Pokémon GO has been out for a little over a week, and it’s become the biggest mobile game of the year, if not the biggest mobile game ever. There’s a whole bunch of tips out there on how you can get better, but we’ve picked out five that work really well. Here’s what you can do to get better at Pokémon GO.
Firstly, turn AR mode off. Apart from the social benefits of not looking like a creepy voyeur photographer, disabling AR mode simply makes Pokémon easier to catch. Sure, it’s more fun to see Pokémon layered onto artificial reality, but if you want to get some serious Pokémon catching done, turn it off.
Check your Pokémon’s moves. Even if you catch two Pokémon of the exact same kind, they will have different moves. Some moves, such as Psybeam or Water Gun are simply more valuable than other, more generic moves, like Tackle or Body Slam. Having more CP on a Pokémon may not be so helpful when they don’t have the moves to back it up.
Use Lucky Eggs for more XP. “More” XP is an understatement, seeing as Lucky Eggs double your XP gained in a 30 minute time frame. This can be used to particularly great effect by saving your candy and evolving Pokémon within that 30-minute window. This is a great way to level up, too.
Understand how IVs work. All Pokémon in Pokémon GO have individual values (IVs), which are special values that only that particular Pokémon has. Two Pokémon of the same kind will almost certainly have different IVs. These are hidden stats that affect your Pokémon’s performance. Use an IV calculator like the one here to figure out which Pokémon is better than the other.
Rename Eevees to evolve them. If you’ve got an Eevee, don’t forget that you can evolve them into one of three Pokémon, each one with a different type: Flareon, Jolteon or Vaporeon. To evolve your Eevee into a Flareon, name it “Pyro”. For Jolteon, “Sparky” and for Vaporeon, “Rainer”.
Let us know any more tips your might have for Pokémon GO, and we might mention them!