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Well, finally broke down (Raikou lvl opinions)

Well, I've had a rough time of Groudon raids. I have a 50% capture rate with my best so far being an 87% with the worst possible moveset. But while I want to nab a decent Groudon before the event ends, my real goal is a Kyogre. Figured that I'd let the event end, power up my best Groudon with SB,, and then a few days later go after Kyo-...oh crap

Well, after my lack of luck with Groudon, now I'm a bit worried, so I figure it's time to start prepping to get more premier balls. According to Pokebattler, my personal best counter was my high powered Zapdos.... Yet my lv20, 91% 13 atk Raikou sat surprisingly high on my optimal mon list. After some calcs, I break down and spend 60 candies, nearly half of my stash mind you, as well as a charged TM and 3/4 of my stardust stash to get it to lv30, 2835CP and bless it with Wild Charge. According to the breakpoint calculator, my Raikou will just BARELY hit the last breakpoint for Kyogre at Lv40, but needless to say that's not happening, so its damage is as high as it will be for ThunderShock

So question: do you think that I should raise it more? I can get a few more levels, and its last defensive breakpoint is at 32.5. Do you think that this would be worth the investment given limited resources? Thanks in advance.

Oh, and a quick note: if you have high IV legends or views on using IVs/attack IVs below X, or you have opinions on stardust or candy management; that's fantastic, and more power to you, but I'm playing the game based on my own availabilities.

Asked by Raven86 years 2 months ago
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Answers

You really shouldn't power up a Pokémon solely for a raid.

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See, here's the thing; I respect your opinion, but I really don't care about how it applies to me in this regard. Kyogre is one of my goals for this game, and Raikou gives me a better shot at catching it, making the value outweigh the cost.

Heck, I raised a pair of golems just for Zapdos, and have never regretted it. In fact, my only REAL regret in that regard is not having done more, as I missed out on a 100% Lugia because I only scored 7 balls, and I DO NOT want to repeat that.

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Quite the contrary. At this point, raids are the sole thing you need to power up for. They'll have a better shot at catching the boss each time and the difference could potentially make or break a short-man raid as well. All of this is magnified in their case of powering up their first Raikou for Kyogre, which is by a significant margin the best counter.
What else is there to do with Stardust, TMs, and Rare Candy, other than developing Pokemon for fun/favorites or filling dex entries faster? They'll now be able to replenish those candies/TMs faster anyway, especially since Kyogre lasts a whole month.

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I don't think it's that big of a deal. Kyogre's Waterfall deals humongous damage so reducing it by one isn't worth that much dust and Rare candies. That said, I'd say that powering that Raikou to 30 was a good idea even though he hit the previous breakpoint a long time ago as Raikou is an excellent mon.

Oh, and a quick note: I've powered up my 12/10/11 Zapdos because of sentimental reasons (and because he's still good despite low IVs). Other people on this website have done power ups even to lv40 that are "questionable" from a purely min-maxing point of view. Play your way and enjoy the game! :)

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Thank you, you are an amazing person. And that's exactly why I have a Zapdos worth using myself. =P

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You can use pokebattler to do this type of analysis yourself in the future (I just did, for exactly this reason for myself). Add a second Pokémon to your box, identical to the one you have, but put it at level 32.5 and see what the difference is.

The difference will be small. On slow, high damage quick moves, breakpoints matter less (like waterfall). You may be looking at 915 seconds time to win instead of 940 with maybe one less death. Level 30 is fine. At least, it is for me, as that is where my raikou sits.

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by Croc 6 years 2 months ago

I don't feel sorry for you. I missed out on a Raikou all together. So I'll just use my %100 Groudon Exeggutors Venusaur and or Dragonites along with Ho-Oh. I will get several Kyogre with the local raid group and be happy with that. You should be glad of what you have, and worry less about what you don't have. I'm sure you'll get one or many. Good Luck.

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Congrats on your good fortune, and sorry about your missing Raikou (I missed Suicune, so know that feel) but two things:

1: I never wanted people to feel sorry for myself. The point of this topic was to get opinions in regards to if I should raise my Raikou to 32.5.

2: with due respect, I don't care what you have. Glad you do, but that has absolutely no baring on me.

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I too went a little crazy and spent all of my Rare Candy and half my Stardust powering up a second Raikou to 29 (need 7 more candy for 30). Tried to give it Wild Charge with my 2 Charged TMs as well, but it just went TBolt > Thunder > TBolt. -_-

Stopping at 30 should be fine. Think about how a raid actually plays out: You'll probably get hit with a few Waterfalls to about 2/3 health, then get knocked down to red by a charge move, then get KO'd by one or two Waterfalls regardless of dealing one less point. All of the HP and Defense you gained from 20>30 is significant enough, along with the extra points from Wild Charge.

Good luck.

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If it helps get you kyogre, then it’s worth it.

Also, I find raikou to be an excellent generalist. So if you are into regular gym battles, the investment will pay off there too.

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Do it.

I did and I don't regret it. I have a limited range of legendaries (Raikou, Suicune, Groudon, Ho-Oh and Mewtwo) as I didn't join the local raid group until October. My Raikou is the only one I've bothered to power up. He's 89% with TS/WC and is a lot of fun to use in normal raids and gym clearance.

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