Compass’ core design determining the relative levels of wild encounters, levels and other difficulty factors in trainer battles and major story and event battles, raid appearances, and so on, is a modified progression flow — A new expectation of which route most players will take should they follow the “intended” route, similar to vanilla’s, but changed in some key ways.
The following are the major changes :
- Nearly all wild Pokémon have increased levels, starting from around the completion of the first gym badge
- Kofu is now expected to be tackled earlier than Iono
- Iono, Mela, and Atticus are all a fair bit stronger than before
- Prepare to tackle Glaseado Mountain and all the Northern Provinces at roughly the same time, after conquering South Province Area Six and Tulip’s Gym
- All Gym Leaders see their team’s levels increased to be the toughest challenges in each expected “route”; you should be sure to explore the relevant surrounding areas before tackling them
- The Quaking Earth and False Dragon Titans are designed to be tackled later and are significantly harder
Raid ★-ratings appear at different points and with different chances than before, with higher levels and increased difficulty (see Raid Changes for all the specifics)
Victory Road
Notable changes :
- Significantly higher levels on the Gym teams, for both trainers and leaders
- Improved stats and natures, better moves, better AI, the inclusion of held items, more Pokémon, etc., increasing as the player gets further along the route
While making your way through the Victory Road story, it’s advised to spend some time catching Pokémon, completing raids, or battling against the myriad trainers, as the general pushback has been increased fairly significantly, and taking the time to train your team is expected so you don’t end up underpowered.
Other than a general increase in the difficulty curve, and general growth in the trainers themselves by gaining more IVs, EVs, better moves, etc., two moderate adjustments have been made to the general expected route : Kofu’s and Iono’s positions have been swapped, and Ryme’s and Tulip’s positions have been swapped.
The general “segments” that Compass is broken down into are as follows, with the Victory Road “capstone” :
Major Victory Road Battles and their Aces
| Expected Explored Areas | Leader / Fight | New Ace | Old Ace |
| South Province areas One, Two, and Four | Katy (Bug) | 28 | 15 |
| South Province areas Three and Five | Brassius (Grass) | 33 | 17 |
| West Province areas One and Two, Asado Desert,and South Sea and West Sea | Kofu (Water) | 39 | 30 |
| East Province areas One and Two, and East Sea | Iono (Electric) | 45 | 24 |
| East Province Area Three, Tagtree Thicket,and West Province Area 3 | Larry (Normal) | 50 | 36 |
| South Province Area Six | Tulip (Psychic) | 56 | 45 |
| Glaseado Mountains South and North | Ryme (Ghost) | 63 | 42 |
| North Province areas Three, One, and Two, and North Sea | Grusha (Ice) | 70 | 48 |
| Casseroya Lake and Socarrat Trail | Elite Four | 72-74 | 58-61 |
| Pre-Final Battle | 75 | 62 | |
| Final Battle | 76 | 66 |
Certain other changes have been made that are relevant to the Victory Road story, such as the event Pokémon prior to Brassius’ gym being adjusted to match the modified progression (changing the levels of the encounters from ~12 to ~30, for example).
With most of the gym leaders being ~13-20 levels higher than vanilla, this may initially look like quite a steep change, but it’s worth noting that there is an absolute abundance of experience in the world, with an incredible amount of trainers, and access to a high number of raids at any time to get some candies.
It’s generally expected for the player to explore most of every area before tackling the Gyms; changes to early-game dialogue, the inclusion of new labels and new graphical “regional” indicator on the game’s map are also included to indicate the general expectation for the player along the way.
The Elite Four and the final fights are meant to be the “best” trainers, so compared to the other stories, these battles are higher level and generally more difficult than the equivalent final sections; It’s recommended to tackle this portion of the main story last before moving into late-game.
Path of Legends
Notable changes :
- Increased levels and stats, and changes to movesets for all Titans
- Modified partner Pokémon for Arven to be more useful
Each Titan fight is broken up into two fights; In vanilla, the only difference between them being one additional move, but in Compass, the second fight is also tougher than the first, matching the in-game story element.
Additionally, all Titans have adjusted movesets to be a bit more menacing.
| Titan Fight | New Level | Old Level |
| Stony Cliff | 30 | 16 |
| Open Sky | 34 | 20 |
| Lurking Steel | 46 | 29 |
| Quaking Earth | 70 | 45 |
| False Dragon | 70 | 57 |
| Final Battle | 70 | 61 |
Arven’s cooperative team is adjusted to be closer to these levels and made better — He’s forced into using the same Pokémon as vanilla, but with new moves, improved stats, held items, and the like, he’ll not be too weak.
The most significant change in Compass comes in the form of the Quaking Earth Titan, which has its level brought up to 70 (from 45). While Tai-Taaaaaaan the False Dragon Titan (now also level 70) is still considered the “final” Titan fight, Quaking Earth may well be the most difficult. This change is largely because of lore reasons, as even vanilla’s Area Zero encounters are higher level than Quaking Earth’s, and this one’s been munchin’ some quality herba. It didn’t make much sense that this combination resulted in a weaker Pokémon than you’ll find roaming randomly later on.
