The 'Pokémon Go' Halloween event's candy drop rates are incredible
If you've been playing Pokémon Go since the game first launched, chances are you already have all the ghost-type Pokémon that are spawning at increased rates during Pokémon Go's Halloween event... but you probably aren't rolling in Pokémon candy.
And that's why you should actually care about Halloween in Pokémon Go, no matter how long you've been playing the game.
In a blog post announcing the Halloween update, Pokémon Go developer Niantic explains that, during the event, you'll earn double the amount of candy every time you catch a Pokémon, trade a Pokémon back to Professor Willow or hatch a Pokémon from an egg.
The candy drop rates for egg-hatching during Pokémon Go's Halloween event are just... *chef kissing fingers*
Getting two candies instead of one every time you trade a Pokémon is cool, but that probably only amounts to a trickle of fresh candy. Getting six candies instead of three every time you catch a Pokémon is rad, but you're probably catching common Pokémon — most of which you don't really need a lot of candy for.
What really matters here are the double candy amounts for hatching Pokémon eggs. If you're having trouble finding rare Pokémon in the wild near you, eggs are the next best source for the rarest and most sought-after Pokémon — unless, of course, the recent nest migration parked a rare Pokémon nest right on top of your home.
If you want to take over gyms in Pokémon Go, you need plenty of candy to train your Pokémon
Candy and stardust are the two resources you need to power up your Pokémon and increase their Combat Power, or evolve lesser Pokémon into more powerful ones. Stardust, which is earned when you catch any type of Pokémon, is easier to come by — whereas candy is specific to the types of Pokémon you've caught, traded or hatched.
Perhaps you've noticed that the CP of Pokémon in gyms is getting higher every week? Just having a strong Pokémon like a Charizard or Vaporeon means nothing if its CP is too low. It's not uncommon to see a rare Pokémon with CP of 2,500 or higher sitting atop a gym; it takes a lot of candy to level a Pokemon up that high.
If you're an endgame Pokémon Go player who wants to see their Pokémon sitting atop a gym, the Halloween update is especially important for you. The amount of candy you can rake in via double candy drop rates for egg-hatching might enable you to put together a whole lineup of powerful Pokémon who are finally ready to battle it out at gyms. If you can't wait for daily quests to get patched into Pokémon Go, gym battling is all the endgame you have!
If you want to get the most out of the Pokémon Go Halloween update, get ready to spend money on incubators
Attaching the largest amount of bonus candy to egg-hatching is a smart move on Niantic's part: In order to get the most of out egg-hatching during this event, you'll almost certainly need to purchase some incubators from the Pokémon Go store.
One of the worst things about Pokémon Go is the inability to throw out 2 km or 5 km eggs to make room in your inventory for 10 km eggs. The recent update, which includes a new color-coding scheme for eggs, makes it painfully easy to see how many of your eggs probably won't amount to much: They're all the green ones.
Once you've reached the maximum amount of space you're allowed for eggs in your inventory, the only way to make room for new eggs is to hatch the ones you have. And you want to have as many 10 km eggs as possible, because they are the only ones that can hatch into certain rare Pokémon, such as Snorlax.
The only way to earn incubators outside of buying them is through level-up rewards from every fifth level (up to 30, then it takes another 10 levels). And you can't afford to wait that long if you want to take full advantage of Pokémon Go's Halloween event.
Incubators are pretty inexpensive, costing only 150 PokéCoins — but think about just how many incubators you'd need to buy in order to take advantage of the Halloween event before it ends on Nov. 1.
Well played, Niantic. Well played.
