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What Are the Shiny Rates For Mega Raids In Pokémon GO?

The Pokémon GO community was taken aback during the release of Mega Raids, and not just because of the backlash due to the Mega Energy system. This new tier of raids had suddenly made evolutions that had been formerly Shiny-locked available to encounter as Shinies. It began with Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur, but now the addition of Pidgeot has confirmed that this is a pattern rather than just a release feature. Also, trainers who have encounters wild shiny Beedrill since the release of Mega Evolution have been able to confirm that it isn't just raids that offer Shiny encounters of Mega-capable Pokémon, but that these species are fully unlocked whichever way they're encountered. However, one question remains… exactly what are the Shiny Rates for these Mega Raids and wild encounters?

A promotional image for Mega Raids in Pokémon Go, which have been the subject of an investigation into their Shiny rate. Credit: Niantic
A promotional image for Mega Raids in Pokémon Go, which have been the subject of an investigation into their Shiny rate. Credit: Niantic

First, a note on Shiny rates. None of these are confirmed by Niantic, but have been studied over the course of the entire history of Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon GO by researchers. This has established a solid idea of not only the standard rate, but also Shiny rates for special spawns and events. Researchers at the Silph Road have determined the following, with the rates rounded to the nearest whole number:

  • Standard Shiny Rate: 1 in 450
  • Permaboost Rate for select rare species, Egg/Raid only-species rate: 1 in 47 – 81 depending on the species
  • Community Day Rate: 1 in 25
  • Legendary Rate: 1 in 19
  • Raid Day Limited Rate: 1 in 11

Now, Silph Researchers have updated their findings to include Mega Raids… which they estimate as have a rate of 1 in 60. This makes hunting for Shiny Pokémon through Mega Raids three times as difficult as doing so with Legendaries, but it's still well under the standard wild spawn rate. This means that, starting Tuesday, Houndoom will also be available in its Shiny form in raids and any wild encounters that one may have.


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Theo DwyerAbout Theo Dwyer

Theo Dwyer writes about comics, film, and games.
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