Pokémon GO Balance Update – August 20, 2016
Today’s unannounced balance update for Pokémon GO was released yesterday bringing several updates to the game.
Spawn changes
While it seems there have been no nest migrations, reports are coming in of increased spawn rates of uncommon/rare Pokémon. Part of this could be to break up the monotonous grind of only catching common Pokémon (Pidgey/Rattata), and making going out and catching Pokémon a little more exciting. There are also reports of Regional spawns significantly increasing as well. For those who do not know, this is where Regional Pokémon spawn:
| Tauros | North America |
| Kangaskhan | Australia |
| Mr. Mime | Europe |
| Farfetch’d | Asia |
The other half of this seems to be targeting rural areas, where many have complained the game is almost unplayable due to low spawns and lack of PokéStops. This is certainly a good move towards making the game more playable outside of major cities.
Egg Hatch Speed Increased
Reports are coming in that this was increased from the previous determined 10.5 km/h. It’s also been noted that distance is updated more frequently, meaning you may not have to walk in a straight line anymore for best results. While the new variables have not been determined for this yet, hopefully this means we can jog and bike more while hatching eggs.
Move Set Changes
Last update we saw damage changes to a variety of moves. In this update, there are no damage changes, but rather move set changes to particular Pokémon. Most Pokémon only see one fast/special attack move change, where others had a move completely removed! So far this change has only applied to newly caught Pokémon, meaning that if they don’t retroactively update previously caught Pokémon, those could be very rare to hold on to.
Fast Attack Changes
| Pokémon | Old | New |
| Diglett | Mud Shot | Mud Slap |
| Dugtrio | Mud Shot | Mud Slap |
| Graveler | Mud Shot | Mud Slap |
| Golem | Mud Shot | Mud Slap |
| Seel | Water Gun | Lick |
| Grimer | Acid | Poison Jab |
| Muk | Acid | Lick |
| Koffing | Acid | Removed |
| Weezing | Acid | Removed |
| Staryu | Quick Attack | Tackle |
| Starmie | Quick Attack | Tackle |
| Gyarados | Dragon Breath | Removed |
| Porygon | Quick Attack | Zen Headbutt |
| Omastar | Rock Throw | Mud Shot |
Special Attack Changes
| Pokémon | Old | New |
| Jigglypuff | Play Rough | Dazzling Gleam |
| Gengar | Sludge Wave | Sludge Bomb |
| Hitmonlee | Stomp | Brick Break |
| Chansey | Psybeam | Hyper Beam |
| Starmie | Psybeam | Psychic |
| Mew | Hurricane / Moonblast | Blizzard |
Conclusion
This was a server side patch. We saw changes to spawn rates, egg hatching speeds, and move set changes. It’s also interesting to see changes made to Mew, a Pokémon that currently is not obtainable in the game. Our Pokédex has been updated with all this new information.
