Lugia Will Be Easier to Catch in Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go is helping players who didn't catch Lugia during its first appearance in the game.

Yesterday, Pokemon Go announced that Lugia would return to the game for a second time from March 16th through April 2nd armed with a "newly improved" Sky Attack. Pokemon.com's article about the announcement also noted that Lugia would be "easier to catch" than the first time it appeared last summer.

Lugia currently has a base capture rate of 2%, which means that players only have a 1 in 50 chance of catching Lugia if they hit it with a Premier Ball with no bonuses. While curve ball bonuses, Golden Razz Berries, medals, and accurate throws can all improve the odds of catching Lugia, players still only have about a 17% chance of capturing Lugia even with maxed out bonuses.

Notably, Lugia had a lower catch rate than the other Legendary Birds it appeared with, so many players had difficulty catching it when it first appeared in the game last summer. A higher catch rate would encourage those players to head out and take another run at capturing this powerful Pokemon.

Pokemon Go hasn't officially updated Lugia's catch rate yet, so we still don't know how much easier Lugia will be to catch when arrives later today. Game developers also haven't updated Sky Attack's damage rate, so we're not sure how much stronger the attack will be and whether this new Sky Attack applies to just Lugia or all Pokemon.

In addition, the Japanese Pokemon website clarified that Lugia's appearance in Pokemon Go is a tie in promotion with the upcoming Pokemon the Movie: Everyone's Story. The new Pokemon movie will feature Lugia as a central character, and the Pokemon Company is giving away a special Lugia for Pokemon Sun and Moon or Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon to fans that pre-order movie tickets.

If you're looking to capture Lugia for the first time, be sure to load up your team with powerful Rock-Type Pokemon like Golem, Tyranitar, and Rhydon. Since Lugia will have Sky Attack as its charge move, players won't have to worry about their Rock-Type Pokemon getting wiped out by a single Hydro Pump attack.

Lugia will arrive in Pokemon Go later today and will remain in the game through April 2nd.