recovered my lost account of 8.5 years to also say thanks. impeccably informative and fun guide. efforts like this are hard to come by on the internet but so, so, so incredibly valuable. many people do not register new accounts or recover lost accounts just to express gratitude--it's the way the internet is, naturally--but it deserves to be said that something of this quality does not go unnoticed by the silent majority. it may have been a while since the last post but i will ensure i get notified if this gets updated for future temples. keep up the good work
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Let's Play! Guardian Signs: Wireless missions done solo
- Thread starter WarriorGallade
- Start date
Welcome back everyone! After ages, this guide finally sees an update. Can you believe it's been nearly seven months since the last post...? Ouch, that's a sharp drop off from the intended biweekly schedule I wanted to keep when I started, but hey, better late than never!
So, why has it taken this long for any news? I've lost a lot of motivation to keep this going due to real life keeping me busy, and have barely had time to play the game over the past few months, outside of charting the maps for this mission pair over today/yesterday. It's surprising how much I seem to have forgotten about various details about this. Doom and gloom aside, I also don't want to abandon this halfway, given the effort that's gone into it so far, so I'll do my best to keep at it until it's finished, slow as the pace might be.
The encouraging messages you guys have posted have also helped me, and I do appreciate that! It's glad to know that this is helpful to you ^^
Anyway, formalities out, back to mission briefings!
- Claydol can be replaced by Bronzong
- Bronzor can be replaced by Pachirisu or Natu.
- Skarmory can be replaced by Staraptor
- Manectric in the small chambers can be replaced by 2 Voltorb
- Togepi can occasionally appear at the end of the snaking pathway.
- Possibly more that I've not catalogued (this will be a recurring theme)
Map:
Map legend is the same as the previous post, but reposted below for clarity:
Well, that's a large map, huh? Certainly, it's not like large maps will go away for a while. Every mission after this will also have similarly large, if not larger maps. Fun!
Yeah, remember how I said I was level 34 when I cleared Metagross? I was level 47 with 100 power and a 5/5/5 Piplup by the time I was able to clear this (with a C rank at that). This is a terrible, terrible mission that was clearly not designed for a solo player.
Having invested a chunk of my AP into Piplup, I was reluctant to max out another partner but decided on Typhlosion since it was so dominating through the Abomasnow fight. However, this wasn't a good thing as you'll soon see. You need to capture 4 Starly for this mission, and their positions around the stage force you to backtrack a lot. The first two Starly are incidental, you'll always encounter them. The last two are scattered across a spiral-shaped maze later in the stage, and will need considerable running around to encounter.
Anyway, speaking of levels. There's another reason I wanted to wait on finishing this mission's writeup (this reason has ceased to mean anything - it was accurate four months ago), and that's because I wanted to give it a go at the maximum level of 99 to see if it was any easier. Unfortunately as you'll soon read, that was not the case. But back to the main topic...
Your first room sees you in a medium-sized branching pathway. You would prefer that Pachirisu or Natu be visible here, but it's not too bad if Bronzor's here. You will also see a defense powerup guarded by a Manectric in this room. This powerup is one of few where it's certainly a dilemma - do you take it, or not? If you're at a lower level and are having game overs due to running out of energy on prior clears, collect it. However, if you want to increase your chances of a high rank (or clearing the mission at all), avoid it because time is just that constrained. Some opponents in this mission can put up a struggle in both energy and time, so be warned.
Now, move onward. and navigate the snake shaped pathway. First, head right along this path and take the teleporter. This will take you to the first Starly of this mission, which is an extremely easy capture. Go back to the snake pathway, this time north, and head for the switch at the other end to clear a path forward. Don't claim any of the battery powerups here - the mission is far too early to need them, even if you were hit by some attacks before. Here, you might have checked the map and noticed that there's a Pokemon on the switch! Normally you'd be forced into capture to activate the switch, but if you got the Pachirisu or Natu variant here, you can, with precise positioning, activate the switch without engaging combat with them. Pachirisu especially has a tendency to move more than the other two, so it's easier to direct out of the way, and (I think) Natu stays still. However, we can't rely on consistent movement with Bronzor because its idle animation sways it back and forth while not moving it off the switch, and this takes away any of the leeway you may've had with the other Pokemon, thus forcing a capture. It's not like Bronzor, or any of the trio is a hard battle, but with this mission every second is quite vital. It's a bit finicky, but even a few seconds saved in waiting for them to launch an attack (and thereby not move for a brief period) can save you the excess lost in a capture. Now, head north again.
You will now enter a large hub room of sorts, which'll see somewhat frequent returns. Let's cover the ring road aspect of it first. From your start point, heading right, you will find your second Starly in the corner. Head upward, you will be greeted by a pair of teleporters. But before you proceed, consider whether you want to head downward to the center pathway first.
The center pathway will be guarded by one Staraptor/Skarmory on each side, that launch twisters with their wings. Most notably, these twisters will only ever hit you if you go down the central path - the birds will never specifically target you like the other Pokemon so far. These twisters will knock you back in the direction you came - there's no way to cheese these for a boost unlike other knockbacks. As such, try to minimize the amount of times you go to the center area, because it can take upwards of 6 seconds to get the timing just right. But why go there early? Well, two very important things there may justify the challenge - an attack powerup and an assist powerup! Both of them will give you quite the offensive in captures, and given some of the Pokemon you'll invariably run into, it's certainly an advantage in spades. But is it truly worth the risk of being stuck in twister limbo from the birds for a while if you get lucky? My opinion: Yes when you're starting this mission early on, the power boost is vital. Later on, you will still appreciate power, but every second tries to be optimized, and this is one that falls with such optimization.
Anyway, after you did/didn't take the powerup, head to the north of the room and take the RIGHT teleporter first. This puts you into a really large chamber, that contains either a bad enemy (Bronzong) or a terrible one (Claydol) scattered around various points. They will chase and attack you on sight, and will more often than not force you into a capture. Their range of vision is somewhat limited, so it is technically possible to evade battle, but quite difficult given that you're dealing with narrow pathways, and that if the Bronzong/Claydol is in the center of them, there's not really a way to avoid them other than hoping they turn to a side. You will also not be able to outrun them - for ancient guardians they are impressively fast and can keep up with running speed quite decently. Where's the speed powerup when we need it, huh?
Here, there are some variations that are actively rigged against you. The real kicker is Bronzong vs Claydol. As a prior post by Punchshroom has mentioned, the Claydol version is by far the worse of the two. But how different could they be? It's time for a...
Miniboss spotlight:
Both Claydol and Bronzong can teleport across the field at points during their battle, often immediately after performing an attack.
Claydol:
!: Claydol launches a barrage of psychic orbs in the broad area it's facing, that sweep outward covering a bit more than a semicircle's radius. It is not possible to draw a loop around this.
!!: Claydol launches 3 psychic orbs from its center that orbit it as they fly outwards. After two cycles of out-in, the orbs fade, and this takes about 3-4 seconds to fully fade. It is possible to draw a loop a round this
!!!: Same as !! except the orbs lock on to the location where Claydol was upon using that move - so Claydol is capable of teleporting or moving elsewhere while this attack lingers on the field. They also fade after the same time. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
Now, being a Ground type also means that Claydol's weak to the same types as the boss Gliscor up ahead, which is good because it's the only leeway you'll get in terms of being able to reuse and plan assists. While it is possible to draw loops around both !! and !!!, the psychic orbs will break any loop chain you have ongoing if you don't take your stylus off the screen. Claydol being able to teleport while !!! is active further makes this challenging, even though it fades away soon, because it restricts most close range assists from being useful here, limited to attack downtime or when ! is used. It's also got quite a bit of HP for this point in the game, and is all around just designed to waste your time (remember, if you run out of time in here, it's an automatic game over).
Bronzong:
!: Bronzong launches a medium sized iron ball in the direction it's facing. This orb will slowly travel in a straight line to the edge of the screen. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
!!: Bronzong launches 6 waves of psychic orbs (3 at a time) each staggered after about 0.33 seconds, in the direction it's facing - each isn't exactly the same direction. It is not possible to draw a loop around this.
!!!: Bronzong launches 2 waves of psychic orbs (5 at a time), each staggered after about 0.5 seconds, covering a wide area in the direction it's facing. It is not possible to draw a loop around this.
