3-Star Raids still kinda suck
A while back, 2-Star and 4-Star raids were removed from Pokemon GO. The remaining raid bosses were split between 1-Star and 3-Star raids, with Legendary Raids left as they are. The idea was pretty simple, Niantic wanted more people to do raids. With so much variation and choice in raids, it became a little too much for the average raider to do, well, any of them. A smaller pool of raid bosses would bring players together and do more raids.
On top of all that, having so many raids meant heavily splitting the player base. 4-Star raids required a team similar to a Legendary raid but with less rewards. 2-Star raids were basically 1-Star raids that are ever so slightly harder and generally didn’t any chances at a shiny reward. Because, if we’re going to be honest, no one wants to do a raid for an Ivysaur that can’t be shiny.
So these extra raids were all merged into 1-star and 3-star raids. But the question is, are they any better?
The Good
The new 3-star raids seem alright. They are much easier to do, and a level 40-ish player should be able to solo most 3-star raids with ease. But these raids also work nicely as a stepping stone for newer players. 3-Star raids tend to contain evolved Pokemon, meaning you can save candies and get a few good and useful Pokemon with ease. And because 3-stars are easier than 4-stars, newer players have a better chance at beating a raid on their own.
Another interesting thing is that 3-star raids attract short-man attempts. Players will try to kill a boss with as few participants as possible. There’s a whole sort of sub-culture of people solo-ing or duo-ing difficult raids, and 3-star raids are an easy place to try and start.
The Bad
While it is easier to raid, there still aren’t many good choices in these raids. All sorts of weird crap end up in 3-star raids, and no one wants to do any of them. Not too long ago, we were trying to raid for Heracross and get the shiny, but the pool of potential Pokemon in 3-star raids was Heracross, Kangaskhan and Kadabra. Guess what we mostly saw in our 3-star raids? Kadabra, of course.
And every single raid-based event seems to do the same thing. You have 1-2 good Pokemon but also 1-2 bad Pokemon that no one wants, thus diluting the pool and wasting our time. We don’t even get any particularly good rewards either. Even if you don’t care about a Pokemon in a raid and are in it just for the Rare Candy, then doing Legendary raids is always better.
Finally, unless it’s specifically specified, Pokemon don’t get exclusive moves from raids. Spending your time doing a Metagross raid seems pointless since Metagross needs its special move. And these Pokemon also generally can’t be shiny either.
Everyone just wants to do Legendary Raids instead
Problem is, well, people want shiny Legendary Pokemon. Sure, Alolan Raichu is available in 3-star raids, but no one’s going to do that if there’s a shiny Mesprit in raids. And why would they? Legendary raids have better rewards and often more useful Pokemon.
The problem here is that, on paper, 3-star raids seem like a great idea. But the Pokemon within these 3-star raids are either not very good, mixed in with crap Pokemon or, well, not Legendary raids. If Niantic want us to spend our money, then we should at the very least have something to raid for.