Ways to Earn Stardust in Pokémon GO: Unlocking the Galaxy’s Secrets
Stardust, the valuable stardust that powers Pokémon, is essential to your success in Pokémon GO. Whether you’ve been playing since the beginning or just getting started, you know how important Stardust is. Without it, you can’t power up your Pokémon, making it difficult to succeed in raids, PvP battles, and fighting against Team GO Rocket. Just unlocking a second attack for a legendary Pokémon requires a whopping 100,000 Stardust.
Of course, the main way to earn Stardust is by catching Pokémon, and some species even reward you with extra Stardust! You can read more about it in our previous guide. However, there are other ways to earn Stardust besides catching Pokémon. Prepare your Stardust and follow this guide to unlock the secrets of the galaxy.
Feeding Berries in Gyms
Remember those Pokémon that defend gyms for hours or even days? They can bring you some gains. Although gains, in this case, means Stardust and some of the trainers’ Pokémon from your team.
If you have Pokémon defending gyms, you can feed them berries to increase their motivation. In return, you’ll receive Stardust as a bonus. If you’re lucky, you might even get some candy from the trainer whose Pokémon you’re feeding! You can have up to 20 Pokémon in gyms and feed them from a distance. This “lucky” feeding can give you up to 30 Stardust per berry, which increases to 45 with a Star Piece activated.
We know it might seem like a small amount, but think about it: you can feed each Pokémon 10 berries. But don’t use Golden Razz Berries, as you won’t be able to feed them more later. This means you can earn up to 450 Stardust per Pokémon (with a Star Piece activated). Now imagine a full gym, with 6 Pokémon. That’s a total of 2,700 Stardust for one feeding.
Moreover, you can feed berries to any gym of your team, even if you don’t have a Pokémon there. You just need to be within range of the gym. If you find yourself on a route with multiple gyms in your color, you can earn a lot of Stardust.
So, use this strategy, earn a significant amount of Stardust, and get rid of those Nanab berries that no one cares about.
Opening Gifts
Did you know that your friends can also give you Stardust?
By opening gifts, with a limit of 20 per day – except for some special occasions – you can earn up to 200 Stardust per gift. In one of the recent updates, Niantic allowed opening gifts even with a full backpack. In that case, you’ll receive at least 50 Stardust per gift, guaranteed.
This is an easy way to earn Stardust, and Star Pieces work with Stardust from gifts as well, so you can multiply your rewards – all thanks to your friends.
PvP Battles
We know what you’re thinking, and yes, technically, you need to spend a lot of Stardust to participate in PvP battles. But you can also earn a lot of Stardust!
If you prove to be a skilled PvP player, you can earn a significant amount of Stardust during successful PvP battles.
During certain timed research events, you can even battle with a 10 CP Magikarp, lose the battle, and earn a substantial amount of Stardust.
At the end of each season, you’ll receive a substantial amount of Stardust. Just remember to activate a Star Piece before entering the PvP tab in the menu, and it will work!
Team Leaders and Team GO Rocket
Fighting other people doesn’t have to mean fighting other players. You can also battle against independent characters like Team Leaders and Team GO Rocket.
In the menu, go to the Battle tab and scroll down until you find the Training section. There, you can challenge the three Team Leaders: Blanche, Candela, and Spark. Choose the leader you want to defeat and the battle type.
After each battle, you’ll be rewarded with a certain amount of Stardust, but the amount may vary:
Great League
300-600 Stardust
Ultra League
400-800 Stardust
Master League
500-1000 Stardust
Members of Team GO Rocket will also reward you with Stardust. Grunts will give you 500 Stardust, and leaders will give you up to 1000.
Hatching Eggs
Making significant steps will accumulate Stardust. Do you know how? Through two simple ways! The first one is hatching eggs.
The amount of Stardust you receive depends on the type of egg you hatch. Currently, 12km eggs give the most Stardust. So take advantage of events that double or triple the amount of Stardust you earn from hatching eggs.
Adventure Sync Rewards
The second way to earn a large amount of Stardust is through Adventure Sync rewards. Walk. Walk a lot! And on the following Monday, see how much Stardust you can earn.
The amount depends on the kilometers you’ve traveled in the previous week. The more you’ve traveled, the more you’ll earn.
The reward for 100 km is the same as for completing 50 km, but there’s an extra dose of Stardust!
You can receive a guaranteed 16,000 Stardust for a distance of 100 km. With a Star Piece activated, you can earn up to 24,000 Stardust at once! For 50 km, it’s 6,000 basic Stardust.
This practical chart shows how much you need to walk to achieve each of the fitness goals mentioned above: