Raid: Raid Dens

Section 7.C.3

Raid Dens are an alternative way of initiating raid battles. Instead of instantly entering a battle like you would with a normal battle event, you can set up a Raid Den event that will generate new Pokemon for you to encounter on a regular basis. This means you can revisit a den to capture new Pokemon, and earn new rewards. You can set up dens of various raid types, such as Max Raid Dens and Tera Raid Dens.

It's also possible to set up special dens that feature exclusive Pokemon that are distributed to players over the internet, like an online event. This can allow you to release special challenge raids to your players as a limited timed event.

Below, I'll explain how to set up your own Raid Dens and how they operate.

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Setting Up a Raid Den

To set up a Raid Den event, you need to create a new event with the following criteria:

Event name

The event name should be one of the following, depending on the type of Raid Den you'd like to make:

• BasicRaidDen

• UltraRaidDen

• MaxRaidDen

• TeraRaidDen

This is important, as the name of the event allows for certain den features to function, such as which graphic is used, how many tiles of space the event takes up, and other mechanics. Note that these names should have no spaces between each word.

Event animation and graphic

In the event's Options pane, you must make sure that Move Animation should be unchecked, while the Stop Animation setting should be checked off . This is important, otherwise certain visual features of the den event will not work correctly.

In addition, you should not set a graphic for the Raid Den event. An appropriate graphic will automatically be set based on the event name that you entered.

Event script command

The command list of the event should contain the script pbRaidDen. This script can either be left exactly as-is, or you may customize it by including up to two additional arguments.

This script accepts the same exact arguments as the RaidBattle.start command does, so refer to the "Raid: Battle Call" subsection of this guide for a breakdown on what arguments you may set to customize your Raid Den.

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Argument Differences

There are a few small differences between using pbRaidDen and RaidBattle.start when it comes to the keys that are set in the rules hash of the second argument.

• :style Unlike regular raid battles, Raid Den events completely ignore the :style key. This is because the type of raid is automatically decided based on the name of the Raid Den event. So using the :style setting here will do nothing.

• :loot Raid Den events accept this key which can be used to set exclusive rewards that are added to a specific raid's loot tables. I'll go into more detail about this in the "Raid Den Rewards Screen" section below.

• :online Raid Den events accept this key which can be used to toggle whether or not this particular den should be capable of generating a Pokemon distributed by the developer over the internet. If set to true, then this den will always generate an online event, if one is available. If set to false, then this den will never generate an online event, even if one is available. If this key is omitted entirely, then by default it will be assumed that this den will have a 1 in 3 chance of generating an online event if one is available. I'll go into more detail about this in the table below, under the "Online Raids" tab.

The table below will provide a basic example of how each type of Raid Den event should look like both in and out of gameplay.

Basic Raids

This is an example of what a Basic Raid Den event looks like.

Example of a Basic Raid event.

Note that Basic Raid Dens take up 3x3 tiles worth of space during actual gameplay, so be mindful of where you place the event. Any event given the name BasicRaidDen will automatically load the following graphic to be displayed during gameplay, so no graphic should be manually set for the event.

The Raid Den graphic will automatically update and display differently depending on the current state of the Raid Den. Here are the different states a Basic Raid Den may be in:

• Purple Eyes If the eye color of the Basic Raid Den are purple, that means this den contains an unknown Pokemon to battle. This color will be displayed when the den has been reset with a new Pokemon to encounter.

• Red Eyes If the eye color of the Basic Raid Den are red, that means this den contains a known Pokemon that has already been saved to this den. While the eyes of this den remain red, you will always encounter the same exact Pokemon each time you enter this den until it is forced to reset.

• Blue Eyes If the eye color of the Basic Raid Den are blue, that means this den contains a known Legendary or Mythical species that has already been saved to this den. While the eyes of this den remain blue, you will always encounter the same exact Pokemon each time you enter this den until it is forced to reset.

• Colorless Eyes If the eyes of the Basic Raid Den are colorless, that means this den is empty and contains no Pokemon. You will be unable to enter this den until it has been reset through some means.

