Mainline Pokémon's first DLC is here in the Isle of Armor. The first of two expansions for bring a lot of new to the games. There's a new Legendary Pokémon, a new item crafting mechanic, and a new ꦓway to make Gigantamax Pokémon. A lot of these additions are simple, quality-of-life improvements seemingly based on player feedback. And perhaps the best of these is the addition of a new character to Max Raid battles.
Sword & Shield's Max Raid Battles are about the only post-game activity players have responded well to. The Battle Tower is a welco🐻me return for those who enjoy it, but also feels stale and grindy with its point-based rewards. Max Raids give players a chance to catch rare Pokémon, and until recently were the sole source for powerful Gigantamax forms. Game Freak also mixes up Max Raids rotations frequently, giving players incentives to come back for exclusive and Shiny Pokémon. The only downside to Max Raids is that they require other human players.
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Max Raids come in tiers of difficulty, indicated by stars. Five Star raids are the top, and where you'll find highly sought-after Pokémon. Three and Four star are less impressiveꦦ, but can still spawn the occasional Gigantamax or Shiny. Players with a stable internet connection can team up with other players to raid together online, but the matchmaking is unreliable. Sometimes, a player just wants an easy Four Star win alone. That's where NPCs come in. And where the problems start.
The NPC Pokémon Trainers assigned to Max Raids are not the sharpest tools in the s﷽hed. One notorious Trainer constantly raises his stats while never doing𒁏 actual damage. Other Trainers bring unevolved Pokémon to battle. You can imagine how helpful a Clefairy or Magikarp is. Even worse is that three KOs is an automatic loss, so these NPCs can sabotage a Trainer's run. Enter Klara and Avery.
Reddit user discovered that Klara will now show up as the occasional raid helper. Klara and Avery are two new NPC Trainers introduced in Sword & Shield, respectively, as part of the DLC. They become a rival of sorts to🐭 the player, constantly challenging them with their signature Galarian Slowbro. It seems they become possible raid allies after the player beats the DLC story.
While Klara and Avery's addition to the Max Raid Trainer pool isn't the kind of thing Nintendo can sell the DLC with, it is a meaningful move for fans. It shows that Sword & Shield developer Game Freak is taking even the smallest feedback to heart. Klara and Avery are competent allies who bring a fully-evolved Pokémon to the raid. More importantly, they're not overpowered. Trainers will still need to do the most damage, and team up with other humans to beat Five Star 🔴foes.
Klara and Avery represent the hope that Game Freak will continue to listen and improve on its games. Or at𒉰 least add a🥀 few more Gym Leaders to the Max Raid pool. If it means getting rid of Martin and his Solrock, the $30 DLC might just be worth it.