PoGo as it is also known
has taken the world by storm. It was so popular in
fact that the
servers have experienced issues and the UK launch has been delayed.
So before the official
Pokemon Go launch we thought we would put together this quick guide
to help you on your way.
Catching Pokemon
You encounter Pokemon
by walking around. The game tracks your GPS and moves you in game as
you physically walk around. Pokemon appear randomly and you have to
quickly tap on them to trigger an instance battle where you can
capture the Pokemon.
Once in the Instance
you are able to 'throw' a pokeball by swiping the screen. You can
press and hold the ball and a circle will appear. Getting the inner
circle as small as possible increases your chance of
getting the Pokemon. The better your aim also drums up extra EXP.
Throwing the ball does
not always grantee a Pokemon and some times they get back out. At
higher levels you can also get Razz Berries which encourage the
Pokemon
to like you and even Great Balls. You can also spin the ball
(somehow I can never do it) which can stop Pokemon from knocking the
ball away.
Your map also has a
function that lets you know how close and what kind of Pokemon there
are in your area. Although the number of feet suggest how close a
Pokemon is to you all the methods we have currently used don't seem
to work to utilise this system very well. However, people across the
globe seem to be having different results to us!
Be sure to adventure
into different locations at different times to ensure that you get a
wide range of Pokemon and a chance of catching something awesome and
rare.
Levelling and
Evolving
You can power up your
Pokemon by spending Stardust and Pokemon Candies on them. Unlike
previous game where there was a bigger focus on Battles (more on that
later).
You can collect Pokemon
Candies by capturing and 'transferring' Pokemon. Each Pokemon
requires a large number of Candies and Stardust to become max CP
(Combat Points).
Although you dont have to evolve
a Pokemon before it is max CP, it is advised that you fully evolve a Pokemon before levelling to ensure that it has the best possible CP. This is because the amount of CP a Pokemon can have is based on your Avatars level and the max CP of a Pokemon increases when you do.
It should also be noted
that Pokemon have different attacks and so the biggest CP is not
necessarily the Pokemon which you should level up however they do loose these moved when evolving...
You can level up your Avatar as you catch Pokemon, defeat gyms etc and as you
level up stronger Pokemon become available to you as well as increase the CP of your Pokemon. You also unlock better items such as hyper potions and great balls.
Teams
There are three teams
in Pokemon based around the three legendary bird Pokemon, Articuno,
Moltress and Zapdos (blue, red and yellow). Each team must work
together to capture gyms and increase the Gyms level and 'prestige'.
Pokestops
Pokestops are locations
on the map that you can go visit in order to get some goodies, such
as Poke Balls and Potions. They are located around the map and you
can use a 'Lure Module' it increase Pokemon coming to that stop for
all trainers. Although we are not sure that it is a way forward if
you do have the option to continue walking. Pokéstops also give you
some EXP.
Gyms
At the moment you
cannot face off against your friends in battle. However you can go
to gyms and battle against other trainers. The battles are based
around tapping the screen to make your Pokémon attack and holding
the screen for it to do a bigger attack once they have filled their
power bar. You can also dodge attacks by swiping the screen left or
right. Strengths and weaknesses also come into play with these
attacks.
If you are a part of
the gym you can train your Pokémon at the gym to earn prestige for your gym and also a small amount
of EXP for you trainer. You cam
place one Pokémon to protect the gym per Gym level and one Pokémon
per trainer. This means a level five gym can have five trainers and
five Pokémon protecting it.
However, opposing teams
can attack in groups with up to six Pokémon each. Making it much
easier for trainers to attack a Gym they wish to take over if they
have strong enough Pokémon. To take over the gym they must defeat
the Pokémon at the gym lowering its prestige until it has dropped
below level 1. Then you can replace the Pokémon with your own and
level the gym up for your friends to come and join you.
Although Gyms are
perhaps not the best way to gain EXP, been a part of a gym goes
towards your daily bonuses and the more gyms you are in the more
coins and stardust you will receive.
Eggs
Eggs are items that you
receive from Pokéstops. You place them in incubators so that they
will count the steps that you are taking toward them hatching. Each
Egg counts in kilometres (km) and can range from 2km to 10km.
We have seen a distinct
correlation between the length of the Egg and the rarity/quality of
the Pokémon, however as my friend got a 200 CP Pikachu from a 2km
Egg it seems there is still a lot of luck involved.
Items
There are several
additional items at the moment that you can purchase in the shop. As
well as additional Pokéballs and bag upgrades you can purchase
incense, lucky eggs, lure modules and egg incubators.
Incense and Lure
Modules are used to draw Pokémon to your location, except that
Incense can be used anywhere and only works for you. Lucky Eggs
increase the amount of EXP you receive and Egg incubators are
additional incubators that wear out over three uses. All rather
useful but can also be collected at Pokéstops and when you level up.
Medals
The world we live in
likes to reward us for our efforts and in PoGO you get medals for
collecting large numbers of Pokémon, walking, training, evolving,
hatching.... pretty much everything! Although they are mostly just
for you so you can show off to your friends.
AR
The Augmented Reality
for PoGO has been faulty at best for myself and an even bigger drain
on your battery than it normally is. There have been announcements
to make this more fluent within the next few updates.
The Pokédex
Last
but not least the wonderful Pokédex. Showing you all the wonderful
Pokémon that you have caught or seen and giving you the all faithful
Pokémon profile.
There
are still many things that we have to learn and we will keep you
updated!
Be
sure to follow the Niche: Treat Your Geek blog for the latest news.
