Damage formula for defenders.
So I've started tring to simulate some matchups, but found out I'm missing some critical information regarding the damage calculation for the defenders.
Does anyone know the energy generation for defenders, timing of the fisrt atacks, exact time for each quick attack (just add 2 seconds?) and if the 1/2 factor in the providen damage formula is considering the doubled life of defenders (and in such case shouldn't be used for the defender own damage calculation).
Also, any in depth references for these formulae are welcome!
Answers
It doesn't seem to be simply 2s added to all attacks, since I can only fit in 3-4 0.5s moves in between moves that are originally 0.5s on defence e.g. Dragon Breath on attack vs Water Gun on defence, although that's because I dodge, but I don't know if that 0.7s dodge window is also part of the cooldown.
It could depend on the duration of the quick move or whether it's a charge move or quick move, maybe quick moves get +1s while charge moves get +2s.
Not sure on the timings of the attacks, but the damage formula is the same for both defenders and attackers. Energy generation values are the same, 2 HP lost = 1 energy gained, and quick moves still have the same energy per use.
The difference is that energy gain from losing HP makes more of a defender's total because attackers attack faster - so they gain more energy from moves compared to defenders, and also because they have the option of dodging - so they gain lose less HP and therefore gain less energy through taking damage.
The 1/2 in the damage formula doesn't have anything to do with the defender's HP being doubled. That's just how damage is calculated.
The Silph Road research team made a HUGE project out of this. Their findings are on reddit somewhere, don't have exact thread saved.
But you're right, it's not 2 seconds added to each attack. Their conclusion was that it's a 2 second baseline with X% random variation - and if I recall correctly, that random variation % was different for different mons.
Which makes sense b/c sometimes you can squeeze in more attacks than others without missing the dodge
Also, it's a shorter cooldown after quick moves than charge moves, and I believe this time was also affected by the speed of the move itself.
The DPS of a defender is affected by the attacker, because stronger attackers will charge up a defender's energy faster and therefore allow it to use the charge move more often.
So for example if you're using an Arcanine to fight an Exeggutor, then it might only be 4-5 Confusions or Zen Headbutts before it uses Solar Beam because it will take a lot of damage and therefore have energy for Solar Beam sooner, therefore increasing it's average DPS - obviously since it faints quicker, it'll still do less total damage.
It's a bit like when you do enough damage to Vaporeons for them to constantly be using Water Pulse. Since it's hardly using Water Gun, it's average DPS increases.
Whereas with a weaker attacker that does less DPS to the Exeggutor, a full damage cycle for a defending Exeggutor could be 6 or 7 quick moves instead, because it would gain less energy.
Where does the 1 energy for 2 HP idea come from?
There are moves like Bug Bite that deal less damage but gain more energy. An enemy Poliwrath can fully charge Hydro Pump with the same number of Bubbles whether or not you dodge. If you are training with a Chansey, you take a lot more damage but the opponent doesn't charge any faster.
https://pokemongo.gamepress.gg/gym-combat-mechanics
We're not talking about energy gain from using moves, we're talking about energy gain from losing HP.
For example if you use a Hyper Beam on an opponent and they lose 50 HP, then their energy goes up by 25.
If they use a move on you that causes you to lose 30 HP, then you gain 15 energy. Test it out. Go into a gym battle and don't attack, your energy will go up from taking damage. If you dodge, that energy will fill up slower because you're taking less damage.
Even though doing more damage does technically increasing the DPS of the defending Pokemon by allowing them to use charge moves more frequently, because they're fainting sooner, they're doing more DPS for a shorter period of time so they're still doing less damage.
