What you need to know
- Several new attacks never seen in Pokémon Go are on the way soon.
- Eight Pokémon will be able to learn attacks that are new to them.
- The devs have made a few small but interesting tweaks to the combat system.
You definitely can't say that Niantic is neglecting Trainer Battles in Pokémon Go. Or rather, you can say it, but it wouldn't be true since both recent and upcoming updates have that part of the game in mind. The latest Community Note discusses how players will see changes in the timing to when damage is dealt, and energy is charged should help make Trainer Battles more intuitive, particularly for less experienced players. One thing to note is that there will be a pulse effect to a Pokémon's health bar any time it takes damage, making it obvious that it's happening.
Not that exciting, you say? That's actually a pretty defensible position, but the developers have also come up with some brand new attacks that are coming to Pokémon Go for the first time. Get ready to see:
- Thunder Fang - A new Electric-type Fast Attack that can be learned by Arcanine, Hippowdon, Mightyena, and Steelix
- Ice Fang - A new Ice-type Fast Attack that can be learned by Drapion, Hippowdon, Mawile, Mightyena and Suicune
Niantic also announced that certain Pokémon will have the ability to use attacks that until now were unavailable to them. Here's the list of all the pocket monsters that have been going to school and what they've learned:
- Alolan Marowak - Fire Spin, Flame Wheel
- Alolan Ninetales - Charm
- Alolan Raichu - Thundershock
- Alolan Sandslash - Ice Punch
- Golduck - Bubble Beam, Cross Chop, Synchronoise
- Mantine - Bubble Beam
- Mawile - Fire Fang, Ice Fang, Power-Up Punch
- Weavile - Snarl
Last but not least, four attacks have been buffed or changed slightly:
- Bubble Beam - Will debuff the attack stat of opponents hit by it by one stage
- Power-Up Punch - Will do less damage to focus its use on boosting a Pokémon's other attacks
- Psychic - Will deal more damage and activate faster in multiple game modes (Gym, Raid and Trainer Battles)
- Snarl - Will change to focus on generating energy for Dark-type Fast Attacks
Expect to see all of these new attacks and combat updates hit Pokémon Go over the next few weeks.