Bronzong will always sway back and forth for a second or two after telegraphing an attack. This gives you a bit more time to squeeze a few more loops in. While Bronzong's HP pool is pretty similar to Claydol's, the large difference compared to it is that Bronzong's attacks simply don't waste your time that much. Even as a Steel type, which will likely resist your assist's type, any assist is useful because Bronzong has more easily exploitable blind spots to place your assist Pokemon - especially close range ones like Typhlosion will melt through Bronzong's HP. The few seconds you get extra as well as no persistent attacks are what make this capture much easier...but it still eats up at least 10 seconds of your time, if not more. If you're forced into battles with all 5 of them, that's maybe a minute off, and with how limited time is in this mission, that's not ideal. Still, it is the lesser of two evils here.
My best run here was avoiding 3/5 Bronzong and being forced to capture only the remaining two. Still, this was nowhere near the margin needed to S-rank this. For your own sanity, do not grind AP against these two Pokemon. The next mission will have many, many easier AP targets. Running before they catch you is the best option here.
Anyway, back to briefing. You must alternate between the left and right paths, as each of them has a switch at the end that unlocks a part of the other. Start right, then left, then right, and so on. This is part of why the mission is not designed for solo play, as all the back and forth travel eats into your time very heavily. In turn, this is also why it's so hard to avoid all the Claydol/Bronzong. You can avoid them once, twice, maybe thrice. But can you do it over 10 times given all the times you pass by them? Probably not. A 4 player party would be really adept at clearing this mission at breakneck pace - but alas I do not have 8 hands...or do I? Well, not for now at least.
Keep at the switch activating with each round trip, and as you do so you'll notice that time runs perilously low, even if you avoided the Claydol/Bronzong. After enough back and forth-ing, you'll find the third Starly here. But watch out, it's agitated and will fire twisters at you! This is particularly troublesome because it's near another of the switches you need to stand on, and these twisters can knock you off it, so just capture Starly first. Step on the switch and loop back around to the left, getting your fourth Starly - and make sure to step on the switch nearby. Yes, even though the clear condition's met, we aren't done yet. Now you'll be presented with a choice - head back for another round trip to access the new path, or go to the new teleporter that's now accessible?
Do not head back the way you came after capturing the fourth Starly. Instead, head to the teleporter. This takes you to a small room filled with either 1 Manectric or 2 Voltorb, both of whom will fire electricty or explode at you. It's worth being careful navigating these, as the Voltorb variant in particular can chain combo you a few times, costing precious seconds. In this room you will find two time powerups worth 120 seconds in total. Grab them and head to the teleporter you didn't enter from.
This will place you on the same platform as the Staraptor/Skarmory from earlier. If you wanted to get their slates and have the time, this is a reasonable place to try capture them. Otherwise, step on the switch and head back onto the hub area. Now, it is imperative that you don't go for the boss door just yet. Head back into the left teleporter, navigate all the way to the end of the maze, and step on the newly unlocked teleporter from the last switch you pressed in this room. This will take you to another small room similar to the last one with another 120 seconds worth of time. Grab these, head to the exit, and you will be on the other Staraptor/Skarmory platform. Now, head to the boss door, grabbing the battery refills if you need them, and the power/partner powerups even if you don't need them. Anyway, dash forth into the zone of magnets to take on Magnezone himself.
Boss:
!: Magnezone launches a Discharge of electric current in all directions around it. After agitation, Magnezone can use this attack unprovoked while moving, and has a tendency to make sharp turns. It is very difficult to draw a loop around this, and you'll likely only manage doing so as the attack starts or is about to end, and not during it.
!!: Magnezone launches a Zap Cannon in an arc in its line of sight, that lingers on the floor for a few seconds. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
!!!: Magnezone summons two balls of electricity that hover around it. It is extremely difficult to draw a loop around this.
Partner choice: Yeah, this one's a doozy. AP will still be a bit scarce on your first time through to max out partners, so stick with Piplup. Alternatively if you'd like a more positive type matchup, go with a beam-type fire assist like Magmar or Flareon at the cost of any secondary effect. Given Bronzong's passivity, you might be tempted to just go all-in with a close range fire assist like Typhlosion, and it's plenty cathartic to watch it demolish the steel bells with startling speed. However, do not actually bring Typhlosion to this stage in large part because of its matchup with the stage boss. Magnezone's electric balls have just enough range to render this badger without a badge - striking it more often than not. To get some use out of Typhlosion you'll have to get very lucky. So now there's no arr to say, for there are no pirates here.
If you want to try capturing more Pokemon here (this stage is technically the easiest way to get Staravia/Staraptor and Claydol), you might want to consider another partner. The problem here is that the combination of Flying and Steel on their own renders most assist hitting neutral at best. Still, I can also recommend Lucario for this, particularly when you've enough AP to max it out because it can amp up damage pretty quickly, and while it's assist does not have the best range, the slowing effect can be what you need to de-magnetize Magnezone for just the right time.
You might have noticed I mentioned Gliscor (and sensed a pattern here. Assuming you ignore the Claydol variant, both Magnezone and Bronzong are weak to Ground, so a Ground assist seems like it'd be great? Well, that's the thing - yes and no. Magnezone's behaviors are quite different from Bronzong, so despite the shared weakness, you can't effectively use those assists as other types. What do I mean?
Sandslash is one you might be drawn to particularly because of its range and how Magnezone being an agile Pokemon (yes, 60 base speed is agile now. Welcome to the Empoleon school now, apparently. It somehow has more students, as you'll see in the next mission). Sandslash launches mud bombs across the field, (one bomb per level) that linger for a short time. If Magnezone rushes into multiple, it'll take heavy damage, especially if it moves in and out of the mud. Alas, given its erratic trajectory you will be hard pressed to aim Sandslash right, but it's still got use. Not so for Bronzong - its slow movement means Sandslash's assist will not deal as much as you hope for.
Now, back to Gliscor. It's nigh impossible to hit Magnezone with the full force of your assist (which is a trident shape of raised rocks in Gliscor's facing direction) given Magnezone's !! attack dissuading close range attacks. Still, the pausing effect will be helpful especially if it's been a while since Magnezone's last attack - time it just as the orbs fade and you're given a rare chance to blitz the magnetic menace. Even with the stage's provided attack powerup, one blitz will not get you through the full fight, as always due to our old friend, agitation. You will need at least two, but in practice I had to hit it thrice because the more I attempted this, the more the rage of the stage got to me; it simply wasn't fun solo. However, if you've got more people with you, this could make for a very interesting mission to try and blitz through.
S-ranking?:
No :D
This section doesn't really apply for the current mission, so I'll post another few of my observations as I tried clearing it at various points. At level 72, when I chose to formally repeat this mission, I timed myself for capturing each Bronzong if it caught me, avoiding any unneccessary detours, etc. Adding up all this time, as well a really lucky Magnezone split (~35 seconds) put me at around 40 seconds short of an S rank. Tragic! Perhaps I'll have to retry this mission at level 99..? Well, I'll spare you the suspense - after months of grinding on and off, I finally hit level 99, and what did my possibly best attempt with that get me, even with some pretty reasonable routing and hitting only 3 Bronzong along the way? An A rank off S by about 25 seconds - not close by any means unless I could magically avoid ALL the Bronzong. I've even tried experimenting with partners such as Gliscor to amp up the type advantage damage, but Magnezone isn't a Pokemon you can just blitz and be done with, unlike say Weavile. Unfortunate, but remember - all you need is to clear this with a C rank and it's out of the way! (unless you really like Magnezone and want its slate, in which case I have no more guidelines for a solo player :D
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Variations:
- Golem can be replaced by Hippowdon
- Manectric can be replaced by Raichu
- Jolteon and/or Delibird can occasionally show up at the bottom of the final chamber.
- Hippowdon/Golem can occasionally replace Manectric in the final chamber.
- Cranidos (in the mini chambers, can be replaced by Luxio or Beldum)
- Rampardos can be replaced by Luxray.
- And more, possibly others, that I've not catalogued.
Map:
So, this boss is a lovely, lovely breath of fresh air compared to how irksome Magnezone was. So is the mission! I find this one plenty of fun too, given how often I returned to it.
This mission will be the first of two to feature randomized paths! Well, they're not completely random, but they do force you to pay more attention to your surroundings. This time, your goal is to capture 4 Porygon-Z. They're not quite miniboss level, but can put up a good fight, so be prepared. Piplup in particular sees its damage output start to falter by this mission. Note that Porygon-Z can occasionally teleport outside of battle, but not very far. You may end up expending a few seconds trying to catch it, but time's generous here, so it's not an issue.
