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What next?

Not for the game, but for me personally. Constantly low on dust, trying to build my team up. Just powered a second Kyogre (both with Thunder, to use in Kyogre raids). First one was 89%, second 96%. Will CTM the 96% in Feb to get Blizzard (maybe useful against dragons) or HP (generally very useful).

I'm at a loss as to what to do next. 4 possible routes:

1) Machamp - I have one (15/11/15 a/d/s) at level 25 (caught buffed) that I just CTMd to C/DP. Could power him up to 30 or more, have plenty of Machop candy (291). Have another, 15/13/15 with double steel moves that I'll CTM eventually. Have 2 powered up, 14/11/15 with C/DP and 15/14/15 with C/CC. Once I power up another, I could CTM the 98% one with CC, and if I get HS, I'd be able to get by for a while without it, having the other two. Pros - want to get a better Machamp team. Cons - already have two powered up, a third is something of a luxury.

2) Lapras - I have one powered up, with legacy IS/BZ, 13/15/11, level 32, CP 2263. I have another, hatched, with FB/BZ, 15/15/15 at level 20. Have 124 Lapras candy. Pros - good against dragons, and I don't have an Articuno. Only perfect mon. Cons - When powered up a lot, CP is still low relative to other good mon.

3) Scizor - Best candidate is 15/13/14, has FC/IH, level 25 (raid caught buffed). Have 50 candy, so doing this would prevent me from evolving another - I love doing wind buffed Scyther raids solo, so I can get more candy, but may want to use it to evolve. Pros - good against Celebi, Latias, Latios, best bug attacker, decent against Mewtwo and other psychics. Cons - low CP, not generally useful, and the Legendaries it's good against aren't on the horizon yet (although one never knows).

4) Groudon. Have one powered up to 30 with SB. Next best now has EQ, 13/12/15, level 26 (caught buffed, powered up one level). Would have to use a lot of rare candy, have no Groudon candy. Pros: Would be good against Aggron, and against Raikou/Zapdos if they ever come back (have no Raikou, crappy Zapdos). Maybe also useful in a general sense as the best Ground attacker. Cons: uses a lot of Rare Candy,

Not sure what's the best plan, kind of thinking out loud here. I'm level 36 with a generally decent but not super strong team, except for 4 good Golems and three strong Dragonites. Biggest holes are no Moltres, Articuno, Lugia, Raikou. Couple of Entei, one bad Zapdos. Plenty of Ho-Oh, Groudon, Kyogre, most not powered up. Good Rhydon, Gyarados, plenty of eeveeloutions, one pretty good Mewtwo at 30, couple of Ttar, several serviceable eggy, rest don't really matter.

Heart wants to do Machamp, Brain says Lapras will be more useful soon. Torn.

Any advice appreciated, just trying to clarify my thoughts.

Asked by aeronaut636 years 2 months ago

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Answers

I'd power up none of these.

As you said, you're low on dust.
1) Machamp: there are wild machop at lvl 30 or higher. I'd evolve these. And Hariyama can be easily obtained.

2) Lapras: definitely not. I've a Lapras with Ice Shard at 24xx CP but that's it. No more powering up Lapras. Att stat is underwhelming. Find wild Shellder and evolve into Cloyster. Find high level jynx, Walrein, Piloswine and you're good to go against Rayqueza.

3) Scizor: NO.

4) Groudon: in the future when you're stardust-rich.

"there are wild machop at lvl 30 or higher. I'd evolve these. And Hariyama can be easily obtained."

Not in my area. I've literally seen more wild Dratini (39) than I have Machop (30). Contrast with over 1100 Rattata, 2700 Pidgeys, etc. That's playing since 2 weeks after the game was born. Normally, I'd want to catch a 30 (now a 35) and evolve it, but there's no way I can do that to get Machamps. Been trying to get Makuhitas, but no good candidates yet, although plenty of candy.

"Lapras: definitely not. Att stat is underwhelming." Yes it is, but after Articuno (which I don't have) it's the best ice Rayquaza counter, according to Pokebattler/raids, and usually second best overall (depending on weather). And I want to carry my weight in Rayquaza raids. I have one (listed in OP) that I powered up to over 2500 before the CP change that nerfed Lapras. I also have two Cloysters with FB/AV. The two Walreins I evolved got Earthquake and Hydropump. Plenty of candy for them, no good evo candidates. Two weeks out, I think it might be time to get something I can lock in for sure. Kyogre isn't very strong, with the resistance Dragons have to water, the quick attack is a fail. Now Kyogre with DT/Bliz, that would pound dragons, but it got nerfed away before release.

I find that I'm grinding 10-15k dust a day, hunting and doing a few raids. So a power up takes about a week. And dust is meant to be used, not hoarded. Some for an unexpected event makes sense, but hoarding a million dust is giving up opportunity cost to do something with the mons you didn't power up with that dust.

Finally, during the next community day, I plan on using 6 star pieces, and getting triple dust for it, farming the whole time. That should help a lot with building up a small reserve.

Save your dust. I almost never use any and is doing fine anyway.

If you really want to power up one, then wait until you find a great one with good IV and one that is truly useful.
I personally would never power up a 13/12/15 Groudon, even if it is a good Pokemon. Sure, now it is gone, so you can't get a better one, but maybe it will return.

