Although it’s been available since 2016, Pokémon GO is still as popular as ever. The game is free to play with some monetization features, which bring in loads of cash. Niantic keeps the game feeling fresh with loads of updates and events each year. Pokémon GO has made more than $5 billion since its launch, and the new content keeps the existing players hooked while also bringing in new ones.
Getting Started With Pokémon GO
Whether you’re a new or returning player, the game comes with a learning curve. As soon as you start playing, you’ll be bombarded with information, some of which won’t be mentioned ever again. This can be a bit overwhelming. We’ve made a guide for beginners to help everyone ease into it. We’ll cover some essentials and offer some helpful tips to make your time with the game more fun.
PokéGyms and PokéStops
To visit a gym, your trainer level needs to be five or higher. Here you can participate in gym battles, some special events, or raids. If you happen to run into a raid, any other gym activity gets paused. If you leave your Pokémon to defend a gym, you’ll get PokéCoins, the in-game currency. While 50 is the daily cap, you can leave your monsters at different gyms and hit the limit multiple times in a single day.
PokéStops are places players can visit and get free items. Once you find a stop and spin for items, you can wait for five minutes and give it another shot. If you have time, you can do this indefinitely. It’s a great way to get eggs, berries, pokéballs, stamps, potions, and revives. Go for a walk in the nearby park and try to find a stop. If you want, you can use lure modules to attract wild Pokémon every 30 minutes.
Item Management Tips
The game is free to play, but you can purchase some useful goodies for real money to make things easier. You probably won’t get far before realizing your available space is limited. Good item management is useful in any video game. Pokémon Go is no exception, especially since Niantic does a great job of pushing people to get some extra space for real money. Both your item bag and Pokémon storage need some management before you collect enough PokéCoins to expand them.
For your item bag, you can always get rid of common items when you need some extra space. Feel free to throw out berries, regular pokéballs, and revives, as well as potions and super potions. Filling the Pokémon storage takes some time, so all you need to do at the beginning is make sure you get rid of the doubles. Don’t forget to keep an eye on their quality and rarity!
Trainer Experience Farming
As we mentioned earlier, you should not ignore your trainer level. The required experience increases exponentially for each new level, but there are ways to speed things up. Making friends and sending gifts every day is a great strategy. Reaching the “Best Friends” status with another player will give you 100k XP while using a lucky egg will double the amount.
Since Niantic doesn’t offer lucky eggs that often, make sure you save them for special events with XP bonuses. Don’t forget to participate in Community Day whenever you can to take advantage of the perks and XP boosts. Finally, just play the game. From hatching eggs to gym battles, every action will give you some experience. In case you’re really in a rush to level up as fast as possible, or you wish to use more than one account, make sure you get a reliable Pokemon GO proxy server.
Farming Experience and Candies
Every new player wants to see their Pokémon gang grow. They can’t evolve without consuming candies and other items. Sometimes they even need to meet specific conditions. Ignoring your trainer level is not a great strategy because leveling offers excellent rewards. If you plan to take the free-to-play route, save every single incubator you can get your hands on.
You earn candy by walking your Pokémon buddy. There are no distance limitations – it all depends on who your assigned buddy is. The distance you need to cross is tied to rarity, from Tier 1 (1 kilometer) to Tier 4 (20 kilometers) for legendary Pokémon. If you don’t feel like exercising that much, you can use rare candies to speed things up.
If you want to assign a new buddy, head over to your current buddy’s page and tap on Swap Buddies, then Yes to confirm. You can scroll through your Pokémon list to find a new one, tap on it, and you’re done!
Establish a Routine
Like most mobile games, Pokémon GO offers a great sense of progression. If you’re skipping daily and weekly activities, you won’t get the most of it. The way you want to play is up to you, so try to figure out what you love the most about the game (collecting Pokémon, battles, or research tasks) and develop your routine around that.
Your preferences may change over time, so make sure you’re ready to switch things up as needed. Here are a few things you can do for a balanced gaming experience:
- Keep an eye on your active buddy and do their tasks to get hearts
- Catch wild Pokémon whenever one shows up near you
- Check your daily research tasks to earn stamps
- Exchange Pokégifts with other playersž
- Always get the daily free box from the Shop
- Spin at PokéStops and put your Pokémon in nearby gyms whenever possible
Turning on Adventure Sync in the Settings is also very important. When it’s on, every step you take will count towards your steps even when the app is not turned on. That way you’ll still be able to make progress even if you don’t have time to play the game.
Final Thoughts
The pandemic has made Niantic reconsider certain game mechanics since Pokémon GO promotes playing with other people. While certain things have changed, the game still goes against COVID-19 regulations in certain countries. If you prefer to stay safe and play games at home, you can always fire up your favorite MMO and use a bot or two to speed things up. Read more here about gaming proxies and how they can help!
