Props to Nintendo

[Driven2lift]

Sorry, how do you swap attacks? Never heard of that?

With a TM, attained as a raid reward

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Driven, do you have any legacy Omastar with dual rock moves? They should be great for Moltres and Articuno too.

 

[Driven2lift]

Driven, do you have any legacy Omastar with dual rock moves? They should be great for Moltres and Articuno too.

I do, I actually get a lot of Omanytes here and he's come in handy a few times.

Man your CP caps are high, what lvl are you now?

 

[muscleupcrohn]

I do, I actually get a lot of Omanytes here and he's come in handy a few times.

Man your CP caps are high, what lvl are you now?

Nice. I'm 31, almost 32, but I caught these guys with high CP as Geodudes during the adventure week event, and evolved them into high-CP Golem; I just had to switch earthquake on them with TMs. I think I plan on keeping most of my mon at level 30-31, wherever the point is where you only get 1/2 the CP increase per level up, just to make more efficient use of stardust, which is pretty scarce in the new gym reward system. I think it makes sense to have a team of 6 ~L30 mon for each tier 3-5 Raid boss than just a few maxed out mon. Raid bosses may also change sometime, so I want to have a diverse army of 30s, not just a few maxed mon.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

I could use a few more TTar, so I have a TTar counter team marked:

a Mew/Mewtwo (and also Alakazam by extension) team that I need to upgrade:

and a bird counter team:

I want to switch Omastar's ground moves to water to make him more viable against Moltres/Charizard, so they also serve as good Charizard counters.

I've heard speculation that the raid bosses will change; Kanto mid-evolution starters replacing Johto for Tier 2, and Johto stage-three starters replacing Kanto for Tier 4. Potentially Dragonite replacing TTar (making Lapras, Cloyster, Jynx, etc) very viable again, etc.

 

[Mykoe]

Is anyone going to chicago for go fest?

 

[booneman77]

Fest was a complete dumpster fire apparently. Huge connection/server/glitch issues. Everyone that went is getting refunds, $100 in pokecoins, and lugia.

Lugia and articuno have also started popping up as raid bosses all over the world. Lugia is around 42k cp, articuno 37k

Double xp, candy, dust; half buddy distance and increased spawns all are on from now til Monday 5p PST.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Fest was a complete dumpster fire apparently. Huge connection/server/glitch issues. Everyone that went is getting refunds, $100 in pokecoins, and lugia.

Lugia and articuno have also started popping up as raid bosses all over the world. Lugia is around 42k cp, articuno 37k

Double xp, candy, dust; half buddy distance and increased spawns all are on from now til Monday 5p PST.

Yeah. One issue is what about people who bought tickets off other people? Is the original seller going to get the refund and the Lugia and not the person who bought the ticket from the original buyer and went to Chicago? For everyone who didn't spend the time/money going to the event, it looks like the rest of the world got a good deal with all the bonuses.

 

[booneman77]

Yeah. One issue is what about people who bought tickets off other people? Is the original seller going to get the refund and the Lugia and not the person who bought the ticket from the original buyer and went to Chicago? For everyone who didn't spend the time/money going to the event, it looks like the rest of the world got a good deal with all the bonuses.

Nah whoever was there will be good. There was a qr code to scan as you went in that links to your account.

Yeah everyone else def got the better deal. I can't imagine how pissed I'd be if I had spent all that money to fly, hotel, maybe rental car all just to get screwed. That's hundreds of $ wasted and what's most dangerous for niantic is they just screwed the people who were surely the major money spenders in the game. This could kill their revenue and ruin them.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Nah whoever was there will be good. There was a qr code to scan as you went in that links to your account.

Yeah everyone else def got the better deal. I can't imagine how pissed I'd be if I had spent all that money to fly, hotel, maybe rental car all just to get screwed. That's hundreds of $ wasted and what's most dangerous for niantic is they just screwed the people who were surely the major money spenders in the game. This could kill their revenue and ruin them.

