Nuances of 1 bar versus 2-3 bar moves
I've yet to really find this explained, but is there a general line of thinking that dictates when and why different kinds of moves are valued over others? You'd think it'd be as easy as looking at damage and cooldowns and factoring in extra quick attacks and the possibility of dying with energy while using a 1 bar move, but it seems a lot more complicated than that sometimes. (Or perhaps that IS it, and it just varies wildly from mon to mon based on weirdly specific crap)
Crunch is seen as a bad charge move, even though it does the same amount of damage as foul play with less energy required (although Crunch has a longer cooldown)
On the same hand, Leaf Blade has the same damage/energy output as Crunch but is seen as a great charge move (although with a shorter cooldown)
Aqua Tail and Rock Blast both deal significantly more damage per 100 energy than Hydro Pump (150 v 130) and Stone Edge (150 v 100) yet the latter moves are always chosen first.
Overheat v Flamethrower and Future Sight v Psybeam are other confusing examples where it doesnt look like it should be so clear which is better and there are plenty of others.
These are just a few examples, and I know the Crunch cooldown plays a large role there, but the Hydro Pump and Stone Edge examples (and others like it across other types) really confuse me.
I mean, do the extra quick attacks really make up for the damage lost if you die with near a full bar of energy on a 1-bar mon? That extremely?
Presumably the specifics of the mon's quick move also help determine how valuable it would be to get more of them in.
Answers
Yep, loving IB. Powering up Lapras with Legacy IB, absolutely loving using it against Rayquaza. Wish I had done it sooner. And in blchg's example above, he's doing 270 power (90 x 3) instead of 130 power (130 x 1). Even if he got the second blizzard off, it would be 260, which is still less than 270, and it's likely that another IB would fire, making that total 360. IB for the clear win.
The other advantage is not overfilling the bar. Say you've almost filled the bar, and the raid boss fires off its charged attack. With a 1 bar move, you're ready to fire yours off (if you survive) and that's it. With a 2 bar move, you fire off one, and are often almost ready to fire off another because the excess energy from taking damage doesn't overflow. With a 3 bar move, it's usually even better, but the lower damage output and the tripled cool down time work against you.
Stone edge takes 2.3 seconds, rock blast takes 2.1 seconds. So, using rock blast three times takes 6.3 seconds, or four seconds longer than stone edge. In 4.0 seconds, you can theoretically launch 4.4 extra rock throws, which do 53 damage while gaining ~35 extra energy. The Vaporeon and Espeon examples are similar, i.e. the extra quick move damage makes up for the deficiency in charge move damage, while also gaining energy more quickly.
It also depends on application and fighting style. In raids where Speed is king, you’ll likely prefer 1-bar moves IF you can consistently get a few off.
However, in gym battles preferences arise. Since time usually isn’t a factor some people prefer to dodge more and conserve potions/revives. Multi-bar moves typically are easier to dodge with thanks to shorter cool down. Also in gym battles where motivation decay plays a role, finishing off a third round using only fast moves for 3 battles then overkill charge move for 1 is inefficient.
It is a balance between the damage and energy gain of the fast move and the damage, time, and energy cost of the charge move.
Some one-bar moves are the strongest but players prefer slightly weaker two or three-bar moves for easier dodging and less wasted energy. For example, Blizzard vs Ice Beam or Hydro Pump vs Aqua Tail.
But then there are some two-bar moves that are actually better than any one-bar options which are worse for damage and energy usage. The prominent example here is Dynamic Punch vs Close Combat.
PoGoMoves.com can provide a rough estimate of moveset rankings in a neutral matchup.
PokeBattler.com provides more complicated comparisons, adding in IVs, level, type advantages, weather, dodge style, etc. You can simplify some of those choices by just looking at their raid section www.pokebattler.com/raids for specific matchups and use the rankings to help decide what to power up.
