GO Raid Bosses have changed!

[Zexy]

Hello, everyone; it appears that the Raid Boss roster of all Ranks except 5 was changed today. As omahanime put it nicely in the Raid Boss wishlist thread:

New Level 1 Bosses

• Ivysaur – CP 5238
• Metapod – CP 1534
• Charmeleon – CP 5038
• Wartortle – CP 4503

New Level 2 Bosses

• Magneton – CP 14172
• Sableye – CP 8266
• Sandslash – CP 12312
• Tentacruel – CP 12190
• Marowak – CP 9891
• Cloyster – CP 15678

New Level 3 Bosses

• Ninetales – CP 14914
• Scyther – CP 17358
• Omastar – CP 18915
• Porygon – CP 11419

New Level 4 Bosses

• Poliwrath – CP 24247
• Victrebell – CP 23780
• Golem – CP 30572
• Nidoking – CP 24873
• Nidoqueen – CP 23216

So, what do you think of this new change? Please use this thread for discussion on the changes and keep the old one for wishlists and theory only.

 

[omahanime]

Metapod?

WTF?​

 

[Zexy]

Metapod?

WTF?​

It's the Magikarp-like Rank 1 Raid, I'd always expect them to give us something without any good movesets there just because.
At least it's a bit useful for new players because Caterpie can be rare; trust me I had to walk one for around 30km to get enough Candy for Butterfree.

 

[Jacensolo66]

Could us a good Victribell but other then that, pretty lame line-up.

 

[omahanime]

It's the Magikarp-like Rank 1 Raid, I'd always expect them to give us something without any good movesets there just because.
At least it's a bit useful for new players because Caterpie can be rare; trust me I had to walk one for around 30km to get enough Candy for Butterfree.

Caterpie isn't that rare where I'm at. I've caught 121 of them and I stop trying to catch months ago because I think Weedle and Pidgey easier to catch.

 

[Vulpix037]

It's the Magikarp-like Rank 1 Raid, I'd always expect them to give us something without any good movesets there just because.
At least it's a bit useful for new players because Caterpie can be rare; trust me I had to walk one for around 30km to get enough Candy for Butterfree.

Me too. Then again, Metapod is pretty useless... until you evolve it into Butterfree.

 

[Zexy]

Thoughts on the new bosses:

Rank 1: Useful for new players who can't do much more than just solo these. Ivysaur seems the most useful here but I guess that Wartortle may be harder to get in areas without much water. Even Metapod isn't that terrible considering I had to walk it 30km to evolve my first Butterfree. The Kanto starters were available as Rank 4 in their fully evolved forms before but very few people would do them and only Venusaur would barely see play here; so while that was an easier out to get those registered, this is more consistent but takes patience. Higher level players don't really need to touch these unless they want to burn away a day's Pass or get a high IV Venusaur base... but that would take 166 Candy to get to Level 30 and there are better Grass options than Venusaur so meh.

Rank 2: I guess Magneton can be a fine Electric attacker if you can't get Raikou/Ampharos/Jolteon and I was using those for Suicune for a very little bit when I still didn't have good counters. Sableye is that one Pokemon the high-level Shiny collectors will solo en masse, just like Magikarp before. I was afraid it would be hard to solo because its only weakness was Fairy and there's no good attacker for that type (the best DPS comes from Play Rough Granbull which has to cope with a Dark fast move) but I guess the very low CP compensates fine for that; like wow seriously, less than 10000 CP for Rank 2s?! Way to go, Sableye and Marowak. Sandslash/Marowak should be easy-to-beat Ground-types, Tentacruel and Cloyster are more tricky; the former has ways to punish Grass or Ground attackers so Electric/Psychic are better, the latter has the highest CP and some good defense and will probably be the hardest to solo, and Grass doesn't cut it either here. But I'd like to believe I can solo them all if need be, I haven't tried but I have all the counters needed on paper.

Rank 3: The interesting part, where everyone's trying to solo these. Ninetales apparently has been solo'd by very few players in the world and it's pretty hard... but also worse-than-Arcanine so I care little. Scyther is the most useful for sure and it's got a 4x weakness to Rock, yet it seems like its high CP doesn't let that be exploited too much; I may actually attempt powering up Golem to their breakpoints and do these if I need Scizor urgently for a Mewtwo EX Raid. Porygon is also nice for us who haven't played in the Valentine Event and desperately need Candy for it, but soloing it should be even harder but in theory possible with 6 Machamp. Omastar would be worth it more were it not for the optimal moveset being legacy, it's got a 4x weakness too but also high CP to back it up.

Rank 4: WHO THOUGHT NIDOKING/QUEEN AS RANK 4 WAS A GOOD IDEA?! Seriously, I haven't found ONE player so far who was very positive about this addition Especially here where both Nidoran are super common and we use them as 25 Candy mass evolve fodder (you may actually get 2 Nidoran sooner than 1 Pidgey...), not sure how it works in other biomes but I really can't see enough people having interest in them as a Rank 4. Victreebel is a nice out for a fully evolved Grass-type and could see some play... but Venusaur might've been better and very few people were interested in it. Everyone loved Exeggutor as a Rank 2 instead, and for good reason. Poliwrath's also not taken well, since Machamp is better and remains as a Rank 3. Golem is the only saving grace here and I know it's very hard to get in other biomes (to the point high level players have the Geodude line as buddies) even though we can get loads of them here; I still prefer Tyranitar and Snorlax who thankfully stayed though.

