Pokémon GO

[Blitz]

Congrats! That level 40 looks great one you. How did you manage to level up so quickly? (Yes, I find it quickly. I'm barely level 34 haha.)

Thank you! I mostly go to college which is a Pidgey nest basically. After the first double exp event I realized I had to stock up on candy so that's what I did until the Eggstravaganza. I ended up with over 12000 Pidgey candy, 10000 Rattata candy, and thousands of other assorted candies and mass evo'd my way through the event. 7 mill exp. I did the rest slowly after that and it worked out in the end.

My advice to people who want to grind is to just hoard candies and dedicate a lot of time afterwards. Patience rewarded me in spades, but it took hours and hours of mass evolving just to get up there. Find nests of the 12 candy mons (Caterpie Weedle and Pidgey) and abuse them, throw the Pinap, w/e. It really makes a difference. The end goal is realistically level 38, which is only 12 million exp instead of 20 million exp.

 

[jireh the provider]

Though I started playing this game last year during Christmas, I had been restricted to Wi-fi hot spots by the malls and parks only because I never knew how to use Mobile data. Hence, I had not learned the game's possible potential.

But in the past 2 days, I finally learned how to get and use Mobile Data at SM Mall of Asia, one of the biggest Malls in Southeast Asia but biggest in my country, I can really see now just how "experimental" this App really is. But, do you know "WHAT" seriously irks and bothers me all this time? Even back in the day, they overhyped a new tech which I have been interpreting as a young experimental technology not yet ready for mass consumption.

You know what? I was quite right that I did not HYPE Pokemon Go ever since its heyday only because I encountered Ingress first as the first big AR based Game that is still proving the potential of this field of gaming genre. Also, I interpreted Niantic being a rookie in the field of game designing and development before the hype of Pokemon Go, so I knew that they are likely to get raped by angry and justified fans for their lack of ability to deal with communication with people. Possibly they are one of the most introverted companies so far in this field. We burned their works, raped it with fire some more, tortured their calculative minds, and humiliated them beyond the aethers of rage because of their massive company rookie mistakes. I still think they deserve the fail but ALMOST EVERY COMMUNITY OF POKEMON (LIKE 95%) just demonized them forever. I hate the company but I pity them for the excessive rage they tanked when they had been still trying to overcome their mistakes. You know what I see on the company's emotions right now?

A defeated and spiritually dead company because of fans. What a lovely and pitiful tragedy that makes such an amazing poem. Even if the app was still popular today, those fans that raged so much heavily reminded me of fans that hated EA forever because those select few fans that loved a certain subsidiary company that made a certain game that EA kicked out. They carried that grudge forever. Cal me an apologist but I believe they got overdosed with too much rage hate than justified criticisms only because they may had not known how to make a introverted company be willing to talk.

 

[Blitz]

Why only level 38? I thought you can only raise Pokémon up 1.5 levels past yours, so wouldn't that mean level 39?

Guys! Guess what I caught today!
http://imgur.com/a/Z8P6l

The Pokemon Level cap is level 39, client-side. Server-side the cap is level 40 but Niantic seems to have miscoded it or something. When you get to level 38, if you have a maxed out Pokemon from level 37 (Level 38.5), upon powering it up once (to level 39), the power up button disappears.

The only way to get your Pokemon to level 40 is using multiple devices or using the (now defunct) triple tap glitch.

 

[Blitz]

Personally I find all types of Potions useful, it means I waste less Max Potions when going on a serious (no stops) gym run. I've always wanted Niantic to implement an option you can pick per day - "Adventurer" or "Battler" where the drops are adjusted accordingly for that given day.

A Hyper Potion is definitely enough for Blissey provided you are on point with dodging (as you should be). Snorlax is honestly nothing in this metagame with the advent of the pink blob + the power creep of moves, every other common defender dies in 2 seconds.

 

[Blitz]

(Not gonna speak on Attacking prowess as I'm well aware of what Blissey / Snorlax bring to the table in that department and they are good)

Snorlax is still the #2 defender in the game, I won't deny, but sans Body Slam (which is legacy!), it isn't that threatening in higher level play. The dodged Hyper Beam will dent but Lick is garbage and Zen is meh as a defensive move. Your points are valid but Blissey gets more damage straight up bc of how long it lasts, and players generally have to be more on point in comparison to Lax. IMO after Blissey, I am more scared of Hydro Pump, Stone Edge, and 3 bar charge moves (Body Slam, Aqua Tail, Dragon Claw, Crunch) than I am of an individual Snorlax.

 

[phalanx]

Rhydon has only the single charge bar attacks as well, meaning you know how long you can go before dodging. the thing with ZH is it beats Machamp, and 3 bar moves can get spammed. my ZH/BS Snorlax has 4 battles won.

 

[Blitz]

Attacking on Offense =/= Attacking on Defense. They are distinct because of how defenders behave (which is why Lick Snorlax is a good offensive tank but a garbage defender).

Rhyhorn isn't common for everyone rofl. This is completely dependent on biome. Go to California, Rhydon is on every gym because of easy it is to access Rhyhorn. Go to Florida (where I live), and Gyarados is on every gym because of the ubiquity of Magikarp. People will use what they can access, and I can tell you straight up that I have ~30 Gyarados that are holding gyms right now despite the candy cost. Why? Because of how common Magikarp is. Meanwhile, I have 1 good Rhydon and (before Adventure Week) less than 50 caught Rhyhorn. You can see this distribution with gyms in California having significantly less Gyarados/more Rhydon compared to gyms in Florida and gyms in Florida having significantly less Rhydon/more Gyarados compared to gyms in California. Point being your comment isn't universal.

Snorlax is miles inferior to Blissey in every aspect, and I can tell you defender Snorlax gets less damage consistently on every single one of my attackers compared to Blissey because of the latter's tanking ability. A Lax of the same level as a Bliss (say, 30) will not fire a single Hyper Beam while the Bliss will do at least two, and it's clear who does the most damage. Dazzling Gleam makes Blissey even more scary to deal with (esp bc it hits its counters with "STAB") as well. Snorlax's best defensive set is truly Zen / Body Slam as a result but this is unfortunately 1) legacy and 2) affected by the power creep of moves murdering Snorlax faster.

 

[Blitz]

STAB = Super Effective in this game, since you seem to ignore that fact. They yield the same damage multiplier (1.25x). This changes matchups because Heavy Slam (for example) is inferior to Body Slam on most occasions and thus Dragonite has a closer matchup to Tyranitar than you think.

Faster phones yield the Body Slam message 4x in a row (e.g. my phone) which can be consistently dodged so long as you're not using a charge move (which is where Body Slam's output shines), most Lax won't pull off that many by the time you kill them: Beginner Lax have the advantage bc they don't get smacked by 2 Outrages, 3 Dragon Claws, or a Stone Edge while coming in.

Most of this is kind of moot if you go in groups given no Pokemon will get an attack off but o well.

 

[jireh the provider]

While I find the current debate nice to read, apparently for a player like me at level 15, I'm not exactly sure when can I start getting Gyms? Long story short, I'm getting body bagged.

 

[breh]

While I find the current debate nice to read, apparently for a player like me at level 15, I'm not exactly sure when can I start getting Gyms? Long story short, I'm getting body bagged.

Since you're at a fairly low level, catch pretty much everything and keep as many candies for pokemon, especially (but not exclusively) those with 12 or 25 candy evolutions, whose evolutionary lines you have filled out (although you should probably avoid wasting the candy of valuable species; anything in this list is useful to some extent: https://pokemongo.gamepress.gg/gym-attackers-tier-list). Once you get around 70+ pokemon that you can evolve, use a Lucky Egg and keep evolving stuff in the 30 minutes until it runs out.

The higher your level, the easier doing anything gym-related will be. Although I'm not really sure how taking down Blissey works at low trainer levels (without incredible dodging? idk), pretty much everything else can be drudged through. After you get a couple solid Vaporeon, consider also getting a few good Electric types (Jolteon is the strongest, but things like Raichu and Lanturn will work) just to go up against Gyarados. Attacking Pokemon like Rhydon and Gyarados that have prominent quad weaks might allow you to raise the exp of low-level gyms on your team enough to raise their level and put one of your own mons in.

Putting in your own stuff means more coins, which means more incubators (you probably shouldn't purchase the lucky eggs with coins, as you get a fairly stable supply from level-ups and they don't really give you shots at better Pokemon). More incubators means more shots at high IV and high value Pokemon. Be sure to only use your limited use incubators on 10k eggs. Similarly, try to save your 10k eggs until you get a limited-use incubator to put them in.

Make sure to do at least one stop a day + catch at least one mon a day. This isn't too important, but it it's free exp and makes keeping your stardust high (you'll need it, eventually) easier in the future.

Keep an eye out on the silph atlas (here: https://thesilphroad.com/atlas ) for useful nests in your area.

Oh, and make sure to always curve every ball. It's a lot easier than the straight throw once you get used to it and also ups catch rate.

 

[jireh the provider]

Welp, I think I sense some valor in those comments, while appreciated, I'm in for a long healthy walk program only because finding eevee is HARD! I only have one because I had been budy walking my Starter Bulbasaur for it has great stats and a very strong move (cue the coach). Should I consider switching buddies with my eevee now? Or keep working on my bulbasaur? Seriously, I hadn't found a single bulbasaur yet, eevee? every now then around 2-3 times so far.

Hope I won't suffer heat stroke here in the Philippines. It's VERY HOT in the afternoon until 5 PM. Not the best time to walk huh even if you are equipped for the intense afternoon heat. Hence, the short amount of walking time. Gotta mind safety and avoid suburbs with low class residents. But I do find it fun. Luckily, there is one gym near my place by a church with a Pokestop. All I had been doing so far is hatching eggs like a Mama Blissey.

But, had any of you felt like playing a Mama Blissey simulator if you just hatch lots of eggs?

 

[jireh the provider]

Here are the few Pokemon that I just had in my favorites after getting appraisals from Spark. Fun fact, I got Whitney's Miltank from my first 10K egg hatch and that I got a really great Phanphy fro my egg hatch, plus I only need Charmander left to complete the currently existing 6 starters. Just that my Geodudes are kinda crappy so far in terms of moves. Check it here

Though I learned to use this imgur, should I create a account here? Or is it ok to do it without an account?

 

[sin(pi)]

Here are the few Pokemon that I just had in my favorites after getting appraisals from Spark. Fun fact, I got Whitney's Miltank from my first 10K egg hatch and that I got a really great Phanphy fro my egg hatch, plus I only need Charmander left to complete the currently existing 6 starters. Just that my Geodudes are kinda crappy so far in terms of moves. Check it here

Though I learned to use this imgur, should I create a account here? Or is it ok to do it without an account?

It doesn't matter how good your Geodude's moves are; they will change (randomly) on evolution.
My advice is to get to level 20 ASAP, and not bother with gyms or powering up things until then. You'll find it very difficult to break through gyms without strong (1500CP+) attackers, when most of the stuff in gyms is at least 2000CP. To get to level 20, catch as much as possible, especially Pidgey, Caterpie and Weedle (the 12 candy evos). Most of this advice has been said itt and you can read it better explained on the links people have given, so I won't repeat them.
Also, save your 10km eggs until then. Once you hit level 20, your eggs hatch at level 20 (which is the maximum level for egg hatching). Getting a high IV Larvitar/Dratini will be really useful long term.

 

[sin(pi)]

Max egg is now 30, once you reach level 30, but I agree he should try and go up to 20 before hatching 10 KM bc 20 is realistically close.

Source on this? I'm currently hatching level 20 eggs as a level 27 (2500 candy to power up plus I checked IVs), admittedly I haven't hatched one in a week or so but I couldn't find anything which agrees with what you're saying. I would expect eggs to scale up if what you've said is true.

