IVs on Defenders
The concept of IVs and how they can effect offensive play (gyms/raids) has been fairly well understood now. We know about breakpoints, bulkpoints, DPS, and TDO, and we build our teams and justify investments based on these primary factors. But just how well are they understood in regards to gym defense? How much do IVs really matter on this front?
Here's my personal example, and the reason that I ask: I have 2 pokemon that I am considering raising for defense, as I have a plethora of attackers and only a small handful of defenders.
The first is a 12/15/15 (atk/def/hp) Body Slam snorlax. On offense, I consider 15 attack gold-standard, 14 passable if I need the 'mon, and 13 "I SERIOUSLY need this mon and I don't have/can't get another". But here we have 12. I intend to wait one more week to try to get another, but at the same time this is PROBABLY my winner given my personal luck. It has maximum staying-power AND its lower damage means the attacker will gain energy a tiny bit slower, but at the same time... 12 attack. It's doing sub-optimal damage.
The second is more extreme: a 10/14/13 Feebas.I still do not have a Milotic as I've been waiting all this time to get a good one, and this is my best option. And to put things into perspective, I have over 400 Feebas candy right now and have never walked one even a single KM. That's been my luck. The stats on this thing are kinda' pathetic, but NO ONE on my team ever posts Milotic, meaning it would have a worthwhile defensive niche in my area. On top of this, I'm pretty much convinced that I'm NEVER getting a Feebas with decent IVs, and will probably just raise a 2nd if I do.
So those are my issues; how much do you feel that these issues matter? I am likely going to raise both, as I know that more important than IVs is the intimidation factor of a good defender combined with high CP: no one is running around calculating IVs of defending 'mons. But I still want to hear some opinions before I move forward (in particular on the Milotic).
Answers
I can't speak to the math but honestly, there is no pokemon with any stats that won't go down fairly quickly. GRB is what defends gyms. I would say that unless you are in need or really want Milotic, wait. I wouldn't power up Snorlax or any defender unless you are swimming in dust and candy and have no better attackers to power up.
True, but good defenders do have one very real use: they're scare-crows. I try to take at least 1 gym on my way home from work every day, and in general I pick which one based on what it's housing. If I see one with Charizard, Vaporeon, Pidgeot and the like, then you can bet I'm taking it down. If I see another with Blissey, Gardevoir, Milotic and the like, I'm probably going to look at it and go "eeeh, that'll take like 8 mins to take down assuming they don't gold raz it. Pass".
....plus I am literally swimming in candy/dust atm, and don't really need anything on offense.
I don't think it matter one bit. 1 or 2 or even 5 seconds more to take down won't matter to anyone. If you want Feebas just evolve your highest level one to reduce the dust and candy investment.
Snorlax is actually a dilemma. L/BS Snorlax could be one of the best non-legendary pokemon for PvP if it ever come (depending on how it is implemented). For that you would want the high atk IV.
People put way too much emphasis on IVs. your 12/15/15 Snorlax is a great pokemon, not perfect, but really really strong, and it has body slam, which is a nightmare for attackers.
Remember that the 12 Attack IV is added to the pokemon's base, so if you power it up to level 30, that will be (190+12)*0.7317 = 147.8 effective attack. If it had a 15 attack at level 30, you'd get (190+15)*0.7317 = 150.0, or a 1.47% decrease in attack. Further, that small difference gets binned by the total damage done to an integer, so for most fights, yours will do the same damage as a 15 strength would. You should be fine - power it up if you need defenders in your gym scene.
As an aside, I'm still waiting for one over 76%, I've had crap luck with them, and may have to resort to trading them for best friends's bad IV ones, hoping they get better.