Of course, that's not without forgetting everyone's favorite electric Pokemon, Luxray. Isn't it the perfect fit for a mission like this? (this is sarcasm, Luxray is the bane of this mission). Without further ado, let's get into it! Electric type, generates field wide discharges, summons a rotating sphere around itself...wait! We've seen this before, haven't we? Yes, Luxray is exactly the same as Ampharos! Not quite Magnezone, but still plenty annoying - welcome back to hell (yet again).
Anyway, one more thing to keep in mind here is the same analogy of the perplexahedron I brought up last post; the correct path forward will be marked by evolved Pokemon. In the case that you somehow find all Pokemon are evolved, the powerup chest's position marks the way...but if there's no powerup, and no real way to tell the three paths apart, try the top path (if you see Manectric), or the bottom path (if you see Raichu). It is very unlikely that the middle pathway will be correct in this situation, from what I remember. However, as you look at the map, you'll notice that there are some merits to taking the longer or incorrect paths, either in the form of powerups or in the form of easy captures for more AP. Time will be generous enough that you can choose to wander a bit, but try to avoid that on your first time through.
AP? Why would I bring this up all of a sudden? Well, this is the moment I've been hinting at in prior posts - this mission will likely be the best spot for you to AP grind for quite a long time. Play all your cards right and you'll be able to score upwards of 1000 AP per clear! Of course, you probably won't be able to hit that number on your first try, but keep at it - familiarity with the layout and knowing how to tell the right path will save you quite a bit more time than you'd expect.
If you pick an incorrect path from the choice of 3, you will be taken to a large square room which has some powerups and/or Pokemon inside. The Pokemon are usually easy enough to avoid if you so wish. Head to the diagonal opposite of this room for a teleporter that takes you back to the start of the choice of 3 you got wrong. Not too much down time, thankfully.
You will know if you picked the correct path by the number of torches you see (in-game) as you reach the fork in the road - it will have one more torch visible. Keeping count helps! It definitely did disorient me a bit until I noticed that difference.
Miniboss spotlight:
Porygon-Z
!: Porygon-Z launches a weak discharge of electricity all around itself. This fades after a few seconds, and it is possible to draw a loop around this.
!!: Porygon-Z launches 4 orbs of electricity that linger on the field in an X shape. These fade after a few seconds, and it is possible to draw a loop around this.
!!!: Porygon-Z launches a Hyper Beam in the direction it's facing. This fades after a few seconds (around 5-6), and it is impossible to draw a loop around this.
There's one notable aspect about Porygon-Z, it's got a reasonable amount of HP (where have we heard that line before?) and as such will take a while to capture unless you've got a Fighting type assist, though I'll go into more detail about that in the partners section. A speed-down effect like Piplup's (reliable as always) is perfect for getting Porygon-Z into a groove slow enough to blitz out a few loops. It is not particularly hard, but if you're not careful here you can lose quite a bit of styler energy, especially if you blitz recklessly.
Now, after you're done capturing two Porygon-Z in each of their three-branched chambers, you'll come across a different fork in the road as you enter a plus-shaped room. This time, there's only one true path ahead (straight), but you should check the chambers at the top and bottom for some time and battery powerups. However, the switches to these doors are guarded by angry Golem/Hippowdown, and it will be very difficult to enter those chambers without being engaged in capture - because as their appearance would imply, they are extremely fast. Yes, it makes amazing sense that Pokemon with below 50 base speed can nearly keep up with the player. It's possible but quite difficult to evade battle if they see you.
Even if you wanted to make the tactical decision to avoid doors to escape these captures, you couldn't (yet). The remaining two Porygon-Z for the clear condition are behind each door, and these two teleport quite a bit more (outside of battle) and are agitated, launching tremors all around themselves, preventing approach. You can actually be knocked back by a Porygon-Z's attack into Golem/Hippowdon range if you escaped it the first time, so this poses somewhat of a threat, even if the actual styler damage is low. The teleporting can also take a few seconds off your time, but you'll initate battle without too much of a hassle hopefully. I debated putting a miniboss segment about them here...actually sure, why not. More miniboss spotlights!
Golem:
!: Golem uses Rock Slide. Bastiodon and Rampardos say hi! (It is identical to theirs)
!!: Golem raises a chi-shaped (curved x) in a line 4 directions around them. These fade after about 2 seconds. It is not possible to draw a loop around this.
!!!: Identical to !!
Hippowdon:
!: Hippowdon raises a tremor in the area around itself. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
!!: Identical to Golem's !!.
!!!: Hippowdon launches a puddle of mud in the direction it's facing. This lingers on the field for about 8 seconds. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
Both Pokemon seem to have reasonably large HP pools, so might be a challenge to beat without a type-advantaged assist. For whatever reason, Golem feels like an easier capture even though its attacks waste more time, and dual type Pokemon don't exist in Ranger. Perhaps it has lower HP, but since I can't measure it, I can't say for sure. Anyway, with Piplup, they aren't too much of an issue to worry about. How is the first Pokemon you obtain this good, so late into the game? The world may never know.
After claiming a capture on all four Porygon-Z, head eastward. Welcome to the same room (but not really). Perhaps you now see a pattern in this mission. Same thing (but still, not really), two Golem/Hippowdon guarding switches. In this room: If you want to collect powerups, go north first. If you accidentally missed any Porygon-Z and want to go back, head east - this will take you back to the first plus-shaped room. After you're done with anything else, head south. As for the Pokemon behind the switches, this time it's Metang, who tends to have a reasonably large HP pool, as well as the usual good defensive type of Steel. This isn't a difficult capture but can feel tedious if you end up repeating this mission often to grind for ranks or AP.
With this, you enter the final chamber which is surprisingly the least labyrinthine of all. If you're grinding for AP, this room is pretty good for it. But regardless, don't head to the boss door just yet. Head south first. If you're lucky, you will find a Delibird here which will give you a very generous 60 AP for the capture! If not, you'll likely find Jolteon here who isn't as generous, but can be a fun capture nonetheless. If neither, well, tough luck. But regardless you'll still get some good powerups here - 2 minutes, 60 battery and a defense boost. When you're ready, take a journey to the east, unlike Sun Wukong. Infernape was unfortunately not a boss here to fit this joke perfectly, so Electivire is the next best thing.
Boss:
!: Electivire looses a series of thunderbolt projectiles in the direction it's facing. It is impossible to draw a loop around this.
!!: Electivire looses 3 waves of thunderbolt projectiles in batches of 3 in the direction it's facing. It is impossible to draw a loop around this.
!!!: Electivire launches 4 gigantic thunderbolts, usually in a vertical diamond pattern centered at the screen. It is impossible to draw a loop around this.
!!!!: Only used after agitation. Electivire generates a Thunder Cage around itself, which damages on contact. This lingers for about 15 seconds, and almost as soon as it ends, Electivire will bring it up again. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
This boss is kinda free if you pack a long range assist? However, if you want to aim for only S ranks that's a slightly different story. On average, at least early on, it will take you at least 1 minute and 20 seconds to snag this wiry beast. So, you'd want to aim at avoiding as many accidental captures during the stage to free up your time.
Now, partners!
You may or may not have noticed this, but Electivire, despite being a somewhat easy boss so far has a few tricks up his sleeve that make your partner choice a bit easier - once he starts using Thunder Cage, close range assists are essentially invalidated. So, if you brought one to this fight, you might be lulled into a false sense of security before he uses that attack (and such assists are useful before then). Electivire is not notably fast, but he's fast enough to the point that, if you can hit him with a close range assist, that Pokemon will almost always be in range of Thunder Cage as he charges around the field. However, if you're insistent on using these, only do so after Electivire telegraphs !! (and nothing else), and place your assist behind Electivire, out of Thunder Cage range. And given this speed limbo Electivire's in, of being fast but not fast enough, a slowing effect is sublime in getting Electivire slow enough to reliably blitz loops.
Piplup is old reliable as always - though this may be one of the last few missions where its power and utility still hold up. Still, it's kinda surprising how the first partner you obtain is this good so late into the missions (how many times have I said this so far lmao). Anyway, Lucario deals some very hefty damage here, and you'd want to actually bring Lucario to this mission often if you have it, because it'll give you great practice on how his assist operates. You'll need careful positioning to get hits in while Thunder Cage is active, while not getting hit in return.
