My friends, recently I have been wondering if the IV's really make any difference in PvP / Raids.
Sometimes in order to make some space in my pokemon bag I transfered high level pokemons with regular/bad IV's and invest lots of candies and stardust in the good ones despite the fact they are pretty low level.
Thanks!
It depends on the match up. Something like Golem in neutral weather with no friends needs that 15 ATK for the last breakpoint at 40.
In many other cases, a low IV high level evolved all the way is just as good or better than a high IV low level. And in some cases, only the move + level matter - SC Gengar out performs every other moveset (including Lick by <0.5 DPS), at the same level. 0 ATK SC is stronger than 15 ATK Hex.
Lick vs. SC has everything to do with at what point of the cycle Gengar dies, just like Draco Meteor vs. Outrage on Dragonite. SC is the more consistent move and it seems to perform better overall when looking at sims, but Lick is better in some cases. And Lick is much better when using Gengar with Sludge Bomb or Focus Blast.
"Something like Golem in neutral weather with no friends needs that 15 ATK for the last breakpoint at 40."
Ummm, no. It doesn't 'need' to hit that last breakpoint. It will just do a little bit less damage than if it hits it.
Further, with the changes induced by weather, friends, and most importantly the increases in the bonuses and penalties for resistance and weakness, the breakpoints are very fuzzy now.
Is a 15 attack Golem better than a 12 attack Golem? Sure. Will the 15 attack Golem win a lot of fights that the 12 attack one will lose? Not at all. Maybe one or two in a thousand.
Worrying about small changes on IVs is like worrying about collecting the interest on the interest on the interest on the money in your savings account. Maybe a few pennies a century. Or you could put the cash in a money market and get a much higher overall rate. Don't fret the microscopic details.
In raids, yes, IVs make a difference, even if only slightly, but there are other characteristics that are far more important, like move sets and types. I have not figured out PvP yet, but my assumption is that IVs also make a difference, even if only slightly, in the Master League, but no difference in the Great League or Ultra League.
It depends on your play style. I'm a bit of an Iv stickler personally. If I have a level 35 boosted dratini with crap IV's vs a level 1 perfect, i'd take the perfect every time. However theres people who'd take the level 35 simply because all you need is 124 candy and you never need to power it up (I personally dont do that as I know I will power the good IV one up regardless, so the 124 used on a dragonite I know i'll replace is wasted to me, but for others with a different play style isnt wasted to them).
Movesets also do play a roll, however as few of these moves are legacy locked, the only one being SC/lick gengar, theres possible senarions where very low IV of those gangar are out preformed by high Iv versions of Hex, due to possibly hitting bulk points and having the ability to last long enough to use another shadow ball, very rare, but not impossible.
I think in the great and ultra leagues, low iv, or low iv in a particular stat might be better for some mon. I have an altaria with almost 0 IV, but I powered it up to level 30 and it does very well in the great league, for example. It loses some for being low IV, but gains some for being a higher level, but still under 1500 CP. I think there may be cases where low IV in one or two stats might give a mon a more ideal stat profile in one of these leagues, as well.
Raids: IVs make a tiny bit of difference. The difference between a level 40 15/15/15 Machamp and a 10/10/10 Machamp is 138 points of CP. That's significant, but not earthshaking. If they each fought 10,000 random opponents, the 100% IV Machamp would win maybe between 5 and 15 fights that the straight 10s Machamp would lose. This difference could easily be lost in the randomness of lag, when the raid boss does a charged attack, and how the trainer taps the phone.
Simple rule: Power up the best specimen(s) of a species that you expect you'll get in a reasonable period of time at your play level, and don't worry about the rest. It's definitely not worth choosing a 15/10/10 Golem (ads) over a 14/15/15/ one, etc.
PvP: IVs matter, but likely not in the way that you think.
Let's take Gengar, a classic glass cannon. Perfect Gengar in PvP, brought up to just under CP 1500. Opponent also fights with a Gengar, but one with 0/15/15 (ads). Because her Gengar has a zero attack, it's CP is a lot lower, so she powers it up a few levels more. As a result, your Gengar has a slightly higher attack, but her Gengar has a slightly higher Defense and Stamina. Since the CP formula weights attack more heavily than defense and stamina, her overall stats are a bit stronger, and I suspect her Gengar will beat yours in a straight up even fight. (Well, realistically, whoever hits with a charged attack first wins, but that's the nature of Gengar, ....) At least hers will probably have a higher TDO than yours.
So, for PvP, IVs will be used to swing the pokemon's stats closer to the ideal balance of stats for fighting. Expect combinations of zeroes and fifteens to be optimal, with the exception that one shouldn't leave CP on the table. In the example above, if her Gengar falls at 1485 with a zero attack, but 1492 with a one attack, use the one, or better yet, two attack at 1499.
Important lesson here - you can't just trash a pokemon if it doesn't have max stats anymore. The right shape is important, and those middling IV shines you have could be used in PvP very well if they have the right stat shape - just power them up enough to optimize them in a league.
