Massively on the Go: Pokemon GO starts Dual Destiny season with siren songs

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Andrew Ross
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Pokemon Go’s winter seasonal update, Dual Destiny, has at least frontloaded some of the details on what would normally be mystery events, so I’m thankful for that. The rest of the preview, however, suggests that Niantic severely underestimating the negative feedback of last season’s new feature, Max Battle raids, as it’s seemingly trying to monetize system shortcomings instead of, I don’t know, addressing issues that threaten the bulk of the community?

As you probably expected, today’s Massively on the Go is going to go over the season changes and December events, as well as note how some of the events/additions are tone deaf to what we saw last season, many of which were especially painfully obvious during the recent Wild Area event.

Let’s start with the PvP changes because they’re the easiest to tackle. As even JRE noted, there isn’t a ton here to worry about, especially for PvE players. That being said, if you’re using Primeape or Annihilape in League play, it’s about to take a hit to the Ragefist. Elemental punches getting a minor damage buff should help shake things up a bit, but it’s really going to vary depending on which ‘mon uses it.

Next, the season’s overview. For the most part, the spawns aren’t really worth chatting about much, except to note that unlike last season, we don’t have a lot of stardust boosters. Those were probably there to help (new) players power up Dynamax and Gigantamax ‘mon without feeling quite the same pinch, especially as new pokemon forms were being outclassed progressively, the worst possibly being Bulbasaur (Dynamax release, Gigantamax release, then being able to evolve Dynamaxes for the CD move after Niantic had pressured players into evolving them).

On the topic of stardust, though, this season has an “extra” bonus to stardust received from Rocket battles and “extra” bonus when opening gifts. What that amount is hasn’t been shared, but at least Niantic was forward with players getting one additional Daily Raid Pass all season. I will say that the local raid limitation we’ve been seeing, plus the decimation of some of our friends lists, does make me question the value of this perk; I’m currently using the Max Out Finale 5 bonus raid passes ticket and have been struggling to get raiders despite there being 2 brand new shinies and 2 fairly recent shinies (with both being high-end Master League PvP picks).

Eggs aren’t doing much for me aside from the 10ks, which have some fun/rare stuff, namely the Dragons, Larvestra (still has some uses!), and Charcadet. Notably, Larvestra may get a Community Day eventually while the Dragons (aside from Druddigon) certainly will.

The Regis in Legendary Shadow Raids mostly appeal to PvPers, though the Regis have high defense and Shadow Raids aren’t popular, meaning it may be difficult to get one let alone a good one.

And speaking of local-only raids, we know Krabby and Machop are getting Dynamax releases while Lapras is getting its Gmax in at least a special event (more on that later). Krabby is actually a good Water type family when you don’t factor in legendaries, though it makes the top 20 list against Primal Groudon even with the likes of legendaries and Starters with their CD moves. It’ll probably be the best Water Dynamax we get for a while, and it should be noted that Kingler gets a Gigantamax form, so we may see that this season as well.

The same goes for Machop, except that it’s often the best Fighting type for many generation and it’ll get a Gigantamax form. It is somewhat depressing that Falinks is basically being dethroned before it could shine, which is only going to reinforce the feelings that Niantic doesn’t know what it’s doing and that it is asking players to invest in new ‘mon that will most likely be swiftly replaced in a new system that’s simply a resource drain.

We’ll see how the rest of the season plays out for Max Raids, but for now, I’d advise players to use particles to invest in at least level one Max moves with their current roster and grab a couple of decent ‘chops and Krabs for future use, knowing full well that these guys are gonna be replaced with Gmax variants. Or, you know, live in a major city and mooch off the locals.

Last, but not least, we’ll have the Unova Tour at the end of the season, which is surprisingly March 1st-2nd (season ends the 4th). There are local events in February in Tapei and Los Angeles, so I may cover the latter as I did last year, but it was pretty rough. We know there’ll be shiny Meloetta, shiny Deerling (all seasons), and 10k eggs with shiny regionals for Maractus, Sigilyph, and Bouffalant. None of these is super strong or useful, but they’re all collectible.

There’s some kind of “trivia” research for on-site local events that reward Incarnate Forme Tornadus, Incarnate Forme Thundurus, and Incarnate Forme Landorus, but I’d keep expectations low as past events failed to introduce meaningful and interesting on-site gameplay like this, plus these forms aren’t great.

In a similar vein, during the event, LA Metro Pokestops will be taken over by Rocket Grunts and give out 12k eggs. Sandile, Mienfoo, Pawniard, and Vullaby aren’t new, even as shinies, and have limited use. Given the comparison to 10k eggs with regionals that can be shiny, I’d actually say avoid the Metro Pokestops if you’re in LA during the event.

Now let’s get into December specific content. For Mega Raids, the Latis are a nice in-betweener for those missing Rayquaza, with Mega Salamence (not out this month) able to do Dragon/Flying when you don’t need a Lati doing Dragon/Psychic. Mega Abomasnow, which isn’t new, is still #3 in on our list of best ‘mon to invest in, and December and January are a big part of why that is, no matter which hemisphere you live in.

