Introduction
Rumored to be in the works for quite some time, Adventure Week 2018 takes place from May 24 to June 5. It’s really more like 2 weeks. Here are all of the major gameplay changes active during this event:
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More Rock-type Pokemon spawns
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Shiny Omanyte, Kabuto, Aerodactyl are available
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New raid bosses such as Aerodactyl
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New exclusive Field Research Tasks
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Earn buddy Candy 4x faster
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Extra XP for spinning PokeStops or Gyms
Adventure Week presents a great opportunity to collect meta-relevant or otherwise uncommon Pokemon, prepare for the upcoming Larvitar Community Day, and power level your way to 40. This article presents advice on how to optimize your gameplay in the coming weeks to achieve these goals.
Priority Pokemon
Although the Rock type is the focus of this event, Larvitar is sadly not one of the increased spawns. So unlike the Kanto Celebration, Adventure Week doesn’t feature many meta-relevant species. What meta-relevant species that are featured face imminent obsolescence by Smack Down Tyranitar, the projected ruler of Rock attackers.
Until Larvitar Community Day, Golem is still the best Rock attacker in GO, and it just so happens that Ho-Oh will be an active raid boss during the entirety of Adventure Week. If you are interested in Ho-Oh, then Geodude should be top priority. Don’t obsess over IVs: Golem evolved from >1000 CP Geodude caught in clear or partly cloudy weather are fantastic counters, as long as they have a double Rock moveset.
Though barely relevant nowadays, Rhydon’s gen 4 evolution Rhyperior has promising potential as both a Rock and Ground attacker. If Rhydon gets Smack Down before then, it can serve as a consolation prize for those unable to play during Larvitar Community Day.
Rhyhorn spawns during this event appear to be biome dependant: this article’s author has not encountered a single Rhyhorn.
The addition of Smack Down in the game master roughly coincided with the leak of Adventure Week, leading many to believe that it would be distributed during this event. A Rock-type move given to Rock-type Pokemon… not unreasonable. This was not the case.
Were Smack Down to be distributed in the near future to Omastar, Kabutops, and Armaldo, all three would make for great Rock attackers, though none would come close to ousting Tyranitar.
Priority Research
Adventure Week introduced the following limited Field Research:
| Evolve an Omanyte or Kabuto | Aerodactyl |
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| Hatch 2 eggs | 1 Rare Candy |
| Spin 2 PokeStops you haven't visited before | Onix |
| Earn 3 Candies walking with your Buddy | Kabuto |
| Hatch 2 eggs | Omanyte |
Try to stack 3 copies of the same quest and complete them all at once to maximize rewards. Evolving one Omanyte or Kabuto can net you up to 3 Aerodactyl. If you are running incubators during this event, the “hatch 2 eggs” quests should be fairly easy to complete.
Priority Buddies
During a reduced buddy distance event, it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things whom you choose as your buddy, because you always save the same total distance regardless of the species.
That said, one can make a strong argument for walking Larvitar during this event. With the best Rock attacker in GO on the horizon and locked to a 3-hour window, keep in mind that you need 739 Larvitar Candy - or 106 Pinap’d catches - just to evolve a full team of Tyranitar.
Not the Usual Daily Grind
Adventure Week features an unprecedented 10x XP bonus for spinning new PokeStops on top of a 2x XP bonus for spinning any PokeStop. This means that spinning a new PokeStop (one with a halo) yields 2,100 XP during this event, doubled to 4,200 XP with a Lucky Egg active.
If you have the time, take a trip to the nearest town in which you haven’t before played Pokemon GO and pop a Lucky Egg while spinning everything in sight. This can easily yield over 1 million XP in a day and is much cheaper than rapid-fire (or “wafu”) raiding. Brand new accounts don’t even have to travel out of the way to find new PokeStops to spin.
And don’t forget to look up from your phone to enjoy your surroundings. It is Adventure Week, after all!
