5 important things you should know about Max Battles in Pokemon GO

Pokemon GO's Max Battles have been a source of controversy ever since their debut during the beginning of the Max Out season. With the feature now having a few updates to balance itself out, more players may be willing to give these fights a fair chance.

User Dran_K on the Silph Road subreddit recently took the time to put together a helpful guide for those new to Max Battles. In their post, they covered some of the misconceptions trainers may have heard about these fights.

Here are five important things players should know about Pokemon GO's Max Raid Battles. For those interested, the original post can be found here.

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What to know about Max Battles in Pokemon GO

1) Fast attacks are crucial

While Max Moves do deal a significant amount of dmage, fast attacks are just as important in terms of maintaining a solid DPS (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Other types of raids in Pokemon GO have often rewarded players for using Pocket Monsters with movesets that revolve around powering up their charged attacks as fast as possible. While some trainers may assume this is consistent with Max Battles, that is not the case.

In the time it would take for most Pokemon to charge their Max Move, their fast attacks would have dealt around 2/3 of the damage their Max Moves would have. With this in mind, using a fast attack for damage rather than energy generation is the optimal choice for Max Battles.

2) There is an invisible timer

There may be no physical timer present in Max Battles, but a timer is still present (Image via The Pokemon Company)

One of the things players intially noticed about Max Battles was the absence of a timer clock on the screen, like the standard Raid Battle in Pokemon GO. This may lead to the assumption that these fights have no timer at all.

However, this is not the case, as there is an enrage mechanic that activates if the Max Battle drags on. Players can identify whether or not this timer is about to run out if they see text appearing on the screen saying the boss is getting desperate.

If the fight has still not concluded after around a minute, the boss will receive a massive increase in power, and it will start one-shotting every participant in the raid.

3) Dodging is important

Dodging significantly reduces the damage players take from a boss' charged attack (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Dodging is an underappreciated feature in Pokemon GO's Raid Battles. This was something Niantic aimed to fix with their recent Raid Battle rework before the launch of the Max Out season. This action can be done with a simple left or right swipe on the user's mobile device.

In Max Battles, players can tell when a boss is about to use a strong move, as well as who it will target, through on-screen text. A little later, three lines will appear over the player's Pokemon. This is when a dodge should be inputted. This will halve the damage taken from the boss' attack. Proper dodging can be the difference between a win and a loss.

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4) Watch out for Max Bubbles

Max Bubbles appear during Max Battles and allow the player to Dynamax their Pokemon faster (Image via Niantic)

Throughout a Max Battle, players will occasionally see small bubbles with the Dynamax symbol rise up from the battlefield. These are called Max Bubbles and can be collected by commanding one's Pokemon to dodge into them by swiping the screen.

Collecting Max Bubbles will make the Max Meter fill up faster, allowing trainers to Dynamax their Pokemon. Dynamax greatly increases a Pokemon's damage output during a Max Battle, so it is important to fill the Max Meter as soon as possible.

Trainers should keep a sharp eye out for Max Bubbles, especially in Three-Star Max Battles.

5) Charge the Max Meter with a tanky Pokemon

The Max Meter applies to the player rather than the active Pokemon (Image via The Pokemon Company)

A helpful tip included in Dran_K's Reddit post details a strategy where trainers can actually start a Max Battle off using a defensive creature like Greedent or Venusaur to fill the Max Meter. Once this meter is full, they can switch to their glass cannon attacker and then Dynamax them to pummel the Max Boss.

This will be an incredibly helpful strategy when Niantic eventually releases Five-Star Max Battles into Pokemon GO. At the moment, One-Star Max Battles are available in the game.

With the occasional Three-Star variants coming into the title, this can be a helpful strategy for those without access to stronger Dynamax Pokemon.

Also read: Best ways to quickly get Stardust in Pokemon GO

Check out other guides on Pokemon GO:

Ditto disguises
Buddy evolution Adventure Together guide
Best Fast Attacks in Pokemon GO
Sierra counters
Cliff counters
Arlo counters
Giovanni counters