You could as always choose to experiment with Ground type partners like Sandslash, but they will likely have worse matchups against the multiple Porygon-Z or Hippowdon, who don't move around enough to be affected by the assist's mud. I stuck to only Piplup, Lucario and Froslass for this mission, but Froslass had the worst time here out of all three of them, due to being the most close-range.
As for recommended strategies to S-rank this? There's not much to say other than "take a strong Pokemon and rush, rush, rush." Lucario in particular is helpful for S-ranking given how high he can output damage, especially at higher levels. That being said, for you to be able to capture every Pokemon in this mission and still get an S rank, you'll need to be around level 65 or higher, but if you can pull it off and get lucky with Delibird spawn, you can get over 1140 AP per clear - nifty! This will also be about the most AP you can earn for a mission for quite a while, given the effort needed, so in my mind it's the perfect grinding spot. And of course, if you're gunning for that all-elusive level 99, this mission will look even more friendlier :)
Still, It's very worth being content with an A rank early on here - but given that ranks will usually award more than captures, take your pick of whether you want to grind for slates or AP. There aren't any particularly notable slates I've used here, but who knows. The Metang later on are possible to avoid, so if you're low on time, they're the ones to avoid. The Golem/Hippowdon are somewhat harder to avoid, but you can if lucky with where they end up spawning. Finally, as for the electric types. Most will not chase you but rather shoot projectiles, so avoid them too if you want to save time. However, you could be chain combo'd by multiple of them, forcing you to expend a few seconds recovering. Also take note that Cranidos could appear in some of the mini-chambers instead of Luxio or Beldum, and their chasing feels a bit more aggressive.
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What's next?
Now, where are we going to go from here? Regardless of how slow future updates end up being (I probably won't be able to keep the biweekly schedule I had in mind, hopefully not too much longer - but it's hard to give a specific schedule on this) this is the structure I plan to feature for the remainder of the guide, in order, with each bullet point representing a post of its own, with the number in brackets representing how much is complete so far. Hopefully this helps build anticipation and keep y'all posted on what's happening/left to do.
- Assist compendium and a brief write-up of what I noticed in the game's save structure [50%]
- Something odd and mysterious! [0%]
- Dark Temple 1+2 [15%]
- Dark Temple 3+4 [20%]
- Light Temple [Finale] [0%] (the only thing my prior notes on this mission contain is aptly "hahahahahahahahaha". past me must really not have wanted to write anything about this...)
Thank you for staying tuned so far - the encouragement does mean a lot to me :D
Look forward to the next part, which may very well have some surprising info for you!
So, why has it taken this long for any news? I've lost a lot of motivation to keep this going due to real life keeping me busy, and have barely had time to play the game over the past few months, outside of charting the maps for this mission pair over today/yesterday. It's surprising how much I seem to have forgotten about various details about this. Doom and gloom aside, I also don't want to abandon this halfway, given the effort that's gone into it so far, so I'll do my best to keep at it until it's finished, slow as the pace might be.
The encouraging messages you guys have posted have also helped me, and I do appreciate that! It's glad to know that this is helpful to you ^^
Anyway, formalities out, back to mission briefings!
Mission 17: A Shock Everywhere You Turn
Objective: Capture 4 Starly
Boss: Magnezone
Variations:Objective: Capture 4 Starly
Boss: Magnezone
- Claydol can be replaced by Bronzong
- Bronzor can be replaced by Pachirisu or Natu.
- Skarmory can be replaced by Staraptor
- Manectric in the small chambers can be replaced by 2 Voltorb
- Togepi can occasionally appear at the end of the snaking pathway.
- Possibly more that I've not catalogued (this will be a recurring theme)
Map:
Map legend is the same as the previous post, but reposted below for clarity:
Map legend:
Blue tile: You start the mission on this square.
Red tile: You must complete the mission's condition to step on it. Takes you to the boss room.
Green tile: Teleports you to a specific location on the map.
Yellow tile: Stand on this tile to make a bridge (connected to this tile) appear. Tiles that need multiple players to activate will have a red dot, and are unusable during a solo run.
Orange circle: The Pokemon is angry, and will chase you on sight.
Brown circle: The Pokemon is angry, and will launch projectiles at you on sight (but not chase you).
Purple circle: The Pokemon is scared, and will run away from you on sight.
Powerups:
View attachment 645350 Icons like this one give you extra time. The number represents how many seconds are gained upon collecting one.
View attachment 645351 Icons like this one give your styler extra energy. The number represents how much energy is gained upon collecting one.
View attachment 645354 This icon increases your styler's power by 20% when collected.
View attachment 645355 This icon increases your partner's assist power by 20% when collected.
View attachment 645352 This icon reduces the damage your styler takes by 33% rounded down (I think? somehow my notes don't mention this but I did experiment with this during the Vespiquen mission) when collected, but will not lower a damage of 1 down to 0.
View attachment 645353 This icon increases your movement speed in the overworld when collected.
Blue tile: You start the mission on this square.
Red tile: You must complete the mission's condition to step on it. Takes you to the boss room.
Green tile: Teleports you to a specific location on the map.
Yellow tile: Stand on this tile to make a bridge (connected to this tile) appear. Tiles that need multiple players to activate will have a red dot, and are unusable during a solo run.
Orange circle: The Pokemon is angry, and will chase you on sight.
Brown circle: The Pokemon is angry, and will launch projectiles at you on sight (but not chase you).
Purple circle: The Pokemon is scared, and will run away from you on sight.
Powerups:
View attachment 645350 Icons like this one give you extra time. The number represents how many seconds are gained upon collecting one.
View attachment 645351 Icons like this one give your styler extra energy. The number represents how much energy is gained upon collecting one.
View attachment 645354 This icon increases your styler's power by 20% when collected.
View attachment 645355 This icon increases your partner's assist power by 20% when collected.
View attachment 645352 This icon reduces the damage your styler takes by 33% rounded down (I think? somehow my notes don't mention this but I did experiment with this during the Vespiquen mission) when collected, but will not lower a damage of 1 down to 0.
View attachment 645353 This icon increases your movement speed in the overworld when collected.
Well, that's a large map, huh? Certainly, it's not like large maps will go away for a while. Every mission after this will also have similarly large, if not larger maps. Fun!
Yeah, remember how I said I was level 34 when I cleared Metagross? I was level 47 with 100 power and a 5/5/5 Piplup by the time I was able to clear this (with a C rank at that). This is a terrible, terrible mission that was clearly not designed for a solo player.
Having invested a chunk of my AP into Piplup, I was reluctant to max out another partner but decided on Typhlosion since it was so dominating through the Abomasnow fight. However, this wasn't a good thing as you'll soon see. You need to capture 4 Starly for this mission, and their positions around the stage force you to backtrack a lot. The first two Starly are incidental, you'll always encounter them. The last two are scattered across a spiral-shaped maze later in the stage, and will need considerable running around to encounter.
Anyway, speaking of levels. There's another reason I wanted to wait on finishing this mission's writeup (this reason has ceased to mean anything - it was accurate four months ago), and that's because I wanted to give it a go at the maximum level of 99 to see if it was any easier. Unfortunately as you'll soon read, that was not the case. But back to the main topic...
Your first room sees you in a medium-sized branching pathway. You would prefer that Pachirisu or Natu be visible here, but it's not too bad if Bronzor's here. You will also see a defense powerup guarded by a Manectric in this room. This powerup is one of few where it's certainly a dilemma - do you take it, or not? If you're at a lower level and are having game overs due to running out of energy on prior clears, collect it. However, if you want to increase your chances of a high rank (or clearing the mission at all), avoid it because time is just that constrained. Some opponents in this mission can put up a struggle in both energy and time, so be warned.
Now, move onward. and navigate the snake shaped pathway. First, head right along this path and take the teleporter. This will take you to the first Starly of this mission, which is an extremely easy capture. Go back to the snake pathway, this time north, and head for the switch at the other end to clear a path forward. Don't claim any of the battery powerups here - the mission is far too early to need them, even if you were hit by some attacks before. Here, you might have checked the map and noticed that there's a Pokemon on the switch! Normally you'd be forced into capture to activate the switch, but if you got the Pachirisu or Natu variant here, you can, with precise positioning, activate the switch without engaging combat with them. Pachirisu especially has a tendency to move more than the other two, so it's easier to direct out of the way, and (I think) Natu stays still. However, we can't rely on consistent movement with Bronzor because its idle animation sways it back and forth while not moving it off the switch, and this takes away any of the leeway you may've had with the other Pokemon, thus forcing a capture. It's not like Bronzor, or any of the trio is a hard battle, but with this mission every second is quite vital. It's a bit finicky, but even a few seconds saved in waiting for them to launch an attack (and thereby not move for a brief period) can save you the excess lost in a capture. Now, head north again.