That makes sense. I've heard someone suggest that they'd be better off doing a "concert tour" style event(s) next time to try to actually have a functional event; something where having multiple locations/times will hopefully reduce the amount of players/data use at one time, and also give people more opportunities to attend an event near them, so no dishing out plane and/or hotel money in the hopes of having a working event. I'm not sure what to think haha.

Also, apparently you can catch multiple of each legendary. I suppose it does help the odds of having enough people at raids (so it's not just one and done on Day 1 then good luck to anyone else trying to beat it), and really Mewtwo and to a lesser degree (because of moves) Ho-Oh are the only real OP mon; I think Lugia is only around TTar CP, and even then based more on defense than attack, meaning there are still better raid options than just 6 Lugia spamming for most raids. A team of 6 Mewtwo would just destroy the meta though. Multiple Lugia isn't anything new though:

 

[booneman77]

One interesting thing I heard is you won't be able to put legendaries in gyms. Thought that was odd

 

[muscleupcrohn]

One interesting thing I heard is you won't be able to put legendaries in gyms. Thought that was odd

It sort of makes sense I guess. Even though you can have multiple and use them to attack/raid, seeing them in every gym could get old and further ruin their "special" status. The thing is, only Mewtwo and Ho-Oh have crazy OP stats, and Ho-Oh does have a double weakness to rock. I think only Mewtwo would be an OP defender, and even then, I think he'll still be faster to take down than Blissey. It's not like taking down gyms is anything really difficult ATM anyway. Most legendaries are at DNite/TTar CP range, if that. I think that a lot of people assume that legendary mon are OP or inherently the strongest in the game, but that's not always the case.

Lugia should be great for Machamp raids though; SE damage and double resistance to fighting moves. His attack isn't that high at all though, so I don't know if he's "fast" enough to solo a Machamp raid?

 

[Driven2lift]

Battery died in my second round of raiding a 42k Lugia, the other 14 players got it.
/Ragequit lol

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Battery died in my second round of raiding a 42k Lugia, the other 14 players got it.
/Ragequit lol

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you catch another one. I'd be happy with 1-2 of each really (I don't have any yet though). The bonus rewards (candy, stardust, etc) is nice though, and should help me fill up my dex faster.

The strange thing is that the candy bonus for catching mons isn't actually doubled; it's just +3 candy, so using a Pinap looks like this:

-Stage 1: (3+3)*2 = 12 candy

-Stage 2: (5+3)*2 = 16 candy (not 20 candy if it was truly double)

-Stage 3: (10+3)*2 = 26 candy (not 40 candy if it was truly double)

You do get the 2 candy from transferring them instead of one as well.

That plus the shorter buddy distance should help me complete the last few evolutions I need in my dex.

 

[Driven2lift]

Yeah I'm walking a Magikarp at 0.3 right now, still need a Gyrados

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Yeah I'm walking a Magikarp at 0.3 right now, still need a Gyrados

I finally caught a Blissey, just sitting in class the other day. Not particularly high CP or IV, but it does fill the dex just the same. I'm very close to evolving Flaafy into Ampharos (I need 2 candy from walking and another 0.1km), and then Magnemite into Magneton (need 5 candy). Then it's just Snubbull (I need 40 more candy) and I'll have evolved everything I can, with only Porygon and Tyrogue left to evolve (and catch; I still don't have either of them). I also still haven't caught Wobbofet or Unknown.

 

[Driven2lift]

Jana just got a Blissey and a Lavitar with over 50 candy back to back, an hour after completing her Dragonite.

Beating me to everything!
Her 10K luck trumps the hell out of mine

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Jana just got a Blissey and a Lavitar with over 50 candy back to back, an hour after completing her Dragonite.