Ultra Raids

Max Raids

Tera Raids

Online Raids

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Raid Den Entry Screen

When interacting with a Raid Den, you will be asked to save your game prior to the species within being revealed. If you accept, the species will be decided and saved to that den event. Once saved, this den will not generate a new Pokemon until the current one has been defeated or captured, or if the Raid Den has been forced to reset.

Example of a Basic Raid Den entry screen.

Once the Raid Den species has been decided, the raid entry screen will be displayed. This screen will display a variety of information such as the silhouette of the raid Pokemon, the conditions of this raid battle, and the overall difficulty of the raid indicated by star count.

General Displays

Every entry screen for a Raid Den will display general information that will give you an overall synopsis of what kind of challenge you can expect from this Raid Den. This includes the name of this specific type of Raid Den, the number of stars indicating its difficulty, and the silhouette and typing of the Pokemon you can expect to find inside.

The den name and visual style of the screen will also differ to reflect the specific type of Raid Den this is. Here are the other display styles used for each type of Raid Den:

• Ultra Raid Den

• Max Raid Den

• Tera Raid Den

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Raid Ranks

Below the Raid Den name, you will see a row of 1-7 stars, depending on the raid. These stars indicate the raid's rank, which determines the overall difficulty of this Raid Den. Rank 1 raids are the easiest raids, with rank 5 being the most challenging raids that you can naturally find.

By default, rank 6 raids are exclusively used by Legendary Pokemon, but will never generate naturally unless you manually set the :rank to 6 in the den event's rules hash, or if you manually set a legendary species as the raid Pokemon.

Rank 7 raids are the most challenging possible raid rank. Similarly to rank 6 raids, rank 7 raids will never naturally generate, and can only be encountered if you manually set the den's :rank to 7.

Note that any Pokemon species that is capable of appearing in raid battles can be forced to appear in any raid rank. However, if no species is manually forced to appear, then only species that are naturally capable of appearing in the specified raid rank will be generated. For example, Mewtwo is exclusively found in rank 6 raids naturally, but you can force Mewtwo to be encountered in a rank 1 raid if you manually set the species and rank of a specific Raid Den.

Below, I'll list out each raid rank and describe when they become naturally available, and what the level ranges may be for the raid Pokemon encountered inside those raids.

• Rank 1 Naturally Available: Badges 0-7 Raid Pokemon Level: 10-15

• Rank 2 Naturally Available: Badges 0-7 Raid Pokemon Level: 20-25

• Rank 3 Naturally Available: Badges 3+ Raid Pokemon Level: 30-35

• Rank 4 Naturally Available: Badges 6+ Raid Pokemon Level: 40-45

• Rank 5 Naturally Available: Badges 8+ Raid Pokemon Level: 65-70

• Rank 6 Naturally Available: --- Raid Pokemon Level: 75-80

• Rank 7 Naturally Available: --- Raid Pokemon Level: 100

Raid Battle Conditions

In the bottom left quadrant of the Raid Den entry screen will be where the specific battle conditions for this raid battle will be displayed. This will typically display the number of turns you will have to complete the raid, and/or the number of times your Pokemon will be allowed to be KO'd before the raid is considered a loss.

If you manually edit or disable these counters for a specific Raid Den, this will be reflected in the text that is displayed here. If the turn counter and the KO counter are both disabled for this Raid Den, then a generic placeholder message will be displayed here instead.

Battle Participants

In the bottom right quadrant of the Raid Den entry screen will be where all participating Pokemon in this raid battle will be displayed. This can display 1-3 Pokemon, depending on the raid settings and other conditions. This will always display your lead Pokemon by default, but you can select other party members to participate instead by selecting the "Change Party" option.

By default, raid battles will always assume to be fought in a 3v1 format, so you will have the option to select 3 Pokemon here. However, there may be various reasons why the raid would accept fewer participants:

• The RAID_BASE_PARTY_SIZE in the plugin settings is set to a smaller default party size.

• This particular Raid Den has a :size value set in the rules hash to a smaller party size.

• The player has fewer able Pokemon in their party than required by the raid.

• This particular Raid Den has a :partner set in the rules hash, forcing it to be a 2v1 battle instead.

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Partner Participants

When a raid partner trainer is set to participate with you in a Raid Den, then the entry screen will display a little differently to reflect this. Icons for both the player and the partner trainer will be displayed, with the Pokemon they will be bringing to the raid displayed next to each trainer.

Both trainers will only be allowed to bring a single Pokemon with them into the raid battle. The partner trainer's Pokemon cannot be changed, but you will be allowed to select a specific Pokemon to bring like normal.

For more details related to raid partners, check out the "Raid: Battle Mechanics" subsection of this guide.

Battlefield Conditions

Sometimes there may be an additional display in the top right corner of the raid entry screen. This display will have various icons displayed which will indicate special battlefield conditions that will be in play during this raid battle. These conditions include weather, terrain, and the battle environment.

These conditions will be displayed if there is an effect in play that changes the default values for one or more of these conditions. For example, when you are on a map with the :Storm weather in play on the overworld, then this will make it so that the Rain weather condition and Electric Terrain will be permanently in play during any battle on this map. This will be carried over into raid battles too, so the Raid Den entry screen will display these icons to reflect that.

Another way this might be applied is through the use of the "weather", "terrain", and/or "environment" battle rules. If you manually set one of these rules to change one or more of the default battlefield conditions, then this will be represented in the Raid Den entry screen.

Below, I'll showcase the icons for each battlefield condition, and what they represent.

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Weather Icons

From left to right, these icons indicate the following weather conditions:

• None (no weather)

• Sun or Harsh Sun

• Rain or Heavy Rain

• Hail or Snow

• Sandstorm

• Strong Winds

• Shadow Sky

Note that icons are present for Primordial weather conditions despite Primordial weather being unable to be set normally. These icons are just here as placeholder.

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Terrain Icons

From left to right, these icons indicate the following battle terrain conditions:

• None (no terrain)

• Grassy Terrain

• Electric Terrain

• Misty Terrain

• Psychic Terrain

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Environment Icons

From left to right, these icons indicate the following environments:

• None (urban areas, interiors)

• Grass or Tall Grass

• Forest or Forest Grass

• Moving Water or Still Water

• Underwater

• Puddle

• Sand

• Rock

• Cave

• Volcano

• Graveyard

• Snow or Ice

• Sky

• Space

• Ultra Space

Note that most Raid Dens take place in the Cave environment by default, unless a rule is in place that manually alters this. The one exception is Ultra Raids, which take place in the Ultra Space environment by default.

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Adding Custom Icons

If your game has any custom battlefield conditions that you'd like to be represented by this plugin, you may add custom icons for these conditions in the folder:

Graphics/Plugins/Raid Battles/Raid Dens/Field Icons

In here, you can add your condition by naming the file based on the ID of that condition with either weather_, terrain_, or environ_ as a prefix to the filename, depending on the type of condition it is.

For example, if you created a new terrain called "Lava Terrain" with the ID of :Lava, then your new icon would have to be named terrain_Lava.

Note that all icons should be 28x28 pixels large to properly fit in the UI.

Other Icons

In some situations, there may be additional icons that appear just above the selection window of a Raid Den's entry screen, in the upper right quadrant. These icons indicate specific data about this particular Raid Den.

Note that it's possible for multiple icons to appear here at once if more than one conditions are met.

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Bonus Loot Icon

If this particular Raid Den has had extra rewards added to its loot table with the :loot property in the den event's rule hash, then this icon will appear to indicate that this den yields exclusive rewards.

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Online Event Icon

This icon will appear if the specific Pokemon found in this den is being distributed over the internet via an online event, rather than being naturally generated. Online raid events override whatever Pokemon the particular den would normally spawn.

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Z-Crystal Icon

In Ultra Raid Dens specifically, the icon for the specific Z-Crystal that the raid Pokemon will be holding will be displayed in this region of the den's entry screen. This will allow you to prepare for the raid better, as you will have a more general idea of what sort of Z-Moves you can expect to have to deal with during this fight.

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Gigantamax Icon

In Max Raid Dens specifically, you may occasionally encounter a den with the G-Max Factor icon in this region of the den's entry screen. This icon will indicate that the raid Pokemon encountered in this den will be in its Gigantamax form.

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Tera Type Icon

In Tera Raid Dens specifically, the icon for the specific Tera type that the raid Pokemon will have will be displayed in this region of the den's entry screen. This will allow you to prepare for the raid batter, as you will know which type the Terastallized Pokemon will be when encountered.