You will now enter a large hub room of sorts, which'll see somewhat frequent returns. Let's cover the ring road aspect of it first. From your start point, heading right, you will find your second Starly in the corner. Head upward, you will be greeted by a pair of teleporters. But before you proceed, consider whether you want to head downward to the center pathway first.
The center pathway will be guarded by one Staraptor/Skarmory on each side, that launch twisters with their wings. Most notably, these twisters will only ever hit you if you go down the central path - the birds will never specifically target you like the other Pokemon so far. These twisters will knock you back in the direction you came - there's no way to cheese these for a boost unlike other knockbacks. As such, try to minimize the amount of times you go to the center area, because it can take upwards of 6 seconds to get the timing just right. But why go there early? Well, two very important things there may justify the challenge - an attack powerup and an assist powerup! Both of them will give you quite the offensive in captures, and given some of the Pokemon you'll invariably run into, it's certainly an advantage in spades. But is it truly worth the risk of being stuck in twister limbo from the birds for a while if you get lucky? My opinion: Yes when you're starting this mission early on, the power boost is vital. Later on, you will still appreciate power, but every second tries to be optimized, and this is one that falls with such optimization.
Anyway, after you did/didn't take the powerup, head to the north of the room and take the RIGHT teleporter first. This puts you into a really large chamber, that contains either a bad enemy (Bronzong) or a terrible one (Claydol) scattered around various points. They will chase and attack you on sight, and will more often than not force you into a capture. Their range of vision is somewhat limited, so it is technically possible to evade battle, but quite difficult given that you're dealing with narrow pathways, and that if the Bronzong/Claydol is in the center of them, there's not really a way to avoid them other than hoping they turn to a side. You will also not be able to outrun them - for ancient guardians they are impressively fast and can keep up with running speed quite decently. Where's the speed powerup when we need it, huh?
Here, there are some variations that are actively rigged against you. The real kicker is Bronzong vs Claydol. As a prior post by Punchshroom has mentioned, the Claydol version is by far the worse of the two. But how different could they be? It's time for a...
Miniboss spotlight:
Both Claydol and Bronzong can teleport across the field at points during their battle, often immediately after performing an attack.
Claydol:
!: Claydol launches a barrage of psychic orbs in the broad area it's facing, that sweep outward covering a bit more than a semicircle's radius. It is not possible to draw a loop around this.
!!: Claydol launches 3 psychic orbs from its center that orbit it as they fly outwards. After two cycles of out-in, the orbs fade, and this takes about 3-4 seconds to fully fade. It is possible to draw a loop a round this
!!!: Same as !! except the orbs lock on to the location where Claydol was upon using that move - so Claydol is capable of teleporting or moving elsewhere while this attack lingers on the field. They also fade after the same time. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
Now, being a Ground type also means that Claydol's weak to the same types as the boss Gliscor up ahead, which is good because it's the only leeway you'll get in terms of being able to reuse and plan assists. While it is possible to draw loops around both !! and !!!, the psychic orbs will break any loop chain you have ongoing if you don't take your stylus off the screen. Claydol being able to teleport while !!! is active further makes this challenging, even though it fades away soon, because it restricts most close range assists from being useful here, limited to attack downtime or when ! is used. It's also got quite a bit of HP for this point in the game, and is all around just designed to waste your time (remember, if you run out of time in here, it's an automatic game over).
Bronzong:
!: Bronzong launches a medium sized iron ball in the direction it's facing. This orb will slowly travel in a straight line to the edge of the screen. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
!!: Bronzong launches 6 waves of psychic orbs (3 at a time) each staggered after about 0.33 seconds, in the direction it's facing - each isn't exactly the same direction. It is not possible to draw a loop around this.
!!!: Bronzong launches 2 waves of psychic orbs (5 at a time), each staggered after about 0.5 seconds, covering a wide area in the direction it's facing. It is not possible to draw a loop around this.
Bronzong will always sway back and forth for a second or two after telegraphing an attack. This gives you a bit more time to squeeze a few more loops in. While Bronzong's HP pool is pretty similar to Claydol's, the large difference compared to it is that Bronzong's attacks simply don't waste your time that much. Even as a Steel type, which will likely resist your assist's type, any assist is useful because Bronzong has more easily exploitable blind spots to place your assist Pokemon - especially close range ones like Typhlosion will melt through Bronzong's HP. The few seconds you get extra as well as no persistent attacks are what make this capture much easier...but it still eats up at least 10 seconds of your time, if not more. If you're forced into battles with all 5 of them, that's maybe a minute off, and with how limited time is in this mission, that's not ideal. Still, it is the lesser of two evils here.
My best run here was avoiding 3/5 Bronzong and being forced to capture only the remaining two. Still, this was nowhere near the margin needed to S-rank this. For your own sanity, do not grind AP against these two Pokemon. The next mission will have many, many easier AP targets. Running before they catch you is the best option here.
Anyway, back to briefing. You must alternate between the left and right paths, as each of them has a switch at the end that unlocks a part of the other. Start right, then left, then right, and so on. This is part of why the mission is not designed for solo play, as all the back and forth travel eats into your time very heavily. In turn, this is also why it's so hard to avoid all the Claydol/Bronzong. You can avoid them once, twice, maybe thrice. But can you do it over 10 times given all the times you pass by them? Probably not. A 4 player party would be really adept at clearing this mission at breakneck pace - but alas I do not have 8 hands...or do I? Well, not for now at least.
Keep at the switch activating with each round trip, and as you do so you'll notice that time runs perilously low, even if you avoided the Claydol/Bronzong. After enough back and forth-ing, you'll find the third Starly here. But watch out, it's agitated and will fire twisters at you! This is particularly troublesome because it's near another of the switches you need to stand on, and these twisters can knock you off it, so just capture Starly first. Step on the switch and loop back around to the left, getting your fourth Starly - and make sure to step on the switch nearby. Yes, even though the clear condition's met, we aren't done yet. Now you'll be presented with a choice - head back for another round trip to access the new path, or go to the new teleporter that's now accessible?
Do not head back the way you came after capturing the fourth Starly. Instead, head to the teleporter. This takes you to a small room filled with either 1 Manectric or 2 Voltorb, both of whom will fire electricty or explode at you. It's worth being careful navigating these, as the Voltorb variant in particular can chain combo you a few times, costing precious seconds. In this room you will find two time powerups worth 120 seconds in total. Grab them and head to the teleporter you didn't enter from.
This will place you on the same platform as the Staraptor/Skarmory from earlier. If you wanted to get their slates and have the time, this is a reasonable place to try capture them. Otherwise, step on the switch and head back onto the hub area. Now, it is imperative that you don't go for the boss door just yet. Head back into the left teleporter, navigate all the way to the end of the maze, and step on the newly unlocked teleporter from the last switch you pressed in this room. This will take you to another small room similar to the last one with another 120 seconds worth of time. Grab these, head to the exit, and you will be on the other Staraptor/Skarmory platform. Now, head to the boss door, grabbing the battery refills if you need them, and the power/partner powerups even if you don't need them. Anyway, dash forth into the zone of magnets to take on Magnezone himself.
Boss:
!: Magnezone launches a Discharge of electric current in all directions around it. After agitation, Magnezone can use this attack unprovoked while moving, and has a tendency to make sharp turns. It is very difficult to draw a loop around this, and you'll likely only manage doing so as the attack starts or is about to end, and not during it.
!!: Magnezone launches a Zap Cannon in an arc in its line of sight, that lingers on the floor for a few seconds. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
!!!: Magnezone summons two balls of electricity that hover around it. It is extremely difficult to draw a loop around this.
Partner choice: Yeah, this one's a doozy. AP will still be a bit scarce on your first time through to max out partners, so stick with Piplup. Alternatively if you'd like a more positive type matchup, go with a beam-type fire assist like Magmar or Flareon at the cost of any secondary effect. Given Bronzong's passivity, you might be tempted to just go all-in with a close range fire assist like Typhlosion, and it's plenty cathartic to watch it demolish the steel bells with startling speed. However, do not actually bring Typhlosion to this stage in large part because of its matchup with the stage boss. Magnezone's electric balls have just enough range to render this badger without a badge - striking it more often than not. To get some use out of Typhlosion you'll have to get very lucky. So now there's no arr to say, for there are no pirates here.
