How to invite friends to raids in Pokémon Go

Need a buddy to help you out on a raid while playing Pokémon Go? You will be able to send an invitation to all your Pokémon Go friends who can help you during a raid. Your friends will need a Raid Pass to participate, but now you won't have to wait for other trainers to see that you're about to raid to help you out. The Raid Invitation should make it much easier to take down some of the most powerful Pokémon in the game.

When you want to raid with a friend, you must first start the raid on your side. When the raid lobby is ready, you will see a new “+” icon for public and private lobbies. Click the plus icon and you can choose five friends from your friend list to invite to help you. These trainers should see the notification and be given the option to assist if they have a raid pass available to assist you.

With the help of the maximum group of five friends, you should face more difficult enemies, such as the Legendary Pokémon featured in the Five Star Raids. Most of these Pokémon require a full party of five to six trainers, but some teams can only optimize to need a total of three trainers to take it down. Either way, the feature should make it easier for trainers to locate five-star gyms and invite friends to help them out. Everyone who participates should have a chance to try and capture the Legendary Pokemon after the battle.

We don't know if this feature is being rolled out to make it easier for players under COVID-19 quarantine to play, or if this is becoming a permanent feature. For those who receive an invitation to join the raid, you may need a remote raid pass to participate, but Niantic was not specific on which raid pass you will need to use. He only indicated that guest coaches would need a raid pass. We'll update this article if we learn more details about the feature.