Pokemon Sword and Shield – How to Refresh Stamps to Find More Raids

Pokemon Sword and Shield’s online features are a bit confusing. The game offers some robust multiplayer options, but the way it manages them will leave many scratching their heads. While connecting with your friends isn’t too difficult, most of the time, it can be a total chore finding random people to join up with for raids and other online activities. This is all done through stamps, one of the lesser explained elements of the game. So here’s some tips for how to refresh stamps to find more raids in Pokemon Sword and Shield.

How to Refresh Stamps

First off, you need to understand the two methods of multiplayer in Sword and Shield. By default you’ll be on Local Connection, looking for nearby players to connect with. By hitting Y you will get into the online menu, and by pressing Plus you will switch to the internet for connectivity. This is the essential first step to getting more stamps, which are how players reach out to each other. Once you connect to the internet, your stamps will be displayed on the right. They should auto fill somewhat, and pressing right then X might refresh them. However, the game likes to not offer this as much as players will surely want, so you need to use some tricks.

Once you connect to the internet, if there’s no stamps offered to you you can force it somewhat by starting a Surprise Trade. Select this option from the menu, and follow the prompts. If you don’t want to actually trade, you can cancel quickly after. But setting this up should either refresh your stamps or let you do so manually once you press right on the Y menu. Once you have a set of stamps you can scroll through them for whatever you want. Most will want raids, so keep reading for more tips on that.

How to Find More Raids

Once you have a large set of stamps you can scroll through all of them looking for something interesting, or you can take direct control. At the bottom of the Y menu is a search option. Select this and choose Max Raid Battles to filter the list down to just stamps about raids. You can filter further, if you wish, but this should limit the stamps menu to just the pertinent ones. Scroll through them, hitting X to refresh if it’s been a while, and you should see some nice raid options. Choose one you like and join to battle the huge Pokemon.

And that’s how to refresh stamps to find more raids in Pokemon Sword and Shield.