As detailed in a recent dev diary, Mega Evolutions have received an overhaul in Pokemon GO. A sweeping list of changes including Mastery levels, Mega Raid changes, candy bonuses, and experience bonuses were outlined in the list of updates — but perhaps the most important change is that fact that you no longer need to Mega Evolve a Pokemon more than once. We’ve broken down and explained the changes to Mega Evolution down below.

First up, the big change to Mega Evolution — you do not need to pay to Mega Evolve more than once. Instead, Niantic has implemented a “rest meter.” Once Mega Evolved, your Pokemon will be fatigued and unable to Mega Evolve for a certain period of time. You can spend Max Energy to decrease the timer if necessary, but this change reduces the amount of Max Energy farming players will have to do to use on their favorite Pokemon.

Mega Mastery is next, a system which tracks your mastery with a Mega Evolution. When you Mega Evolve a Pokemon, you gain Mastery points which will, over time, increase its Mega Level. There are three levels of Mastery: Base, High, and Max Mastery. Each level confers bonuses such as increased experience when catching Pokemon of the same type as your Mega Evolved Pokemon, reduced cooldown on Mega Evolution, candy bonuses when catching the same species of Pokemon as your Mega Evolution, bonus stats for your Mega Evolution, and bonus stats for other Trainers during raids. Here are the specifics:

You need to Mega Evolve a Pokemon seven times to reach High Mastery, and 30 times to reach Max Mastery. You can only earn a Mastery point once per Pokemon per day. This follows the timer for Friendship bonuses, and resets at midnight.
Mastery is tracked on an individual basis — if you have multiple Mega Evolved Charizards, for example, each one will need to be leveled separately.
The Catch Experience Bonus is a flat 50 XP for same-type Pokemon.

The costs to Mega Evolve now are as follows:

Each Mega Evolution is split into three categories: Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 depending on Pokemon rarity. Beedrill, for example, is a Tier 1, while Latios would be considered a Tier 3.
Your first Mega Evolution will cost you 100/200/300 Max Energy depending on tier.
To cool down a Mega Evolution for free, you will need to wait:
- Base Mastery: 7 Days
- High Mastery: 5 Days
- Max Mastery: 3 Days
To reduce the cool down manually, you can pay Max Energy. Energy costs scale based on your Mastery level as follows:
- Base Mastery: 20/40/60
- High Mastery: 10/20/30
- Max Mastery: 5/10/15

Non-legendary Mega Raids are also generally easier now. Instead of recommending four people, you only need three total. Alongside this change, you can now also Mega Evolve from raid and battle preparation screens — you no longer need to shuffle out of the lobby and into your party window to toggle Mega Evolution. New Mega Legendary Raids are listed as Tier 6 to signify their difficulty, with Mega Latios having a raid CP of over 80,000 and Mega Mewtwo X/Y boasting a whopping CP over 100,000 in recent datamines.

Overall, these changes are designed to make the strain of Mega Evolution easier on the player. Increased XL Candy sources are a fantastic reward for sticking with your favorite Mega Evolutions, and the systems are designed to benefit passive and active players as well. If you’re looking to max out your favorite Mega Evolution, you’ll need to get out there and hit up some raids. Best of luck, trainers!

Pokemon GO Mega Evolutions Guide - Mastery Levels & Cost Changes

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