I mention the Megas first because the Mega Lati twins are taking up 5-star raid slots this month. Chill Drive Genesect comes first, and is mostly fine but only for its Bug part, which rarely gets used. After the Latis, which aren’t super useful, we get Giratina Altered, which is just for PvP (especially if it doesn’t get its signature move). That makes the weekend Regice Shadow Raids a bit more appetizing, at least until we know what other raid options come this month, mostly in events, which we’ll get to soon. Just remember, we get two daily passes this season, so don’t be afraid to raid a non 5-star raid to make sure you don’t waste a pass.

For events, we start with Just My Cup of Tea, from December 3rd-7th. This is kind of the epitome of the month. We get one new pokemon (though dataminers say that the Phony form is only 50 candy to evolve, while the Antique form is 400) and some weird bonuses: double raid damage and 50% more raid stardust. Genesect is super weak to Fire and can be soloed with the right investments, so it’s just going to be even easier. Galarian Mr Mime or Bombirdier aren’t terrible raid choices either, as Mime candy in general is regional and Bombirdier has yet to spawn in the wild and can be shiny.

On December 7th, before the Tea’s gone, we have Aspiring Dragons Research Day from 2 p.m.-5 p.m. local time. These are all non-Dragon ‘mon that evolve into a Dragon-type, though their usefulness is dubious besides Swablu’s Mega, and even that has limits. Veteran players can easily skip this event unless one of the fake-dragons or wild spawns interest them personally.

Things kind of get interesting December 8th with Gigantamax Lapras Day. It’s at least a safe investment in terms of Gigantamax ‘mon, as it’s the only Ice-type and has the only Ice-type Gmax move.

Now, some credit where credit is due: For this event, Niantic did warn us that the power spots will “refresh more frequently,” though specifications would be nice. Getting 8x the amount of particles helps a bunch too. Reducing the walk distance for particles to a third of a mile (0.5km) is nice too, so the devs clearly know there are problems. We do finally get the cap raised for this event: to 1600, or more if you buy an event ticket.

That being said, that takes only some of the sting out of the system and only during the event. Hoarding particles the night before and then most likely breaking groups during the event will probably still be a thing in most communities. Max Mushrooms seem particularly egregious, as players are assuming they’re going to cost more than a few dollars each and really ignore how deep the Max Raid issues go, and I’m hearing this on the ground from a community that can actually still pull off weekly raid nights with full-ish lobbies when the featured ‘mon isn’t popular.

12/9 Update: Having played the Gmax Lapras event, I think it’s safe the say that while the changes were in the right direction, our initial reaction that these raids are bloated and out of touch with player habits outside Niantic’s desire to milk wallets stands firm. We had some very specific min-maxing (including suggestions to actively play outside of one’s home between 12am and 5am the day of the event) to get as many F2P raids as possible, the lack of Particles being renewed with the raid renewals once again broke up raids trains, and the FOMO of just being able to do them also broke communities.

While the new Max Mushrooms do help make up for the lack of players one may experience (possibly due to said FOMO), they are more expensive than the raids themselves. In fact, in one of my local communities, a multi-accounter refused to even try the 5-minute trial ‘Shrooms because the system already feels grossly over-monetized by using Particles to double dip as raid passes and dynamax leveling fuel. While my community did stay together longer due to the generous amount of Particles (800) given from the first Power Spot interaction, plus 600 for walking only 0.5km, it wasn’t enough for those who purchased the event ticket, causing some of us to try another community to finish the job. Delaying the breaking of groups is better but only if the metric is that breaking groups prior to event completion is a desirable outcome of the system, and I doubt it is.

December 10th-14th is a new event, Young & Wise. While Niantic’s given us some good info on several events this month, this event isn’t part of that. I do wonder whether Cosmog may be part of it though, as its evolutions are needed for the last day of the event.

12/3 Update: We have details on the event now and, yeesh, it’s just a random assortment of babies in 2k eggs and even more random raid ‘mon, with both game features giving double xp. It’s a low-effort fund raiser attempt that doesn’t even pretend to acknowledge catching as the game’s core feature.

On the 14th, before Young & Wise ends, we have Necrozma Fusion Raid Day. Even though it’s a recent release, Necrozma’s forms are super powerful when fused. There is suspiciously no mention of Cosmog, which are needed to evolve and fuse with Necrozma; this event is giving you only the “energy” and Necrozmas, which is half the work. As always, we’ll update this as we learn more.

12/13 Update: There is no Cosmog associated with this event, paid or otherwise. Players are not happy, to say the least.

Holiday Part 1 will be held December 17th-22nd, and Part 2 will be from the 22nd-27th. Traditionally we see a lot of Ice types during this event, often new ones, plus costume pokemon. Dynamax Cryogonal, which has a Max Monday on the 23rd, is probably part of Part 2 of the event, so that may count as our “new pokemon” for the holidays, bleh.

Old timers who may be coming back to the game should be warned that we haven’t gotten free single-use incubators from this event since 2021, though it may come as a paid-add-on event ticket (unless this one counts). Also note that Niantic often holds events on Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day (besides Spotlight Hour on the 24th or Mega Latias Raid Hour on the 25th), so keep your expectations low, and hopefully when we update this, we can be happy with whatever free gifts Niantic doles out this year.

