Approaching Field Research Tasks

Ever since they were introduced five months ago, Field Research tasks have proven to be a valuable thing for players of Pokémon Go. They offer something to do beyond the usual norm of catching Pokémon in the game, and the rewards are really good too. It is expected that many players will partake in these tasks for everything they offer. But it seems that players, including me, can approach the completion of these tasks in different ways. These different approaches become a worthwhile discussion.

I classify myself as a player with a "practical approach". I tend to take up tasks that are quickly or easily achievable; I'm not too fond of tasks that take forever to accomplish, given current in-game conditions and events. Plus, I tend to have one or more completed tasks ready to be claimed immediately on later days for a daily stamp leading to a Research Breakthrough, as I think this is the real prize of these tasks and shouldn't be ignored. This practical approach works for me and others who focus on this goal.

A different approach is the "multiple approach", which involves collecting more than one task of the same kind from different PokéStops and then completing all at the same time. This can actually be considered its own approach or a complementary one to others; in fact, during Community Days, when only one kind of task is available, this is the approach to use. Outside of Community Days, though, this approach requires knowing which PokéStop has what task, something that is more easily done by a very large and evenly distributed group of players. My raid group isn't much of either, but sometimes this is doable for certain tasks as the others report them.

Yet another different (sub-)approach that may be executed is the "sequential approach". By knowing where certain tasks are, they can potentially be completed one after another even while doing other things in the game. For example, a raid victory will complete a "win a raid" task, and the subsequent capture challenge can then complete a "catch N Pokémon" task. Another more simple example is "battle in a Gym" with "win a Gym battle", for which the former is likely to lead to the latter. The right tasks will of course lead to a cascade of completions, and this is up to the player to arrange.

These are likely not the only approaches that players can use in completing Field Research tasks; experienced players may be able to contrive other approaches that are suitable for their style of play. It is still useful to try to outline a few of them in the hope that they may be useful as starting points. Whatever happens, Field Research tasks are what adds to the current play dynamics in Pokémon Go, and they may as well be undertaken and accomplished in whatever way that works best for a player.

One year ago: Restarting Go Fever Among Players