 

[phalanx]

eggs are capped at 20 even for 30+, I don't see many top end high level pokes now.. I remember collecting my current go to Snorlax, that was a wild catch at 28 (2620 CP i think)

 

[Blitz]

Eggs have always been Pokemon level 20. Don't spread misinformation.

Wild Pokemon cap is Pokemon level 30.

Halved CP reduction starts after Pokemon level 30.

Randomization of IVs / CP / Moves is constant at trainer level 30+

 

[jireh the provider]

Uuuhhhhh. With all of this arguing on-going, just ... to get my understanding clear, most of you would suggest to me that I just hatch my 10K and 5K eggs at lvl.20 with an Active Lucky Egg, right? I only have like one limited incubator with no coins at all. I just reduced the prestige of a nearby gym but not removed it only because I just removed mons that were on the same level as mine in that stage.

 

[breh]

you shouldn't worry too much about hatching eggs while a lucky egg is active. if you can, coordinate it so it happens, but (iirc?) it's only like 1000 free exp per egg, so it's really not that important unless you purchase a buttload of incubators. you can just hatch 10ks at will in the limited / everything else in the infinite for the time being.

 

[Blitz]

^ this lol. Despite disagreements / arguments we're ultimately here to enjoy the game and learn along the way. Definitely follow up on the advice given to ensure good efficiency and soon be able to stack up with gym people.

 

[Blitz]

Well one of the TSR members posted this potential gym rework yesterday. I recommend giving it a read, because it's honestly the most realistic thing Niantic could do while preserving CP (the worst thing in this game). If there's gonna be an announcement, I assume it will tackle the rework, PVP (likely the same as gym battles? You get coins? idk), and legendaries for the summer. Legendaries are likely to be done in irl events in order to nuke spoofers from easily obtaining them, I guess.

Realistically I just want a change of pace. I can't be the only one who, in the periods of "non-event Go", finds himself increasingly bored. All I do now is gyms, but spicing it up would be awesome.

 

[phalanx]

given the new adds in London, Goldeens everywhere and red team win.

 

[phalanx]

I have claimed for 13 for 3 days in a row, I would rather the pokemon be in the gym then have to go put them back in again though.

 

[Fluke]

I barely play anymore. I just have the game on when I travel. Finally got enough candy today to evolve my 90%(?) Pupitar into a Tyranitar.

Guess what? Iron Tail + Fire Blast. Not even one STAB move.

why. **** why.

A move tutor sort of thing has to come. Otherwise everything I spent on Pokémon with good IVs (which is a lot) is just completely wasted because of shitty movesets.

 

[phalanx]

my 100% dragonite sits on top of gyms only because it is 100%.. with its steel wing/dragon Pulse Moveset -_-,

these are what I expect when I do some evolving tomorrow

Dragonite, (100%er again) Steel wing/ hyperbeam or Hurricane

Alakazam, Psycho cut/Focus Blast

Ampharos, Charge beam/focus Blast

Feraligatr, Bite/crunch

My Ttar also has Iron Tail, Fire Blast

 

[breh]

I don't think steel wing is as bad as you'd imagine, since it at least hits (some) ice mons for SE == STAB. In general for the high CP mons I do agree that all that matters is their CP anyway

And phalanx if you get that charge beam / fb ampharos, it can join my volt switch / fb one lol

I finally expanded my storage and I'm now trying to make enough space out of my living dex (i.e. deleting easy to find evos of shitmons like ariados, granbull, etc.) to make room for 80 mons to evolve. I have 3 lucky eggs to waste, which can probably jump me to about level 31.

e: it seems that some 5k shitmons have been removed from eggs (tentacool, sandshrew, paras, psyduck, natu, and wooper (which I think was 2k? idr)) and dratini / pineco have moved up a rarity tier, which kind of sucks. it's going to be a very big struggle for me to get dnite now lol