12/5 Update: We now have official details on the event. Shiny Sandygast’s new release is nice and oddly not holiday-related (unless you fly to a tropical location with black-sand beaches for winter…), but there’s also Niantic shoving several holiday ‘mon in 7k eggs while giving a half-hatch bonus. The fire-types and summer Pichu are probably in recognition that Southern Hemisphere players are experiencing summer now. Holiday Dedene is a nice surprise but not wholly unexpected. In terms of raid power, there’s not a lot going on here, though Glaceon can be a cheap alternative to Mamoswine if you need Ice-types, and both are available during this event (though only Glaceon gets a winter cape).

12/11 Update: We now have official information on the event. A big one is the Daily Adventure Incense lasting twice as long. Semi-related, regular incense will spawn different pools from two sets, changing daily from December 22nd-27th. It’s basically for new shiny Cetoddle one day and holiday dressed Wooloo (which can also be shiny and evolve) the other day, though Snorlaxes on the Cetoddle day are appreciated. As predicted though, no free incubators from spins, as it’s only from the paid ticket at the start of the month. No other bonuses, so kind of a downer compared to the past, but that sadly seems to be the trend since COVID changes were reverted.

During the events, from December 21st-22nd is the yearly Community Day Round-Up, when we traditionally get every ‘mon that’s had a normal or Classic Community Day in the past year as a spawn, and everything from two years ago appearing in eggs, all able to get their CD moves. I will say that outside of PvP, this year was particularly dismal, with the main standouts being the Popplio line (usable in raids, gym defense, and PvP), Mankey line (nerfed but still decent gym defense and PvP options), Goomy line (PvP), and I guess Chansey (gym defense side grade). 2023’s Axew, Timburr, and Grubbin are a bit more useful for raids and other content, so you may want to clear out non-2k eggs before the event, depending on the news Niantic drops.

12/6 Update: We now have the event details. There’s kind of a lot here, so we’ll have a separate guide for this, but the short version for non-PvPers who need non-legendaries is to focus on catching Popplio for Water, Grubbin for Bug, and Axew for Dragons. Bring Shadow versions (with Frustration TMed off) of Bagon, Beldum, and Cyndaquil. Also, bring some Dynamax Beldum. These are what you’ll want to catch and evolve during the event. Some players may also want Timburr but evolve it after the event if you only care about raids, though it’s CD move, Payback, can be useful in PvP or when taking gyms.

On the 29th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. is Charged Embers Hatch Day. Hatch Days usually are just about hatching a pokemon, clearly a Fire-type this time, but that’s about it. It’s basically an event for Niantic to encourage you to blow through your incubator supply in exchange for higher shiny odds and maybe extra candy or stardust. As usual, watch this space for updates.

12/19 Update: And it’s a Magmar/Electabuzz baby-hatching event. Yeah, not amazing for vets, and newbies, these are more for collecting than using (though Shadow Electivire has uses). The one nice thing is that it’s a half-hatch bonus from Friday, December 27 at 10 a.m. to Sunday, December 29 at 5 p.m. If there’s something you really want from eggs, clear out space before the event to hopefully hatch double candy of your target during the Hatch Day itself, though don’t blow tons of cash you don’t have on gamble boxes eggs.

Finally, we have New Year’s 2025 event from December 31st to January 1st. Again, expect costume pokemon, pokemon related to time (such as Hoothoot), and possibly Niantic scheduling something as if people didn’t have real-life commitments this day.

https://twitter.com/g47ix/status/1868717963211423794

12/19 Update: And now we have event details. There’s really not much new here, but players looking for xp get 2025xp bonus for excellent throws, so power levelers at least have something to look forward to.

As always, we’ll wrap this up with the Spotlight hours. December 3rd is a treat because it’s double stardust and Sableye, which grants extra stardust when caught. This is an event to use starpieces for, but be aware that Sableye is tougher to catch and most ‘mon, so you may want to stock up on Ultra Balls and berries. Admittedly, Murkrow with catch XP suffers a similar catch-difficulty but without extra XP bonuses, and December 17th with Fire and Ice types is cute, but woof, these aren’t useful ‘mon. Things pick up Christmas Eve, though, as double transfer candy should help make space to close out the year, while Delibird, like Sableye, also provides extra stardust (and a catch challenge). Togetic and evolution bonus xp is kind of a sad finale, as it’ll be too late for the CD Round-Up event, so maybe sit this one out unless you need a good, cheap, tanky Fairy type.

And that’s probably all for now, readers! Check back for updates as they slowly drip in, and stay safe out there, trainers!

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!
Pokemon Go studio Niantic is considered a controversial gaming company owing to multiple scandals and deceptions, starting with the Wi-Spy privacy scandal; over the years, it’s repeatedly failed to secure player data, endangered players during the pandemic, and refused to address documented stalking in POGO. It also rolled back popular accessibility features to incentivize data collection, faked data, and lied about event results. Following 2021’s community-driven Pokemon No boycott, Niantic vowed transparency and communication; it has not delivered.
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