Stardust Use / Saving
So I'm going to hit level 33 with my next mass evolve, or within a week if I don't mass evolve. I have 380k dust. I really want to reward myself once I get there and spend like 100k dust. It seems like the more I play the less I want to spend it even though I have 20 or so mons most people would agree are worth powering for one reason or another (and could help me at least some what in gyms). (1/3 of them have candy issues). So what do u guys think go ahead and pull the trigger? Is there any need to have more than 250k stardust held in reserve?
Answers
I was in a similar situation recently, around 550k dust and I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep going. I decided to evenly distribute 200k of my dust to a few high IV defenders with optimal move-sets. For me it was worth it from a practical standpoint. If there's one thing I regret, it was blowing a lot of dust on two nearly IV perfect attackers early game. In hindsight, my attackers don't need to be maxed and what's more, they yield less prestige the higher their level.
Now I've recovered a bit and i'm almost at 500k dust again. To me the notion that I can 0 - 100 max a pokemon and still have dust left over is a nice feeling. Maybe i'll hatch another high IV Lapras with the perfect moveset, who knows. I guess it comes down to your own ideals, so the best advice I can give is try not to act on impulse and really think it through.
??;??: If you're going to blow a lot of dust I'd recommend putting it into defenders. If you happen to have an affinity for maxing attackers, it's less practical for prestiging but that's your prerogative.
Completely agree with the 'spend it on defenders'-part.
However, I wouldn't recommend to spend much stardust now. I have 200K dust, and am lvl 35. Before the CP change, I used all my dust on Exeggutors and Arcanines (and Dragonite/Snorlax) and I regret it. I expect - pure speculation - that Niantic will change something about CP/Gyms/Gen2, to make it easier for people who haven't played lately.
Duly noted! I share that sentiment and believe more changes are definitely possible. I set a personal goal of reaching one million stardust before another binge-spend. I'm in a comfortable place with my current defenders so there's not much of a point in powering anything up. I find it more valuable to grow my stardust collection. :p Hopefully generation two is just around the corner. fingers crossed
Thanks for the advice. I'm a hoarder so prestiging isn't an issue. I'd love to throw it all at defenders, but I have six snorlaxes and 1 candy. I have 1 Dragonite 2732 CP 89 iv SW/DC 81 candies, but I really want DB Dragonite And candy is hard to come by. Amazingly my top 6 or 7 Vaporen all have HP. I'd power a decent IV one with WP if I can evolve one...I agree with u in the end it's up to me. But if u are really thinking things through these aren't easy choices. Other than finding something new / rare my next favorite part of the game is powering up.
250000–290000 will be the minimum and "prefered if you catch less Pokémon" range for Stardust (at least the stardust needed to max out a Pokémon) when you are level 40. While that you are only level 32, 190000 should be enough.
However, 250000 stardust is the most ideal (you can only get to level 39 without doing tricks) in the current game.
Personally I save exactly 320k of dust at least, thats the amount needed to take 2 mons from level 20 to my exact level (trainer level 35, mon level 36.5), I have been doing this math since level 32, I want to have enough dust in case I hatch a Lapras or Snorlax to make them all the way to my level, I have the candies but I only have one good IV/moveset Snorlax (already maxed) and no 2 ice move Lapras, so that's the reason I save it.
I am at this moment on 550k but I will do some round of power ups to my team (2 Dragons, 1 vape, 1 exegg, 1 snorlax, 1 poliwrath, 1 blastoise and 1 Charizard), that will make me close again to my number.
NOTE: you never know when you can hatch/catch a good mon, I just hatched a 98%IV Abra.
Honestly, I am 33, about to hit 34, and I spend dust as soon as I have enough to power up the next 'mon in my priority list. I have a few high IV/great move set/Tier 1-2 attackers and defenders that I keep maxed out, and I work on getting any other quality defenders I have to the point where the candy cost jumps from 4 to 6. The candy and stardust cost starts jumping way up at that point, and you are getting a fraction of the CP gain per level. That is why I keep my "trophies" maxed out, but only level my main gym defenders to 30.5 as I can.
Just a short question to the answers here...everybody is saying that they stop powering up attackers at around lvl 30 but max out defenders. I agree with this decision but I'm asking myself how many of those max-worth defenders you guys have. For me max-worth defenders atm would be:
SW Dragonite
ZB Snorlax
DP Gyarados
AT (WP) Vaporeon
After that it gets tough with positioning in my oponion, so for me that mindset leaves out strong defenders like Lapras (in most cases), Exxegutor and surely Slowbro, Poliwrath and Omastar.
I have one defensive-minded Dragonite, Snorlax and Gyarados each, so that makes 3 defenders for me. (All my Vaporeons have HP aand for me Aqua Tail is the better defensive move, just never got one)
If you only look in terms of cp, but those are not the best defenders of the game, for example Lapras, Exeggutor, Slowbro and Poliwrath are by far better defenders than Gyarados. And I won't use a Vaporeon with AT for defense, WP is his best defensive moveset.
Something similar happens with Dragonite, double weaknesses make him not an ideal defender but ice mons are not as common as electric ones vs Gyarados (Jolteon is so easy to get and can melt 2-3 Gyarados in a row, Electabuzz and Raichu are other "easy" options I use regularly)
The main reason to save dust is if you hatch or catch a great mon and you want to be able to level it up instantly...
I mainly only power up defenders (did do a Venusaur after the event to deal with the Vaps) and only high CP defenders currently/sadly since that's the state of the gym game.
I agree that the gym meta will change and Niantic will adjust things so it's "risky" to power up Rhydon, Gyarados, etc...which are generally weak defenders in gyms just because they have high CP. If they change the formula to be DP where maybe stamina and defense is added vs attack, it would shift the rankings making it not worth it to power up Rhydon so much (Gary is still a decent attacker due to fast quick attack).
That said, I just found 4 mon defenders to power up within the last month and it's nice that I can max all to my level instantly...I had close to 900k previously, but down to 700k+ now, with still 1 more to power up (my Eevee with planned name trick to my highest CP Vap eventually).
After that, hoping to just grind more and save up again to my magical 1.2 mil goal...and wait for Gen 2 (and Blissey as I have one ready with candies).
Definitely agree with not getting too carried away powering up too many defenders. My oversized army of near-worthless Arcanines is a harsh reminder that another cp adjustment could just make them obsolete.
I keep the following defenders maxed out: 4 Vaporeons (wp), 1 Snorlax (zh/bs), 2 Rhydons (ms/eq, ms/se), 1 Gyrados (dp). Yes, I'm guilty of using him as a defender even though he's not really effective, just because he's over 3k. But I think that by the time an attacker gets to him, they've often exhausted all of their electrics.
Other defenders I may or may not give them a nudge upward on a case-by-case basis if the additional cp puts them into a more strategic spot in a gym. As they say, you can't power them back down.
I also agree that it's not really necessary to max out attackers, for the most part. However, I have 2 attackers that I always max out, simply because the pair of them usually go in to enemy gyms and clear them, and I find that method to be very potion efficient. One is a DB/DC cp3167 Dragonite, the other a HP cp2888 Vaporeon. Together, they get the job done, usually with a Jolteon tagging along just in case.
I used to put the Dragonite into defend gyms simply because he was so big, then I realized I was using him all wrong. It's just fun to let 'em rip. But, yeah, they are the first two that I give dust to when I level up.
Edit: forgot to mention that my dust fluctuates between 400k and 700k. I don't try to hoard it, but I only use it if I see a good reason to.
