Are there Bots in Pokémon UNITE?

Bots are nice in primarily multiplayer games, as they let you play the game even when you don’t have internet access, or just otherwise don’t feel like matching wits with a thinking organism. Though, some games aren’t always upfront about whether you’re playing with bots or not, and some players play mechanically enough that it can be a bit tricky to tell whether they’re human or not. So, are there bots in Pokémon UNITE?

Are there Bots in Pokémon UNITE?

Much like its MOBA contemporaries and mobile PvP games, Pokémon UNITE does feature AI-controlled bots in all of its match modes, including Ranked Mode. In Ranked Mode, your first game will be against all bots, including your teammates. You also have a high chance to face a team of bots in Ranked Mode after a losing streak or when you’re at risk of de-ranking.

When you’re starting up a match in matchmaking, the type of match you select will influence your odds of seeing bots. Unranked matches can always have bots in the game. Here are the three types of unranked matches:

• Random Match: These kinds of matches are strictly PvP, no bots allowed. When you start a Random Match, the player list on both sides will populate via matchmaking.
• Friendly Match: These matches are intended for folks who want to play with real players, but want to keep things casual. As such, while matchmaking can and will fill the lion’s share of both your team and opponents, bots can be slotted in here and there to round things out or otherwise provide a handicap.
• CPU Match: The polar opposite of Random Matches, CPU Matches feature bots and only bots. Your presence notwithstanding, both sides of the field will be populated exclusively with bots. This mode’s for when you want to try out a new build, don’t have access to a solid internet connection, or just otherwise feel like playing a match that you have a better chance of winning.

How to tell if there are bots in your Pokémon UNITE lobby

As you become more familiar with Pokémon UNITE, it becomes easier to spot bots. There is a trick to determining if there are bots before a game starts by clicking on the enemy Pokemon on the loading screen. Bots always have a zoomed-in photo of their trainer, and there is a finite number of possible photos. How often bots will appear is not clear, as Nintendo has not made any statements about it. It is likely based on an algorithm, and, as for Ranked, they seem to appear after a losing streak. Bots also reportedly take real player aliases, to give them a more authentic look.

As for how the bots play, they follow pretty straightforward scripting; they’ll stay exclusively in their lane, go after any player or wild Pokémon that wanders too close, hunt them to a certain HP threshold, and then flee back to their goal. If you’re not sure if a player is a bot, just watch them for a little while and it should become readily apparent. Bots also seem to auto-surrender at around the 4:57 to 4:59 mark, according to a Reddit user.