What level are you? If you're below level 30, you probably won't want to spend much stardust, since you can catch pokemon in the wild up to your level or level 30, whichever is lower. If you're below level 20, you definitely don't need to be spending it, since the eggs you find will hatch pokemon of the level you find them at, up to level 20.
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Why do people hoard stardust?
I know some people who have never used any stardust. Just saving it and say it's the smart way to play and they are waiting for the perfect mon etc.. Does this even make sense ? Is it a smart way to play ? I spend mine as soon as I get any...
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I'm level 30, but I'm talking about other players over lv30 who don't spend stardust. Is there any point grinding and saving over 1-2 mil stardust when you can boost up you top tier defenders and help your team in gyms better now ? I just never realised people actually did this till now and couldn't really understand why.
First I want to mention that stardust is arguably the most valuable resource in the game.
I'm level 33 now and I immediately stopped investing dust when Generation 2 came out. I actually do it always when there is a major shakeup in the game. It causes uncertainty and so I stop investing / start hoarding.
Then, as soon as I get an understanding of what is going to be useful, I'm powering up. For me this moment will be, when GamePress has completed it's ratings and published all of their tier lists. Until then, it's quite funny watching my stardust increasing and good (or better) candidates to be catched/hatched/evolved.
I also think with the "great gym overhaul" incoming sooner or later a lot of high level players are kind of deterred to spend their resources. That's because having a lot of resources will keep you flexible, if the game environment may change drastically (which a great gym update could cause).
I'm lvl 34 and I have over 900K dust. The reason I don't use it is pretty simple: I don't have anything worth powering up. I already have 5 Vaporeons at max level I stick in gyms to get my gold, and I have a team of lvl 30 attackers (the usual lineup: Dragonite, Gyarados, Exeggutor, Arcanine, Machamp, Jolteon, Lapras). What else do I need to power up?
FWIW, I think the current gym battling system is a huge time sink for not much of a reward. I play this game in order to walk, not stand in front of a level 8-9 gym for half an hour destroying and/or prestiging. If I'm only in 2 or 3 gyms when I get my daily gold I don't sweat it.
Actually, spending stardust below level 20 does not matter. After all, you reach level 20 at only 210,000 XP. Assuming that XP is roughly proportional to total stardust, all the dust one collects before level 20 amounts to only 10% of the dust one has collected at level 30.
Between level 20 and 30, not powering up your pokemon will hinder your ability to get into gyms and stay there. Since collecting gyms yields stardust, and via coins - incubators - eggs more stardust, one will probably loose between 100,000 and 200,000 stardust by hoarding it.
Let us assume, there are two statements, (a) and (b).
(a) Do not invest stardust into a pokemon
(b) Transfer a pokemon
Look at (a) and (b), try to find out the difference.
Ok, to make it short: If you do (a) you still have your pokemon to decide later what to do with it.
The original statement is highly questionable, as it would allow a sub-level-30-trainer to invest dust into a 100% raticate and it would not allow to invest into a 98% SoB-Exeggutor, but your reply does not hit the mark.
I disagree. For the most of us, it is not the aim to stupidly grind for xp until level 30 and then start the game.
It should be fun to play from the beginning, and it should be allowed to make your own mistakes on this way. Yes, i invested into some pokemon i would not invest now, but i did it, based on my knowledge, and i learned from it.
If i could give one hint to beginners, i would not tell them not to invest stardust at all, i would tell them not to transfer any tiered pokemon until pretty sure, that it is not worth keeping. Stardust comes and goes, but a transferred snorlax will not come back.
Agree with Bruno. It is a game and is supposed to be fun, not some exercise in statistics and efficiency. I for one started powering up mons once I entered into gym battling, at around level 19 or 20. I power up most of these early favorite attackers and defenders to this day and never looked back.
Stardust is just a disposable commodity of which one owns plenty at high levels. Having your favorite mons grow with you in the game, especially in the early stage when you value your few good mons most, is priceless and gives you good memories.
It is an insurance policy against changes
If they make changes to moves or CP, both have been done in the past, then you are able to adjust immediately the changes occour.
1-2mill is far more than I have ever had, but I do like to keep 200k-300k in reserve as insurance.