I think it is a good idea to save up some dust, even as you power up pet projects. Try to save 5k or 10k dust for every couple of powerups you do in order to build up your savings. If you only do powerups with new dust you have accumulated, you will maintain some in the "bank," and will be motivated to go out and grind on a regular basis in order to fund your powerup projects.

I don't know how many CTM's you have, but using them to get a particular desired move can be frustrating and expensive. It took me six CTM's to get SB on my legacy SC/DP Gengar, and I spent seven CTM's - without success - trying to get DP on my legacy KC/CrC Machamp, before giving up. So, building a plan around the assumption that you will use a CTM to get the moveset you want is risky.

A C/DP Machamp is one of the best uses of dust and candy in the game. You can't go wrong powering up the L25 one. You could theoretically wait for a L30+ wild Machop to evolve, but that would cost you 125 candies, and you would be hoping to get C/DP, which you already have on the L25. That said, how common are Makuhitas in your area? They are relatively cheap to evolve, and they are almost as good as Machamps. I was able to get three level 30+ C/DP Hariyamas within the first couple weeks they were available.

If I had a perfect FB/B Lapras, I would definitely power it up, at least as a long-term project. There are other more easily obtainable ice attackers that can hold you over in the meantime, but in the long run, the Lapras will be a solid investment.

Scizors are fun, but not really necessary. You'll need to use X number of CTM's to get XS. The main current use for it is as a damage-smoothing finisher for Alakazam solos. I have a perfect FC/XS Scizor at L37, and it is great for spamming XS in those final seconds against the 'Zam boss, but honestly, I'd be fine without it. It's a good and fun mon to have, but I'd recommend making it a long-term, lower priority project.

The EQ Groudon would be useful against not only Aggron and electrics, but against Gengar as well. Like you, I already have a MS/SoB Groudon at L30, and I have an EQ one that I will power up eventually. But there is no hurry on that, either for me or for you.

Summary: they are all good mons worth powering up eventually, but the Machamp is the obvious choice to me. It's one of the best mons in the game right now, without question. For the others, pick one project at a time, and build it up as you grind stardust. If you work at it, you can accumulate 50-100K dust in a week just playing for an hour or two per day, and having a project you are working on will give you the motivation to keep at it.

Was in a CTM drought, then started getting some. Hit 2 last night on a Kyogre raid, up to 5 again (not a ton, but more than enough for important uses. Used 2 to get the level 25 Machamp to DP. I'm frugal with them, but a crap moveset isn't worth putting any resources into, a good one is more important than good IVs (of course, both good is best).

Looks like we agree that Machamp and Lapras are better choices to power up. Scizor is more of a fun mon.

Groudon is also a strong choice. Partly because I was unlucky with Groudons (none at or over 2300 unbuffed), and was traveling so I only caught 7 of them. The two buffed ones were among the best 3 in IV, and they are cheaper to take to level 30 than the unbuffed ones. And note that a 10/10/10 Groudon is way more powerful than a 15/15/15 Rhydon that's 10 levels higher, so powering up any Groudon makes sense over any Rhydon. And if Groudon comes back and I get a better one, well, I'll power that up too. Groudon is ridiculously strong, and having a bunch makes perfect sense to me.

What worries me is that since I don't have a Raikou, if they do come back, it will be sudden, and for a short time. I'd rather be ready for that than to have to scramble. I mean, suppose that on 2/14, they announce Raikou, Entei, and Suicune will be back for a week, and my Groudon isn't powered up. Could be bad. More likely it will be the birds and/or Lugia back for a week, in which case I need Moltres and Articuno and a better Zapdos (better moves would help too). But my Golem army is ready for the birds.

I like the idea of grinding dust and powering up, setting parallel goals. Just grinding dust is like pounding salt, boring, predictable, and without a concrete goal in mind. Power ups too make it tolerable.

Five CTM's isn't very many, IMO. I ran mine down to zero twice trying to get DP on that legacy KC Machamp. If you are planning on 2 or 3 being enough to get the move you want, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. In addition to the ones I mentioned, I have so far spent three CTM's trying to get heavy slam on what was originally a ZH/EQ Snorlax. I got HB, EQ, HB, which is where it now stands.

I'm not convinced it's important to devote significant resources to getting ready for a possible Raikou return. Defeating Raikou has more to do with the number of raiders in the battle, and the collective strength of their teams, than with the strength of your own team.

When I go out to grind dust, I am usually thinking something like "OK, I need to get 14k dust tonight to power up my Machamp another full level." I try to keep the goal realistic based on the time I have to spend, and when I hit the goal, I can stop for the evening. Grinding for dust is not much fun, but if I work at it, the dust adds up quickly, and I can power up my pet projects over the course of several days while still maintaining a reserve for unanticipated scenarios (e.g. Raikou or the birds are temporarily reintroduced).

Yep, I know the CTM dance. Took 2 to get Brave Bird on the Ho-Oh I use for Machamp raids. Took 2 to get DP on the Machamp I'm considering powering up. Worried how many it might take to take my 98% Machamp at level 31 from CC to DP. But as long as I get them here and there in Kyogre and Rayquaza (maybe) raids, it will be enough. One key isn't to keep using them immediately. You use one, get the wrong move, wait until tomorrow. And I have two fairly strong Walreins, neither of whom has Blizzard.

Current plan, set levels. When I hit 10,000 dust, power up Machamp one half level. When I hit 15, 20, 25, do the same. Will power up machamp slowly, and accumulate some dust for a quick change if needed.

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