I am frustratingly close to soloing a tier 3 Arcanine raid boss consistently. I have done it once, but cannot do it consistently. It seems Golem RT/SE is the very best pokemon and move set to accomplish that goal. It also seems pretty clear to me that I only need four good Golems. I have a 2555 CP L32 and a 2489 CP L31 RT/SE Golem. My next two RT/SE Golems are CP 2416 L31 and 2374 L30 (and do not have good IVs) . But I have a 2502 and a 2468 RT/RB Golem, both with decent IVs, that I could (maybe) TM to RT/SE. Can anyone quantify the improvement as to soloing Arcanine that would result from a successful TM of my 2502 and 2468 RT/RB Golem tp RT/SE?
I don't think that changing will make a huge difference. They are A and A- probably. IVs are important though. I only take my very best Golem into my Arcanine lineup. My second one is at 2470 CP 80% and doesn't feel good infight. Finally made it yesterday with the following lineup: (against Crunch)
Golem lvl 35,5 98%
Vaporeon lvl 35,5 84%
Dragonite lvl 38,5 100%
Dragonite lvl 38,5 98%
Vaporeon lvl 31,5 76%
Tyranitar lvl 35,5 89%
Assuming a level 32 Golem has 15 attack, it will do 107 damage per stone edge or 54 per rock blast. So RB does 55 more damage for a full energy bar, but with 4 more seconds of cooldown. In those 4 seconds, you could have used RT 4 1/2 more times at 13 damage each, meaning you'd do ~3 more damage per full cycle with a SE Golem.
However, that ignores the reality that you'll probably have wasted energy from fainting at a bad moment or the glitch that rolls back energy gains momentarily, meaning you can't use SE as often as you should. But then those extra RTs will also get you to your next SE sooner. So the difference between stone edge and rock blast is small enough that it can depend completely on whether or not you manage to use one last stone edge in time.
Your best solution is to power them up a few more times, if you can, because you're not that far away from some break points that will make a bigger difference than the choice between SE and RB. At level 34, a Golem with 15 attack would do 14 damage per RT instead of 13, so hopefully at least a couple of your golems have high attack.
Use Vaporeons if you have them, they have slightly faster time to win. Even if you're against Wild Charge just treat them as glass cannons and don't dodge the damage so that you can use Hydro Pump sooner - unless the damage means you faint.
Plus the breakpoint for Water Gun with 14 or 15 attack IV is only level 29, which makes it much easier to have a Vaporeon that's closer to maximum effictiveness than a Golem, where the highest Rock Throw breakpoint is at level 34 with 15 attack IV.
If you're only needing 4 Golems then you're probably wasting too much time dodging. Only dodge if it means getting another charge move off, and even then you should still be dodging with 2 swipes at most if you aren't already.