Beating me to everything!
Her 10K luck trumps the hell out of mine

At least TTar can be caught from raids, as I don't have enough candy to evolve one yet, but I got one from a raid. I just hatched a Mantine from a 10k haha. Before that I got a Mareep though, so it's not all bad. GPS drift got me that last 0.1km for Ampharos:

 

[booneman77]

I'm 0-6 catching ttar at raids and now 0-1 each lugia and articuno. My raid luck is atrocious (which is bs as I'm typically one of the top damage ppl due to my level and squad) ha

 

[Driven2lift]

Yeah I've still never caught a ttar, either. Still walking eggs and hoping lol.

MP You mentioned you were missing Porygon? Man I've started deleting them lol I have one evolved and 103 candy with 2 standing ready for the upgrade chip; I never seem to find the damn upgrade items. Well, I have 4 steel coats but nothing else lol

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Yeah I've still never caught a ttar, either. Still walking eggs and hoping lol.

MP You mentioned you were missing Porygon? Man I've started deleting them lol I have one evolved and 103 candy with 2 standing ready for the upgrade chip; I never seem to find the damn upgrade items. Well, I have 4 steel coats but nothing else lol

No Porygon here, but I think I have multiple upgrades waiting for it. I haven't seen any legendary raids near me, and there are several gyms I've been checking. There have hardly been any raids at all today. I've heard that Articuno may not be around for long, and other birds may be coming soon, so I'd like to catch one today, but that means one needs to show up nearby.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

1/1 on Lugia, but 0/2 on Articuno; I can't help but wonder if it's because I only have the silver ice medal, as every little bonus in catch rate helps.

 

[Driven2lift]

So jelly... 0-2 and 0-1 for me, but I did just get a ttar finally

 

[muscleupcrohn]

So jelly... 0-2 and 0-1 for me, but I did just get a ttar finally

Congrats on the TTar; he probably has more use in the meta than either of the birds ATM. Bite and Stone Edge or Crunch is ideal.

 

[Driven2lift]

Bite and Stone Edge

 

[muscleupcrohn]

So I recently came up with what I think may be a good in-game tool to help make organizing raids easier and more effective:

I have no idea if it'd actually be able to be implemented realistically, but perhaps have a way to actually "check in" at a raid before using a pass, and display the number of people "checked in" at the raid when viewing the gym/raid info. I'm thinking this could help people see how many people are physically at the raid, but wouldn't require anyone to waste a pass. Maybe also a way to say "interested" in the raid in-game if you are in range to actually click the gym from your map, that way everyone can see how many people in the close area are interested in going. Think almost like how the thing on FB for events works; the raid would say that number of people "interested" (or in the area and thinking of going) and the number of people "going (in this case the people physically at the raid location). If there are several people "interested" maybe they'll all make their way to the raid, or a few will at least, and then the "going" number will increase, further giving people incentive to show up since they know some other people are already there.

Again, I have no idea if this is feasible or if it'd help at all, but it made sense in my head.

Just a quick photoshop to try to visualize it, although I'm sure they could make it more visually appealing if they actually wanted to implement it (I didn't change the locations of anything, I just added the new numbers). I'm thinking that anyone who is close enough to view the gym/raid can add themselves to the "interested" number, but only those in range to actually participate in the raid could add themselves to the "going" number.

Thoughts?

 

[Driven2lift]

Makes sense to me, agree seeing the number present or heading to the raid would be helpful

I ended up 0-4 on Lugia, 0-3 on Articuno..

One day a legendary will be mine lol. Jana caught Lugia with a standard ball throw and no berry

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Makes sense to me, agree seeing the number present or heading to the raid would be helpful

I ended up 0-4 on Lugia, 0-3 on Articuno..

One day a legendary will be mine lol. Jana caught Lugia with a standard ball throw and no berry

Plus it'd be nice to be able to see how many people are ready/going to participate in the raid before having to use a raid pass.

I'm still 1/1 on Lugia and 0/2 on Articuno; I really want to catch an Articuno before they go away for now.

I guess RNG was just on her side there haha.

 

[Driven2lift]

Can you fill me in on how this is to work with the Legendaries?

We have these 2 still until Monday I heard?
I know it is Moltres next then Zapdos.