If you want to try capturing more Pokemon here (this stage is technically the easiest way to get Staravia/Staraptor and Claydol), you might want to consider another partner. The problem here is that the combination of Flying and Steel on their own renders most assist hitting neutral at best. Still, I can also recommend Lucario for this, particularly when you've enough AP to max it out because it can amp up damage pretty quickly, and while it's assist does not have the best range, the slowing effect can be what you need to de-magnetize Magnezone for just the right time.
You might have noticed I mentioned Gliscor (and sensed a pattern here. Assuming you ignore the Claydol variant, both Magnezone and Bronzong are weak to Ground, so a Ground assist seems like it'd be great? Well, that's the thing - yes and no. Magnezone's behaviors are quite different from Bronzong, so despite the shared weakness, you can't effectively use those assists as other types. What do I mean?
Sandslash is one you might be drawn to particularly because of its range and how Magnezone being an agile Pokemon (yes, 60 base speed is agile now. Welcome to the Empoleon school now, apparently. It somehow has more students, as you'll see in the next mission). Sandslash launches mud bombs across the field, (one bomb per level) that linger for a short time. If Magnezone rushes into multiple, it'll take heavy damage, especially if it moves in and out of the mud. Alas, given its erratic trajectory you will be hard pressed to aim Sandslash right, but it's still got use. Not so for Bronzong - its slow movement means Sandslash's assist will not deal as much as you hope for.
Now, back to Gliscor. It's nigh impossible to hit Magnezone with the full force of your assist (which is a trident shape of raised rocks in Gliscor's facing direction) given Magnezone's !! attack dissuading close range attacks. Still, the pausing effect will be helpful especially if it's been a while since Magnezone's last attack - time it just as the orbs fade and you're given a rare chance to blitz the magnetic menace. Even with the stage's provided attack powerup, one blitz will not get you through the full fight, as always due to our old friend, agitation. You will need at least two, but in practice I had to hit it thrice because the more I attempted this, the more the rage of the stage got to me; it simply wasn't fun solo. However, if you've got more people with you, this could make for a very interesting mission to try and blitz through.
S-ranking?:
No :D
This section doesn't really apply for the current mission, so I'll post another few of my observations as I tried clearing it at various points. At level 72, when I chose to formally repeat this mission, I timed myself for capturing each Bronzong if it caught me, avoiding any unneccessary detours, etc. Adding up all this time, as well a really lucky Magnezone split (~35 seconds) put me at around 40 seconds short of an S rank. Tragic! Perhaps I'll have to retry this mission at level 99..? Well, I'll spare you the suspense - after months of grinding on and off, I finally hit level 99, and what did my possibly best attempt with that get me, even with some pretty reasonable routing and hitting only 3 Bronzong along the way? An A rank off S by about 25 seconds - not close by any means unless I could magically avoid ALL the Bronzong. I've even tried experimenting with partners such as Gliscor to amp up the type advantage damage, but Magnezone isn't a Pokemon you can just blitz and be done with, unlike say Weavile. Unfortunate, but remember - all you need is to clear this with a C rank and it's out of the way! (unless you really like Magnezone and want its slate, in which case I have no more guidelines for a solo player :D
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Mission 18: Panic at the Perplexing Temple
Objective: Capture 4 Porygon-Z
Boss: Electivire
Objective: Capture 4 Porygon-Z
Boss: Electivire
Variations:
- Golem can be replaced by Hippowdon
- Manectric can be replaced by Raichu
- Jolteon and/or Delibird can occasionally show up at the bottom of the final chamber.
- Hippowdon/Golem can occasionally replace Manectric in the final chamber.
- Cranidos (in the mini chambers, can be replaced by Luxio or Beldum)
- Rampardos can be replaced by Luxray.
- And more, possibly others, that I've not catalogued.
Map:
So, this boss is a lovely, lovely breath of fresh air compared to how irksome Magnezone was. So is the mission! I find this one plenty of fun too, given how often I returned to it.
This mission will be the first of two to feature randomized paths! Well, they're not completely random, but they do force you to pay more attention to your surroundings. This time, your goal is to capture 4 Porygon-Z. They're not quite miniboss level, but can put up a good fight, so be prepared. Piplup in particular sees its damage output start to falter by this mission. Note that Porygon-Z can occasionally teleport outside of battle, but not very far. You may end up expending a few seconds trying to catch it, but time's generous here, so it's not an issue.
Of course, that's not without forgetting everyone's favorite electric Pokemon, Luxray. Isn't it the perfect fit for a mission like this? (this is sarcasm, Luxray is the bane of this mission). Without further ado, let's get into it! Electric type, generates field wide discharges, summons a rotating sphere around itself...wait! We've seen this before, haven't we? Yes, Luxray is exactly the same as Ampharos! Not quite Magnezone, but still plenty annoying - welcome back to hell (yet again).
Anyway, one more thing to keep in mind here is the same analogy of the perplexahedron I brought up last post; the correct path forward will be marked by evolved Pokemon. In the case that you somehow find all Pokemon are evolved, the powerup chest's position marks the way...but if there's no powerup, and no real way to tell the three paths apart, try the top path (if you see Manectric), or the bottom path (if you see Raichu). It is very unlikely that the middle pathway will be correct in this situation, from what I remember. However, as you look at the map, you'll notice that there are some merits to taking the longer or incorrect paths, either in the form of powerups or in the form of easy captures for more AP. Time will be generous enough that you can choose to wander a bit, but try to avoid that on your first time through.
AP? Why would I bring this up all of a sudden? Well, this is the moment I've been hinting at in prior posts - this mission will likely be the best spot for you to AP grind for quite a long time. Play all your cards right and you'll be able to score upwards of 1000 AP per clear! Of course, you probably won't be able to hit that number on your first try, but keep at it - familiarity with the layout and knowing how to tell the right path will save you quite a bit more time than you'd expect.
If you pick an incorrect path from the choice of 3, you will be taken to a large square room which has some powerups and/or Pokemon inside. The Pokemon are usually easy enough to avoid if you so wish. Head to the diagonal opposite of this room for a teleporter that takes you back to the start of the choice of 3 you got wrong. Not too much down time, thankfully.
You will know if you picked the correct path by the number of torches you see (in-game) as you reach the fork in the road - it will have one more torch visible. Keeping count helps! It definitely did disorient me a bit until I noticed that difference.
Miniboss spotlight:
Porygon-Z
!: Porygon-Z launches a weak discharge of electricity all around itself. This fades after a few seconds, and it is possible to draw a loop around this.
!!: Porygon-Z launches 4 orbs of electricity that linger on the field in an X shape. These fade after a few seconds, and it is possible to draw a loop around this.
!!!: Porygon-Z launches a Hyper Beam in the direction it's facing. This fades after a few seconds (around 5-6), and it is impossible to draw a loop around this.
There's one notable aspect about Porygon-Z, it's got a reasonable amount of HP (where have we heard that line before?) and as such will take a while to capture unless you've got a Fighting type assist, though I'll go into more detail about that in the partners section. A speed-down effect like Piplup's (reliable as always) is perfect for getting Porygon-Z into a groove slow enough to blitz out a few loops. It is not particularly hard, but if you're not careful here you can lose quite a bit of styler energy, especially if you blitz recklessly.
Now, after you're done capturing two Porygon-Z in each of their three-branched chambers, you'll come across a different fork in the road as you enter a plus-shaped room. This time, there's only one true path ahead (straight), but you should check the chambers at the top and bottom for some time and battery powerups. However, the switches to these doors are guarded by angry Golem/Hippowdown, and it will be very difficult to enter those chambers without being engaged in capture - because as their appearance would imply, they are extremely fast. Yes, it makes amazing sense that Pokemon with below 50 base speed can nearly keep up with the player. It's possible but quite difficult to evade battle if they see you.
Even if you wanted to make the tactical decision to avoid doors to escape these captures, you couldn't (yet). The remaining two Porygon-Z for the clear condition are behind each door, and these two teleport quite a bit more (outside of battle) and are agitated, launching tremors all around themselves, preventing approach. You can actually be knocked back by a Porygon-Z's attack into Golem/Hippowdon range if you escaped it the first time, so this poses somewhat of a threat, even if the actual styler damage is low. The teleporting can also take a few seconds off your time, but you'll initate battle without too much of a hassle hopefully. I debated putting a miniboss segment about them here...actually sure, why not. More miniboss spotlights!
