Re: Are IVs good or bad for pokemon go
This is a reply to the original post (https://pokemongo.gamepress.gg/q-a/are-ivs-good-or-bad-pokemon-go). Since it's long, I decide to make a new post.
TL;DR: Pokemon GO = IVs. IVs is the business model for Pokemon GO.
To begin with, I keep hearing the statement "The difference between good and bad IVs is minimal". This is true in an average sense. However, the more specific a matchup you go into, the more inaccurate this statement becomes. For example, an ATKiv = 15 Machamp reaches its Counter final breakpoint at level 36 against Tyranitar boss. An ATKiv = 10 one, in comparison, does it at level 38.5. To level up from 36 to 38.5, it costs 43000 dust and this is not "minimal". What's more, an ATKiv < 8 Machamp can never reach the breakpoint, not even at level 40. This makes the difference between a successful Duo Tyranitar raid and a fail one.
It's not just Attack IV; Defense IV could make a lot of difference as well. Assuming STMiv = 15, a level 32 Gengar with DEFiv = 15 can survive three Confusions from Mewtwo (dies at the 4th one). Surviving one more Confusion buys you 4 more seconds, which could mean one more Shadow Ball out of Gengar! Had its DEFiv been 10, it would have to reach level 35.5 to achieve the same, requiring 48000 more Stardust to burn. There are much more other cases where IVs matter - all feature very specific matchup - which is now how the game goes, by introducing the Raid system (Raid boss is fixed level and therefore "specific").
Another common misconception about IVs is using "82%". Subconsciously, we would think that such Pokemon is only as 82% good as the perfect one. This is WRONG because it doesn't consider the base stats! However, we've been using such notation for so long that we are now lying to ourselves.
Furthermore, even setting aside the difference in battle performance, people still care about IVs. Why? It's simple - people are so fond of comparing. It's not because my 96% IV Pokemon is bad but that you have a 98% one so I must get a 100% to surpass you. This is an endless race as Niantic keep releasing more and more Pokemon. Unless you collect 100% for each species of seven generations, you have to keep working. Oh, wait! There are still shiny versions of them! Really, endless race.
Niantic is very aware of this mindset and has been making use of it since - well, since the appraisal system! Before appraisal, IVs were "hidden" and didn't get much attention. Since the appraisal system came to life, Niantic has been emphasizing IVs again and again, and finally, players were "brainwashed" (in some sense) to be crazy about IVs. Look at the wording of the appraisal system. For 82%+, the comment is "It can achieve anything!"; For 50%, merely 30 percent points less of those pathetic bonus points, the comment changes to "your Pokemon is not likely to make much headway in battle". Really? LOL. Nope. But we have been "forced" to see those appraisals again and again and finally we think the way they want us to - 82% or above Pokemon "is a wonder" while all else "is trash".
The recent gym rework has made IVs ever important. Moveset doesn't matter - you can just TM them; candies don't matter - you can earn rare candies and use them wherever you want. Stardust is scarce but every now and then you have dust/sales events and you can always buy more incubators. What you can't really "buy" (at least not directly) is IV. Even if I pay $100 right now there's no guarantee that I will get a 100% Raikou, but I can get rare candies, TMs and dust if I spend the coins wisely. Raid system (and egg system) is essentially a lottery system - which, in turn, is essentially gambling.
Finally, back to the question. Are IVs good or bad for Pokemon GO? I've made my point - IVs *ARE* Pokemon GO. You can't ask something like "are you good or bad for yourself". I'll leave it for the community to judge.
Thanks for reading. Any discussion is welcome.
Cheers,
bioweapon
Edit: Minor text fixes
Answers
And I have yet to receive an EX invitation! I have no clue about the EX system. Trust me, if they release Mewtwo like the birds, the sales on passes will at least triple. Getting a Mewtwo for me (in an area with no sponsored gym) is even harder than getting a 100iv Raikou. We did have Mewtwo raids in HK, but like 5 gyms out of thousands, and those were in places that I wouldn't have thought about visiting.
Even when IVs were hidden we cared about IVs. As simply collectors or precisely in anticipation of what you have described (specialised matchups where IVs make the difference). Calculators were born as a result before the appraisal system (always the community one step ahead Niantic...) I personally like this system and is probably the only thing that keeps me engaged.
IVs are more valuable than their mathematical combat value for 2 reasons.
1) They can never be upgraded beyond what you get.
2) Stardust is a premium resource that can't be recovered once you spend it on a pokemon.
Therefore, my approach is to try not to spend stardust on anything less than 90% IV which is a nice thresh hold to help me narrow down where to spend dust and to waste dust. I made two exceptions when I powered up a 87% Lapras when I was just so excited to get my first Lapras and I had no counter for Dragonites that were dominating gyms at the time. It was a good short term decision because it made me competitive in the hold meta soon, but a bad long term decision because the meta has since changed and I got a 100% Lapras with same moves that would have been a better use of the dust and candy. In the same way I powered up a 89% Golem with double ground moves because I really wanted it for all the legendary raids as a hard counter to the electric and fire types. Again it was a good short term decision but still remains to be seen if it was a good long term decision.
So it really comes down to if you are playing for the long term or the short term. A low level mon can always be powered up more, a bad move set can be TMed, but IVs are forever and once you invest in a low level or mediocre IV mon you can never go back, so make sure it's really an immediate game changer for you if you do.
I think good IVs are a way to give more highly active players a way to be superior and be rewarded for their extra efforts without making them unreasonably dominant and ruining the game for the more causal players. They are also away to give a small advantage to patient players that invest for the long term and wait for the better IV mon.
I assume those sales you mentioned are not all that common.
Friday will make 2 months I've been playing, apart from the equinox event, I've ground my dust out.
As a noob to this version of the game... I'm still trying to translate this 'cp' concept to sp atk/sp def etc.
But I think you just introduced something new to me. Paraphrasing.. that maybe levelling up beyond a certain level doesn't make much sense or difference. The CP goes up but the mon performance is about the same despite the higher "CP".
At the end I thank you for corroborating my stardust contribution... I think.
If I have to level up a mon.. and spend my limited dust... Best I invest it in what niantic describes to me as the best of what I have.. with the best potential I suppose. (Again.. the CP concept I'm still trying to grasp without learning the formula).
I kinda likened this iv thing grossly to Pokémon natures... A gyarados' atk will always increase more than the other parameters... A wonderful mon will be stronger than the same mon at the same level with different IVs.... Which kinda doesn't make sense but.... I dunno...
I still annoyed and dazed at the 44/45 gastly I was finally with this event able to earn enough candy to acquire... And how weak he is compared to my lower cp krabby...