Ho-Oh supposed to drop soon too?

I assume somewhere down the road they will reappear? Sure hope so

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Can you fill me in on how this is to work with the Legendaries?

We have these 2 still until Monday I heard?
I know it is Moltres next then Zapdos.

Ho-Oh supposed to drop soon too?

I assume somewhere down the road they will reappear? Sure hope so

As far as I know, Lugia will be in raids as long as any of the birds are (until the 13th it looks like), but Moltres should replace Articuno on July 31st, and Zapdos should replace Moltres on August 7th until the 13th. After that I'm not sure if Lugia will disappear from raids for now or not, but the 14th woul probably be the earliest to expect Ho-Oh I'd think, with the legendary dogs either coming at that point or some later point if they want to stretch out the legendary releases.

I'd think that the birds and other legendary mons that are only here for a little while will eventually reappear; perhaps it'll be a cyclical thing, with them rotating every once in a while (and likely tier 1-4 raids also alternating/changing). At the least, I'd assume they'd be available once a year haha.

 

[Driven2lift]

I sure hope so, thank you brother!

I'm kind of indifferent to the Legendary Dogs, much more excited to catch the birds and at some point a Mewtwo.

Moltres will be very welcomed, my best fire type is still a 2200 Arcanine

 

[muscleupcrohn]

I sure hope so, thank you brother!

I'm kind of indifferent to the Legendary Dogs, much more excited to catch the birds and at some point a Mewtwo.

Moltres will be very welcomed, my best fire type is still a 2200 Arcanine

Moltres should be a pretty great fire-type, as long as he doesn't go up against anything with rock moves; pretty much a buffed-up Charizard (which should make Moltres great for grass-type raids due to the double resistance to grass moves and SE damage with fire moves).

Zapdos should also be really useful, being pretty much a stronger Jolteon (more attack and bulk), but with a dual flying type (making it less weak to ground, but weak against rock and ice instead).

My best fire types currently are a 2261 Arcanine (Fire Fang and Crunch), a 2097 Arcanine (Fire Fang and Fire Blast), a 1774 Arcanine (Fire Fang and Wild Charge), and a 2274 Flareon (Fire Spin and Fire Blast but poor IV); I have some other 2000-2100 Flareons, but they have low IV and or ember as a quick move, and I don't really want to use a TM changing it. I do have an 82% IV Charizard (1497 CP with fire spin and fire blast), but I don't know if I want to dump dust into him since it's pretty hard to come by IMO.

 

[Driven2lift]

Flareon seems weak at any CP relative to the other Eeveelutions, and my other fire types. I only have one powered up, the other candy I am putting into Vaporeons, great fighter, and now bringing up my Espeon/Umbreon but their use seems pretty limited too

 

[booneman77]

Flareon seems weak at any CP relative to the other Eeveelutions, and my other fire types. I only have one powered up, the other candy I am putting into Vaporeons, great fighter, and now bringing up my Espeon/Umbreon but their use seems pretty limited too

Espeon can be pretty useful as it does some wicked damage mostly and it's a total glass cannon. Umbreon is really only useful in spots even maxed since it's just too weak from a cp standpoint

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Espeon can be pretty useful as it does some wicked damage mostly and it's a total glass cannon. Umbreon is really only useful in spots even maxed since it's just too weak from a cp standpoint

This. Umbreon doesn't really do enough damage in raids to be that useful, unless you just use it as an "anchor" in a group so you don't lose all your mon and your damage contribution to the raid as a result. Tyranitar is the best dark type mon, and Houndoom has respectable DPS as well, but isn't all that durable. I think Espeon is probably a bit more useful than Alakazam even, as it only does a little bit less damage but isn't quite as fragile. Exeggutor can be a good psychic attacker who isn't a glass cannon, but future sight is a better charge move than psychic, and Exeggutor doesn't have FS. Lugia is probably the first psychic tank, and is even more durable against fighting types due to its flying type.

