Pokémon GO Game Tips guide screenshot

Game Tips

Game Tips

Overview

This guide compiles essential tips for Pokémon GO, from beginner basics to advanced optimizations. Tips are grouped by category to help you improve your gameplay efficiently.

Beginner Tips

#### Master the Throw Mechanic

Curveball: Always throw curveballs by spinning the Poké Ball before releasing. This increases catch rate and provides +10 XP.

Nice/Great/Excellent: Aim for the colored shrinking circle. Excellent throws give the highest catch multiplier and XP.

Berry Use: Use Razz Berries (or Silver Pinap for high-value catches) to increase catch rate. Nanab Berries can stop movement for easier hitting.

Catching every Pokémon you see builds stardust, XP, and candy. Early on, stardust is scarce – catch everything to stockpile.

Use Pinap Berries on Pokémon you need candy for (e.g., starters, rare spawns).

PokéStops and Gyms give items. Spin at least one stop per day to maintain your daily streak (bonus XP/items).

Gym spinning gives more items if your team controls the Gym.

Stardust is the most valuable resource. Avoid powering up Pokémon under level 30 (for most players). Wait until you have high IV (3-star or 4-star) meta-relevant Pokémon.

Power up only when you need to for raids or PvP.

Combat Tips

Type Effectiveness: Use Pokémon with moves that are super effective against the raid boss. Use dual-type advantages.

Party Composition: Bring a team of 6 counters. For short-manning, use tanky Pokémon with high DPS.

Friendship Bonus: Raid with Best Friends for +4 attack balls; coordinate using invitations.

Weather Boost: Cloudy boosts Fighting, Poison, Fairy; Sunny boosts Grass, Ground, Fire, etc. Use weather-boosted Pokémon for extra CP.

CP Caps: Each league has a CP cap (Great League: 1500, Ultra League: 2500, Master League: no cap). Build teams respecting caps.

IVs: For Great/Ultra, lower Attack IV often allows higher bulk under CP cap (also known as "PvP IVs").

Movepool: Unlock second Charge Moves (costly stardust/candy but essential for coverage). Use Fast Moves with high energy generation.

Team Building: Use a balanced core (e.g., Lead, Switch, Closer). Understand common meta Pokémon.

Master League: Prioritize Legendaries and high-IV perfect Pokémon. Stardust investment is huge.

Exploration Tips

Incense spawns Pokémon every 1-5 minutes while walking (60 minutes base). Use during events for increased spawns.

Lure Modules on PokéStops attract Pokémon to that stop for 30 minutes. Stack with Incense for dense spawns.

Play during the 3-hour window. Featured Pokémon spawns heavily; catch as many as possible for candy, shinies, and special CD move (evolve within window).

Use Star Pieces and Lucky Eggs to boost stardust/XP.

Plan walking routes to earn favorite rewards, including rare XL candy and encounters. Activate a Route and follow it daily.

Keep the app closed but Adventure Sync enabled to track steps for egg hatching and Buddy candy (distance).

Connect to Pokémon GO Plus or Poké Ball Plus for automatic spinning/catching while walking without looking at phone.

Resource Management

Income: Hatching eggs (especially 10km/12km), catching Pokémon (especially weather-boosted), feeding berries in Gyms, Battle League rewards.

Expenditure: Powering up, trading, unlocking second moves, purifying Shadows (costly but sometimes worthwhile).

Priorities: Power up top-tier raid attackers first (e.g., Rayquaza, Metagross, Kyogre, Groudon). PvP investments second.

Use Pinap Berries on bosses you need candy for. Walk your Buddy for candy (especially Legendaries – 20km per candy).

XL Candy: Only from catching/hatching/transferring high-level Pokémon. Level 31+ trainers earn XL from catches. Use Pinaps for extra.

Conversion: Convert 100 regular candy into 1 XL candy (costly, only for urgent needs).

Max bag: Can be increased with PokéCoins. Prioritize storing Poké Balls, Razz Berries, Pinap Berries, Golden Razz Berries, Rare Candies, TMs, Max Revives, and Max Potions.

Delete low-value items: Regular Potions (unless low level), Revives, Nanab Berries (only keep a few for tasks).

Economy (PokéCoins & Real Money)

Defend Gyms: Your Pokémon earns 50 PokéCoins per day maximum (1 coin per 10 minutes defended). Use multiple Gyms to ensure 8 hours 20 minutes.

