The ‘Choose Your Path Timed Research’ quest is a test run for a new type of content in Pokémon Go. If successful, similar quests will run during the quiet weeks – i.e. the ones with no events – alongside the Daily Discoveries bonuses. ‘Choose Your Path’ is a branching quest with three paths on offer – Explore, Catch or Battle – and, depending on the one you pick – you’ll unlock a weekly bonus. So this means it’s a good idea to know the best ‘Choose Your Path’ choice for you!
Quest End Time: Tuesday 12th May at 8pm (local time)
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‘Choose Your Path Timed Research’ rewards and quest steps
‘Choose Your Path Timed Research’ is only available for a week in Pokémon Go and gives you the chance to pick a weekly bonus themed around one of three key gameplay elements. You make this choice after completing the first steps and have three paths to choose from: Explore, Catch or Battle.
It’s important to remember that, like with any branching quest, you can not change your choice after it’s made. This means it’s very important to consider the usefulness of each bonus before making your decision. To help you out, I’ve divided this guide into sections covering each individual path, listing the bonus, before taking a look at what I consider to be the best Choose Your Path choice.
For now, let’s take a look at the quest’s first step:
‘Choose Your Path Timed Research’ Step 1 of 2
Rewards: Five Poké Balls.
There’s a lot to do in Pokémon Go outside of the current event! From the Go Battle League, Remote Trading, PokéStop Showcase, Routes and Max Battles. Don’t forget to catch rare Pokémon while you’re at it.
‘Explore’ path for ‘Choose Your Path’
Choosing the Explore path unlocks the x5 XP for spinning PokéStops bonus and grants you the following challenges. Just remember – you can not change your choice.
‘Choose Your Path: Explore’ Step 2 of 2
- Explore 5km – 10 Great Balls
- Spin 50 PokéStops – 10 Ultra Balls
Rewards: Three Pinap Berries and five Rare Candies.
‘Catch’ path for ‘Choose Your Path’
Choosing the Catch path gives you the x1.5 XP for catching Pokémon using Nice Throws or better bonus, along with the below challenges. You can not change your choice once it’s made though.
‘Choose Your Path: Catch’ Step 2 of 2
- Make 15 Excellent Throws – 10 Great Balls
- Make 50 Curveball Throws – 10 Ultra Balls
Rewards: Three Pinap Berries and five Rare Candies.
‘Battle’ path for ‘Choose Your Path’
Choosing the Battle path unlocks the 5,000 XP for completing raids bonus and the below challenges. Don’t forget – you can not change your choice after making it.
‘Choose Your Path: Battle’ Step 2 of 2
- Win 5 Raids – 10 Great Balls
- Use 25 supereffective Charged Attacks – 10 Ultra Balls
Rewards: Three Pinap Berries and five Rare Candies.
Best path choice for ‘Choose Your Path’: Explore, Catch or Battle?
In my opinion, Catch and Explore are the best path choices for ‘Choose Your Path’. I’ve made this decision based upon the amount of XP you could roughly earn overall during the week the bonus will be active for. No matter which path you pick, however, I recommend having a Lucky Egg active at least once to further increase the amount of XP you can earn.
If I had to pick one, however, I would go with the Catch and it’s x1.5 XP for catching Pokémon using Nice Throws or better. Since catching Pokémon is the main activity of Go, this constantly rewards your efforts and the amount of XP you collect will soon add up. It’s also worth remembering the XP you earn scales with the quality of your throws so, if you’re an Excellent Curveball master, you’ll truly rake in the XP. Finally, there’s the Lechonk Community Day on Saturday 9th May and, though the little pig isn’t the most exciting Mon, this bonus will be an extra reward for your shiny Pokémon hunting efforts.
Here’s the boosted XP rates for each type of throw:
- Nice Throw – 30 XP
- Great Throw – 150 XP
- Excellent Throw – 1,500 XP
- Nice Curveball – 60 XP
- Great Curveball – 180 XP
- Excellent Curveball – 1,530 XP
When it comes to the Explore bonus of x5 XP for spinning PokéStops, this increases the amount of XP you earn from simply spinning PokéStops from 100 XP to 500 XP. Meanwhile, for new PokéStops, it goes from 200 XP to 1,000 XP. Thanks to this, it’s the ideal bonus if your local area is filled with PokéStops or if you’re visiting a new location. (Though I recommend going with the Catch path if you live in a rural area without many PokéStops.) Just remember to ensure you can keep spinning PokéStops by making room in your inventory through catching Pokémon and removing unwanted items.
The Battle bonus of 5,000 XP for successfully completing raids is only really useful if you’re planning on partaking in a large number of raids this week. (The May raid schedule will tell you which Pokémon are appearing in five-star and Mega raids.) Soloing a one-star raid each day will net you 8,500 XP but, if you’re looking for a large XP haul, you’ll need to consider how many Premium Battle Pass you’re willing to spend. (And those cost real money.)
Here’s the boosted XP rates for each type of raid:
- One-star – 8,500 XP
- Three-star – 10,000 XP
- Five-star – 15,000 XP
- Mega – 15,000 XP
Best of luck completing ‘Choose Your Path’!
