Just a week or so after the initial datamined spoiler and subsequent official announcement, Pokemon GO has officially rolled out the Remote Raid option. This doesn't come as too much of a surprise since the corresponding Knight Bus feature for Wizards Unite also rolled out recently, but players are still excited to put the feature to use starting today.
Although the Remote Raid Passes may be perfect for Pokemon GO players who are stuck inside thanks to current stay-at-home orders and social distancing best practices, Niantic has already confirmed that this is not a temporary feature like the increased spawns and discounted weekly bundles. Remote Raiding is now a part of PoGO for the foreseeable future, so it's time for trainers to start getting used to the new feature.
For those who are unaware, Remote Raiding allows Pokemon GO players to participate in Battle Raids that show up on their Nearby menu without actually being in range of the Gym itself. This is a massive quality of life improvement for the raiding scene and will really open up some new options for lots of players.
The new feature starting rolling out to level 40 players first, but after just a few hours it is already officially available to everyone level 5 and higher...
"With a Remote Raid Pass, an upcoming new item, you’ll be able to join any Raid Battle you can see on the Nearby screen or that you can tap on the map. Only one Remote Raid Pass will be required to join each raid, and you’ll be able to hold a limited amount of Remote Raid Passes at a time. Twenty Trainers can join the same Raid Battle, with a limited number of Trainers using a Remote Raid Pass. Raid Battles that you complete with a Remote Raid Pass will count toward any raid-related research tasks or achievement medals.
At launch, Trainers battling in raids remotely will have the same attack power as Trainers who are able to battle at the raid location in person. At a later time, the attack power for Trainers battling remotely will be reduced. Afterward, a Trainer battling at the raid location in person will have higher attack power than a Trainer battling remotely.
We’ll be making adjustments to this feature over time, including changes to the number of Trainers who can join remotely, the ability to invite friends to raids regardless of their location, and the mentioned adjustment to attack power for Trainers battling in a raid remotely. We’ll announce all changes and improvements via official channels, so please stay tuned for further announcements and updates to this feature."
The new feature has real potential to be a gamechanger for many players, so we'll be keeping a close eye on it to see how well it works and how the community reacts.
At this point, players may want to keep hunting down the best Unova Pokemon in the game if improving their Battle Raid rosters is their primary goal. Be sure to check back in the near future for more Pokemon GO strategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!
Pokemon GO is available now in select regions on Android and iOS devices.
Source: Pokemon GO Twitter