiny Pokémon.
- “!xzy”: Excludes Pokémon tagged with XZY.
- “!4*”: Excludes 100% IV Pokémon.
- “4*”: Shows 100% IV Pokémon.
- “!#”: Shows all untagged Pokémon.
- “evolvenew”: Shows Pokémon that will result in a new Pokédex entry when evolved.
By utilizing search strings tailored to your preferences, you can efficiently filter through your Pokémon and focus on checking for specific attributes, such as 100% IV Pokémon, without the need for manual and time-consuming inspection. You can also combine several together using the “&” symbol. For example, “evolvenew&!xyz” will bring out any Pokémon that have the XYZ tag AND will result in a new Pokédex entry when evolved.
Campfire Integration
Campfire connects users with their local community and provides features such as a gym and raid map. The gym and raid map allows users to zoom in and out anywhere in the world, showing all the gyms and raids in a specific area. This feature is extremely helpful for locating specific raid bosses without the need to physically travel and check for raids. It allows you to use flares at gyms to notify nearby players that assistance is needed in taking down a gym.
Don’t Miss out on Monthly Events
Pokémon Go is well known for encouraging community participation through events such as the big get-togethers in different cities around the world. However, there are also monthly events that encourage players to get out together on certain days to take advantage of special bonuses. The most popular of course are the Community Days. These occur monthly and fall on a weekend with bonuses such as extra Stardust and increased spawn rates of certain Pokémon and their Shiny equivalent. Make sure you know when these are happening and be sure to take advantage of them.
Research Stack Strategy
When completing Field Research tasks, you will often encounter a specific Pokémon as a reward. The Research Stack Strategy takes advantage of these encounters by fleeing from them and saving them for later. The strategy comes into play when there’s an event or bonus that enhances certain aspects of the game, such as double XP, double Stardust, or increased shiny rates. Players can strategically use their Research Stack to maximize benefits during these events.
Understand Types
A Pokémon’s Type has been crucial to Pokémon gameplay since the very beginning, and things are no different in Pokémon Go. Indeed, each attack a Pokémon has will have a certain Type which then in turn has a strength and weakness against another type. This can significantly impact the attack’s effectiveness, positively and negatively! As such, when in Raids and PvP, it is particularly important to carefully tailor your teams with this in mind for the challenge ahead.
With these 10 Tips for Mastering Pokémon Go at your disposal, you should be ready for any challenge that awaits you on your travels. Good luck trainer and Catch ‘Em All!
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