In any case, most players I know of have negative reactions to these changes and I can totally see the reasons why. Personally I only mind the Eeveelutions being gone, even though I never ended up doing them it was a good way to be sure of which one you would get if you really needed to. I'm glad they haven't taken the actual high demand Rank 3s and 4s away, especially Tyranitar; that would've hurt bad

 

[omahanime]

• Magikarp will make a triumphant return to Tier 1 Raid Battles.

 

[Zexy]

• Magikarp will make a triumphant return to Tier 1 Raid Battles.

A most welcome change, indeed Glad how Niantic is now listening to feedback, as this and several other measures they've taken makes it seem like.

 

[omahanime]

Some new bosses.

 

[Zexy]

Raid Bosses have changed again!

Rank 1
Snorunt and Swablu are added.
Both have Shiny forms which may more likely appear in Raid encounters than normal encounters.
Metapod, Ivysaur, Charmeleon and Wartortle were removed.

Rank 2
Dewgong is added.
Magneton, Marowak, Sandslash and Tentacruel were removed.

Rank 3
Azumarill, Jynx and Piloswine are added.
Alakazam, Gengar, Ninetales, Omastar, Porygon and Scyther were removed.

Rank 4
Feraligatr is added.
Golem, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Poliwrath and Victreebel were removed.

 

[Jacensolo66]

Yay. The end of the Nido curse. Never found anyone that wanted to do a Victribell but got a good Bellsprout to evolve yesterday.

 

[TeaWest]

Overall I'm glad to see what they did with the rank 1s, but the rank 3s had some good Pokemon removed, which is unfortunate

 

[Zexy]

Overall I'm glad to see what they did with the rank 1s, but the rank 3s had some good Pokemon removed, which is unfortunate

Agreed. Having all the 400 Candy ones and a rare possible Shiny (Snorunt) was a good idea.
Rank 2 was kinda hit in a way I don't like much either. Dewgong/Cloyster are 50% of the tier and they share a type. Sableye/Mawile are cool.
Also agreed on Rank 3s. The only one I won't be missing is Ninetales.
Rank 4s were a good change too. Golem will be missed a bit in other biomes, though.

 

[omahanime]

Trainers,

The Legendary Pokémon Lugia will return to Raid Battles in Pokémon GO on March 16! A powerful Psychic- and Flying-type Pokémon originally discovered in the Johto region, Lugia will appear in Gyms across the globe as the Legendary Pokémon Rayquaza returns to the ozone layer. You can challenge Lugia, which will know the newly improved Flying-type move Sky Attack, until April 2. So gather your strongest party to take on this Legendary Pokémon before it returns to the sea!


—The Pokémon GO team

 

[Zexy]

I'm personally quite glad that Lugia is returning as I was out of town all summer and thus didn't get a single chance at it or any of Articuno/Zapdos/Moltres. So getting it registered, hoping for a high IV one and eventually powering up is something I'm looking forward to.

However, I know several others who're pretty annoyed we're not getting Regis/Latis yet instead.

As for the battle itself, I know it's been very tough in the past and was considered to need more than 10 players at all times... but we've got great new counters since then; Raikou seems to be top-tier, Shadow Ball Mewtwo certainly is great too, even Blizzard Kyogre might work. Weather boosted Level 35 Pokemon are much easier to come by now. Tyranitar has been available as a Raid for a longer time, weather boosted too. Stardust is easier to come by with weather and Star Pieces, weather's boosting our own Pokemon further when favorable or giving us a chance at Level 25 Lugia if Windy... so basically, this is the one fight where all the game's power creep ever since Legendaries came in is gonna show at its fullest in comparison to the post, considering Lugia was one of the very first Legendaries.

 

[omahanime]

Trainers,

As Pokémon’s legendary year continues, two Legendary Pokémon originally discovered in the Hoenn region are appearing in Pokémon GO Raid Battles for the first time! Dragon- and Psychic-type Pokémon Latias and Latios will appear in different areas around the world for a limited time starting April 2.

Drawn to compassionate spirits, the Eon Pokémon Latias and Latios are known for being highly intelligent, and are able to communicate telepathically with humans. They are also stealthy and extremely fast in flight—with Latias able to use its down to refract light to make itself invisible and Latios able to overtake jet planes. Make sure you encounter these special and elusive Pokémon while they roam during this limited time!

The Legendary Pokémon Latias will appear in Raid Battles across Europe and Asia, while Latios will appear in North America, South America, and Africa. On May 8, the Eon Pokémon will switch locations and will be available until June 5, so all Trainers will have the opportunity to catch both powerful Pokémon.

Still searching for the perfect Pokémon to battle Latias and Latios? Pokémon with moves that are particularly strong against Psychic and Dragon types, such as Tyranitar and Mawile, will also be appearing in Raid Battles, so you can put your best team together!

Both Latias and Latios will leave Raid Battles on June 5, so grab your friends and don’t delay! Take on the challenge and seize the opportunity to add even more Legendary Pokémon to your Pokédex. Good luck!


—The Pokémon GO team

 

[Zexy]

Tier 1
+ Duskull, Shuppet
- Wailmer

Tier 2
+ Misdreavus, Sneasel
- Electabuzz, Manectric

Tier 3
+ Granbull, Pinsir
- Jolteon

Tier 4
+ Houndoom, Walrein
- Golem

Tier 5
+ Latias, Latios (regional, will switch places on May 8)
- Lugia