Pokémon UNITE – How do Goal Zones work?

Pokémon UNITE has been enjoying massive popularity since its launch. While the gameplay is familiar to any MOBA player there are small but important differences. One of those are the Goal Zones, which allow you to score points. Here is how they work.

What are Goal Zones?

The Goal Zones are the round fields with rings hovering above them and they are spread throughout the map. In Remoat Stadium, the standard map for Pokémon UNITE each team has eight Goal Zones and one indestructible Goal Zone next to their base.

Main goal of UNITE is to gather as much Aeos Energy as you can through fighting neutral or enemy Pokémon before scoring a goal in one of the zones. Depending on how much energy you collected (and the time remaining) you score different amounts of points per goal for your team. Another important feature of Goal Zones is their HP pool. Once an opposing team scores more points than the zone has HP remaining, the zone will be destroyed.

Strongpoints for Defense

To prevent opponents from scoring easily the Goal Zones have a couple of strong defensive features. Defending Pokémon standing on top of a zone regenerate HP and also get a shield. Behind the Zones the game will also periodically spawn berries, which can heal you. As long as the Zone is active the lane behind it becomes a slow zone for opponents, making it very hard to dive beyond a Zone in the early game. The Zone on the frontlines also prevents your opponents from scoring in the Zone further back as long as it still has HP.

Make sure to take advantage of these defensive bonuses to prevent your enemies from scoring easy goals on you.

Scoring Points & Destroying Goal Zones

Now that you know how to defend your own Zones let us switch sides and take a closer look at Goal Zones from an attacker’s point of view. Scoring points in enemy zones involves pressing and holding X while your Pokémon stands inside the zone. The more points you carry the longer you have to hold down X and stay as a vulnerable sitting duck. If your allies are with you on top of the zone this progress speeds up significantly so try to score together if possible.

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Once you score more points on the Zone than it has HP you destroy it and disable all the defenses (such as the berries or the slow zone) behind it. It also opens up the path to the next Zone and allows you to score on the now exposed Goal Zone. There are some exceptions to the usual scoring rules:

Rotom

The neutral Pokémon on the top lane is not only worth 20 Aeos Energy and plenty of XP. If your team takes Rotom down, it will start moving towards the closest opposing Goal Zone. Protect Rotom from your enemies now and you will be rewarded once it arrives in the Goal Zone. It will not only score 20 points for your side, but also disable all defensive mechanisms such as the HP regeneration or the shield for defenders for several seconds. Most importantly it also allows you to score points with almost no channeling time. So make sure to control Rotom and time your big score goals with it.

Zapdos

The legendary Pokémon Zapdos spawns towards the end of the game in the middle of the map. It is the strongest objective you can take in UNITE as it affects all opposing Zones with the same debuff as Rotom does. Coupled together with the final two minutes doubling all points scored a game can swing wildly depending on which team secures the last hit on Zapdos.

Score over 100 points on the first Zones to break them and unlock the second enemy Zone. If you score more than 80 on those you gain access to the Goal Zone in the opposing main base, which cannot be destroyed.

In addition to gaining points that hopefully win you the match, there are also immediate bonuses to scoring. When you successfully score a goal you turn invincible for a moment and then get healed and even awarded experience. To make it even more worthwhile your Unite Move’s cooldown will also be reduced whenever your team scores a goal.

You are now prepared for everything surrounding Goal Zones in Pokémon UNITE. Now make it count in your next ranked matches!

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Image Credits: Nintendo