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Raid Den Rewards Screen

Upon exiting a Raid Den, you will be immediately presented with the raid rewards screen. Depending on the outcome of the raid battle, this window will display various information. If you successfully cleared the raid, you will be granted several rewards that are randomly generated based on the specific raid's reward table. If you captured the raid Pokemon, extra information about the captured Pokemon will be displayed, too.

If you failed to clear the raid however, no rewards will be granted.

Example of a Basic Raid Den rewards screen.

Below, I'll explain all of the rewards that may be possible to obtain through clearing Raid Dens.

Base Reward Tables

Each raid will grant rewards based on a particular loot table that is generated for that raid. The exact list of rewards and quantities for each item will be random, but follow a general pattern based on the difficulty of the raid.

Generally speaking, the rewards yielded by each raid rank is cumulative with the previous ranks. So for example, a 4-star raid will grant all the same rewards found in ranks 1-3, plus the additional rewards granted by a rank 4 raid. However, the quantities of each item rewarded will be dramatically increased based on the rank of the raid. Lower-ranked raids may only yield 1-3 of each item, while higher-ranked raids may yield as much as 10-25+, depending on the item.

Below, I'll list out every item you may hope to find in a raid's loot table, and what raid ranks you can expect to start seeing those items appear as rewards.

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Base Rewards

• Exp. Candy XS

• Exp. Candy S

• EV-Reducing Berry (Random)

• EV-Increasing Feather (Random)

Raid Ranks 3+

• Exp. Candy M

• Rare Candy

• TM/TR (Random; based on raid Pokemon's typing; only 1)

• EV Vitamin (Random)

• PP Up/PP Max (Low odds; only 1)

• Ability Capsule/Ability Patch (Low odds; only 1)

• Low-value sell item (Low odds; only 1)

Raid Ranks 4+

• Exp. Candy L (High odds)

• Nature Mint (Random; only 1)

• High-value sell item (Low odds; only 1)

Raid Ranks 5+

• Exp. Candy L (Guaranteed)

• Exp. Candy XL (High odds)

Raid Ranks 6+

• Exp. Candy XL (Guaranteed)

• Very high-value sell item (Low odds)

Raid-Specific Rewards

Some rewards are only administered when clearing a certain type of raid. Below, I'll list the specific items that may be earned as rewards in certain types of raids.

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Ultra Raid Dens

• Z-Booster This item is guaranteed to appear in an Ultra Raid Den's loot table if the raid Pokemon is Necrozma.

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Max Raid Dens

• Dynamax Candy This item is guaranteed to appear in a Max Raid Den's loot table. The quantity depends on the raid rank.

• Max Soup This item has a 50% chance of appearing in a Max Raid Den's loot table if the raid Pokemon was in Gigantamax form.

• Max Honey This item is guaranteed to appear in a Max Raid Den's loot table if the raid Pokemon is Vespiquen.

• Max Mushrooms This item is guaranteed to appear in a Max Raid Den's loot table if the raid Pokemon is Parasect, Breloom, Amoongus, Shiinotic, or Toedscruel.

• Wishing Star This item is guaranteed to appear in a Max Raid Den's loot table if the raid Pokemon is Eternatus.

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Tera Raid Dens

• Tera Shards These items are guaranteed to appear in a Tera Raid Den's loot table. The specific type of shard depends on the raid Pokemon's Tera type. The quantity depends on the raid rank. If the player has the Glimmering Charm key item in their inventory, the number of Tera Shards awarded will be dramatically increased.

• Mystery Tera Jewel This item has a low chance to appear in a Tera Raid Den's loot table.

• Radiant Tera Jewel This item is guaranteed to appear in a Tera Raid Den's loot table if the raid Pokemon is Terapagos.

Note that any TM or TR rewards earned from Tera Raid Dens will be randomly decided based on the raid Pokemon's Tera type instead of their natural typing.

Conditional Rewards

Certain rewards may only appear in a raid's loot table depending on certain battlefield conditions that were in play during the battle. These are the same conditions outlined under "Battlefield Conditions" in the "Raid Den Entry Screen" section above.

