The Best Strategy for Steeled Resolve Event in Pokémon GO is a collection of the best tips you should use to make the best out of the event. As you may already know, the Steeled Resolve Event is from Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. local time to Monday, May 4, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. local time. This is a 7-day event with some good activities.
Best Strategy Overview
The Best Strategy for Steeled Resolve Event is mainly focused on the most relevant activities during the event. You will know what you should prioritize during the event. Here are the core event priorities.
- GO Pass Progression: April 2026 GO Pass and Steeled Resolve event GO Pass.
- Team GO Rocket farming for the chance of more Shiny Shadow Pokémon.
- Shadow Pokémon optimization
- Stardust Gains
- Limited-time Shinies (Meltan and Orthworm)
The main event, Steeled Resolve Taken Over, runs from Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. local time to Monday, May 4, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. local time.
This is not like the standard Rocket takeover events. This is because there would be no Special Research Task to get Super Rocket Radar. Rather, the Super Rocket Radar is available only via the event GO Pass titled GO Pass: Steeled Resolve – Taken Over.
Optimize the GO Pass
The GO Pass is now the backbone of events in Pokémon GO. You should focus on completing the Pass tasks to earn the associated rewards. The tasks will involve catching Pokémon, completing battles against the Team GO Rocket, and more.
Focus on completing the event’s GO Pass before May 4, 2026, and the April 2026 GO Pass before May 6, 2026. There will be additional tasks during the week that will help you complete the event’s GO pass quickly. There will also be no cap on the amount of GO Pass points you can earn for the April 2026 GO Pass. The “no cap” period is from May 2 to May 4, 2026.
It is important to complete the event GO Pass tasks quickly so you can earn the following
- Super Rock Radar to find and battle Giovanni
- Encounters with meta-relevant Steel-type Pokémon such as Beldum, Pawniard, Honedge, Meltan, and more.
- 2x Catch Candy.
- More Stardust from defeating Team GO Rocket Grunts.
Farm the Team GO Rockets Members
You should possibly do this aggressively. Team GO Rockets are no joke. They mean business. Therefore, battling them is the highest ROI activity during the event.
The event promises to have more Rocket spawns at PokéStops and in Ballons (every 2 hours). Battling and defeating this will get you extra Stardust. In addition, you have a high chance of encountering old and new Shiny Shadow Pokémon. The odds are somewhat increased due to the higher spawn rates of Team GO Rockts.
You will want to follow the standard loop. This is, farm/battle the Grunts to get Mysterious Components. With six (6) Mysterious Components, you build a Rocket Radar that is used to find and battle the Leaders. You can also use the Super Rocket Radar for the event GO Pass to battle Giovanni to encounter Shadow Incarnate Form Landorus, which can be shiny.
Don’t forget to use Star Pieces when farming the Team GO Rockets members. You can use Origin Dialga’s Adventure Effect to extend the duration of your Star Pieces.
Additionally, Shiny Varoom will make its debut in Pokémon GO. Varoom is available only in 12 km eggs. You can get these types of eggs after defeating the Team GO Rocket leaders (Arlo, Sierra, or Cliff), if you have an open egg slot.
READ ALSO: Pokémon GO Eggs Hatch Distances with Incubators
Battling Giovanni
Giovanni will have Shadow Landorus (Incarnate Form) as its third Pokémon. Likewise, Giovanni always leads with Shadow Persian. Its second Pokémon rotates between Pokémon.
The following are the Pokémon to have in your battle team against Giovanni.
- A shield breaker such as Mega Lucario with Fighting-type Attacks (Counter and Power-Up Punch)
- A flexible counter based on Giovanni’s middle/second Pokémon.
- A strong closer, such as Shadow Mamoswine with Ice-type Attacks (Powder Snow and Avalanche)
Persian, a Normal-type Pokémon, is weak to Fighting-type attacks. Landorus, a Ground-type Pokémon, is weak to Ice-type attacks.
Remove Frustration
One of the main benefits of the event is the opportunity to remove Frustration from Shadow Pokémon. You do not want to miss this. You can do this between Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. local time and Monday, May 4, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. local time.
However, you will need regular TMs to do this. If you are short on these TMs, focus on removing Frustration from the following.
- Shadow Pokémon that are three-star and above (search term: 3*,4*&shadow&@fru).
- Shiny Shadow Pokémon (search term: shiny&shadow&@fru).
- PVP IV Shadow Pokémon (search term: 0-1attack&3-4defense&3-4hp&@fru).
Prioritize the right Pokémon
Meltan, Orthworm, Beldum, Honedge, Shadow Entei, Shadow Landorus (Incarnate Form), and some other Shadow Pokémon are supposedly the best targets during the event. All of these can be Shiny.
Shiny Meltan is only available during this event. Shiny Orthworm is a new Shiny. Shiny Beldum can be evolved to Shiny Metagross, which is a top-tier Steel-type attacker. Shiny Honedge was recently released. This is the time to possibly encounter one.
You will need to open the Mystery Box repeatedly to grind Shiny Meltan. Orthworm is available in raids. The other Steel-type Pokémon will be available in GO Pass and in the wild.
Additionally, Shadow Entei will be available in Shadow Raids on Saturday, May 2, 2026. You should prioritize getting at least one. Shadow Landorus (Incarnate Form) is available as an encounter after you defeat Giovanni.
Other Shadow Pokémon you should prioritize are the new ones. They are as follows.
- Shadow Stufful that can be evolved into Shadow Bewear
- Shadow Dewpider that can be evolved into Shadow Araquanid
- Shadow Helioptile that can be evolved into Shadow Heliolisk
- Shadow Morelull that can be evolved into Shadow Shiinotic
Other important Strategies
The following are additional strategies you should employ during the event.
- 2x Catch Candy: Use Pinap Berry when catching Pokémon.
- Shadow Raids: Do Shadow Raids since they have wider IV variance during this event. You can get Shadow Pokémon with less than 10-10-10 IVs.
- Manage your time effectively: Focus on the four (4) strategies stated earlier.
- Use Incense and Lures: Don’t forget these when you go out and about playing the event.
- Field Research Tasks: Complete them, but stack those with Pokémon encounters for when you are using Star Piece and Lucky Egg.
- Use Mega Pokémon: You should use Mega Level 3 Steel-type Pokémon, one after the other, throughout this event. These are Mega Lucario, Mega Metagross, Mega Aggron, Mega Mawile, Mega Scizor, and Mega Steelix.
