Pokemon Go’s Wild Area event is being held November 23rd-24th, but despite being advertised as a new yearly event akin to Go Fest or the Go Tours, it really isn’t exuding the usual pre-event hype, in spite of the fact that several people I know went to the recent live event. In fact, I’m going to frontload this by saying that if you’re a PvE POGO vet on the fence about whether or not to grab a ticket still, I’d say don’t. As usual, we learned a fair bit from the earlier live event, this time held in Fukuoka, Japan, but there have been few good surprises in my opinion.
Despite this, today’s Massively on the Go will still try to help you prepare for the event, with or without a ticket. We will keep things a bit shorter due to the underwhelming nature of the event, but we’ll try to keep commentary for a post-event write-up.
As most long-time readers will notice, the checklist hasn’t changed much. For paths, this is specifically for ticket holders, and again, we may not know everything but there’s a bit we can say.
For the most part, you’re choosing whether you want Rockstar Pikachu and Low Key Toxtricity (bluish-hued one in the header) or Pop Star Pikachu and Amped Toxtricity (yellowy one in the header). There are really no differences for Toxi here despite there being move differences in the main games, and you’ll be aiming for the Gigantamax versions anyway, not to mention that Toxi’s just irrelevant to most of the game already. The double damage bonus is nice but only really relevant if you consider Zacian’s return, as it’s weak to Fairy. Unless you’re very new to the game, there’s really nothing else to consider for that bonus.
Buddy Rank 2 (Great Friends) is nice because your ‘mon will rally knocked away pokeballs back at the wild ‘mon, saving you balls and potentially time. Megas are kind of a tough call here, as there’s no Electric/Poison Mega. Looking at event ‘mon at the options below, you may notice that Primal Kyogre nabs all the Electrics, but getting bonuses to Bug and Water also nabs a bunch of the Poison types too. As it’s also one of the raid options, I feel comfortable recommending it if you’re going to do only one Mega per day.
WILD AREA: GLOBAL 🌍
(Final graphic, fingers crossed!)✨ New Mighty Pokémon Feature
🎯 Limited-time GO Safari Balls
🌟 Shiny Pikachu Pop/Rock Star
🧥 Shiny Snorlax with a Jacket
⏳ Dialga & Origin Forme Palkia with a chance to get their signature moves
📲 No limit on… pic.twitter.com/sf6iaqtmX2— G47IX (@g47ix) November 9, 2024
On the other hand, raiders, especially those aiming for the Origin forms, may want to go with Mega Ampharos, as it’ll get you both the Dragons’ XL candies from raids and all the Electric event spawns.
For pokemon to focus on… yeesh. If you’re a veteran player focused on PvE, there’s not really much here for you. Mighty ‘Mon can go up to level 55 42 when weather boosted, which is over the level cap and can save you on XL Candy, but as I said before, most of them are far past their prime. Gyrados, Tyrantrum, Electivre, Dragonite, and Mamoswine families are reasonably raid-relevant, and for PvP, add Feralagatr, Toxapex, and Poliwrath families, but there are better ‘mon nowadays. Candy is fine for, say, Venusaur if you’ve got a Shadow or Dynamax you need to power up, but that’s about it. And sadly, I feel these ‘mon are the most to be hyped about.
11/23 Update: Niantic has nerfed the levels of Might Pokemon for the Global release. It’s bad enough the Fukuoka event had more meta-relevant ‘mon, and saving you 40 XL candies isn’t bad, but it’s a far cry from what the Fukuoka players got.
If you’re able to play only one day, it seems Sunday’s that day, as the Might ‘Mon that day include Dragonite, Mamoswine, Feraligatr, and Poliwrath, all of which have some meta relevancy in at least PvP if not also PvE. There’s also Venusaur, which is kind of neat in that you could potentially Mega an over-capped ‘mon. It probably still won’t be as meta-relevant in raids as other Grass types, but it is neat and totally OK for newer players to do, if you’re in that weird spot where you’re high enough to get an over-capped one but new enough not to have better Grass types.
