Pokemon Go: GO Battle League exploit explained, could it return?
A massive glitch recently hit Pokemon Go’s GO Battle League which caused it to be made unavailable for more than 10 days. More details about the exploit have now been revealed.
Trainers can seemingly rest assured that the issue is in the past following an update to GO Battle League. “Please know the team worked fast over the past week to properly resolve the issue and thoroughly test our fix,” Niantic shared on the official Pokemon Go Blog to reassure trainers.
What was the glitch?
Much has been made of how the exploit worked as it obviously gained a lot of attention within the Pokemon Go community. Now it is fixed we don’t need to worry about sharing details which may encourage some mischievous players to try it. Besides it’s very difficult to do anyway.
Many believed only a few Pokemon could implement with Melmetal being the most prominent of them. However, that appears false, as reportedly any Pokemon was capable of it. Melmetal was the species that the most viewed cheater used.
Anyone who tried to replicate it would have failed, too. The exploit required a rooted phone (basically allows you additional control of the device files) and an unknown third party app.
In short, the rooted phone and third party app would allow you to speed up in-game animations. This meant when you use a Charge Move for the first time, the animation behind it would finish on your device before your opponent’s. While your adversary was still waiting for theirs to finish you could get a couple of extra Fast Moves, which is why they would build up so quickly.
Interestingly even with knowing what app was used, it is still very difficult to replicate. This suggests that the exploit was perhaps less used than first thought.
Regardless though, Niantic of course had to take action. Especially when you consider one of the cheaters made it to number one in the leaderboards.
Players still cheating?
There have been numerous reports of trainers claiming that the exploit is still active. There is currently no video evidence suggesting as such, though.
A more likely explanation is those who think they are being cheated are miscounting Fast Moves or simply misjudging them. A Pokemon with access to a low energy Charge Move such as Dragon Claw can easily save them up to the point they can use four or five with just two or three Fast Moves. Frustrating yes, cheating no.
Another reason for what looks like cheating could be lag. You may not see the moves taking place but that would be because your Pokemon Go app temporarily disconnects.
Could the exploit return?
That’s a question that can’t really be answered. After Niantic spent such a long period of time resolving the issue you’d hope not – at least not this particular exploit.
However, cheaters are always trying to game the system so maybe they can get this one to work again. There could be a similar glitch or another entirely different one that gives trainers an unfair advantage too.
