Pokemon Go Drops 2-Star and 4-Star Raids

Pokemon Go has confirmed that it will be doing away with two of its Raid Tiers. The official Niantic Support account on Twitter confirmed that both 2-Star and 4-Star raids were being removed from Pokemon Go. Pokemon that were in those respective Raid Tiers will be added to the 1-Star and 3-Star tiers, and the rewards for 1-Star and 3-Star raids will be increased to match what was once rewarded for completing a 2-Star or 4-Star raid. The change means that Pokemon Go will have four raid tiers: 1-Star raids (Pink eggs), 3-Star raids (Yellow eggs), 5-Star raids (Metallic eggs), and Mega Raids.

Trainers, we've made some changes to the raid tiers:
- There will no longer be two-star or four-star raids.
- Pokémon from two-star and four-star raids have been added to the tier below them, respectively.

— Niantic Support (@NianticHelp) August 27, 2020

- Rewards for one-star raids and three-star raids are increased to what two-star and four-star raids awarded, respectively.
We'll be releasing a more detailed update on these changes soon. Thank you!

— Niantic Support (@NianticHelp) August 27, 2020

The change seems to simplify the raid process and also adds a bit more options for solo players. Players can now immediately tell the difficulty level of an upcoming raid simply by looking at an egg, and dropping the difficulty on non-Legendary raids could encourage more players to participate, especially since the rewards are being increased while the overall difficulty is going down.

Pokemon Go is getting ready to launch its new Mega Evolution system, which will be focused around Mega Raids. Players challenge Mega Raids to earn Mega Energy for specific Pokemon, which can then be used to temporarily Mega Evolve a Pokemon. Not only does Mega Evolution provide a big boost to a Pokemon's stats, using a Mega Evolved Pokemon in raids provides additional bonuses to other Pokemon in the raid. The new Mega Evolution system is set to launch later today.