My plans. Just do a raid a day. Do not even try a level 3 or 4 alone. and Catch what i catch. for the most part i keep 2-3 main pokemon counters just because i am scarce on stardust so i am not gonna invest in a counter that isn't good next week, could be tomorrow for all we know. I would Invest right when the change happens then accumulate stardust and candy until the next change.
Speculation on when raid bosses will change
Machamp is clearly the best Pokemon to be currently investing in, but is this a good long term strategy? With the exception of Blissey, he won't have many favorable match-ups going forward if they change the bosses, especially against the Legendaries.
Do we have any idea how quickly or frequently they will change? With the cost of maxing out Pokemon, would we be better off focusing of future counter, or generalist attackers like Dragonite?
I feel like Tyranitar is the safest bet, and it has strong dark and rock moves, but what after That?
I would hate to finish maxing a 3rd Machamp only to get flooded with the Legendaries, many of which are psychic and flying...
What are your plans going forward?
Answers
I've already got a maxed out B/SE. I'm not sure but I'm probably going with golem against the birds. Not decided however. If Rhydon or tyranitar gets a quick stone move I'm going for that.
I'm not sure regarding the number of B/C so I'm saving candies and I might as well try to catch a couple of tyranitars on the way.
What are your plans going forward?
Invest for the moments but keep some dust. When the legendary birds come, i will have sufficient ressources to power up two golems.
For now, i only power up one tyranitar (i get my candies during raids) and one machamp (i walk with him)
With both, i am candy-limited, thus, i don't spend too much dust.
I've powered up two and I'm stopping there. Any L4 raid will require more than just me, so others will have their counters to bring to bear. And I think that will be the case for any high-level boss going forward. I don't feel the need to carry the weight by myself and spend an inordinate amount of resources on a cache of specific Pokemon with niche uses.
No, but the more Machamps you get, the more candy (it's rare my way) and options I have. Still looking for my first C/DP after four raids and three evolutions. It's what I need, it's what I want, and it will have use going forward. So while your needs differ, your assumptions that people are just stocking up for an all-Machamp all-star team is misplaced. I'll spend a charge TM on a high IV Heavy Slam, get the guy I want, and have enough candies to power him up when I do by focusing on him. More T-Tars are also welcome, but I lucked out on my first and only evolution, so it's still less of a priority for me.
Yes and no.
You get additional balls based on the TEAM'S contribution to the fight.
For instance, let's say 6 people took part in the raid, 2 Mystic, 2 Valor, 2 Instinct. If the Mystics combined did 50% of the damage, the Valors combined did 30% of the damage and the Instincts combined did 20% of the damage, the Mystic players would get many more balls, the Valor players would get some balls, and the Instincts would get few balls.
Obviously if you're soloing a raid then it doesn't matter because you're only competing against yourself. And obviously it doesn't matter what your contribution is if your entire team of raid players is entirely Mystic because it's gonna be Mystic who gets the bonus.
I would always have spare dust around...I try to never go below 500k...have near 700k currently in case of changes.
As for maxing, it's probably better to take a few to Level 30 or so, then hold off going higher...You can "near" solo most Tier 3s with Level 30 mons already and in a raid group, hopefully other people have decent counters.
I have 4 level 30ish (2 at 31) Machamps currently...Not willing to invest more at this time due to candy/dust concerns.
I'd assume with the old system, many people already have maxed out Dnites, Rhydons (if he gets a quick rock move in an update, he'd be better than Golem)...so knowing that, you can just continue to keep 1 or 2 generalist maxed to be the 5th or 6th man (assuming you have the dust, and leave it at that...).
I haven't maxed out my Psychics yet since I never get Future Sight on 3 Espeons, but they should still win against Machamp I'd guess...
TMs are much much rarer now so I haven't even been willing to use one on my 97% RT/EQ Golem (lower level though) due to stardust concerns.
I think that is too fast. There are not enough interesting mons for a once-a-month turnover. Especially not seeing as they have already gone through Tyranitar, Snorlax, Lapras, Machamp, 3 Eeveelutions, Alakazam, Venusaur and Gengar. Sure I can find several candidates for level 1, 2 and 3 raids, but for level 4 raids? That's tougher. I think two months at least.
I like to have a good mix of Pokémon so the only ones I have duplicates of max/near max are dragonite and tyranitar (w diff movesets). I just maxed a double rock golem, machamp, donphan, wing attack charizard, PC/FS Alakazam and steelix (kind of regret it but I plop it in gyms). Next up is a double bug scizor which will be a good counter to the psychic legendaries but want to recover some of my stardust before I bring him to at least lvl 30. Might eventually do a second machamp but need a fast TM before I consider it.
Evolved 2 Geodudes level 27/28 and have now 3 level 30 Golems with rt/se for the legendary birds. Only plan is to get as much tyrannitars as possible for the legendary raids. Tyrannitar is effective vs 9 of the 11 legendaries (celebi doesn't have grass moves according to this site) and neutral vs 1. Only suicine is a bad matchup, but that is also the weakest legendary.