Golem:
!: Golem uses Rock Slide. Bastiodon and Rampardos say hi! (It is identical to theirs)
!!: Golem raises a chi-shaped (curved x) in a line 4 directions around them. These fade after about 2 seconds. It is not possible to draw a loop around this.
!!!: Identical to !!
Hippowdon:
!: Hippowdon raises a tremor in the area around itself. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
!!: Identical to Golem's !!.
!!!: Hippowdon launches a puddle of mud in the direction it's facing. This lingers on the field for about 8 seconds. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
Both Pokemon seem to have reasonably large HP pools, so might be a challenge to beat without a type-advantaged assist. For whatever reason, Golem feels like an easier capture even though its attacks waste more time, and dual type Pokemon don't exist in Ranger. Perhaps it has lower HP, but since I can't measure it, I can't say for sure. Anyway, with Piplup, they aren't too much of an issue to worry about. How is the first Pokemon you obtain this good, so late into the game? The world may never know.
After claiming a capture on all four Porygon-Z, head eastward. Welcome to the same room (but not really). Perhaps you now see a pattern in this mission. Same thing (but still, not really), two Golem/Hippowdon guarding switches. In this room: If you want to collect powerups, go north first. If you accidentally missed any Porygon-Z and want to go back, head east - this will take you back to the first plus-shaped room. After you're done with anything else, head south. As for the Pokemon behind the switches, this time it's Metang, who tends to have a reasonably large HP pool, as well as the usual good defensive type of Steel. This isn't a difficult capture but can feel tedious if you end up repeating this mission often to grind for ranks or AP.
With this, you enter the final chamber which is surprisingly the least labyrinthine of all. If you're grinding for AP, this room is pretty good for it. But regardless, don't head to the boss door just yet. Head south first. If you're lucky, you will find a Delibird here which will give you a very generous 60 AP for the capture! If not, you'll likely find Jolteon here who isn't as generous, but can be a fun capture nonetheless. If neither, well, tough luck. But regardless you'll still get some good powerups here - 2 minutes, 60 battery and a defense boost. When you're ready, take a journey to the east, unlike Sun Wukong. Infernape was unfortunately not a boss here to fit this joke perfectly, so Electivire is the next best thing.
Boss:
!: Electivire looses a series of thunderbolt projectiles in the direction it's facing. It is impossible to draw a loop around this.
!!: Electivire looses 3 waves of thunderbolt projectiles in batches of 3 in the direction it's facing. It is impossible to draw a loop around this.
!!!: Electivire launches 4 gigantic thunderbolts, usually in a vertical diamond pattern centered at the screen. It is impossible to draw a loop around this.
!!!!: Only used after agitation. Electivire generates a Thunder Cage around itself, which damages on contact. This lingers for about 15 seconds, and almost as soon as it ends, Electivire will bring it up again. It is possible to draw a loop around this.
This boss is kinda free if you pack a long range assist? However, if you want to aim for only S ranks that's a slightly different story. On average, at least early on, it will take you at least 1 minute and 20 seconds to snag this wiry beast. So, you'd want to aim at avoiding as many accidental captures during the stage to free up your time.
Now, partners!
You may or may not have noticed this, but Electivire, despite being a somewhat easy boss so far has a few tricks up his sleeve that make your partner choice a bit easier - once he starts using Thunder Cage, close range assists are essentially invalidated. So, if you brought one to this fight, you might be lulled into a false sense of security before he uses that attack (and such assists are useful before then). Electivire is not notably fast, but he's fast enough to the point that, if you can hit him with a close range assist, that Pokemon will almost always be in range of Thunder Cage as he charges around the field. However, if you're insistent on using these, only do so after Electivire telegraphs !! (and nothing else), and place your assist behind Electivire, out of Thunder Cage range. And given this speed limbo Electivire's in, of being fast but not fast enough, a slowing effect is sublime in getting Electivire slow enough to reliably blitz loops.
Piplup is old reliable as always - though this may be one of the last few missions where its power and utility still hold up. Still, it's kinda surprising how the first partner you obtain is this good so late into the missions (how many times have I said this so far lmao). Anyway, Lucario deals some very hefty damage here, and you'd want to actually bring Lucario to this mission often if you have it, because it'll give you great practice on how his assist operates. You'll need careful positioning to get hits in while Thunder Cage is active, while not getting hit in return.
You could as always choose to experiment with Ground type partners like Sandslash, but they will likely have worse matchups against the multiple Porygon-Z or Hippowdon, who don't move around enough to be affected by the assist's mud. I stuck to only Piplup, Lucario and Froslass for this mission, but Froslass had the worst time here out of all three of them, due to being the most close-range.
As for recommended strategies to S-rank this? There's not much to say other than "take a strong Pokemon and rush, rush, rush." Lucario in particular is helpful for S-ranking given how high he can output damage, especially at higher levels. That being said, for you to be able to capture every Pokemon in this mission and still get an S rank, you'll need to be around level 65 or higher, but if you can pull it off and get lucky with Delibird spawn, you can get over 1140 AP per clear - nifty! This will also be about the most AP you can earn for a mission for quite a while, given the effort needed, so in my mind it's the perfect grinding spot. And of course, if you're gunning for that all-elusive level 99, this mission will look even more friendlier :)
Still, It's very worth being content with an A rank early on here - but given that ranks will usually award more than captures, take your pick of whether you want to grind for slates or AP. There aren't any particularly notable slates I've used here, but who knows. The Metang later on are possible to avoid, so if you're low on time, they're the ones to avoid. The Golem/Hippowdon are somewhat harder to avoid, but you can if lucky with where they end up spawning. Finally, as for the electric types. Most will not chase you but rather shoot projectiles, so avoid them too if you want to save time. However, you could be chain combo'd by multiple of them, forcing you to expend a few seconds recovering. Also take note that Cranidos could appear in some of the mini-chambers instead of Luxio or Beldum, and their chasing feels a bit more aggressive.
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What's next?
Now, where are we going to go from here? Regardless of how slow future updates end up being (I probably won't be able to keep the biweekly schedule I had in mind, hopefully not too much longer - but it's hard to give a specific schedule on this) this is the structure I plan to feature for the remainder of the guide, in order, with each bullet point representing a post of its own, with the number in brackets representing how much is complete so far. Hopefully this helps build anticipation and keep y'all posted on what's happening/left to do.
- Assist compendium and a brief write-up of what I noticed in the game's save structure [50%]
- Something odd and mysterious! [0%]
- Dark Temple 1+2 [15%]
- Dark Temple 3+4 [20%]
- Light Temple [Finale] [0%] (the only thing my prior notes on this mission contain is aptly "hahahahahahahahaha". past me must really not have wanted to write anything about this...)
Thank you for staying tuned so far - the encouragement does mean a lot to me :D
Look forward to the next part, which may very well have some surprising info for you!
