In Pokémon GO there are Pokémon that are differently hard to catch. The type of encounter also seems to affect the catch rate – at least in certain cases. A study has now revealed more details.
This is what it’s about: The analysts from “The Silph Road” took a suspicion from the community and investigated. Many players felt that field research Pokémon are easier to catch.
To find out what is behind this feeling, the analysts analyzed 10,000 catching attempts – distributed over three types of encounters:
- Wild Pokémon
- Field Research Pokémon
- Shadow Pokémon
The encounters in the wilderness should serve as a control group to see how the catch rate of special encounters differs from the standard. Weekly research breakthroughs were not included. What did the analysts find?
Encounter factor can change catch rate
This was the initial situation: According to “The Silph Road”, the catch probability, in addition to the level and rarity status, is also influenced by five known factors or “multipliers”. These are:
- The ball used
- Berries
- The size of the circle when throwing
- Curveballs
- Medals
Using these factors, comparisons could be made to see how the catch rates differed among the various encounters. The analysts wanted to find out whether the factor “encounter” might also play a role.
This is what the analysts found: Indeed, the analysts found that in the case of field research, there were differences in the catch rate compared to wild Pokémon. Field research Pokémon are actually noticeably easier to catch based on the numbers.
The multiplier that comes from the type of encounter makes it so that a catch attempt with a regular Poké Ball has about the catch chance of a Hyper Ball.
This is how it looks with Shadow Pokémon: Shadow Pokémon may appear harder to catch, as the catch circle turns red. However, the study could not find evidence that the type of encounter changes the difficulty.
Rather, Shadow Pokémon are just as hard to catch as their normal versions. After Rocket battles, the Pokémon should not actually pose any additional problems for you.
Speaking of Team Rocket: How far are you in the new special research? The first players have already completed it:
