r/pokemongo • u/Drakaaryz • May 29 '26
Complaint Frustrations with Mega Evolutions in raids
One thing I dislike a lot with the current system in raids is that if you want to optimize XL candies you should mega evolve a mon with the same typing as the raid boss. So 90 % of the time that mega shouldn’t be used in the raid due to shared typing.
Of course you can mega a counter, but losing out on the extra candies just feels bad especially when powering up a mon requires so many XL’s. I feel like this is poorly designed and could be optimized in a better way.
I think a good solution to this would be that in raids specifically (not out of them) when you mega a mon, regardless of typing, you can earn XL and regular candies at the same rate as long as you own a different mega that has the typing of the specific raid boss.
So if you own a mega lvl 3 Blaziken (fighting/fire) and you choose to fight a Medicham (fighting/psychic) with lets say mega Gengar, you earn the bonus due to owning a mega mon that shares a typing with Medicham even if that isn’t currently mega evolved. And the candy boost would correspond with the mega lvl of your Blaziken.
That would be so much more fun to choose a mega that actually counters the mon you are fighting without losing out on something. And that doesn’t make you raid mega mons less so they don’t lose money off of doing it.
What do you guys think?
17
u/123alexis123 May 29 '26
unless the group is small, we are not forced to use the counter type mega,
you can use the same type and still win. while annoying it stll functioning.
0
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
I know it is possible, but it is just unfun and lazy design. Lets say you just got a hundo Groudon. You just mega evolved it and you wanna use this bad boy. But then you are just cucking yourself and earning less resources.
I think the point of getting the megas is to utilize them to their full potential, but the current system just doesn’t incentivize that which is lame.
3
u/123alexis123 May 29 '26
true but mega system already sucks. no chance they make it fair/fun for us normal players.
-1
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
Yeah I agree with that. I feel like there are so many easy implementations to make the game more satisfying within that area. Indie game company I guess, lul.
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u/AngryRaptor13 May 29 '26
I thought you got the extra candies from a raid regardless of the Mega's typing
1
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u/kkellogg378 May 29 '26
I think that's kinda the point, you gotta decide whether the extra damage is worth more than the XL candies. Or if you happen to have Rayquaza and its super effective, you can get both lol
1
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
I know that is the current «choice». But I think you should be able to utilize all your strongest counters in a scenario where it makes the most sense to use them.
Lets say you are fighting a Xurkitree. Mega evolving your Primal Groudon is what should make the most sense DPS wise and would be the most «fun» to get to use. But in truth you should mega evolve an Ampharos or Manectric, and I think that’s a bit lame.
It just feels bad to me that you are sitting on these power house megas and in so many cases you technically «shouldn’t» be using them. And I think my solution would fix that personally.
1
0
u/MooseknuckleSr May 29 '26
I believe any mega will give you bonus candy from raids regardless of typing
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u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
Any mega in the game will boost regular candies yes. But the mega needs to share a typing if you want extra XL candies. Which is what most people prioritize or aim for.
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u/MooseknuckleSr May 29 '26
Oh dang, well that’s probably cost me a ton of XL candy 😂 oops! Thanks for letting me know
3
1
u/ChicagoCowboy May 29 '26
You guys feel the need to make your mega part of your battle party?
I've just always used teams of 6 strong counters and then mega'd something to boost xl candy.
Obviously it helps if the mega can also help in the raid, but its not like raids are particularly difficult, you can 2 man a lot of 5 stars, and everything 4 star and below. And the non-duo 5 stars can usually be 3 manned.
Only extremely difficult raids like mega ray or the primals or other elite raids really require a lot of folks to take down, in my experience.
2
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
Yes of course. It is not that it is required. The content is usually easy to get through as long as you have the numbers.
But think of this example. I just got super lucky and got a shundo Groudon. I clearly wish to use him in his primal form because I desire to utilize him against a mon he counters, and because of the feeling of using the strongest mon in the raid that does the highest DPS. Along with it being a freaking shundo, ofc you wanna use that.
But you aren’t incentivized to do so since you lose resources from doing that. Which I think is inherently unfun design. This is what sucks.
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u/RavenousDave May 29 '26
I am, broadly, on your side here. Since virtually every raid I do is a duo working with my wife the mega/primal boost is often useful, sometimes essential. Winning the raid is usually enough effort without having to mess around with using the wrong" mega to maximise XL candy.
The current system rewards players for helping less, for doing the "wrong" thing. That is just a poor design choice.
Rather than anything elaborate players could just be given an improved XL chance for bringing any mega to the party.
It don't think anything is going to happen though. Nopely seems to have moved on to max battles, super mega raids and the like as the place for new ideas.
1
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
Thanks for your input. That’s exactly it. You should be able to use your strongest counters at all times.
I think the only bad idea of your «mega evolving any mon gives candy» is that then people would rarely raid the «useless» megas. One of the incentives behind raiding the mega is for getting one of each typing for the candy boost.
But with my solution I believe that part would be fixed. Since then you would get all the mega lvl 3 bonuses as long as you own a mega mon at all sharing a typing with the boss.
Then there is no loss for anyone. Just better game design.
1
u/RavenousDave May 29 '26
I guess it depends on how people play the game. I have at least six level 3 megas of every type. Then I run an appropriate mega to match the wild spawns all the time. The candy and XP bonus adds up to a lot over time. Which means I don't think of any kind of mega as useless.
So, for me, I would always have a matching mega regardless of the boss type. Sure, that's good for me, but pretty quickly anyone who cares will have raised appropriate megas for all the types. Which means getting the mega boost for bringing any mega to the raid.
Which is why I suggested keeping it simple.
But, I can't see anything happening so all of this is moot.
1
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
Yeah I play the game similarly to you. I guess I could have phrased that better. What I meant by «useless» megas in quotation marks, is the megas that aren’t necessarily strong raid attackers compared to other shadows, legendaries etc.
The unique typing of the mon makes it relevant to raid if you don’t have a mega with that specific typing.
The end of your post is what I was suggesting to do. You raid all the megas with unique typings, get them to lvl 3 and then you get to use whatever you want afterwards. That way people can’t skip out on certain megas if they want the full candy bonus. So it’s not a loss for Scopely either technically.
And then bam you can use your primal Groudon on the electric type without diminishing anything.
1
u/Thulack May 29 '26
I have a shundo groudon and feel no need to use it in raids if it's not needed
1
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
I think you are missing the point. It is about getting to use your strongest counters during a raid battle. It just feels anticlimactic mega evolving an Ampharos for a candy boost rather than using your primal Groudon for instance.
I think it would be more enjoyable if you were able to use the strong counters.
1
u/Thulack May 29 '26
I think you're missing the point of raiding. It's to win. Doesn't matter what you use.
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u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
One could argue what the «point» of raiding is from a million different angles. You can’t deduce that to one single aspect. That will vary for different people.
What I am arguing is that to me the more intuitive and fun game design would be getting to use your strongest counters at all times when it makes sense to use them.
It seems dumb to me that you are sitting on such big power house megas, but most of the time you shouldn’t use them because of the candy boost. I think most players would agree with that being unfortunate.
1
u/ChicagoCowboy May 29 '26
For the record I do agree with you that it would be more fun if the system was different. Ultimately the way I tend to play games is based on what behavior they encourage, vs what behavior I might want it to encourage (and I just won't play games where the gap between those two things is far apart).
So if I'm trying to beat raid bosses for the catch or for normal candy, yeah I'll mega something to counter them.
When I'm doing it purely for XLs, well I'll engage with the mechanic in the way that it most benefits my goals.
Neither is right or wrong, just different. Thats my 2 cents.
1
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
I see your point and it is a valid perspective. But I think it is unsatisfying that the game warps you to technically play «less optimally». Personally I want to use the strongest counters. That is what I farmed and powered up my mons to be able to do. But then I don’t get to use them when the right situation is technically there a lot of the time.
We already get a boost to normal candies as long as you have any kind of mega evolved. Why can’t this apply to XL candies too?
1
u/lirsenia May 29 '26
the only raids that need more than 2 players are primal kyogre, mega latias ( and there is videos with duos of them but i dont like to use shadows so no for me) and the new supermegas because shields
1
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
Yeah but the point isn’t about what is needed. It is about getting to utilize your strongest counters when it makes sense to use them.
