As an avid Pokémon GO player with over 5 years of experience, I have mastered the techniques to effectively hunt, battle, and catch legendary Pokémon. In this comprehensive guide, I will provide detailed tips and strategies, from my own expertise, to help you on your quest to catch ’em all.
Table of Contents
Finding Legendary Pokémon
The first step is knowing where to find these rare and powerful creatures.
Participate in Legendary Raids
The most reliable way to encounter legendary Pokémon is through 5-star raid battles that occur at Gyms. You’ll need to team up with at least 5-10 other high-level trainers to take one down. Once defeated, you’ll get Premier Balls to try catching the legendary Pokémon.
Use Scanners and Maps
Applications like Poke Genie and Poke Radar can notify you of nearby legendary raids. There are also scanners and maps like PokeHuntr that track rare spawns across your area. Using these will save you time hunting.
Special Events
Keep an eye out for limited-time events featuring specific legendaries, like Raid Hours or Spotlight Hours. These guarantee encounters if you can find and win the raids.
Optimizing Your Battle Team
Battling a legendary won’t be easy, so make sure your Pokémon are properly trained and selected.
Choose Proper Counters
Each legendary has weaknesses – select fighters of counter types with strong attacks. For example, use Golem against Moltres since it’s vulnerable against rock moves.
Level Up Your Pokémon
Bring only your highest CP Pokémon above 3000 CP if possible, as lower levels won’t last long. Power them up with stardust and candy to have a better shot.
Dodge Charged Attacks
Time your dodges against the legendaries’ big charged attacks to keep your team alive longer. This increases damage dealt and premier balls awarded.
Catching Strategies
Once you win the raid, it’s time to catch the legendary. Follow these tips to ensure success:
Golden Razz Berries
On every throw, use a Golden Razz Berry to drastically improve your catch rate. They make the Pokémon easier to catch by calming them down.
Curveball Throws
Curveballs give you a 1.7x catch bonus over regular poké balls. Practice them to master the technique on legendaries.
Lock the Circle
Before throwing, hold the poké ball until the colored catch circle reaches the size you want, then release your finger. The circle will lock, guaranteeing that size ring for your throw.
Set the Circle
Aim your throw to land just as the attack animation ends. This gives you the best chance to hit inside the locked circle.
Medal Bonuses
Earn gold medals for catching types of Pokémon to get a catch rate bonus. For example, the Dragon medal makes dragon-types like Rayquaza easier to catch.
Patience Is Key
Legendaries have less than a 5% base catch rate. Bring lots of premier balls and don’t get discouraged if it flees at first. Persist and your chance improves with every failed throw.
Catching Shiny Legendary Pokémon
Shiny versions of legendaries are even more rare, but fortunately are a guaranteed catch as long as you hit it. Here’s some tips:
Use Pinap Berries
Pinap berries double the candy earned upon catch. Since shinies are a sure catch, use pinap berries to get extra legendary candy.
Excellent Curveball
Make sure you nail it with a curved excellent throw. This gives you the best chance of catching it on the first ball without fail.
Raid With Friends
Do raids with friends who have the same legendary shiny dex entry. Trades cost less stardust if you’ve already caught the Pokémon being traded.
Final Tips
Here’s some last tips to help on your legendary journey:
- Exercise patience – legendaries have very low catch rates, so persistence is key.
- Find local communities – coordinate on Discord or Facebook groups to take on raids.
- Manage resources – conserve golden razz, premium passes, pokeballs between events featuring legendaries you need.
With these comprehensive tips and strategies, you are fully equipped to take on the challenge of hunting, battling, and catching legendary Pokémon in Pokémon GO. Just remember to persist and have patience, and you’ll be catching Articunos, Zapdoses, and Mewtwos in no time. Let me know if you have any other questions!
