Pokemon Unite: How to Play (Beginner’s Guide and Tips)

Pokemon Unite is Pokemon’s answer to the MOBA genre of gaming. Available on both the Nintendo Switch as well as mobile devices, it already has millions of users that log in and play every single day.

If you’re planning on hopping on the Pokemon Unite train for yourself, then there will be a couple of important tips you’ll want to know, especially if you haven’t played a MOBA like League of Legends or Dota 2 before.

NOW READ: Pokemon Unite: How to Get Holowear Tickets

To help new players compete with veteran Pokemon Unite players, we’ve listed multiple tips that are guaranteed to help you become the very best like no one ever was.

Pokemon Unite Beginner’s Guide and Tips

1. Pay Attention to the Tutorial

Although this might sound obvious, players that haven’t played Pokemon Unite before are recommended to pay close attention to the tutorial. Even if you’ve played games such as League of Legends previously, Pokemon Unite adds a multitude of unique features, and all of them are explained in depth during the tutorial.

Additionally, completing the tutorial rewards players with Aeos coins, which can be used to unlock new Pokemon later on.

Some of the most important things the tutorial teaches players are the following:

The Aim of the Game

Unlike many other MOBAs where the primary goal is to take out the enemy’s main structure, Pokemon Unite has a unique score-based system where the team with a higher score at the end wins.

In order to increase your score, you have to either defeat wild or opposing Pokemon to collect points (called Aeos energy). Those points then have to be brought to an enemy’s goal and then deposited which will lead to your entire team’s total score increasing.

While depositing energy into the enemy’s goal takes a while if you’re alone – which is especially dangerous since more energy means a longer deposit time – it’s possible to hasten the process by having allies around you while scoring.

Below is a table showing the score speed increase you’ll get depending on how many teammates you have near you at the time of scoring:

Number of teammates	Score speed increase
1	30% increase
2	35% increase
3	40% increase
4	60% increase

If you get damaged in any way while scoring, then your attempt to score will be blocked.

Finally, the amount of Aeos energy you can carry at a time depends on the level of the Pokemon you’re playing as. You start off with a carrying capacity of 30 energy, which gets upgraded to 40 at level 9, and, finally, to 50 at level 12.

Map Information

Similar to other MOBAs, the map in Pokemon Unite is also divided into two, with one half being for your team, and the other half being for the enemy. Fortunately, what side you get doesn’t matter, as even the wild Pokemon found throughout are mirrored.

There are ten goals in total spread across the map, five of which are for your team while the rest are allocated for the opponents. Though the map does have three lanes just like League of Legends, there isn’t a strict lane assigning system, although certain Pokemon are better suited to play specific lanes.

Pokemon Roles

In addition to the Pokemon elemental types such as fire, water, and grass, creatures in Pokemon Unite are also given one of five roles. These roles heavily influence how you play the game, as some Pokemon are better suited for attacking while others are better suited for defending. All the roles in Pokemon Unite are:

• Attackers – Pokemon that are able to deal heavy damage to the enemy
• Speedsters – able to quickly move across the map. Can also move in and out of battle fast.
• Defenders – Pokemon that are able to take a high amount of damage. Often have crowd controlling abilities.
• Supporters – Pokemon that can give useful buffs to teammates and/or game changing debuffs to enemies.
• All Rounders – Pokemon that are proficient in both attacking and defending, but aren’t too special in any facet.

Depending on what role your Pokemon has, it might be a good idea to change your play style and choose the lane that best fits a Pokemon of that role.

In addition to roles, Pokemon also have a difficulty rating attached to them. This rating determines how difficult it is to master a specific Pokemon. We recommend starting off with Pokemon that have the novice difficulty rating, and then slowly working your way up until you’re able to play as the hardest to master Pokemon without too much difficulty.

Gaining Experience

In addition to giving you Aeos energy, defeating wild and enemy Pokemon also awards you with experience or XP. When you get enough experience, you’ll be able to unlock more powerful moves.

At times, unlocking more moves can also change your abilities entirely due to the fact that you can only have a maximum of two regular one Unite move (ultimate move) at a time. What level you unlock new moves, however, depends on what Pokemon you’re playing as.

Some Pokemon also have the ability to evolve when reaching a specific level. For example, if you select Charizard, then you’ll start the game off as Charmander, the first form of Charizard. When you hit level 4, you’ll evolve into Charmeleon, while level 9 will finally give you Charizard.

In addition to changing its appearance, evolution also raises the Pokemon’s health and other statistics, making this an incredibly useful feature. Not only that, but a Pokemon is invulnerable to all enemy attacks for a time when evolving.

2. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Pokemon Unite is a game that heavily focuses on teamwork and cooperation between all members in a group. Therefore, it’s always recommended you play with players or friends you’ve played with before if you can.

