Want to know if Pokemon Unite is Pay To Win (P2W)? On launch, the Pokemon MOBA came under fire for having notable competitive advantages for those wanting to drop cash on the game. But in 2024, have the developers evened the playing field?
@The Pokémon Company
Within the game, there are some items called Item Enhancers. These are characterized by the fact that they allow your character to improve their stats when you use them. These, at launch, were the main source off the P2W aspects. All players are able to use Aeos tickets to buy these item enhancers, but the rate of acquisition was too slow, meaning, if you wanted to max out an item with these enhancers, you’d be left reaching for your card to buy Aeos Gems (the premium currency) to top up and keep up.
Items are broken into 3 tiers of upgraded. Level 1, which is what they are when you get them, the 10s-20s, and then up to level 30. The most sizeable jumps are 9-10 and 19-20. There’s diminishing returns for significantly higher item enhancer cost to get to level 30, but in Ranked mode, where level 30 is the standard, you do need to grind to get optimized items in many cases. Rolling up with anything less than 20 is unacceptable if you’re on an off role, and 30s across the board for your mains is the bare minimum.
In short, no. Developers TiMi have made great strides to make the main bulk of the game’s P2W aspect entirely free to play. Aeos Tickets have been massively inflated in their drop rate, and while its also caused prices of aesthetics for your trainers to go up, the Item enhancer price has stayed low, so players wanting to spend their tickets on upgrading their items can usually achieve more than 1 fresh level 30 item a month. To help with players testing out new items before dumping item enhancers, level 30 item candies allow an item to be temporarily at level 30 for a set period (usually a few days), with said items allowed to still be used in ranks. This helps for when you’re having to take an off role that you haven’t built a Pokemon for.
The premium options on the battle pass are purely for aesthetics, and increased drops of helpful play boosters, but nothing that ties to the in-game performance of your Pokemon. The only Pay to Win aspects are when new pokemon are added to the game. Players can only buy the new Pokemon and start practicing with them during the first 2 weeks of its launch. However with events launching alongside them, you can get temporary 1 day passes to some time in. The only time this is a problem is when powerful Legendary Pokemon are launched as EX Pokemon. These overtuned pokes are usually using a much more complicated dice board event that gates your progress toward unlocking the Pokemon. To get additional progress, you have to pay. Or you simply wait for the event and exclusivity period to end and get them there, with coins or gems.
@The Pokémon Company
Items in the game have levels, so leveling them up causes their stats to increase as well. Now, to achieve this you need to consume Item Enhancers.
Now that the drop rate has been massively improved, and coin acquisition allows you to spend the money on items to save the bulk of your Aeos Tickets, most players more interested in the competitive viability of their Pokemon will be using their tickets on item enhancers rather than their Drip game.
@The Pokémon Company
There is now a new Item Enhancers variable called Super Item Enhancers. This differs from the original in that it allows you to automatically raise any item to level 30 instantly. Thus, it is an extremely powerful tool that can lead to having better stats and items, and level up quickly.
These get handed out pretty often if you’re a frequent player of the game, encouraging you to test out the items you have sitting at level 1 if you’re trying a new role.
The in-game currency is the Aeos Gem. This can only be easily acquired through the purchase of Pokemon Unite packs. Therefore, the difference between paid and free users is at its maximum here.
This currency can be used to purchase upgrades, Pokemon licenses, designs or even the Battle Pass. Thus, the possibilities of the paid user are far superior to those who don’t want to buy items from the shop. However, as much as the Battle Pass does give plenty of items, many of the items are on the free side of the battle pass, with the paid battle passes now being longer, so a lower % of the battle pass is only for paying members. The paid portions tend to be aesthetic items now instead of solely additional useful items.
@The Pokémon Company – Battle Pass
This function of the game is available to any user who is playing the game. However, they have a lot of tools and rewards locked for the F2P users. Only players who wish to purchase this package in its premium version will be able to access it in full.
With this Battle Pass, you can receive skins, tickets or even gems, however, it does not directly impact the gameplay. It does have a noticeable influence on the items it allows you to receive if you purchase it. These will allow you to level up much more easily than if you didn’t have it.
Pokemon Unite definitely started as a Pay To Win game, but fan outcry and a hands on approach from TiMi has helped fix many people’s main gripe with the grind. There are still balance issues with new Pokemon being overtuned and a general reliance from the scene on the next new hotness, but it would be laughably outdated to still maintain the opinion that Pokemon Unite is Pay to Win.
Read next: Pokémon UNITE Events: Full Calendar and List of Events for 2024
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