It's quite rare for these items to drop from a raid, and when they do, you will only obtain one of each item that drops. These items are more for flavor to match the theme of the raid; so some of them are valuable, while others may be useless. The quality of the items weren't considered when assigning them.

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Weather-Based Rewards

• Heat Rock (Sun)

• Damp Rock (Rain)

• Icy Rock (Hail/Snow)

• Smooth Rock (Sandstorm)

• Life Orb (Shadow Sky)

• Smoke Ball (Fog; not in Essentials by default)

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Terrain-Based Rewards

• Electric Seed (Electric Terrain)

• Grassy Seed (Grassy Terrain)

• Misty Seed (Misty Terrain)

• Psychic Seed (Psychic Terrain)

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Environment-Based Rewards

• Cell Battery (None)

• Miracle Seed (Grass)

• Absorb Bulb (Tall Grass)

• Mystic Water (Moving Water)

• Fresh Water (Still Water)

• Light Clay (Puddle)

• Shoal Shell (Underwater)

• Luminous Moss (Cave)

• Hard Stone (Rock)

• Soft Sand (Sand)

• Shed Shell (Forest)

• Silver Powder (Forest Grass)

• Snowball (Snow)

• Never-melt Ice (Ice)

• Charcoal (Volcano)

• Rare Bone (Graveyard)

• Pretty Feather (Sky)

• Stardust (Space)

• Comet Shard (Ultra Space)

Bonus Rewards

You may set additional rewards that appear in a specific Raid Den's loot table by setting the :loot key in the rule hash used in pbRaidDen. This can be set either to an item ID, or an array of item ID's and quantities for each item. You can use this to customize the rewards granted by a specific Raid Den.

For example:

:loot ⇒ :NUGGET

This will reward the player 1 Nugget for clearing the Raid Den. If you'd like to set a specific number of Nuggets, you can instead set this to something like this:

:loot ⇒ [:NUGGET, 5]

This would reward 5 Nuggets, instead. You can add as many additional item rewards as you'd like in this manner. Here's a more extreme example:

:loot => [:NUGGET, 5, :ENIGMABERRY, 8 :SACREDASH, 1, :ABILITYCAPSULE, 10] 

This would reward 5 Nuggets, 8 Enigma Berries, 1 Sacred Ash, and 10 Ability Capsules. Note that these additional rewards will always be granted on top of the base rewards that clearing the raid would normally grant.

If you include bonus rewards through this manner that would already be normally granted by the raid as a base reward, then the additional quantities you manually included here will just be added to the total quantity granted to the player.

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Resetting a Raid Den

Once the Pokemon within a Raid Den has been captured or defeated, that den is considered "clear," and will now appear empty. If so, you will no longer be able to interact with that den to initiate a new raid battle until the den has been reset.

Raid Dens may be reset through various means, which I'll outline below.

Natural Reset

Raid Dens will naturally reset each day when the device's clock reaches midnight. If so, all Raid Dens on all maps will generate a new Pokemon to encounter. This includes empty dens as well as dens that have an existing Pokemon saved to them.

Manual Reset

In Pokemon Sword & Shield, you had the ability to manually reset a Max Raid Den by consuming a Wishing Piece from your inventory, and tossing it into the den to lure a new raid Pokemon to battle. This feature did not return for Tera Raid Dens in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, but I chose to include this feature in this plugin and apply it to all Raid Den types.

Instead of Wishing Pieces, I introduced a more generic item called "Raid Bait" that may be tossed into any type of Raid Den to manually reset it and force a new raid Pokemon to appear. As long as you have at least 1 serving of Raid Bait in your inventory, you will be able to reset any den you wish.

Note that while playing in debug mode, you can manually reset any Raid Den by holding CTRL while interacting with a den. This will allow you to reset the den in the same way as show above, but without consuming any Raid Bait, or without even needing the item in your inventory.

Debug Reset

Finally, there is a third way of resetting Raid Dens while playing in debug mode. In the debug menu, navigate to "Deluxe plugin settings..." and then to "Other plugin settings..." and then "Raid settings...". When selected, you can choose to manually empty or reset all Raid Dens.

This will affect every single Raid Den event on every map in your game, so keep that in mind when using these options.