Even if you can’t, that’s still completely fine as most strangers are relatively good at the game. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that you should never roam alone if you can help it. All that will do is make you an easy target for an enemy team ambush.

Remember, if you or any of your teammates get defeated, then in addition to giving the enemy Aeos energy, you’ll also be giving them experience. This means they’ll be even stronger the next time you fight that same enemy, making winning the match that much harder.

3. Keep an Eye Out for Boss Pokemon

Oftentimes in the middle of a match, you will see an extra objective telling you to catch a special or boss Pokemon. When you see this, you should make it your priority to group up with your teammates to complete the objective.

This is because capturing these strong boss Pokemon provides useful buffs to your entire team that you can then use to your advantage. Boss Pokemon usually appear in neutral and strategic areas around the map and always take more effort to defeat compared to regular wild Pokemon.

The three boss Pokemon that spawn in regular matches, as well as the buffs they give to the team that defeats them are the following:

Boss Pokemon	Team Buff
Zapdos	Gives 15 extra points to the team instantly, and also makes enemy goal zones vulnerable to being captured.
Drednaw	Grants EXP points and shields to the team that captures it.
Rotom	Rotom heads toward an enemy goal and helps the allied team in capturing it. When it reaches a goal zone, it also makes it vulnerable for 24 seconds.

Note: Drednaw and Rotom appear on the map at the 7:00 mark

Note: Zapdos appears on the map when the countdown timer reaches 2:00

In addition to these boss Pokemon, there are also other strong wild Pokemon that spawn on the map that also give buffs in the form of colored auras to the player that defeats them.

For example, defeating Ludicolo gives your Pokemon a purple aura, and makes it so that, for a short time, any wild Pokemon you attack will take more damage if they’re at low health.

Defeating Bouffalant gives your Pokemon an orange aura, and makes it so that any Pokemon you attack will decrease that Pokemon’s speed as well (as long as you have the aura.)

4. Complete Beginner Challenges

New players to Pokemon Unite are given limited time beginner challenges to complete. These give fresh players a reason to come back to the game and also rewards them for improving in it. While one challenge day unlocks throughout an entire week, you don’t have to complete them straight away. You’ll only need to do so before the event ends, which typically takes 31 days.

Each day gives players different objectives, such as scoring a specific amount of goals or eliminating a certain number of players. In addition, completing these objectives usually reward you with currency and fashion accessories. However, day 7 gives the Crustle Unite License completely free of cost.

A Unite License enables players to play that Pokemon whenever they want essentially unlocking that Pokemon permanently.

5. Always Check Rewards

The beginner challenges aren’t the only missions that can reward players with currency and other useful items. Daily missions and limited-time event challenges also have incredible rewards for players that complete them.

Take the mythical electric Pokemon Zeraora for example. For a limited time, players who simply logged into the game were able to claim the Pokemon for free as long as they checked the event section.

6. Don’t be Afraid to Experiment

It’s extremely common for players to grow bored of a game because they keep repeating the same pattern without changing anything. We wouldn’t recommend doing that. Just because you like a specific Pokemon doesn’t mean you have to play exclusively as that Pokemon. 

We always recommend players get out of their comfort zones and try new things. If you normally play as a speedster Pokemon, try playing as a defender and see if you like the new way of playing the game.

The same thing goes for Pokemon of the same roles. If you were previously only playing Blissy, for example, but weren’t able to perform as well as you would like, try playing as Eldegoss in the next match and you might see yourself playing better than before.

Finally, the last thing we recommend you experiment with is your Pokemon builds. Many players go through their entire Pokemon Unite journey without even trying any alternate move builds. For example, simply try unlocking Fire Punch instead of flamethrower as Charizard once and witness new ways of defeating the enemy become available for you.

7. Spend Responsibly

Although there are multiple currencies in Pokemon Unite, Aeos coins are probably the most sought after due to the fact that they’re used to unlock new Pokemon. While it might be tempting at first to purchase the coolest looking Pokemon, we wouldn’t recommend doing so.

Instead, you should spend your Aeos coins only after doing the proper research on the Pokemon you’re thinking of purchasing to ensure you really do want it. While you might have a large number of coins when starting out because of the tutorial completion rewards, you’ll soon find yourself taking much longer when trying to farm the same number of coins.

Keep in mind that there’s a weekly limit on the amount of Aeos coins a player can earn by battling. While the limit is a hefty 2,100, it’ll still take over a month just to get over 10,000 Aeos coins for the more expensive Pokemon.

While these were all the necessary information and tips you need when starting Pokemon Unite for the first time, there are some other factors we haven’t touched on much such as items and emblems. This is because those are a little more advanced and might be too much for starting players.

The most important thing and our final tip is, of course, to have fun. At the end of the day, if you aren’t having fun then it won’t matter how experienced or skilled you become at the game.