Dragonite
Should I power up my 2073 Dragonite 93% with DB/DC (Obviously for offense), or hold out for a Dnite with SW/DP (Defense)? I only have 40 candies ATM. I am level 28, and it would probably take all 40 candies to max it out. I do have another Dragonite that I caught in the wild, with SW/HB, and it would only take 12 candies to max it out (for defense), but it's only 15%. I'm just not sure what to do. Any input/help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Answers
I was going to tell you if you were for real or if it was a troll...
But I am going to answer you and be as relevant as I can...
It depends on where you live. If the gyms around your spot are changing colors every 10 minutes, then you absolutely don't care about a defensive dragonite. It will cost too many potions and revives.
In this case, you better put your last pidgey in the gym (get your coin and stardust) and trash it when it dies.
And of course you want to have your attackers at the maximum you can get them.
If gyms around you can stand for days, then you can power up your defensive pokemons.
In my opinion and based on what I can see with defensive dragonites, HyperBeam is way too weak.
It will use it 1 time during the fight, maybe 0.
With a good lapras or cloyster the job is done pretty quickly. After more than 2000 wins in gyms, trust me, you know how to kick every dragonite out.
What you really need is dragon pulse or dragon claw so that dragonite can use it more often.
Finally I prefer powering up attackers because they are the pokemons I use all the time.
Defensive pokemon are used by the AI, they are only "good" if they are profitable, I mean if you can get your coins and stardust.
Sometimes a good Poliwrath or Slowbrow can be very anoying compared to a dragonite.
Then it's up to you to make your choice.
You have my opinion, it certainly doesn't fit with your situation.
You now need to analyse pros and cons...
Poliwrath with HP is stronger to me, you'll know why later.
Ice Beam is also very nice. It has very effective damages against grass pokemon and dragons.
Some people don't take time to choose their attackers, they just go for those chosen by the game. And most of the time, dragonites come first.
Since your poliwrath is going to be one of the first oponents, it is absolutely usefull if it has Ice Beam.
Hydropump is also a good choice. I noticed that Poliwrath are using their first HP really fast and the cooldown is really short compared to other pokemon with this move such as Vaporeon.
Put one in a gym and try training it, you will see the difference with others.
Is it a bug? I really don't know, and I'll niantic answer for that.
What matters is that your poliwrath rox.
I was not convinced by submission even with STAB it is not that usefull, to me.
I dodge all the attacks, and comparing the damages, I would say that the most efficient poliwrath you can get is a Buble+HP. In the end it deals a lot of damage, and as I said, his first HP is hard to dodge because their might be something wrong.
The lack of STAB on IceBeam is probably why HP is stronger, even when you are dodging.
About IV's, there are different kind of people.
- those who are looking for perfection. Then IV's matter a lot to them.
- those who don't care at all, they just want to have fun travelling and capture a lot of pokemon
- those who are in between.
I used to belong to the first category.
Then I realised that with a caterpie you could kill a snorlax. I guess you know what I mean :P
Since there is no interaction at all with other players, I guess you don't care about IV's when talking about offensive pokemons.
Maybe one day we will be able to have fights with each other, but I think this is not the main subjects for the developers by now.
As an attacker, you choose your type, you decide which pokemon to use and when you switch. You can also dodge.
Then IV is only about psychology. You feel better having good IVs but it doesn't really change anything in the end.
BUT.
For defenders, you are in a bad position.
You are not playing, so your pokemon is just a punching ball in the middle of the arena.
Then, you want to have all the chance to annoy your opponent.
You want the best moveset, you want the highest CP pokemon, for sure.
But you certainly need the best IV in order to have all the chance to be competitive against an attacker who is going to kick you.
If IVs are not a real problem for offensive pokemons, it might be the contrary for defenders.
Again, this is my opinion.
Some people think I'm wrong, some agree, some don't care.
In the end, what really matters is that YOU play the game and YOU test your pokemons.
Then you will make decisions based on what YOU conclude.
Nobody plays for you, so you should have make your choice thanks to YOUR opinion. Not the others'.
As someone who wasted all of my stardust on defensive movesets which for a time was just the way the meta was around here, I can tell you no, don't wait for another one. Power it up first and take down gyms like there's no tomorrow.
Once gyms become active again / or they never stopped being active, depending on location, you will have no need for a SW Dragonite because it's useless and so are most defensive movesets.
At best they make prestiging for your team mates hard and you have a high powered dex full of mons that can't take down any type of gym efficiently.
