Two days ago, Pokemon GO publisher Niantic made several unannounced tweaks in regards to the current battle raid feature. Since the start of the raid system in Pokemon GO, raid rewards only consisted of Rare Candies, Golden Razz Berries, Charged Technical Machines and Fast Technical Machines.
Recently, however, Pokemon GO trainers all over the world have observed that raids now provide Super and Hyper potions as rewards. This change, in turn, looks to have nerfed the drop rate of other raid drops.
Less Rare Candies and Golden Razz Berries
The addition of Super and Hyper potions has massively affected the rate of Pokemon GO trainers receiving Rare Candies and Golden Razz Berries after a successful raid.
Charged Technical Machines and Fast Technical Machines drop rates has also been nerfed but not as much as the aforementioned rewards.
As of the moment, exact rewards drop rate percentages are still unknown. Interestingly enough, The Silph Road published an article tackling raid reward multipliers, a day, after the raid rewards system has changed. However, The Silph Road was quick to clarify that raid drop mechanics and raid drop bundles still remain the same.
Mixed reactions
This change in the raid rewards system has received mixed reactions from Pokemon GO trainers. The reasoning behind this is that potions, though random, are easily collected through spinning Pokestops anytime, however, Rare Candies and Golden Razz Berries are only obtainable in battle raids.
Quantity over quality
A Golden Razz Berry increases one’s chance in catching a raid boss and most importantly for legendary raids, while Rare Candies save Pokemon GO trainers walking for 20 km in order to power up a legendary Pokemon. So in terms of an item's value, Rare Candies, Golden Razz Berries, Charged Technical Machines and Fast Technical Machines, are way more of a priority for a ton of Pokemon GO trainers.
On the other hand, as well, this might turn out well for rural players who often experience a shortage of items due to the low number of Pokestops in certain areas. As battling a roster of six Pokemon in a boss or legendary raid has a great chance of dealing significant damage to each and every Pokemon.
Petition for more passes
In connection to raid changes, an online petition appealing for Niantic to increase, the number of daily raids passes given to trainers has almost reached its target number of 10,000 signees. The petition also pushes Niantic to provide raid levels 1 to 3 for free, with an argument that "trainers simply don't want to burn their one free pass on low tier raids." Niantic has yet to make a statement over the petition.