Also, I read on Reddit that you should upgrade your level 20 Raid TTar once if it's attack IV is 12-15, as this will allow its quick move (bite) to do one more damage per attack against Lugia due to the way the game calculates damage.

 

[Driven2lift]

Hmmm good to know. I swear my Alakazam was out-performing Espeon but I will fix it up (swap charge att and bump CP) and hope that helps

My Alakazam is 2300 now but definitely lacking in HP

If I had Lugia I could ignore all this... oh well!

End-game is Mewtwo anyways for a psychic hitter. It better be powerful when they drop it, favourite Pokemon of all since I was a kid and watched the first movie.

It was hard to get motivated to play today without all the XP, candy, stardust boosts. At least I hit lvl 31

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Hmmm good to know. I swear my Alakazam was out-performing Espeon but I will fix it up (swap charge att and bump CP) and hope that helps

My Alakazam is 2300 now but definitely lacking in HP

If I had Lugia I could ignore all this... oh well!

End-game is Mewtwo anyways for a psychic hitter. It better be powerful when they drop it, favourite Pokemon of all since I was a kid and watched the first movie.

It was hard to get motivated to play today without all the XP, candy, stardust boosts. At least I hit lvl 31

Mewtwo will just be so OP it's not even in he same league as any other mon (Ho-Oh is taken down a few pegs due to its moveset).

Alakazam has 10 higher attack, the same defense, but 20 less HP than Espeon:

If the extra HP means getting off an extra future sight, I'd think Espeon would get the edge, but Alakazam may otherwise. It seems close though.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

All this talk of psychic Pokémon convinced me to evolve another Alakazam, which I was hesitant to do because it's 123 candy vs just beating a raid, but I had a relatively high level and CP Abra, and stardust is more limiting than candy ATM IMO. Got confusion and future sight to go with my other confusion and psychic Alakazam (which is a legacy moveset, so I didn't want to change it):

 

[Driven2lift]

Solid naming I approve

Mine,

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Just dumped a good amount of candy and dust into my only TTar since he's going to be great for most/all of the legendary raids:

 

[Driven2lift]

Just tried another 4 raids, 3 Lugia 1 Articuno

All misses, Jana now has 2 Lugia's

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Just tried another 4 raids, 3 Lugia 1 Articuno

All misses, Jana now has 2 Lugia's

Man, sorry to hear that. Hopefully RNG will be kinder to you soon. I still need an Articuno too. I spent the rest of my stardust bringing some good raid attackers up to whatever the 5000 dust level requirement is (I think it's level 29) so I can hopefully maximize balls during raids to catch some legendaries. Now I just have to find some raids nearby; I don't feel like driving far just to raid.

 

[booneman77]

Finally got a chance to do another legendary raid and got my articuno! Now I've basically got today and tomorrow to get lugia before I head off to a bunch of nowhere towns the rest of the next month ha

 

[Driven2lift]

After a full evening of trying,
I caught both.

Final Tallies:
Lugia 1-8
Articuno 1-5




Now to relax until Monday

 

[muscleupcrohn]

After a full evening of trying,
I caught both.

Final Tallies:
Lugia 1-8
Articuno 1-5

View attachment 151975
View attachment 151976

Now to relax until Monday

Congrats, and good moves too. Hopefully I can catch an Articuno tomorrow.

 

[Driven2lift]

Best of luck sir,
Put that tank of a ttar to good use!

 

[booneman77]

Niiiicccceee. Heck of a day there

 

[Driven2lift]

You guys get your Articunos?

Huge win for me yesterday, a new gym opened a 2 min walk away. Going to keep it Valor and go for Gold

 

[booneman77]

You guys get your Articunos?

Huge win for me yesterday, a new gym opened a 2 min walk away. Going to keep it Valor and go for Gold

Got my arti Saturday. Currently sitting at a moltres hoping anyone else shows up (in Louisville). Sucks not having a network to help here

 

[AntM1564]

This is my first time in the thread and I see all the Pokemon pictures...what game is that?