All articles tagged with #pve
Mega Starmie offers middling DPS in both Water- and Psychic-type raid metas and is outclassed by top contenders like Kyogre, Mewtwo, and other Mega evolutions. While its stats aren’t terrible, they don’t justify using a Mega slot in most raids; it’s best suited for Tier 3 or easy Tier 5 raids with many players, or as a fun meme and buddy rather than a serious investment.
Pokémon GO’s August 8, 2026 Fire and Ice Hatch Day spotlights Johto babies Magby and Smoochum for hatching and shiny hunts, while evaluating the PvE viability of their final evolutions Magmortar (Fire) and Jynx (Ice/Psychic). The guide notes Magmortar has solid base stats but a weaker charged move setup (no current equivalent to Blast Burn or Fusion Flare), keeping it outclassed by other Fire attackers; Shadow Magmortar is marginally better but unlikely to crack the Top 30, keeping it a niche pick. Jynx suffers from a relatively low Attack stat and a limited moveset compared with top Ice attackers like Kyurem and Mamoswine, making it a less competitive option in Ice meta even with potential Shadow boosts. Despite these meta notes, the event remains worthwhile for dex completion, shiny hunting, and community play, with the usual cheer of hoping for a shundo.
Bungie is extending Marathon's Vault Breaker PvE beta to August 18 to gather more data on player interest and retention after a July 28 update added a solo queue and enemy AI tweaks, with solo difficulties adjusted and a planned mid-season Season 3 PvE expansion in September; the test has shown only a small blip in concurrent players so far.
Marathon's new update adds Vault Breaker, a two-week, roguelite PvE mode (solo/duo/trio) on the Cryo Archive map as part of Season 2; you upgrade a starting Sponsored Kit with Vault Data earned from raiding vaults and extracting, but Vault Breaker gear cannot be used in the normal game. Vault Data can be spent in the Vault Breaker Armory for gear usable outside the mode, and you can earn Tier One Vault Data for killing a USEC Commander even if you don’t extract. A full PvE mode is planned for Season 3, with Bungie also having layoffs and the departure of Marathon director Joe Ziegler.
Bungie reveals a fall rollout for Marathon’s PvE future, launching Vault Breaker—an experimental PvE mode built around Cryo Archive and running July 21–Aug 4—as a bridge to a full PvE experience in Season 3 after September 22; a mid-season update adds a roguelite Cryo Archive variant and balance tweaks to weapons, grenades, bubble shields, and consumables as the team gathers feedback for Season 3.
Part 2 of the GO Fest 2026 Global PvE guide covers Day 2’s remaining habitats—Earthforged Domain (Ground/Steel/Normal), Verdant Anomaly (Grass with Frenzy Plant focus), and Twilight Battlefield (Dark/Fairy/Fighting). It flags high-value wild spawns for raid optimization (e.g., Gible, Drilbur, Rhyhorn in Earthforged; Beldum in Steel; Treecko, Bulbasaur, Tangela, Chespin, Grookey in Grass; Deino, Houndour, Ralts in Twilight; and related Mega options) and explains how each habitat strengthens raid rosters and Mega evolution planning. The piece emphasizes strategic grinding over the 3-hour windows, and invites readers to share which Day 2 habitat they’re most excited for.
Sobble Community Day (July 2026) introduces Hydro Cannon for Inteleon, sharply boosting its PvE raid DPS and elevating it among top Water attackers in Pokémon GO. Evolving Sobble during the event (and stocking XL candies) enables Hydro Cannon and Snipe Shot, with Gigantamax Inteleon benefiting from G-Max Hydrosnipe; despite a glass-cannon defense, it’s a strong, practical pick for PvE.
Mega Skarmory, boosted by Mega Evolution, offers a budget Flying-type attacker with strong defensive stats and useful team support in GO Raids. Its resistance to Bug, Grass, and Poison makes it a solid pick in large-group raids, especially when Rayquaza or Charizard Y aren’t available. However, its DPS as a Steel-type attacker is lackluster compared with Metagross and Lucario, and it trails top Flying counters like Mega Rayquaza and Mega Charizard Y in raw power. Overall, it’s a viable niche option for PvE in large raids, best used when budget constraints or group size make a cheaper Flying-type valuable.
Bungie’s Marathon Season 2 mid-season patch adds Vault Breaker, an endgame PvE mode on the Cryo Archive map for solo/duo/crew play with progressively challenging vaults and no PvP, plus a new Vault Data currency to upgrade Vault Breaker kits or gear; entrants use a Sponsored Kit and must leave gear behind to avoid loot hoarding. The update also debuts Cradle Evolution with persistent upgrades and a reset path for extra max Energy and cosmetics, plus faster Cradle progression. It lands July 21, ahead of Season 3 on September 22, which will bring major early-game changes, new weapons and gear, and more.
Bungie reveals Vault Breaker, a PvE-only mode in Marathon on Cryo Archive designed for solo, duo, or trio play. Loot isn’t carried over except Vault Data, which upgrades your Vault Breaker kit and can be exchanged for gear, aiming to keep the economy balanced. A mid-season update will bring QoL tweaks, then Season 3 in September will overhaul the early game with Perimeter revamps, a new Runner shell, and more content.
Squawkabilly arrives in Pokémon GO with multiple plumage forms but offers limited meta value: it struggles in PvE raids due to modest stats and a lackluster offensive ceiling, while its PvP potential is mostly confined to Great League where Brave Bird and its favorable matchups give it niche viability. Ultra League is poor, and overall it remains a niche/off-meta pick rather than a meta-defining threat—primarily a stylish dex entry and curiosity for collectors and spice-builders rather than a must-build for raids or top-tier PvP.
Frigibax Community Day unlocks Baxcalibur’s Glaive Rush, boosting its PvE raid viability. Ice Fang remains the preferred fast move, making Baxcalibur a credible Dragon attacker while also preserving strong Ice-type options; it sits near the upper tier of dragon raid attackers and offers dual-role value for Ice and Dragon raids, with future upside from Mega Baxcalibur and Shadow Baxcalibur. The event also provides a prime candy/XL candy farming window to prep for future formats and releases.
Bungie confirms Marathon Season 2 will test PvE-focused modes alongside a broad set of balance and quality-of-life updates, including Night Marsh, the Sentinel defensive shell, new weapons and gear, higher progression and vault capacities, plus a rotating Duos queue and smarter matchmaking. The season will kick off with an experimental PvE mode with a touch of PvP, followed later by a pure PvE mode, with future plans adding alien zones, mind-warp debuffs, Tau Ceti enemies, new exfil options, and onboarding/contract improvements.
Bungie’s Marathon (2026) director explains Season 2 will introduce PvE and PvP-lite modes to soften the game’s steep learning curve, alongside new content like a Runner Shell, a nighttime Dire Marsh map variant, additional weapons, and progression tweaks; seasons 3–5 are set to deepen onboarding and expand the PV(P)VE extraction loop as the studio weighs long-term longevity amid Sony’s impairment loss.
Bungie outlines a multi-season plan to widen Marathon’s audience by adding PvE-focused modes, PvP-lite options, and improved onboarding and endgame. Season 2 will introduce two experiments—one PvE+light PvP at launch and a later PvE-only crew objective mode—along with a rotating Duos queue, larger vaults, the Night Marsh map, Cradle progression, and a new Sentinel. Looking beyond, Seasons 3–5 will overhaul onboarding on Perimeter, deepen the extraction loop, and eventually integrate PV(P)VE play to keep Marathon evolving through 2027 and beyond.