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Who to power up next?

I am always short of dust, have 80k at the moment. This makes me think, who to power up next. I know the correct answer - look, what you really need and decide for yourself - I reply: All is fine at the moment, no real urge for anything. I am at level 35 and have a good attackers- and defender's team.

I will give you the most tempting options and would like to know, what you would do.

Cloyster:
I have two FB/AV-Cloysters, one with 80% IV at level 31, one with 93% at level 20. Battling a gym, i almost always have to kill dragonites, and some support at this front would be usefull. My options here:
(1) Power up the Level 20 Cloyster to 31
(2) Power up the Level 31 Cloyster to 36,5

Jolteon
I have one TS/TB-Jolteon at Level 36,5. It does really fine, but in some gyms, he could use some support, besides my some 21xx-Thunder-Backup-Jolteons. I have a 90%IV-Level15-VS/TB-Jolteon, and i am tempted to raise this guy to Level 31. Does anybody here know, how VS feels on attack? I like the fire-dodge-1:1-scheme, and i think, this could work fine.

Rhydon
I have a Level 20-Rhydon (15-14-14, with best moveset). I would love to max it out, maybe as attacker for Snorlax/Blissey, maybe as defender too.

Exeggutor
I have one Co-SeB-Exeggutor maxed out as defender, one Es-SoB maxed out as attacker. I have got one level 29 Es-SoB Exeggutor who could go to 27xx too, to be a real strong support for the first one, who is used quite often for attacking Blissey, Snorlax or Vaporeon.

Vaporeon:
I have some Vaporeon in the 27xx-region, and i am tempted to max out one of them as attacker. It is used as specialist for Rhydon and as generalist too, with its remaining CP after Rhydon is gone.

Defenders
I have lots of defenders Snorlax, Blissey, Rhydon, Vaporeon, Dragonite, Gyarados, all at level 31. My only level 36,5-Defender is my legacy-Exeggutor. For some of them candy is an issue, but Vaporeon, Dragonite, Rhydon and Gyarados are only limited by stardust at the moment.

I am really curious to read your suggestions.
Regards BB

Asked by Bruno Brezel6 years 11 months ago

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Answers

Hi Bruno,

Not the Cloyster. For the same investment in stardust and an equivalent number of candy you'd be better off upgrading a Dragonite which would have the dual purpose of killing other Dragonites as well as being a powerful generalist attacker into most things.

Also No to the VS Jolteon. Too slow. I dislike it and would rather use my lower level TS Jolteons, Charge Beam Lanturns/Ampharos to do the job.

Yes to the Rhydon. Great stats, great moves, nothing else to be said.

Yes also to the Ex-Solar Beam Eggx. If it is high enough IVs then go for it. I have a nice one at level 30, 93%IV.

Yes also to the Vape, you can never have a high enough Vape.

I would also power up your defenders first - Dragonite, Vape, as priorities then Gyra and Rhydon after that.

Between all your possible options, I would sequence your powerups as follows:

Dragonite
Vape
Solar Beam Eggx
Gyra (if you have a great one)
Rhydon

Thank you for your deep analysis. I really appreciate to read this.

Not the Cloyster. For the same investment in stardust and an equivalent number of candy you'd be better off upgrading a Dragonite

I must clarify my dragonite's situation:
I have one maxed out to 36,5 (DB/DP) the other two (at Level 31) come with SW. So i do not have a second attacking dragonite candidate.
I have some candy to do a few power ups, but not sufficient for a new evolution.
So I stick to my one cloyster, gengar and piloswines as dragonite-killers, instead of powering a second cloyster?

Yes also to the Vape, you can never have a high enough Vape.

Is hydro pump a must, or are two- or three-bar-charged moves viable? As Water Gun is slow at energy generation, it takes long to charge hydro pump and i sometimes like to be more flexible on my charged move.

Also No to the VS Jolteon. Too slow. I dislike it and would rather use my lower level TS Jolteons, Charge Beam Lanturns/Ampharos to do the job.

Would you power up another TS/TB-Jolteon rather than use lanturn with CP17xx or CP2100-TS/T-Jolteons?

So I stick to my one cloyster, gengar and piloswines as dragonite-killers, instead of powering a second cloyster?

I'm just afraid that Cloyster/Gengar/Piloswines are not as future-proof as a good Dragonite. BTW, I'd definitely rate SW Dragonites as good attackers too and SW is a good quick move. No STAB but still hits pretty hard and has a decent energy chargeup rate. This is why, all things being equal if I were in your shoes I'd still go for powering up your dragons over Cloyster.

Based on Pokebattler simulations a SW/Outrage Dragonite beats a FB/Avalanche Cloyster against a hypothetical DTO Dragon defender. You can run some other combinations too but I believe you may find that Dragons are still great.

Is hydro pump a must, or are two- or three-bar-charged moves viable?

I personally like Hydro quite alot and would not consider attacking with Aqua Tail (and certainly not Water Pulse). Problem with Hydro Pump is that if you need to unleash one towards the end of the fight with the defender at low-ish health, alot of HP's damage goes to waste. For this reason I'd be okay with Aqua Tail (but in my view the damage is sometimes just not there).

Would you power up another TS/TB-Jolteon rather than use lanturn with CP17xx or CP2100-TS/T-Jolteons?

Not really. I'd find an Eevee nest, raid it for 50-100 Eevees, evolve those which exceed 650CP and hopefully after 10 tries or so (if not earlier), out will pop a ready made high level Jolteon with TS/TB. Which would be better than a Volt-Switch.

I'm just afraid that Cloyster/Gengar/Piloswines are not as future-proof as a good Dragonite.

I think so same way. Gengar and Piloswines are already there, i do not invest into them. They are the second line of attackers into dragonite.

I'd definitely rate SW Dragonites as good attackers too and SW is a good quick move. No STAB but still hits pretty hard [...] I'd still go for powering up your dragons over Cloyster.

For the dragonite-dragonite-matchup, having steel wing is double painfull: No STAB, not Super effective. This gives in Simulation against the same defender:
SW-Dragonite 27 Seconds
DT-Dragonite 22 Seconds
Cloyster: 20 Seconds.
I think, i will not power up SW, i just do nothing and safe the drago-candy and try to evolve a better one some day.

I'd find an Eevee nest, raid it for 50-100 Eevees, evolve those which exceed 650CP and hopefully after 10 tries or so (if not earlier), out will pop a ready made high level Jolteon with TS/TB. Which would be better than a Volt-Switch.

Fortunately, not for me, i already have a good level-20-jolteon with TS/TB, as i have one with VS/TB. I can freely decide whom to power up, and i am curious how VS feels.

Again, thank you very much!

Wait for the gym rework before powering up anything.

True. Sad, but true. I unfortunately cannot contradict this advice.
Thank you.

I actually maxed out my double ice Cloyster. If you don't have a good Lapras, it is a great option because the 1.56* really takes down dragons fast, and with few potions. It just depends if you have a greater need. Sorry if this isn't helpful, but it is so situation dependent.

I have a maxed Rhydon and barely use it. I find it boring to battle with.

Thank you, i am glad to read well justified reasonable pieces of information as yours, they help a lot to find my decision.

However, if you really need now, there are options:

Jolteon – VS, though, is better being used as a defender, but since Jolteon's base stamina stat is so low, there is currently no place for Jolteon, and can be easily knocked out by Rhydons.

Cloyster – No, the two Cloysters are enough to kill two level 39 100% IV Dragonites in a row with dodging. The dodge bug causes some problems, and the same problem occurs even you max them out.

Rhydon – It is likely to time out against Blisseys, but still useful against Snorlaxes.

Exeggutor – A beast with E/SoB! Use it to take out most of the Blissey's HP, and let your Rhydon to finish it. C/SeB, though, might be placed at the bottom of the gym and get shaved, but it is still very good and being quite tough to beat; its massive amount of weaknesses also pulled it from being a overall good defender.

Vaporeon – A Rhydon killer, also useful against Snorlaxes with Heavy Slam. Every moveset except for Water Pulse is good at defense. Blissey is likely to be placed higher than it.

Thank you for your thoughts!

Jolteon – VS, though, is better being used as a defender

Not neccesairy. I have learned to like 1:1 dodging scheme, and so i like really strong slow "fast"-attacks. I am curious if this would be viable with VS too, as it is with confusion.

Cloyster – No, the two Cloysters are enough to kill two level 39 100% IV Dragonites in a row with dodging.

As backup, I do not use my level 20 cloyster, i use some piloswines. They do the job, but need more potions.

Vaporeon – A Rhydon killer, also useful against Snorlaxes with Heavy Slam. Every moveset except for Water Pulse is good at defense.

Is the same true on attack?

Regards, BB

Yes, in the Vaporeon case. Vaporeon can mostly handle the big 9 on attack as well, except for Dragonite, Blissey. Although struggles against Gyarados/Vaporeon, it resists water moves while having a decent base stamina stat as the bonuses, it is not the best, but performs OK.

I have a V D Jolteon and it's too slow to consistently dodge every quick move against Gyarados, even dragon tail. If you miss one dodge against DT because of the random timing being a low value, you're basically forced to not attack until the next dodge otherwise you'll also miss the next attack, whereas with faster moves if your dodge timing is offset a little, missing out on one attack isn't that big of a deal.