The latest update for Pokemon GO expands the game's combat options to include more than just gym battles. Now players of a certain level can participate in raid battles, where they can earn special items by working together with their fellow trainers to defeat bosses. In Pokemon GO, there are five tiers of difficulty for raid battles, with four tiers currently in the game at the time of this writing.

Raid battles are organized by star ratings. The easiest battles are one star, whereas the most difficult battles in the game right now are four stars. Besides star ratings, players can also tell how tough a raid battle will be based on the color of egg that appears above the gym where the event is taking place. One and two star raid battles are denoted by a pink egg, whereas three and four star raid battles are marked by a yellow egg.

The same Pokemon will be found with the same egg color, regardless of tier. The only difference is that Pokemon found on the higher tiers will have a higher CP, and therefore be a more difficult battle.

Pokemon GO players can expect specific Pokemon to appear for each tier of difficulty. For those wondering which Pokemon spawn as raid bosses for each tier, we have compiled the following list.

Pink Egg (1-2 Stars)

magikarp-pokemon
  • Bayleef
  • Croconaw
  • Electabuzz
  • Exeggutor
  • Magikarp
  • Magmar
  • Muk
  • Quilava
  • Weezing

While raid battles have been built as cooperative challenges, the first two tiers can be tackled solo. Of course, anyone looking to fight a raid boss solo will want to make sure that they have high level Pokemon first.

This applies to basically every raid boss except Magikarp. Magikarp is more or less a joke boss, with relatively low CP compared to the other bosses and no offensive attacks in its arsenal. However, even though defeating Magikarp is easy, the rewards for doing so are equal to what players can earn from fighting the other raid bosses, so it's still a worthwhile battle.

Yellow Egg (3-4 Stars)

Pokemon GO: 5 Ways to Make It Even Better - Charizard
  • Alakazam
  • Arcanine
  • Blastoise
  • Charizard
  • Flareon
  • Gengar
  • Jolteon
  • Lapras
  • Machamp
  • Rhydon
  • Snorlax
  • Tyranitar
  • Vaporeon

Unlike the lower tier raid battles, the higher tier battles require players work cooperatively if they hope to stand a chance against the bosses. The third tier needs at least two players in the fight, whereas six or more players are recommended for success in the fourth tier. So it may be wise to bring some friends along before taking on yellow egg raid battles.

Pokemon GO Fire and Ice event

Besides the four tiers currently in the game, a fifth tier of difficulty will be available for raid battles. This fifth tier is denoted by a dark blue egg and is a five star difficulty level. Presumably, these tiers will have players take on legendary Pokemon, but that hasn't been confirmed at this time.

Niantic has teased that legendary Pokemon will finally be introduced in Pokemon GO this summer, so fans should keep an eye out for more information sooner rather than later.

Pokemon GO is available now for iOS and Android mobile devices.

Source: Heavy