Best strategy: Place in low-traffic Gyms (rural/off-hour) to maximize time. Avoid placing in high-turnover Gyms.

Storage Upgrades: Item Bag and Pokémon Storage are the most beneficial permanent investments.

Remote Raid Passes: Useful for raiding with friends far away (but limited daily use now).

Incubators: Only Super Incubators for high-distance eggs (10km/12km) during events.

Avoid: Lucky Eggs (easy to earn through XP events), Star Pieces (use during Stardust events), Incense (free from research).

Builds and Powering Up (Advanced)

Shadow form gives +20% attack boost but -20% defense. For raids, Shadow is often strongest DPS (e.g., Shadow Metagross, Shadow Mewtwo).

Purification: Only for removing Frustration (charge move) or for completing research tasks. Purified gives +2 IVs and reduced power-up cost.

Cost: Powering up Shadows is extremely stardust-intensive. Only do for top-tier ones.

Priority: Evolve one top mega from each type for raiding (e.g., Mega Charizard Y for Fire, Mega Garchomp for Ground/Dragon). Mega gives XL candy boost for same-type catches.

Energy: Walk with previously Mega Evolved Pokémon to earn energy. Use Mega Evolve only when needed (e.g., for raid bosses of that type).

Best: Mega Rayquaza, Mega Gengar, Mega Salamence, Mega Tyranitar.

Perfect IV Pokémon (15/15/15) are ideal for Master League and raids. Don't transfer them even if not meta – they are collectors.

Shundo is rare; keep and power up as flex.

Events and Timing

Look ahead for Spotlight Hours (double catch XP/stardust), Raid Hours, Community Days, and Go Fest.

Use Spotlight Hour to farm stardust (catch everything with Star Piece) or XP (Lucky Egg).

Save your Pokémon storage for featured spawns during events.

Complete step-by-step to earn rare rewards (Elite TMs, Legendary encounters, Rare Candies). Some require completing earlier steps – don't ignore.

Elite Fast/Charged TM: Use on legacy moves (e.g., Meteor Mash Metagross, Frenzy Plant Venusaur).

Exploration Tips (Advanced)

Campfire app helps coordinate raids, find local groups, plan Community Day meetups. Use it for efficient raiding.

Always have 9 incubators going during events with double hatch XP/stardust.

Use Super Incubators for 10km/12km eggs to hatch faster (5km instead of 10km walking).

Track your walking distance; Adventure Sync counts steps while app is off.

Spin Gyms with Gold badge for maximum item output (about 7-8 items per spin). Work on gyms near your home/work to Gold.

Berries fed on remote gyms get you +30 stardust per berry + chance of candy (rare).

Trade Economy

Trade Pokémon from July/August 2016 (guaranteed Lucky for first few trades). Lucky trades give IV floor 12/12/12 and half stardust cost to power up.

Save old Pokémon for trades with friends. Lucky friends status via Best Friends gives guaranteed Lucky trade.

Trade low-IV Pokémon away for +1 candy per trade (distance trade gives +2 candy, 100km+ gives +3 candy). Use this to farm candy for evolutions.

Mirror trades: Trade same species to reroll IVs (potential lucky) and earn candy.

Technical Optimization

Use AR+ for better throws? Some players prefer non-AR for stability. Experiment.

Reduce graphics settings (AR off, battery saver) to save battery during long play sessions.

Use Gotcha/Plus device for background catching and spinning. Inefficient for excellent throws, but great for grinding stardust/items while driving or working.

Play on Wi-Fi preferred for low latency. For PvP, ensure stable connection.

GPS drift can hatch eggs faster – occasionally happens, but not reliable.

Miscellaneous Tips

Set a Buddy you need candy for (especially Legendaries or rare species). Walking distance per candy varies (1km, 3km, 5km, 20km).

Feed your Buddy to keep it motivated and find candies on the map (approx. every 30 minutes). Great source of candy for rare Pokémon.

Save postcards from interesting stops for future use (Vivillon collecting). Pin postcards before deleting gifts.

Send gifts daily for friendship XP.

Participate in Showcases (local competitions for largest/ smallest Pokémon). Winners get rewards including Rare Candy and XL.

Stack "encounter" rewards (run from encounter and it stays in a stack up to 100). Save for Stardust/XP events or when you need specific tasks.

Completed tasks give encounters, items, or stardust.

Take snapshots of Pokémon daily for chance of Spinda or other encounters? Not consistently, but sometimes part of research.