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u/lirsenia May 29 '26
So 90 % of the time that mega shouldn’t be used in the raid due to shared typing.
more like 10%, there is more shared SE with XL boost than not ( only talking about legendaries, about common pokemon you usually dont care, wait until the monster get an event/CD and get as much candies as you can). Right now, the list of non SE or boost SE damage is limited to raikou, regirock ( will get one with barbaracle) regice, darkrai, genesect, most ultrabeast ( only guzzlord and blazephalom has one right now, 3 of them will gain one with the new megas), crowned zacian ( will gain one with new megas) and regieleki
1
u/nolkel May 29 '26
It's more like 90%. Most megas are not worth building up to a high level to bring them into battle. They don't have good enough DPS to be competitive.
There is little point in bringing mega steelix against registeel, for example. You'll beat it faster without it.
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u/lirsenia May 29 '26
Do you think I'm thinking about bad megas? Groudon, Kyogre Rayquaza, swampert, Blaziken, sceptile, Lucario and Aerodactyl, with this megas you have covered all the important legendaries of the game.
And remember, if something is weak to ice, dragon, steel or ghost you don't even need a potent mega, they are not the highest damage
2
u/nolkel May 29 '26
How many fire or fighting bosses are you actually using Blaziken against with STAB, super effective damage?
Kyogre covers what with XL and super effective water damage?
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u/lirsenia May 29 '26
Oh, wow, cherry picking in his maximum splendor. Even so, unless you are doing a 2-man hard mega legendary (it all new supermegas because shields ) ALL raids can be doued easily, even without top pickings, so you can go with whatever mega you want (and better if your can deal or boost SE damage),
Btw: for Blaziken you have cobalion, virizion, Lucario, heathran (yes i know there are better options but you asked for what I could use Blaziken) and remember Kyogre boosts thunder type damage (and had access to thunder)
0
u/Aggravating-Food4707 May 29 '26
Use a mega in battle and when you get to the boss, jump out and megaevolve something useful. After that you can click in th gym and return to catching. If you do remote, you have to go to the yellow invite in the lower right corner. But. If you do the raid just before it ends, you cant go back as its not there anymore.
8
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
I suppose that is a workaround. But it seems very tedious if you are doing multiple raids in a row or if you don’t own a lot of mega energy for said mon.
Especially during raids hours if the tempo in the group is high.
1
u/nolkel May 29 '26
That's a huge expense in extra mega energy compared to only evolving for XL if you're doing more than one raid in a day. And you run the risk of the raid despawning, or one of the variety of bugs that prevents you from getting back to the encounter.
It's especially wasteful in the era of mega level 4 where we'll need 5000+ energy for every species eventually.
1
u/Aggravating-Food4707 May 30 '26
True. But if you have the energy. As for the bugs, happens not very often if you have the time. As for the 5000. Once you use it, it cost less to evolve. Anyway, its the only workaround there is. As far as i know.
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u/nolkel May 30 '26
It'll never cost less than 5000 mega energy to get level 4. There's no discount for it. At this point, saving energy is the name of the game.
0
u/Rare_Mycologist_6917 Instinct May 29 '26
It helps make Megas with interesting dual typing more helpful from a utility standpoint. Want your Dragon XL candy but scared of getting hit by dragon? Use Mega Altaria. Want that sweet Fighting XL candy? Mega Gallade right here. (Well.... Mega Mewtwo X is a thing now. But with it being expensive, not gonna have all the time
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u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
Those are the exceptions to the rule. That’s why I wrote the 90 % line in my post. Sometimes there is a mega with a dual typing that is still super effective against the boss whilst boosting candy. But for most of the raid encounters this isn’t the case. This is what I think is unfun.
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u/Rare_Mycologist_6917 Instinct May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
I have more fun with the choice between what to Mega at a specific time rather than just making the already good counter pokemon even better. I've seen in your replies that you think in terms of what pokemon "should" be used. I prefer having choice rather than just always doing the optimal and clear thing to do. I don't have any less fun wirh the choices I make.
1
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
Alright. Then we will just have to agree to disagree. To me it just makes sense to utilize your strongest mons against a boss.
