Our author Noah has long been at level 40 in Pokémon GO and now critically views the maximum level. For him, level 40 is too easy to reach and therefore worthless.
I love Pokémon GO and have been there since day 1. Leveling up in the game has always been a lot of fun for me. But I’m slowly getting tired of leveling and am annoyed that the XP is almost thrown at you.
Nowadays, it’s easier than ever to gain experience points. Leveling in the game has changed dramatically over the years. For me, this change is more negative, because now level 40 is hardly worth anything.
What particularly bothers me about leveling
When I recently went to a raid, I realized again how little significance level 40 has nowadays.
A Palkia was on the arena. I have often defeated this monster with two others. Now two other players also signed up for the raid with me. Both level 40.
But in the end, the three of us couldn’t defeat the raid boss. Simply because the other two players didn’t have decent Pokémon in their ranks.
This is a problem: Many players have reached level 40 so quickly and easily, that there is simply a lack of stardust and good Pokémon. Just because a player is at the maximum level doesn’t mean they have strong Pokémon.
This was different in the early days. And I preferred it that way.
This is how leveling has changed
This is why: There are now so many ways to level up quickly. Be it through raids or the friendship feature. But you don’t have to catch Pokémon for that.
I became level 40 when there were just raids for a month. Otherwise, there was only catching and evolving Pokémon to earn XP.
EXP inflation in Pokémon GO devalues the level
This is how one always received more EXP in Pokémon GO: When raids were introduced, I was quite shocked when they said you could get 10,000 XP for just one raid.
Now there is also the friendship feature. I find the amount of XP you get for a level-up to be way too high. You just need to open one gift a day and after 90 days you get 200,000 XP? That is not in any relation to normal leveling.
Even though you don’t receive the XP after just a few days, it is still much easier to generate experience points.
There is a lot of EXP for that: To illustrate the change of the EXP, I will show examples of what gives a lot of EXP and when these features were introduced:
| Action in the game | Introduction | Amount of XP |
| Catch Pokémon | June 2016 | 100 XP |
| Evolve Pokémon | June 2016 | 500 XP |
| Legendary Raid | July 2017 | 10,000 XP |
| Become Best Friends | June 2018 | 100,000 XP |
This is the result: Nowadays, a large part of the player base in my region is at maximum level. Many players only had to open gifts and activate a lucky egg. Many players don’t even have 10,000 Pokémon caught before reaching level 40.
When I leveled up in August 2017, I had already caught over 20,000 Pokémon. This is noticeable in the stardust and strong Pokémon.
That’s why I find level 40 worthless
This is what I think of the current maximum level: Don’t get me wrong. Reaching level 40 is still a great experience and a goal that many players have set for themselves. I just don’t find it comparable to a level-up back in the day.
The classic Pokémon catching should be in the foreground again and better rewarded. Sitting on the couch for 5 minutes and opening your gifts should not give more XP than several hours of intense Pokémon hunting. Here, the roles are simply reversed.
This is what I find unfortunate: A few days ago, I reached 100 million XP. You only need 20 million for level 40. However, at first glance, you can’t see any difference between me and a player who just reached the maximum level, even though the difference is huge.
If you can’t see the difference, then it’s difficult to plan raids. Can I do the raid with three people? Do we need perhaps a fourth player? This is no longer possible with just a simple glance at the level. Therefore, for me, this level is simply worthless now.
When you can get XP so easily, why not just increase the maximum level or make it visible to everyone how many experience points the players have?
My conclusion: If nothing changes in the system, I will continue to find level 40 worthless, as it says nothing about a player’s strength and their Pokémon.
On one side, I’m always happy for players in my community who reach the maximum level, but on the other side, the level is becoming more and more worthless because players have to do less and less for it.
Are you level 40 and don’t know how to motivate yourself anymore? We have tips:
