While continuing the core gameplay loops of catching and battling various creatures, Game Freak has introduced a number of new features to breathe new life into the Pokemon franchise. With Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, players are presented with a large open world to explore at their own pace, no longer restricted to a predetermined path through specific gyms. In fact, the Mediterranean inspired region of Paldea features numerous campaigns to undertake such as battling Team Star, finding Titan Pokemon, as well as battling gyms in the order they want.
Other mechanics also got a bit of an overhaul in this latest including the returning Raid Battles from previous games like Pokemon Sword and Shield. While those games featured a more rigid turn based system, Tera Raids in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are now time based, giving players a set amount of time to defeat and capture the Terastal Pokemon. Not only that, players no longer have to wait their turn and can pick moves and attack at their own pace.
As expected, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet use a star system to denote how difficult a battle will be. While all players will see plenty of 1 and 2-star raids, the more difficult 4 and 5-star raids will take some time to unlock as they also offer some of the best rewards in the game. Here's how to unlock the highest difficulty raids.
Unlocking 5-Star Tera Raids
For players looking to take on difficult challenges, they'll need to wait awhile. The only wait to take on 5-Star Tera Raids is to beat the main campaign of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Once the player views the game credits, they'll get a call from Jacq who will tell the player there's more to do including the arrival of 5-Star raids scattered randomly throughout Paldea.
While these raids may be difficult with a poorly optimized team, the risk is certainly worth the reward. Not only do these raids feature the final evolutionary forms of various Pokemon like Annihilape, Gengar, Dragonite, and others, finishing them will award players with a variety of powerful items like Rare Candy, Exp Candy, Tera Shards, Bottle Caps, and more.
Unlocking 6-Star Tera Raids
While most Pokemon players will likely be satisfied with the challenge of 5-Star Raids, for those who want an extra difficulty kick can unlock 6-Star versions. These will provide Scarlet and Violet players with the ultimate challenge against level 90 Pokemon but overcoming them will provide some of the best rewards including herba mystica, and the highly sought after Golden Bottle Cap item.
In order to unlock 6-Star Raids, players will need to put in a bit of work. After becoming Champion of the Paldea region, players will need to complete all eight gym rematches which are anywhere between levels 65 to 73. After that, players will be contacted to return to the University and take part in the Academy Ace Tournament which involves four random matches against high-level opponents. Finally, players will need to dive into Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Tera Raids by hosting 5-Star versions. Keep in mind, simply joining them does not count and once the number of hosted raids has been met, Jacq will once again contact the player to let them know 6-Star Raids have appeared.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.