Nothing makes me happier when fighting Dragonite than to realize he has Hyper Beam. In fact HB is a horrible move on any defensive mon.
On another note, players are overanalyzing Poliwrath's moves. Bubble/Submission is by far the most confusing and thus worthwhile defensive moveset in the game. Anyone who has experience battling can win any matchup so what you are really looking for is what fools the newbie.
I consider people who choose Dragonites over Snorlaxs to put into gyms in order to stay on top selfish (same goes for Gyarados and Rhydons). Why's that? Because Dragonites are way worse than Snorlax and Lapras on defense. Even a 2400cp Snorlax will do better than 3000cp Dragonite on defense.
The truth is if someone is determined to take down your gym, nothing will scare him off. Then you have two things to consider: depleting his battery AND/OR his potions. That means you need to make your gym more time-consuming to beat AND/OR more potion-consuming to beat.
Two Pokemons satisfy both criteria: Snorlax with Zen Headbutt and Lapras without Dragon Pulse. Chansey, as a rising star, fits the first criteria best. So an ideal gym should only consist of these three Pokemons.
And let me give you some real data:
I have a maxed out DB/DC Dragonite as my chief attacker, and it takes him
1) 22s and 50% HP to beat any 3000cp+ Dragonite, with dodging CM only;
2) 29s and 30% HP to beat any 3000cp+ Dragonite, with perfect dodging
3) 38s and 60% HP to beat 3000cp Snorlax (Zen+E), without dodging;
4) 50s and 33% HP to beat the same Snorlax, with perfect dodging;
5) Can't beat Lapras without dodging;
6) 32s and 70% HP to beat 2500cp Lapras (I+B), with dodging CM only.
I've done field tests with my friend to determine which Pokemon is the most economic (time wise and potion wise) choice to beat Lapras.
- DB/DC Dragonite with perfect dodging is the most potion-efficient way to kill Lapras.
- Flareon and Arcanine with dodging CM only are less potion-efficient, while they kill Lapras 3s faster than DB/DC + perfect dodging.
- Other choices, including Exeggutor, Jolteon, Rhydon, are less worth mentioning.
(Full records in appx)
Note:
1) KD = (Enemy % HP Lost) / (Self % HP Lost), measures how many that specific enemy can this specific Pokemon beats before fainting;
2) Potion Efficiency = (Enemy HP Lost) / (Self HP Lost), measures how your potion worth when used in this specific Pokemon to attack.
I always use my 3000 +CP Dragonites with DB/DC to attack Lapras with perfect dodging. And it kills the Lapras fast. Also another reason I use the Dnites is because I always use all three of my attack Dnites to battle any gym up to level 10 because I hate switching between mons for type advantage because it slows me down. It's kinda boring because it's repetive to use the same Dnites to attack gyms but I want to take down gyms quickly. And its fun taking down level 10 gyms in 30 minutes including the time of setting the line up which is the same for me. I get my strategy and type advantage fun on prestiging because that takes more thought, time and planning. But yeah, a Dragonite with DB/DC destroys defending Lapras with perfect dodging. I haven't attacked a Lapras with my FF/FB Arcanine in a LOOOOONG time. Oh and btw, I rarely use my FB/Blizz Lapras to attack Dragonites. Why switch out my Dnite when it can steamroll multiple mons including Snorlax, Lapras and other Dragonites. High CP DB/DC Dragonites are the best attackers currently. Gym AI mons are a joke. Type advantage and strategy only counts on prestiging in my experience at level 33.
Selfish? Dragonites are the third best defender in the game behind snorlax and Lapras. Pretty much ALL pokemons except for maybe Chansey is way easier to defeat than Snorlax and Lapras. So if I decide to place my 100 IV 3300 Dragonite with SW/DP that I treasure because I grinded my ass off for dratini candies, instead of my 2900 Snorlax I'm selfish? You sound like a Dragonite hater. Also, gyms no matter what mons they have are easy to take down anyways so why not try to place up high in a gym to last just a little longer to collect coins and also to show off your beast at the top? We do play this game with some sense of pride in our mons don't we? Let's be honest.
Agreed. And not everyone has a Lapras to throw around in battles. I love my dragonites more than my snorlaxes and Lapras because obtaining a snorlax or Lapras is almost pure luck from hatching or stumbling on a wild one. Obtaining Dragonites takes a LOT of work. Grinding for maybe months for candies, then finally evolving your favorite dratini candidate and hoping for a great move set. And when your prayers are answered for ideal move set it is sooooooo satisfying and you get attached to it.
