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Too many questions from a new player...

Hello everyone~ First, I want to apologyze for my bad English and thanks everybody your sympathy.

I'm not only new here, but also new in the game. Last night, I reached Level 30. Until then, I focushed myself on leveling up as much as possible, capturing almost everything in the screen, and saving my best (calculated) Pokémon. However, I'm feeling stuck right now... What should I do? What should I focus now?

I don't know either which Pokémon should I max, since I don't know which are good or bad in the metagame (I don't want to waste dust wrongly...).

I have some decent Pokémon, but on the other hand, I don't know if they are worth it to max... Ag, I'm confused :( I'll post them:

1) Level 29.5 Dragonite (93%): Dragon Tail/Outrage --> My main source of damage for everything: low level raids, taking gyms... I don't know how much should I keep it leveling up...

2) Level 30 Rhydon (93%): Rock Smash/Surf --> I know, bad combination, but I don't have enough TMs to change him...

3) My 98% crew:
-Gyarados is only level 15, and has Waterfall/Outrage.
-Walrein is level 20, and has Frost Breath/Hydropulse.
-Gengar is level 11, and has Hex/Sludge Bomb.

4) Level 17 Venusaur (91%): Razor Leaf/Frenzy Plant.

5) The 15 AT IV Mach-squad:
-Level 6.5 Machamp (89%) with Counter/Close Combat.
-Level 15 Machop (89%).
-Level 20 Machop (91%).

6) I managed to get a 91% Moltres, but not 15 AT IV (the other 3 are quite bad...). Should I max him as Fire DPS attacker? Or should I wait for Charmander ComDay? I got a 96% Charmander, so I'm thinking about it. My other option is a Level 10 Flareon with 15 AT IV and best combination (Fire Spin and Flamethrower, I think).

7) Tons, and tons of Exeggutors, only 1 91% with 15 AT IV, but no Solar Beam...

8) I forgot! I got an 96% Alakazam with Confusion and Future Sight, but it's only level 3... Should I max him, or wait until get a decent Eevee for an Espeon (I have one, but only 86.7% and bad attack combination...).

The only legendary raid I could do was a Latias one and I managed to capture her, but not decent IV (82%) and worst attacks combination... I have other useful mons, but not really remarkable. For defending, I can place a Level 30 Blyssey that I magically captured while working in the laboratory, a level 20 Snorlax with not optimal IV or moveset, and a other tanky stuffs really average...

I beg your opinions and advices. I really want to do Tier 3 Raids Solo, or level up my good Pokémon, but I don't know what is really optimal out of Legendaries Pokémon. Thanks for your help, and patience, and sorry for the long post.

EDIT: I only have 5 TM: 3 fast, and 2 charged, and 821400 dust (this information is important, I think...)

Asked by Neadiel7 years 3 months ago
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Answers

Holy crap...

First of all, since you are level 30 you can now get level 30 wild pokemon and level 35 weather boosted pokemon. Find some higher level (33-35) pokemon like machop and geodude that you can evolve but not have to spend stardust. Even if the IVs are not the best it wont matter that much they will be very helpful. Dosent have to be the best moves right now either. Example rock blast golem are good enough as is close combat machamp. Just dont spend stardust on them.

Keep powering up your Dragonite for sure. Power up that venusaur with frenzy plant too.

Only spend stardust on high iv pokemon and try not to bring one up from too low of a level.

Do not spend rare candy on non legendaries.

Power up your best moltres and at the end of May power up your best zapdos.

Try to do some raids at ex locations near you if possible. Starbucks and Sprint stores are known to give them out from time to time. That way you can get yourself a Mewtwo hopefully.

Do not use your limited resources topower up mew if you got one. Its cool but not that battle relevent and you have bigger needs.

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Basically, what this guy said.
For metarelvant mons its pretty simple: Machamps are king for attacking gyms, Dragons and Tyranitar are the current best options for raids and will most likely still be for the next gen. So try to get some of those.
Try to do every Tyranitar raid you can get and get its moveset to Bite-Crunch/Stone edge, if it has good IV.

Anyway, gamepress has an attacker and defender tier list, which you should consider while powering up, as they take meta relevance into account there too.

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Thanks for your reply! I'll take all the advice into account, specially about getting high level Pokémon. I forgot to mention I have a level 28 Golem with good moveset but only 87%... Here where I live it's difficult to find some type of Pokémon (like Geodude, which is quite uncommon).

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by hkn 7 years 3 months ago

The most crucial non-legendary attackers are:
1. Dragonite with Dragon Tail + Outrage. Yours is a gem!
2. Tyranitar with Bite + Crunch. Depending on your area, you may easily acquire them from raids. If not, Larvitar is an excellent buddy candidate.
3. Machamp with Counter + Dynamic Punch (Close Combat is strictly worse but usable except against high-level Blisseys). Evolve your 91% level 20 Machop and hope it gets DP. If it gets Heavy Slam, using one Charged TM guarantees an improvement.

How many Rare Candy do you have? Save them for Zapdos, as a 96% Charizard with an exclusive move may be better than Moltres (Flareon with Fire Spin + Overheat is also a great budget Fire-type attacker).

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I only have 1 Larvitar, and with not strong Machamps, it's quite difficult to do T-Tar raids with low amount of people... I can manage to do Tier 3 raids with my gf and 1-2 friends, but Tier 4...

And gotcha about Machop! Let's see what I get :D

EDIT: 32 Rare Candy... Now I know how to do excelent throws, maybe I should try to Pinap the future Zapdos... Thanks for everything~

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Evolve some high lvl Eevees to Espeon, like 3 L30+ ones should be just enough in combination with your Dnite to solo Machamp. You may have to relobby though. Exeggutor/Alakazam are some other potential cheap options to get a Champ solo squad together.

