Some thoughts on defenders
So I've only played since february and don't have the experience that many (most?) here have. I am currently level 32 and have assembled a decent lineup of defenders and attackers, but have in general been seriously unlucky with movesets. This has been torturing me quite a bit, but perhaps needlessly so.
First up, when it comes to defense, getting a spot that is not at the bottom of the gym seems to be of most importance in the current system. If you can put a mon higher than a Blissey then that is all the better as Blissey is the only mon in the game that will make anybody think twice about taking down a gym.
I recently evolved my first Rhydon. One of my only two perfect 100% IV mons that I had been looking forward to evolving. Unfortunately I got Rock Smash/Megahorn. The single worst moveset for Rhydon. After a week or two I went ahead and powered it up to level 30 despite it being a seemingly bad idea. I had the excuse that he would be a perfect target to evolve to Rhyperior eventually. But here's the thing. Ever since I evolved him he has been sitting pretty in a gym earning me coins and stardust. Why? Because I found a strong gym to put him in, as one of the highest cp mons in the game, and there is a Blissey below him.
The fact was that I needed a defender and I needed it now. Not in several months time.
During the last week I have evolved my first Dragonite and my first Tyranitar. Both got terrible movesets again. But again, I could really use some high cp defenders. People attacking the gym won't know that my Tyranitar/Dragonite is terrible and it probably wouldn't deter them anyway as Tyranitar/Dragonite is no Blissey even with its best moveset.
My other point is about powering up defenders. My feeling is that you should only power up your defenders to the point where you can reliably place them in gym. Not at the bottom and preferably above Blissey, but you certainly don't have to place them at #1. Placing at #1 or #4 will probably rarely make any real difference. It just so happens that in my town, I really don't have to power up defenders past level 30 to do that. If that is also the case in your town, then maybe spend your stardust on something better than powering up your Varoreon to level 38. On the other hand, if I go to bigger towns, I can't compete. So really, everything is highly meta-dependent and advice given to players should always take into account his meta and his current lineup.
All of this is probably not really news to anyone, but I think I want to express that we arguably tend to put too much weight on IV's in general and on movesets for defenders. At least with the current system. Outside of Blissey and possibly Snorlax, movesets on other defenders probably rarely makes any real world difference outside of making attackers spend a few more potions/revives.
Answers
If I started over right now, I could get to level 32 very quickly. With all the extra XP bonus available, it would be really easy. I have no problem with new player leveling up quickly. More power to the new players. New players are great for the game. Spoofers with multiple accounts are killing the game.
Bring on new players! yeah!
Thanks for saying this. I was going to congratulate OP for leveling up so quickly and was shocked by the previous post.
I'm relatively new myself (level 33 after 6 months) and have learned so much from this and other boards. But I've also been accused of cheating which I didn't appreciate at all; most people here, however, are supportive and willing to answer the same noob questions over and over again. (Or just ignore them, which is fine too.)
Again, thanks, and to OP - congrats!
That offensive post must have been deleted because I can't read it. Anyway, from the look of other posts it seems that it accuses me of cheating. I certainly do not. I hate cheaters. I worked hard to get to level 32, but not crazy hard. Almost half of my xp was earned during the easter event. Daily mass evolves at quadruple xp will do that!
I made my account at launch so I look legit in the journal. At the time however I didn't have a data plan so I didn't start playing until late February. I too am 32. I haven't missed a day since but I also don't play hard all the time. I'm sure if I was dedicated I could have been 35 by now. What's the rush though?
While everything you stated is true and CP is the king at this point it is also true that this will likely to change in the next few weeks/months with the incoming gym rework.
Also you have to always keep in mind that having the "perfect" defending moveset might be the difference to make someone stop attacking a gym. Let's say someone starts taking down a level 10 gym, with the right defenders you can slow him/her down a lot, to the point that he could even have to leave because the fight takes too long (battery issues are there for a lot of players) or he/she spends much more resources on it than they could afford (not the same spending 2 revives and potions per round that needing 5 of them).
It is true that if someone is comited to taking down a gym he/she will do it no matter what, but you can win the long term war using good defenders. For example, in my town we have a limited number of stops and gyms, there is only a "hotspot" where you can reach 3 different stops but we have not got that many and they are far away from each other. Making gyms with good Blissey/Snorlax/Dragonite/Vaporeon movesets have made a lot of people need to stop fighting them for a week or two just to fill their inventory again with potions/revives. When I place a mon in a gym I don't only think how much days it could last, also thinking how many resources can that gym cost to take down. And by resources I mean time too, not only items, even having a high end phone the game drains the battery pretty quick if you don't have a portable battery charger, and most of the players don't have a 600$/€ phone.
Yeah, of course, I totally agree with that. I even not entered gym battles seriously until I was around the same level as you are, and it took me a lot more than 2 months to get there. Below level 30 there is not much options for a new player because their mon will have low cp and probably won't know everything about the gym system and who are the top tier defenders and their moves. For a lot of time I have been seeing peole on my town that thought that the only thing that matter of the moves are the numbers they show, so if an attack showed 15 they thought it was better than a 12, without even taking into consideration the STAB, the duration of the move, the energy it generates, the IV of the mon etc...
So I would say that until you are around level 30 or even more you won't know everything about the gym system, my advice for new players is always save your dust, you will regret spending it in the future if you start powering up that 85%IV Vaporeon you found at level 10...Just an example of course.
First, congrats on leveling up so quickly!
Agree with you regarding IVs in general. If the base stats are great, it may not matter so much. My 38% DB/DC dragonite is my best attacker!
As for defenders, agree with you that moves are not that important. Many hate twister as a gyarados charge move, but have you ever tried to dodge it?
I think you have figured it out. Any gym can be taken down by determined attackers, it's just a matter of time and revives/potions.
Good luck!
BlueSwan I think what you're missing is that when someone says you shouldn't power up a Megahorn Rhydon it is not because that Pokémon can't be valuable for you (in terms of earning coins) - it is because it is less valuable than a better moveset Rhydon. The idea is to save your dust/candy for the best movesets and IV Pokémon possible. How you determine "best possible" is relative and up to the individual player. With me, for example, I have high IV rhydon with Megahorn and high IV rhydon with Stone Edge. So I will use my resources on Stone Edge ones.
Powering up a level 20 rhydon to level 30 requires 66 candies - more than enough to evolve another rhydon that may have the best moveset.
I am actually a huge proponent of the idea that we (serious players) worry way too much on IVs. But the one place that it matters a lot (at the moment) is gym placement, because of highest possible CPs.
