Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: go beyond, Niantic, Niantic Labs, pokemon, pokemon go

Niantic Outlines XP Changes Now Live In Pokémon GO

The long-held level cap has finally been raised in Pokémon GO. With Levels 41 – 50 introduced, trainers are grinding out XP once again in the game. Many trainers who have not yet hit Level 40 are especially intent on doing so before the end of 2020, as those who are Level 40 by 11:59 PM on December 31st, 2020 will still be eligible for the Legacy 40 Special Research. As a part of the GO Beyond level rollout, Niantic has also made changes to how XP is accrued in Pokémon GO. Below, you can find the details of XP changes which may help you earn higher amounts of XP to level up faster.

On their Pokémon GO blog, Niantic outlined the changes that extend to more than just XP.

XP Increases

• Catching a Pokémon with a Nice Throw: 10 XP to 20 XP
• Catching a Pokémon with a Great Throw: 50 XP to 100 XP
• Catching a Pokémon with an Excellent Throw:100 XP to 1,000 XP
• Catching a Pokémon with a Curveball Throw: 10 XP to 20 XP
• Evolving a Pokémon: 500 XP to 1,000 XP
• Catching a Pokémon or spinning a PokéStop the first time in a day: 500 XP to 1,500 XP
• Achieving a Pokémon catch streak or PokéStop spin streak of seven days: 2,000 XP to 6,000 XP
• Giving a Pokémon a Berry at a Gym: 20 XP to 50 XP
• Spinning a PokéStop: 50 XP to 100 XP
• Defeating a Gym: 100 XP to 1,000 XP
• Defeating a Pokémon at a Gym: 100 XP to 300 XP
• Hatching a 2 km Egg: 200 XP to 500 XP
• Hatching a 5 km Egg: 500 XP to 1,000 XP
• Hatching a 10 km Egg: 1,000 XP to 2,000 XP
• Hatching a Strange Egg: 2,000 XP to 4,000 XP
• Catching a Pokémon in AR mode: 100 XP to 300 XP
• Unlocking a new Pokédex entry: 500 XP to 1,000 XP

Knowing these changes will help trainers know when it will be worth it to pop a Lucky Egg. When one is active, it is best to focus on XP-heavy tasks to maximize the amounts that you can accrue while your Egg is active.

Pokémon encounter changes

• The chance of encountering Smeargle after you take a snapshot has been increased.
• Nanab Berries are now more effective, fully calming Pokémon down in encounters.
• You'll now earn more Candies from catching a Pokémon you've given a Silver Pinap Berry.
• Research The "Make 3 Excellent Throws in a row" task now leads to an encounter with Gible instead of Larvitar.
• Buddy Adventure You can now earn up to three hearts each day from battling with your buddy.
• Your buddy can now more easily get excited.
• Golden Razz Berries and Silver Pinap Berries are more effective when you give them to your buddy.

For those who have not yet caught Smeargle, this is great news. Also, the appearance of Gible in Field Research, which we reported on earlier, is a promising change that bodes well for the future of other currently rare Pokémon in Pokémon GO.

Stardust changes

• The Stardust you'll earn from giving a Pokémon a Berry at a Gym has been increased from 20 to 30
• Beginning on December 7, you'll earn more Stardust from weekly Adventure Sync rewards.

While the Stardust changes are a bit more minor compared to the XP alterations, what Niantic didn't note is that the amount of Stardust received from catching certain species has dramatically increased. Shellder, for instance, yields quite an increased about of Stardust.

Keeping these changes in mind, players who are currently Level 38 and Level 39 will still have a chance of getting to Level 40 and claiming that Legacy 40 Research, along with that hilarious Gyarados hat, by the end of the year. It seems that this is a questline that won't be offered again, so now is certainly the time to take advantage of these above changes and the currently active double catch XP in Pokémon GO.

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