What are the best pokemon to Level to 40.
I have pretty much every pokemon out there, raid and regular and have reached a point where I want to focus Stardust on getting mons to 40. I would love to hear thoughts on the best ones to level to 40.
Answers
Look for 'mons that have defined roles, are good in a vacuum, and have roles that aren't really replaced.
Here are some of the mons I have maxed/am maxing for an example:
Legendaries maxed (top-priority)
- Groudon
- Kyogre
- Rayquaza
- Mewtwo
- Lugia
Legendaries I am close to maxing (moderate-priority)
- Moltres
- Raikou
- Latios
- Articuno
Non-legendaries that I have maxed (top-priority)
- Tyranitar x3
- Machamp
- Gardevoir
- Blissey
Non-legendaries that I am working on maxing (mid-priority)
- Another Tyranitar
- Shadow Ball Gardevoir (priority is Dazzling Gleam)
- Non-legacy Gengar
- Metagross
- Gyarados
- Salamence
- Steelix
- Aggron
Pokemon that are tempting but should not max (low priority)
- Dragonite
- Starters
- FP Venusaur
- Non-legacy Exeggcutor
- Golem
- Alakazam
- Espeon
- Flareon
- Jolteon
- Arcanine
- Rhydon
I hope my priority lists help to give an idea of what may or may not be the most beneficial. Obviously these are subjective and everyone plays their own way - for example I want to max my Porygon2 eventually and it's IV is only 91% - but nevertheless this should help. The theme, here, is avoid maxing common/uncommon 'mons that are only good for few targets because they can generally be caught easily with weather boost and require entire teams of them to be effective.
Also, I don't have these but would absolutely max them if I did:
- Legacy Gengar
- Legacy Snorlax
- Legacy Omastar
- Legacy Dragonite (Dragon Claw for gym defense)
- Legacy Exeggcutor (Confusion for gym defense)
- 100% Legendary (cannot be replaced by future releases)
Legendaries aside, I max Pokemon that are good in multiple situations and won't be easily surpassed by mons in upcoming generations. I try to get one for every situation. Sometimes I just max ones I like as defenders. This is my list of level 40 pokemon...
Tyranitar-B/C (working on a second, 100%)
Dragonite-db/O
Scizor-double bug
Vaporeon-wg/At (have another at 38 and working on a Gyrados)
Zapdos-my one maxed legendary
Machamp-kc/cross chop
Lapras-fb/ib, 100%
Slowking-c/b, 100%
Clefable-zh/dg, 100%
Donphan-c/dg
Hypno-c/psyshock
Muk-pj/dp
Exeggutor-c/SB
Exeggutor-c/p
Rhydon-ms/se
Arcanine-ff/ft
Espeon-zh/fs
Jolteon-ts/d
Flareon-fs/ff
Raichu-vs/tp, 100%
Snorlax-l/BS
Wow, that list got long...
I would say the top priorities are as follows:
Non-legendary offense: Machamp, Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence
Non-legendary defense: Blissey, Chansey, Gardevoir, Snorlax
Legendary offense: Mewtwo, Raikou, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza
I would hold on powering up fire type legendaries at the moment because of the possibility of Charizard getting a Frenzy Plant tier charge move in a month. There are also a number of great type specialists (like Alakazam, Espeon, Golem etc) that can be worth maxing if you need their performance for something. When maxing, consider their immediate and long-term usefulness as well as their future-proofness for which GP has an article: https://pokemongo.gamepress.gg/looking-ahead-ladder-best-pokemon-type
For reference, mons I've personally maxed for their meta relevancy (at one point or another):
1 Groudon
1 Kyogre
1 Mewtwo
1 Rayquaza
1 Lugia
1 Raikou
1 Moltres
1 Zapdos
3 Tyranitar
2 Dragonite
1 Metagross
1 Salamence
1 Snorlax
1 Rhydon
2 Gyarados
2 Blissey
1 Aggron
1 Espeon
1 Gardevoir
1 Alakazam
3 Golem
2 Exeggutor
4 Machamp
1 Jolteon
1 Vaporeon
1 Sceptile
1 Venusaur
1 Houndoom
1 SC Gengar
Some of them were better investments, some were worse, but they all have had a distinct role in my attacking teams or as a defender.
To make it short: The only legendaries worth maxing at the moment are Groudon and Kyogre! They are the best of their type by a huge margin and will always be one of the best!
Rayquaza does not have a clear edge over Dragonite. Investing 250 rare candy for 50 CP advantage is not worth the investment. Raikou/Zapdos are good but will be surpassed. Mewto does not have a clear role atm, but it's Mewto so go for it if you feel like it.
Non-legendaries worth it are Dragonite, Tyranitar and Machamp! IF the gen1 birds come back Golem will be huge but here is a risk that he will be surpassed as soon as gen4. Exeggutor/FP Venasaur are options but not worth it probably.
Alakazam, Espeon and Gengar are too glassy. Blisseys defense is not useful atm. Gyarados and Rhydon were already surpassed. Gardevoir has no role, Metagross has weak moves. Scizor has little use.
Raikou has an entire gen before getting outclassed so I'd say it's still quite safe. Rayquaza has a clear edge over Dragonite but not necessarily when maxed. The advantage is more that it'll reach higher DT breakpoints at much lower levels and deal more DPS than a maxed Dragonite at low 30s already. Ray does also have a decent chance to be the best flying-type in all generations so there is that.
Blissey's usefulness depends on area and your interest in the gym scene. What is useless to you is one of the most valued pokemon for high level players in my area.
You are probably right about the Blissey situation but even at lvl 40 most players don't have trouble taking her down. Your point about flying Rayquaza is valid but I still think that saving the rare candy and maxing a Dragonite instead is the better choice for most players that have rare candy as a limiting factor.
Then Raikou...he's awesome, don't get me wrong with that! For me I just thought it made more sense to habe two at lvl 35 than one at lvl 40. But then I only have one Jolteon, one Zapdos and one Magneton as other high level electric attackers. Players with multiple Jolteon would maybe decide differently.
Level 37, so max for me is 39. Should hit 38 in less than a month though.
As of now, I have only maxed a Blissey and a Dragonite. I only power most legendaries to L35 to save dust and candies.
Next up to be maxed are a 100% Machamp, then Rayquaza, Ttar and Kyogre.
Future proof, I don’t look beyond Gen 4. Even if it gets outclassed after Gen 4, it’s still a long time away.
