Pokemon Go’s 2020 launch of mega evolutions received a somewhat lukewarm reception, but a year and a half later, Niantic has finally made sweeping changes to the mega evolution system that have the potential to make the mechanic a lot more interesting. Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of these exciting changes!
Mega Levels
The central mechanic added with Niantic’s changes to mega evolution is the brand new concept of mega levels. These are essentially added bonuses to mega evolution that are unlocked as you mega evolve a specific Pokemon more times. Here’s a list of all of the levels and the bonuses conferred by them:
Base Level (Mega evolve one time)
- Bonus catch candy
- Boosted ally attacks in raids
- Free mega evolution after a seven day rest period
- Roughly 80% mega energy cost reduction
High Level (Mega evolve seven times)
- Bonus catch candy
- Boosted ally attacks in raids
- Free mega evolution after a five day rest period
- Roughly 90% mega energy cost reduction
- Increased candy XL drop chance
- Increased catch experience
Max Level (Mega evolve thirty times)
- More bonus catch candy
- Boosted ally attacks in raids
- Free mega evolution after three day rest period
- Roughly 95% mega energy cost reduction
- Further increased candy XL drop chance
- Further increased catch experience
It’s worth noting that most of the catch bonuses only apply to Pokemon that share at least one type with the mega evolved Pokemon in question. These bonuses are not cumulative.
Mega Energy Cost Decreases Further as Time Elapses
On top of the listed cost reductions that are applied as you mega evolve a Pokemon increasingly many times, it’s worth noting that the timer before you can mega evolve for free also decreases the cost of activating mega evolution before it expires.
For example, if you can mega evolve for free after seven days and you wait roughly six days, the cost of mega evolution will be reduced to nearly nothing. That said, activating a mega evolution early in this manner will reset the cooldown.
Mega Levels are Specific to Each Pokemon
For example, if you have a Charizard that you have mega evolved thirty times and a Charizard that you have only mega evolved once, the first Charizard will be at maximum mega level and the second one will only be at the base mega level.
This may sound somewhat grindy if you intend to use multiple mega evolutions of the same species, but the upside is that free mega evolution cooldowns are also specific to each individual Pokemon. For instance, if you have three Venusaurs at maximum mega level, you could potentially rotate through them and mega evolve a Venusaur for free once every day!
So What are the Mega Evolution Changes?
With this recent update, Niantic added mega levels to the existing mega evolution system. The big takeaway is that mega evolving a Pokemon a large number of times gets you new and increasingly powerful bonuses. Namely, mega evolution now grants an extra chance at XL candy, extra catch experience, reduced mega evolution cost, and a cooldown that you can wait out to mega evolve a Pokemon for free.
Players are still testing the exact values and restrictions for these increases, but mega evolution is looking a lot more powerful and accessible going forward!
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Pokemon Go Mega Evolution Changes Guide