Paul Morris·

Pokemon Go Raid Battles Now Live

The team behind the wonderful augmented reality game Pokemon Go teased an overhaul to how Gyms and Battles work not that long ago, and now, the first part of that puzzle is in place and live for Trainers.

Those who have managed to accumulate enough Experience Points (XP) to get to Level 5 or above can now participate in Raid Battles at Gyms all over the world.

A Raid Battle is essentially a new feature which Niantic Labs have put in place to try and give Trainers a fighting chance against super tough Trainers who are currently in control of a Gym with a Pokemon which seems entirely undefeatable. The new Raid Battle feature allows multiple Trainers to come together in a cooperative gameplay style environment to defeat what is an extremely powerful Pokemon known as the “Raid Boss.”

The idea itself is extremely simple, but it gets a little complicated after that. In order to be able to take part in a Raid Battle, you need to have a Raid Pass. A Raid Pass is granted to each trainer on a daily basis when they visit a Gym, so this isn’t going to be an additional in-app purchase. When a Raid Battle is about to begin a large Egg will appear at the top of the Gym in question. When that Egg counts down to zero, the Raid Battle begins with you and up to 20 other Trainers, who all work together to try and overturn the Raid Boss. That system might take a little getting used to.

If the Raid Boss is defeated and the reign of Gym-based tyranny is brought to an end within the three-minute time allowance, then you will have the opportunity to actually catch that super powerful Pokemon. There’s also a selection of rewards dished out in the form of Rare Candies, Golden Razz Berries, and other wonderful treasures.

This is really only the start of what Niantic has in-store for the Pokemon Go title with a series of updates designed to revamp the experience and keep gamers interested.

If you happen to be a Level 5 or above and want some of this Raid Battle action, get that game fired up on your iOS or Android device right now.

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