Pokemon Go incoming updates/overhaul!

There are a lot of changes coming to Pokemon Go over the next month or so, as the video I linked described. Throughout this article I will be describing incoming changes that you can see from the video I linked as well as other reports and articles from official sites, also linked. All linked articles are not my own work and I highly suggest you support the original content providers themselves. I am simply going to analyze and redistribute this information in my own way.

Raids

So let's go over the big ticket item, raids. When you are near an upcoming raid battle you will be informed via your scanner. Before the raids begins a Raid Egg will appear atop a gym with a countdown timer. Simply be there when the timer runs already clicked on the egg in order to start. It looks as though the raid limit will be 20 but there will be multiple instances of the same raid available, just incase you are in central Tokyo and there are 1000 people attempting to kill the same raid boss. From early reports people have been able to drop a raid boss with five or six trainers.

The raid pokemon will spawn as the timer runs out and you will have five minutes in order to defeat the monster with your allies which have be shown to not be faction exclusive. The raid pokemon seen so far are all end evolution creatures such as Charizard, Tyranitaur, Gengar, Allakhazam, Ninetales. Except they are massive in both size and level (CP).

In order to join a raid you will need a raid pass. A raid pass can be obtained by spinning the disc at a gym, because they now act as special pokestops themselves. You can obtain a raid pass by spinning the spot, you get one, which appears to be the limit. I have read a limit of only people only to hold a maximum of one and reports of only being able to get one per day, but I did find a conflicting read of a tester who was able to obtain more than one a day via spinning. However if the limit bothers you then you can always check out the in game store and purchase some. Seeing as how you downloaded the game for free a little cash flow their way isn't necessarily greedy this time.

Upon defeating a raid boss you will be showered in the gifts of the pokemon heavens. This will take the form of Golden Razz Berries, Fast and Charged TM's, Rare Candy, and Premier Balls. The golden razz berries are super razz berries to calm down wild pokemon. Fast and charged TM's will be able to teach your pokemon new fast or charged moves, you are no longer stuck with a crappy moveset. Rare candy can be utilized to increase candy of whatever pokemon you desire when it comes time for evolution. Premier balls are a special ball to be used on capturing the raid boss itself upon defeat. They are the only balls you can use on the raid boss, and the amount you receive are based upon your performance on the raid boss.

Although Niantic has not stated it definitively as players continue to train against raid bosses the top raiders will supposedly be invited to partake in very rare raid bosses with very rare pokemon. They haven't gone into detail on this but it would be an excellent opportunity to work in shiny rarities or legendary pokemon.

Gyms

Gyms used to be a location trainers would stack their pokemon up to 10 deep in order to cash in on the in game money system, or simply to beat the crap out of the opposing faction. To get a gym beyond level 3 you would need to train against a gym and prestige it up to a point where new pokemon could be adding, continuously until you reach the cap of 10. This is all changing.

Now Gyms are going to be defended by a maximum of six pokemon, the battle order no longer defined by the CP of the pokemon themselves but by the order of placement at the gym. You no longer fight them from weakest to strongest, you might be starting out against the strongest, but you will get a chance to view the line up of what you will be facing beforehand. Now instead of lowering the prestige of a gym you will be lowering the motivation of the opposing pokemon by defeating them in battle. As they become less and less motivated they will have temporarily lowered CP making them easier defeat until they finally call it quits and run back to their trainer.

Motivation is a new factor in the mix when it comes to pokemon in their gyms. In order to maintain your pokemon's motivation at a gym you are going to need to feed it berries. So far the only berries I have seen being fed (either by pictures or video) are razz berries and golden razz berries. These berries are the equivalent of a red bull soaked gatorade in making your pokemon want to get right back into the fight and thrash someone's pidgy into dust. Seriously, feed them the berries, they need them.

Gyms themselves have had changes in the sense that they can now be spun just like a pokestop for items. One of the items that you can receive is a gym badge. Gym badges can be Basic, Bronze, Silver, or Gold. You rank up these badges by doing things at the gym like attacking the gym, defending the gym with pokemon for certain lengths of time, or by feeding berries to defending pokemon. A gym badge is unique to that gym itself. Start collecting them like Ash never could.

Really he just lucked into all those badges.

When a raid boss hits a gym all defending pokemon scatter back to their trainers.

Other changes

So unique pokestops are going to be a thing. Although it has not been confirmed whether they will display it as an actual stat yet it is known that you will be able to see what pokestops you have hit and which ones you haven't. Which means they are going to be keeping track. Which means it will eventually be an achievement, and if you played their previous game you would know that is an achievement with bragging rights.

Your defender bonus from holding gyms at a time is now replaced with a defender bonus based on how long your pokemon hold a gym before they return to you. The longer they hold it the more in game money you receive, still with the same maximum of 100 coins daily.

Everything from Niantic's site itself covering raids
https://support.pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115009004747

Niantic covering the new changes on their official site
https://support.pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115009004687

Niantic explaining the changes to gyms
https://support.pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/222049347#motivation

I will be doing more of this as I continue to push forward in the world of Pokemon Go. As I've said before I will be photo dumping screenshots from the live event onto steemit and then writing overall reviews of the event itself post celebration. Feel free to comment with any thoughts or questions. Feel free to resteem this at any point or add someone's name in a comment so they read it to.

It's summer folks, kick the dust off the sneakers and catch some pokemon.

Until it rains, because screw that noise. Then its Left For Dead time.