Lure Modules Aren’t Very Good

Lure modules are like incense for Pokestops. You stick a lure module on a Pokestop and it spawns some Pokemon for you. Lure modules generally spawn from specific pools. The default lure module spawns whatever Pokemon are currently in the normal spawn pool, so they’ll spawn event Pokemon if there is an event, although some events do have Pokemon that are exclusive to lure modules. However, the special lures, Glacial, Mossy, Magnetic and Rainy, all have their own unique pools of Pokemon, and spawn a combination of these unique spawns and normal spawns.

The special lures can also be used to evolve certain Pokemon. While in the range of a special lure module, the ability to evolve some Pokemon lights up. Magnetic lures let you evolve Magnezone and Probopass, Mossy lures let you evolve Leafeon, Glacial lures are used for Glaceon and Rainy lure modules can be used to evolve Goodra, although Goodra can be evolved in rainy weather as well. You can evolve more than one Pokemon with a special lure module, but you have to do so all at once. Most recent Pokemon though require adventuring as a buddy to evolve, and it’s unlikely that any new Pokemon will use lure modules to evolve, unless they require specific weather to do so.

But these lures, despite spawning Pokemon, have a major flaw. To make the most of them, you need to stay in one place, i.e. near the Pokestop with a lure on it. Unless you have a lot of Pokestops together, putting lure modules on more than one stop kinda wastes them, because you need to be near the Pokestop for the lure module to actually work.

They don’t even spawn that many Pokemon. It’s about the same rate as an incense, one Pokemon a minute. But an incense spawns more Pokemon based on how far you walk, while a lure module just plonks down a new Pokemon each minute. Incense also allows you to go wherever you please, and rewards you for actually moving around. The amount of spawns you get from a lure module is less than you can get from an incense. Sure, you can use more lure modules on a cluster of Pokestops, but then you’re just using more premium items.

Then you need to consider spawn density. Using a lure module on the only Pokestop in an area can kinda make sense, if you don’t already have a lot of spawns. But if you use a lure module in an area with a lot of spawns, then the Pokemon spawned from that lure module can easily get lost. And since it only adds one spawn a minute, unless you don’t have anywhere else to go, you are better off roaming from place to place to get more Pokemon. However, if you are in the rare scenario where there are a lot of Pokestops but very few spawns, and you’ll mostly be staying in one spot, then a bunch of lure modules can be helpful.

Most of the time though? Unless you plan on sitting in once place for ages, you’re better off just using an incense.