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Welcome back!! The Magnezone mission is absolute hell, the only thing that it got me was an appreciation for Donphan, who I think deserves a spotlight!! It’s got a really good assist when fully maxed out that makes enemies pause—this can even stop Electivire from setting up its electric cage if you time it right. I’ve gotten to the point where a Donphan assist can get me through Electivire’s mission with upwards of 9 minutes on the clock, which will never fail to be hilarious to me. I’m trapped in light mission grinding hell, and I still find myself coming back to this mission because it’s so consistent for AP (though I’ve found Salamence to have higher rewards if I can squeeze out an A rank)
Oh good lord, bro actually did it
I don’t know how or why this keeps happening, but it would be my luck that this thread gets updated when and only when I take my mental wellness breaks away from the Internet and go a while without posting. In any case, this temple and this mission specifically has given me irreversible brain damage and speaking as someone who has played through this game three times, I’m not over-exaggerating when I claim this to be the single worst mission in the game from a design standpoint. It was only on my most recent playthrough when I finally decided to put in the grinding hours towards 100% and actually beat this abomination or a mission, and I say that because the best I can manage is a 3:17 A-Rank at Level 76. If I read this post correctly, WarriorGallade managed roughly a 4:20 A-Rank at Level 72. Trust us when we say that big of a timesave on this mission is absolutely insane. Bro might have actually stolen the unofficial title of “Smogon’s biggest Guardian Signs fan” from me with this one, and I mean that as the biggest compliment I can give to you. Am I being a little over-dramatic with this post? Maybe, but I’m doing so in an effort to get a point across, because that’s a run right there that I have nothing but sheer respect for, on top of me already appreciating the fact you made this thread so more people could enjoy what this game my beloved brings to the table.I may have to give Donphan a try after reading this. Is it really as good as people say it is? I’ve heard a few other people say this, but I’ve always struggled to make many of the Ground-Type assists work for one reason or another. Thanks to all the levels I got from grinding preparing for the Magnezone mission, I actually managed to S-Rank the Electivire mission on my second attempt (technically my first, but I also did an A-Rank attempt before this for the Slate) with a maxed out Sandslash. It’s far from the best choice for this fight, but I found that if you aim just right, you can actually hit Electivire on the spot where the sand piles overlap on top of each other, which actually counts as multiple hits and makes the agitated phase much faster. As for the Salamence mission, I recommend studying the Route and getting yourself an Ice assist that you’re comfortable with. You’ll want to study the fastest route to the guaranteed Speed Up and the locations of the Time Extenders, as you can figure out which switches to press on the split paths based on which chests have them. You can also try a Bagon or a Shelton assist for this prior to getting your first S-Rank.
I recall Donphan/Hariyama/Primeape assists being remarkably slow on activation, but I don't remember if that's actually the case for the Past version of themselves (ex: Past Gallade and current Gallade have different assists). I do however remember using Hippopotas for my assist in the Magnezone mission; I didn't max out Hippopotas's assist but iirc it makes the target Tired, which is especially nice when Magnezone summons its electric ball force field and starts zipping around the field. I am surprised WarriorGallade had trouble hitting the "trident Ground assist" on Magnezone because that is imo the best assist to punish Zone with due to how quickly it moves, meaning it can very easily run over multiple columns (often repeatedly), shredding its HP considerably.
While Electivire is honestly a breeze to clear after you grinded like hell to clear the Magnezone mission (especially with your overleveled Ground assist), the Dark Temple honestly provides a decent challenge despite your seemingly wide level gap. I've already said my piece on how I tackled the Dark Temple bosses, but tl;dr:
- All bosses in this Temple WILL track your assist; you cannot prematurely place your assist before they commit to an attack and they should not linger on the field for too long
- Vespiquen is an annoying pos whose Poison Sting attacks can be randomly unsafe to place an assist against; Piplup can probably work here if you're unwilling to invest in a "Flying-type assist"
- Exploiting Gliscor's dark wind is key to the fight; Piplup is undoubtedly the best assist for this fight
- Salamence is surprisingly straightforward; the only attacks of concern are its homing flame and quick stomp. Honestly the mandatory Gardevoirs are the more annoying pokemon in this mission, but otherwise this is a solid farming stage
- Dusknoir's frequent teleporting mandates quick DPS assists; you can opt for high damage like from Weavile assist or inflict Dusknoir with Tired, but Slow barely affects Dusknoir tbh unless it decides to waddle across the screen (and even then the constant stage hazard can limit your loop spam)
While Electivire is honestly a breeze to clear after you grinded like hell to clear the Magnezone mission (especially with your overleveled Ground assist), the Dark Temple honestly provides a decent challenge despite your seemingly wide level gap. I've already said my piece on how I tackled the Dark Temple bosses, but tl;dr:
- All bosses in this Temple WILL track your assist; you cannot prematurely place your assist before they commit to an attack and they should not linger on the field for too long
- Vespiquen is an annoying pos whose Poison Sting attacks can be randomly unsafe to place an assist against; Piplup can probably work here if you're unwilling to invest in a "Flying-type assist"
- Exploiting Gliscor's dark wind is key to the fight; Piplup is undoubtedly the best assist for this fight
- Salamence is surprisingly straightforward; the only attacks of concern are its homing flame and quick stomp. Honestly the mandatory Gardevoirs are the more annoying pokemon in this mission, but otherwise this is a solid farming stage
- Dusknoir's frequent teleporting mandates quick DPS assists; you can opt for high damage like from Weavile assist or inflict Dusknoir with Tired, but Slow barely affects Dusknoir tbh unless it decides to waddle across the screen (and even then the constant stage hazard can limit your loop spam)
So I've started with this task too as of a few days ago, though more because this game was at my local library, and I was like "yo I can finally get Eruption Heatran!". But upon seeing the level requirements for Deoxys (yes I know its co-op only, my solution is that my library has 2 copies of the game, gonna pick up the 2nd later lol), I was like "oh I need to start doing these missions". Just to note, I only started doing these after what I assume is very close to the end of the story mode!
Anyways, I did notice something about Feraligatr's fight: Feraligatr seemed to prioritize hitting my styler rather than my Pokemon at various points (especially when its chilling in that irritating pool of water). It turned that fight from a horrifying road block into something more managable. I'd bring out Drapion whenever Feraligatr started stalling, then drag my styler on the opposite side to distract. Worked well enough to get the clear!
As for that horrific Magnezone mission in the Thunder Temple..
I DID IT!
I wish I had some amazing knowledge to share considering it seems like I cleared it at a lower level compared to you WarriorGallade , but honestly it was just "use a maxed out Donphan and reset until I get Bronzong instead of Claydol" lol. Folks in this thread where not kidding about Donphan being legit. Just look at this maxed out attack!
So when you max out its attack (not its power of course!), Donphan sends out a circle of these stalagmites that get progressively larger. It turns Donphan into a long range attacker, and mons that get damaged each time they move into a stalagmite! Since I totally maxed Donphan out, its got a recharge time of 6.00 and 360 power. It was a massive help for taking down Magnezone and the 3 Bronzongs I ran into during that hell mission!
Ironically I'm having a lot of trouble against Electivire right now. Not because of Donphan (since Donphan can easily attack through that electric cage), but more because I suck pretty hard at drawing circles fast against that electric cage and have sucked at timing Donphan right to consistently stop it from using the cage. Almost makes me wonder if Hippowdon was the better choice for the tired effect, but it's a bit too late now!
Alternately, maybe it's just because I might be too low leveled? I mean I certainly had to grind for that Magnezone mission, but maybe Donphan worked a bit too well there lol.
By the way, my main way of grinding was fighting Metagross. That entire stage and fight is a total cinch for Donphan even before it's totally maxed out. I was consistently getting at least A ranks, so I was getting around 300 AP per mission! Maybe I gotta do more of those since I'm doing badly against Electivire lol
Anyways, I did notice something about Feraligatr's fight: Feraligatr seemed to prioritize hitting my styler rather than my Pokemon at various points (especially when its chilling in that irritating pool of water). It turned that fight from a horrifying road block into something more managable. I'd bring out Drapion whenever Feraligatr started stalling, then drag my styler on the opposite side to distract. Worked well enough to get the clear!
As for that horrific Magnezone mission in the Thunder Temple..
I DID IT!
I wish I had some amazing knowledge to share considering it seems like I cleared it at a lower level compared to you WarriorGallade , but honestly it was just "use a maxed out Donphan and reset until I get Bronzong instead of Claydol" lol. Folks in this thread where not kidding about Donphan being legit. Just look at this maxed out attack!
So when you max out its attack (not its power of course!), Donphan sends out a circle of these stalagmites that get progressively larger. It turns Donphan into a long range attacker, and mons that get damaged each time they move into a stalagmite! Since I totally maxed Donphan out, its got a recharge time of 6.00 and 360 power. It was a massive help for taking down Magnezone and the 3 Bronzongs I ran into during that hell mission!
Ironically I'm having a lot of trouble against Electivire right now. Not because of Donphan (since Donphan can easily attack through that electric cage), but more because I suck pretty hard at drawing circles fast against that electric cage and have sucked at timing Donphan right to consistently stop it from using the cage. Almost makes me wonder if Hippowdon was the better choice for the tired effect, but it's a bit too late now!
Alternately, maybe it's just because I might be too low leveled? I mean I certainly had to grind for that Magnezone mission, but maybe Donphan worked a bit too well there lol.
By the way, my main way of grinding was fighting Metagross. That entire stage and fight is a total cinch for Donphan even before it's totally maxed out. I was consistently getting at least A ranks, so I was getting around 300 AP per mission! Maybe I gotta do more of those since I'm doing badly against Electivire lol