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Can you solo Piloswine?

Walk that Larvitar. Even if its IVs are terrible. You need the candy.

That 96% Alakzam with Confusion + Future Sight is definitely worth powering up to level 30 for a Machamp solo team, especially if Eevees are rare in your area.

Check your Exeggutor army for ones that are close to level 30 and have moves that are viable for soloing Machamp. For fast moves, Extrasensory, Confusion and Zen Headbutt are all fine; for charged moves, either Psychic or Solar Beam will get the job done.

A 91% Venusaur with Razor Leaf + Frenzy Plant is a strong but not urgent candidate for powering up.

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Vine Whip is better, but Razor Leaf is ok.

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"maybe I should try to Pinap the future Zapdos... "

I assume you are talking about the upcoming Field Test reward Zapdos. Definitely Pinap him. I believe there is a 100% catch rate for the weekly task rewards.

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Definitely pinap Zapdos, and any future research breakthrough legendary, as they have a 0% flee rate.

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I'd recommend just studying the Raid Boss List and Counters guides on this very site. It's gonna be much more detailed about which Pokemon you should focus on and which movesets you should aim for.

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For fire types, try to hang on to that Charmander for now. During Community Day (May 19th), if you can evolve it during the event window, you will have a very good Fire-type attacker on your hands. The Moltres is certainly worth maxing at some point, and I believe we're at the last week of Moltres so you don't need to worry about getting a better one. Flareon really isn't worth the effort since it's only level 10.

That Blissey is fine for Gym Defense. Don't worry too much about it since it alone should be fine for getting you gym coins depending on your area.

I would focus resources on Moltres and buddy that one Larvitar that you have. Gyarados is definitely worth powering up, and I would hang onto the Frenzy Plant Venusaur, but for a lot of your options (For example with Flareon, Exeggcutor, Espeon/Alakazam, and Rhydon), I would, as Lawman8839 suggested, look for Weather-Boosted high level Pokemon as opposed to using stardust on what you have. Save the Stardust for the rarer choices such as Gyarados and legendaries.

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If you have tons of exeggutors powering them up is the best option as far as grass type is involved. Charizard and Venasaur are not worth it unless their evolutions are added which is not likely in the near future.

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1) Generally, you shouldn't power past L31 without a specific reason. Power that Dnite a few more times and shift your focus.
2) Be very selective about what you power up from a low level (sub 20). FP Venusaur is worth it because you can't get another.
3) Don't use stardust on defenders. In the current meta, if someone wants to take a gym down, they will no matter what is in it.
4) Prepare for Tier 4 raids. Since you mentioned that you have a group of 3 or 4 regularly, tier 4 raids are doable with some preparation. To do that, raid Machamp until you and your group have 4-6 good ones. Walk Eevee for Espeon and raid Exeggcutor if you need to. Psychic and Solarbeam preform similarly against Machamp in neutral weather. Don't use any move called "Seed" unless you target is weak to grass.
5) Wait for ComDay on that Charmander.
6) Tier 3 solos take some patience. You have to go after each boss individually. By the time you are ready, the boss could rotate out, and you would have wasted you resources. Machamp and Gengar keep coming back, so focus on them first. You may stumble across (or have already) Pillowswine counters since he is the easiest tier 3.

Well that should keep you busy for a bit!

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Doesn't sound like you are new, if you are level 30.

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If you need to fill out your attacking teams, look for wild, boosted species (level 30-35 or 5000-8000 stardust cost to power up). Things like Abra, Machop, Eevee, Magikarp, Gastly or whatever is common around you. Even a Pokemon like Ursaring can fill in some gaps if you need it to. It's okay if they have mediocre ivs. For instance, if you build a team of Alakazam/Espeon at level 32-35 with ivs in the 60s it higher, add in your Dragonite, you should be able to solo machamp.

If you can find Eevees, evolve all them over 700cp. When I was in the level 30 range, Eeveelutions were my lifeline into gym battles. Eventually, I replaced most of them with things like Machamp, Dragonite, and Tyranitar, but my top Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeons won me A LOT of battles.

I wouldn't spend stardust on anything below level 20 and very few things below level 25. Your level Alakazam is awesome, but probably not worth the investment at the moment.

Other than that, the top comment on this thread is excellent advice! Good luck!

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Really solid advice. Never pass up an eevee. Catch them all. Evolve high level ones randomly. Evolve high level and high cp ones strategically (espeon is guarantee by walking, naming trick if still available for others).

Even at L40, I still catch every eevee I can. 3500+ candy.

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Check out this thread from a while back. Lots of good stuff in here.

https://pokemongo.gamepress.gg/q-a/if-you-were-pokemon-coach-what-would-you-advise-your-players

Based on what I see, I think you have been a little too focused on IV up to this point. You have some great high IV stuff that is not at all useful. For example, 96IV but L3 C/FS alakazam. What ever attack set your bad espeon has is undoubtedly more useful because it is probably much higher level?

Rare stuff like Beldum or bagon? Be more selective. Wait for 89+ or 96+ or whatever your threshold is but Common Pokémon like exeggcute—>exeggutor evolve even a L30 0IV or certainly a L35 50IV. They will be awesome compared to what you have. Upgrade after you get powerful commons....a team of high level Extrasensory/Psychic or E/solar beam exeggutor can solo Machamp without them all being 15 attack or 90+IV.

Note: I just finished maxing a 98IV rhydon that started as a L1 rhyhorn before TM existed. It was my only top tier Rhydon with the right moveset when the project began. So, I certainly understand where you are coming from. With TM and weather boost, I would not do this again. I have a 100 IV L1 growlithe that will probably be a L1 100IV Growlithe or arcanine forever.

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