That insurance did disappear the day Gen2 dropped, as I powered up new evolutions, but I have since built it back up.
I'll second this. I'm almost Level 34 and have 15 good, maxed out defenders. Since I don't attack much, don't need dust for prestigers, and don't ever seek to be in more than 15 gyms at a time, why spend dust now when it might be useful later?
Some day I might power up my 100% mons (lookin' at you, Ledyba), or make it so all my mons have prime number CPs, but that day feels a bit far off still. I don't grind for dust though.
I can speak for myself, never saved it I only have spend it on mon I really use or like and have (had now becacuse of the last moveset changes) ideal moveset and top iv (for me 90%+) either on offense or defense. I have a good amount of attackers and defenders, enough to keep 7/8 gyms per day and take down the 2/3 left on the morning to get 10 gym bonus.
But I have to admit that since I leveled to 35 and we knew about gym revamp coming on the next big update I have been saving all my dust (the last mon I powered to the max of my level was Blissey as soon as gen2 dropped), I don't want to make my power ups useless on a period of 2 months, dust is a very limited source.
At this point I have 875k and I won't spend anything until I know what is coming on the near future with gyms, as soon as I know I will do a 1M power up run, it is something that I have always wanted and I have never done before.
This are some mon I have powered up to the max: WG/HP Blastoise, WG/HP Vaporeon, 2xDB Dragonite, 1xSW Dragonite, 1xL/BS Snorlax, 1xP/DG Blissey, 2x B/HP Gyarados, 1x B/S Poliwrath, 1xS/T Raichu, 1xWA/FB Charizard, 1xPC/Ps Alakazam, 1xZH/SoB Exeguttor, 1xFF/FB Arcanine.
I regret some of them with the latest moveset changes, but I think all of us have been at this point sometime.
Part of it may be because when leveling up at the mid-thirties levels, feeding 15-20 (or more) mons at 16,000+ dust each adds up. Not to mention when movesets get reshuffled and you need to rebuild an entire new batch of fighters (RIP Arcanine army). Considering how long it takes to grind stardust, it's an easy decision to save up for these situations.
I'd guess people who don't use dust/powerups simply ignore the gym/battle aspect of the game.
It's as easy as that.
If you are just collecting Pokemon for fun, there is no need to use a single drop of stardust since powering up just makes them stronger "FOR GYMS".
No gyms, no need to powerup.
Might as well save it all if and when you decide to play with the gyms.
Also, gyms slow down your XP grind in the time/exp department so if you are only interested in grinding XP, you're better off probably just walking a particular loop with tons of pokestops, catch everything, hatch everything for maximum exp.
Saying not to invest until 30 is kind of crazy. You can still be competitive and have a great time at gyms around level 25. Here is an aspect that I remember having a great time with when I was mid-twenties: gyms in remote areas that trainers lvl 25-30 can hold for a while. Instead of just heading downtown and being overwhelmed by dnites and gyros above the 3K CP mark why don’t you and some friends head out to the burbs and explore? I am kind of sick of people complaining that they don’t have a Dnite and therefore cannot take the gym on the way to work. OMG you might actually have to break your routine to be competitive in a game with 20 million US players…..
Every player is different. Some play for now and some like to see some long-term return in their in-game investment. I am the latter.
Prior to the Gen 2 update, my end game activity was to collect the "best of its kind" Pokemon (very high IV combined with an optimal move set), so I have powered up only 5 Pokemon after many months of playing. CP buffs and nerfs do not interfere with my in-game goal, but changes to moves can render my past efforts irrelevant. While the Gen 2 re-balancing update did not adversely affect the 5 Pokemon that I had powered up, it made me question the long-term value in powering up any Pokemon.
I have 2 million dust at this time, but do not intend to spend any unless there will be some flexibility in changing Pokemon moves.
Lvl 33 here stardust 1.8 millions why 1st unpredictable game whats worth today may be worthless tomorrow. 2nd waiting for the perfect mon 80+ iv good moveset high cp ceiling. 3rd im just stingy once i reach 2 millions i will start powering up mons i like though my clefable, 100 bulbasaur, wygglytuf and my awesome steelix.