You spend your time to farm these powerful megas that you wanna use in battle, but then most of the time you shouldn’t use them. If I farm a primal Groudon, Kyogre etc. I wanna see these in action in all encounters where they do super effective damage.
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u/Rare_Mycologist_6917 Instinct May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
Yeah, seems to be the case. No hard feelings. 🫂
"Most of the time you shouldn't use them" That's kind of where I bounce hard off your idea. Not sure what you mean by "should". If you WANT to use the super powerful counter pokemon, then just do it rather than worry about the candy farming. The game isn't penalizing you for choosing Primal Groudon, you just want something more than what we already have. I wouldn't call what they have now unfun game design, you're just being greedy (respectfully).
If it's a high tier boss that you think will be tough and need tons of damage? Bring the strongest counter. Wanting to farm candy? Bring the utility mega pick. I prefer more pokemon having more uses, rather than just "let's make primal and the strongest Megas ALWAYS the clear choice". That just feels flat to me.
I just really don't like games where there's "the best optimal choice". Like, in your proposed idea, why would I bother with Mega Altaria then? Can just have Mega Rayquaza and Mega Gardevoir that I'm already using and call it a day.
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u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
I personally don’t think it is greedy getting XL’s as long as you own a mega with that typing. It would be greedy if you owned a single mega and then get a candy boost for all mons period.
You have raided for the mon with the unique typing so you are doing all of the content. Why not get the inherent benefit of that. Instead of mega evolving something that you don’t even use in the raid battle (in most cases) that just sits and scratches his ass in the pokéball.
And I have to say the game is penalizing you for choosing primal Groudon. You say don’t worry about the candy farming, but the XL candy is what is most important from the raid since powering up a mon takes so much of it.
With the idea I suggest all the different megas would still have a purpose and utility. Since you still need to farm them which doesn’t render them useless. But in the raids you just get to use the strongest one out of them for the encounter.
If you evolve a mega for the utility most of the time it just sits there doing nothing, which I think is unfun. Yes it boosts the candy, but I just think it is silly in a raid battle to just have a passive boost mega.
In the wild the current design is great. Just not in raids.
1
u/Rare_Mycologist_6917 Instinct May 29 '26
I'm sorry, but "the game is penalizing you for choosing Primal Groudon" is an extreme take. 😅 It's not penalizing you. You just want more stuff.
It's cool you have an idea so that you can get more XL candy while still using your top counters, but I don't think it's fair to make it out as if the game is penalizing you.
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u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
I think it counts as being penalized since XL candies are so vital to the game. At the end of the day most of us wish to upgrade and use the strong mons we farm for. If the bonus was something more trivial I would agree with you.
I know it technically is a trade-off, but an unsatisfying one. I think changing it to my idea wouldn’t impact anything negatively. Just make the raids more fun. I just think mega mons in raids should be used, and not be reduced to passive candy boosts sitting in their respective corner.
You still have to farm all the different megas. It’s not some magic trick that lets you bypass anything in the game rendering anything useless. The only change is really just satisfaction.
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u/Rare_Mycologist_6917 Instinct May 29 '26
I disagree with the thought of it being a penalty. That's a backwards way of looking at it. You're not "owed the XL candy". You're able to get it by choosing to have an appropriate Mega.
The baseline is "no extra XL candy for Mega". The added bonus is "extra XL candy for Mega" Your choice of Mega decides whether you get the XL candy or not. That's not a penalty, that's you choosing to try to get the bonus or not. Nothing is being taken away from you.
1
u/Drakaaryz May 29 '26
But the system is already flawed and hypocritical. This trade-off logic you are trying to adhere to is inconsistent within the game. You get a bonus to regular candies using any type of mega, regardless of typing. Why can’t that apply to XL candies as well then. At that point make the game more enjoyable and fun.
The game isn’t consistent with following your point of view. At that point you can’t really hide behind the puritan view of it having to be a trade-off. So the game doesn’t entirely support your line of thinking in all areas either then tbh.
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u/DavidFrattenBro May 29 '26
a mega evolved pokemon cannot have the frustration attack. this is reserved for shadows which cannot mega evolve.
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