While most of the wild spawns are kind of so-so, there is one kind of neat thing going on: Safari Balls. While they’re not masterballs, they are strong. If you use Origin Dialga’s ability to extend your Daily Adventure Incense, you could probably use Safari Balls to ensure you capture the Galarian Bird Trio, which spawn only rarely from this incense and have a very high flee rate.
Admittedly, using legendary candy in this way can be painful, so it’s your choice on whether or not to pursue it. I admittedly have a Perfect Origin Dialga powered up to max level, but it doesn’t see a ton of use. If you’re short on (rare) candy but don’t have the birds, it might be OK to dip into your rare candy savings for this.
One thing to note about Safari Balls: They leave your inventory at the end of the day. During the Fukuoka event, lots of Mighty ‘Mon spawned from 6 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. local time, and since they’re difficult to catch, saving some Safari Balls or using your leftovers can be reserved for this.
Don’t forget, legacy moves on several pokemon are another event bonus, particularly for Venusaur as we have the Dynamax version to deal with now. Now you can’t get it on Gigantamax Venu, and that’s rough and weird in its own way, but it’s something. Gyarados is another usable PvE pick to an extent, but all of these have PvP use, if you’re into that.
In terms of raids, remember:
I’d argue that for most vets, you’ll probably want to focus on these. They’re useful if you can get their event move (I’ve heard reports that they’re as low as 1:10), but even the bad ones give you candy fodder for Dialga.
Newer players missing Primal Kyogre and/or Groudon should focus on getting enough energy for those, though. The benefits of Primals are good enough that they feel like cheating, so new players, if you’re reading this, don’t miss these!
Finally, in terms of raids, Snorlax in a leather jacket is a raid-only ‘mon. It’s got some PvP uses and isn’t terrible as a gym defender, but it’s most likely just going to take up storage space. The Toxi forms, again, aren’t super useful so you’re better off getting Gmax forms if possible.
11/23 Update: You can now sort friends by, “At Raid” and join them, meaning you don’t necessarily need to be invited now. The option can be turned on or off, and the name of the gym isn’t revealed so (thankfully) this shouldn’t lead to any stalking situations unless it bugs out, but in terms of getting remote raids done (or getting that last point of friendship in from someone who refuses to send you gifts), it’s pretty useful. You can also use it to remotely join a friend’s raid and then invite your own friends, though raids are capped at 10 remote players. That being said, it’s supposedly a “limited time test feature”, so make good use of it if you’ve got remote passes to spare.
For the first time now, we have Max Battles to worry about too. As I noted earlier this week, the feature is not great, and Toxtricity isn’t good. That being said, it’s kind of popular and has two forms. I’d save your particles for its Gmax battles if you play in a busy enough area. Excadrill is going to do the most damage to it, but Venusaur can work as a group healer, so prep at least two Drills and one Venusaur in my opinion.
11/23 Update: For Toxtricity’s Gigantamax forms, both are appearing in raids, but you often can’t tell which is which unless you haven’t gotten both forms. You can use your Power Spot Radar to determine if it’s the form you’re missing or not. For example, if you only have the Low Key Toxtricity, the Amped Up version will be a shadow on your radar and vice versa.
And that’s about it, trainers. New players may feel as if they have a lot to get out of this, but for veterans, it’s mostly going to be raiding (regular and Max Battles) and maybe hunting Mighty ‘Mon. Yes, ticket holders get increased shiny odds and path play but your mileage will vary enough that it may not even be worth it for some players. Whatever your situation is, if you play the event, try to enjoy it, and we’ll talk about how things go next time.
Massively OP’s Andrew Ross is an admitted Pokemon geek and expert ARG-watcher. Nobody knows Niantic and Nintendo like he does! His Massively on the Go column covers Pokemon Go as well as other mobile MMOs and augmented reality titles!