The second Titan fight is also a bit more challenging than the first~
Starfall Street
Notable changes :
- Increased levels in the Let’s Go pre-battle event
- Increased Team Star Leader difficulty (levels, stats, AI, movesets, number of Pokémon, etc)
- More difficult Starmobiles (higher stats, different moves)
- Starmobiles are also all dual-type with Steel
Starfall Street follows the same progression route as vanilla, but the leaders have larger teams with much higher levels, better moves, better AI, etc., increasing in pushback the further along the story you go.
| Team Star Fight | New Ace | Old Ace |
| Dark Star | 36 | 21 |
| Fire Star | 42 | 27 |
| Poison Star | 49 | 33 |
| Fairy Star | 65 | 51 |
| Fighting Star | 68 | 56 |
| Pre-Final Battle | 71 | 61 |
| Final Battle | 73 | 63 |
The trainer fights during the Do Your Best Let’s Go portion are a few levels under the leaders’, significantly increased over vanilla’s ranges.
The leaders have teams that they will use before sending out their Starmobile, with at least four (and up to six) strong Pokémon. In Compass, they don’t just rely on their vroom-vroom, and are respectable trainers on their own.
The Starmobiles themselves see significant changes — they’ve been given additional moves, significantly higher stats (from ~439 to ~485 equivalent-BST to 480 to 600, with higher HP multipliers), and come at the end of a tougher fight with the leader. The Starmobiles’ relative strength will increase the further along the Starfall Street story you end up, with the higher tier leaders (Ortega and Eri) using more powerful versions that have even higher increased stats beyond their level changes.
All Starmobiles are also dual-typed with Steel, which may change which Pokémon you bring or what moves to use.
Don’t underestimate these leaders~
Post-game rematches against the Team Star leaders are changed significantly, with vastly improved and full teams, all increased to level 100, with the ability to Terastallize.
The repeatable Let’s Go segment has also had changes, with the Pokémon being used here all around level 90 and up — these are now dedicated training camps, after all!
End-Game Events
There are a handful of special events at the end of the game that have been changed :
Partner battles in the ending portion of the story have been adjusted, both with your allies and the enemies having their levels increased to match the expected ranges at that time.
The Ruinous Quartet have been changed to be more suitable for end-game content, changed from level 60 to 80, given increased IVs, and actually have a moveset associated! The box legendaries are also increased to match the appropriate time that you get access to them, with a change in level from 72 to 80.
Wild Pokémon Level Ranges
All areas throughout the game (except the early areas and a select few other points) have had their spawns changed, usually resulting in an increase in the level of wild Pokémon. All wild Pokémon are meant to be lower level than the surrounding trainers, but will not lag overly much behind.
The following table details all of the level ranges for the wild encounters, in approximate progression order :
| Area | Compass Range | Vanilla Range |
| South Province Area One | 2-11 | 2-11 |
| Pokémon League Entrance | 9-15 | 7-14 |
| South Province Area Two | 11-17 | 7-14 |
| South Province Area Four | 14-20 | 16-23 |
| South Province Area Three | 21-24 | 7-14 |
| South Province Area Five | 22-25 | 16-23 |
| West Province Area One | 26-29 | 13-18 |
| South Paldean Sea | 26-29 | 5-23 |
| Asado Desert | 26-29 | 19-24 |
| West Province Area Two | 27-30 | 22-27 |
| West Paldean Sea | 27-30 | 18-42 |
| East Province Area One | 30-34 | 16-23 |
| East Province Area Two | 31-35 | 19-26 |
| East Paldean Sea | 31-35 | 14-36 |
| East Province Area Three | 36-39 | 22-29 |
| Tagtree Thicket | 36-40 | 25-32 |
| West Province Area Three | 37-40 | 28-35 |
| South Province Area Six | 41-45 | 37-44 |
| Glaseado Mountains South | 46-49 | 34-42 |
| Glaseado Mountains North | 47-50 | 34-41 |
| North Province Area Three | 51-54 | 43-50 |
| North Paldean Sea | 51-54 | 46-53 |
| North Province Area One | 51-55 | 46-53 |
| North Province Area Two | 51-55 | 49-56 |
| Casseroya Lake | 56-62 | 49-56 |
| Socarrat Trail | 56-62 | 49-56 |
| [Final Area] | 63-70 | 50-62 |
This information is also provided in-game as labels on each area where applicable.
Area Zero Specifics
Some “weaker” Pokémon have been removed from the list of spawnable Pokémon in Area Zero, which should help make the spawns in Area Zero more interesting and more befitting of the theme.
| Abomasnow | Alolan Raichu | Amoonguss | Bellibolt | Crabominable | Drednaw |
| Dugtrio | Flamigo | Floatzel | Floette | Golduck | Houndoom |
| Hypno | Klawf | Medicham | Muk | Naclstack | Raichu |
| Rufflet | Slowbro | Sneasel | Sudowoodo | Venomoth | Wigglytuff |
Special Wild Pokémon Encounters
Almost all of the special encounters (e.g. the Tera encounters and manually-inserted Pokémon in the world) have had their levels adjusted. You should not run into any that are wildly out of range for the area (e.g. a level 33 encounter in an area filled with 41-46 encounters), though there will still be some special encounters that are intentionally higher level and stronger than those around them.
If you do find a Pokémon that you believe to be significantly lower level than intended, go to Underleveled Pokémon Encounters and use the directions there to notify us.
Aside from this, nearly all of the special encounters are broadly the same as vanilla, with some getting increased IVs or minor adjustments in level or moves, with the exception of the Pikachu and the Eeveelutions, as they have been adjusted to match the overall changes to these two (which you can find in Pikachu and Eevee and the Eeveelutions).
Overview Maps – Spoilers~
The following maps provide at-a-glance details consolidated from the above information. These are not the same maps as provided in Compass in-game (see Modified Map for details on what changes have been made for the map).
For a quick look at recommended level ranges and major story events :
For a quick look at all of the adjusted level ranges of wild Pokémon and major story events :