Should I Evolve High IV or CP? A Pokémon GO Trainer’s Dilemma
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The age-old question plagues every Pokémon GO player: should you evolve a Pokémon with high CP (Combat Points) or high IVs (Individual Values)? The definitive answer, leaning heavily towards long-term strategy, is to prioritize high IVs over high CP. While a Pokémon’s CP can be increased through powering up with Stardust and Candies, IVs are immutable – they are fixed upon the Pokémon’s capture and cannot be changed. A Pokémon with superior IVs has a higher potential CP ceiling when fully powered up, making it a more powerful asset in the long run for raids, gym battles, and PvP combat. Think of it like this: CP is its current strength, IV is its potential to be stronger.
Here’s a breakdown of why IVs are paramount:
- Long-Term Investment: A high-IV Pokémon, even with low CP, can be powered up to reach significantly higher CP levels than a low-IV Pokémon of the same species.
- Maximizing Potential: IVs directly influence the base stats of a Pokémon (Attack, Defense, and HP). Higher IVs translate to higher base stats, leading to a stronger Pokémon at every CP level.
- End-Game Viability: When battling challenging raids or facing skilled trainers in PvP, the subtle advantages provided by high IVs can make all the difference. Those little differences in stats can lead to big wins!
While the allure of instantly powerful, high-CP Pokémon is understandable, investing in high-IV Pokémon lays a solid foundation for a more competitive and rewarding Pokémon GO experience. Let’s delve further with some commonly asked questions:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Should I Power Up High IV Pokémon?
It depends on several factors: the Pokémon’s species, your available resources (Candies and Stardust), and your trainer level. If the Pokémon is a meta-relevant species with desirable IVs, powering it up is generally advisable, especially as you reach higher trainer levels (30+). Before level 30, catching strong wild spawns is easier and cheaper than powering up weaker ones. Save resources and power up those with high IV that are useful for gym battles.
Does CP Level Matter When Evolving?
Yes, but not in the way you might think. A Pokémon’s CP increases upon evolution, but the ratio of its CP to its maximum possible CP remains relatively constant. Evolution isn’t scaled to trainer level. Evolve once you’re satisfied with a Pokemon’s CP and IVs. You’ll need to power it up further if it wasn’t a max level Pokemon though, so that’s the scaled difference. In other words, evolving a high-level, high-IV Pokémon will still result in a powerful evolved form, but you can start with a lower-level Pokémon as long as it has high IVs.
Should I Keep High CP Pokémon?
Keep high CP Pokemon if you need a Pokemon to fight with but don’t want to spend a lot of stardust and candy to power up. High CP Pokémon have immediate utility, especially for newer players. They can be used for gym battles and raids without requiring significant investment. However, recognize that their long-term potential is capped compared to high-IV Pokémon. For final evolutions, the decision depends on your willingness to invest resources.
Is it Worth Keeping 0 Star Pokémon?
A 0 star Pokemon can give it a chance in leagues if they are the only Pokemon that players have with the highest CP. Chances are when battling other players in Leagues, they’re going to bring their best Pokemon. In general, 0-star Pokémon have limited usefulness in the long run. While they might fill a temporary gap in your team, they lack the potential of higher-IV Pokémon.
Should I Keep Pokémon with Low IV?
If you want to attack enemies or defend gyms, then a higher IV is very important. The difference between maxed out IVs between 0% and 100% can have significant impacts on your winning potential. Absolutely not – low-IV Pokémon are generally not worth keeping for competitive battling or defending gyms. Focus on acquiring Pokémon with higher IVs for these purposes. If you are short on space and need to offload pokemon, use the low IV for this purpose.
Should You Evolve a 3 Star Pokémon?
A 3-star Pokemon is a great choice for evolving because it means that the Pokemon has a good IV. 3-star is much better if both 0-star and 3-star pokemon have low CP. This means, if a 0-star Pokemon has 1000+ CP, it may be worth evolving instead. This is due in part to the Candy and Stardust cost to Power Up a Pokemon (i.e, raise its CP).
What To Do With High IV Pokémon?
If you catch your good IV Pokémon from a raid or get a Ditto with good IVs, the goal is to make a Pokémon with at least five perfect IVs. Breeding Pokémon with good IVs can be achieved by giving it a Destiny Knot to hold in order to pass down five of their IVs to their child, randomly.
What Is Considered a Perfect IV Pokémon?
If you are looking for a perfect IV Pokemon, then be on the lookout for a value of 31 in all stats’ IVs at the same time. IVs are a hidden stat and there is a set of IVs for each stat that ranges from a value of 0 to 31. For each IV point in a stat, that stat will grow by one point by the time the Pokemon hits Level 100 (discounting the influence of Nature).
What Pokémon Gains The Most CP When Evolving?
Which pokemon has the highest CP jump from evolving?
Feebas to Milotic: +2,731 Vigoroth to Slaking: +2,463 Kirlia to Gardevoir/Gallade: +2,127 Eevee to Espeon: +2101 Gabite to Garchomp: +2,088 Metang to Metagross: +2,070
Does CP Double When You Evolve?
In Pokemon Go, species’ CP increases at different rates when evolved. A lot are around the 2x multiplier whereby their CP will double. Magikarp’s CP will increase by an average of 11x when it evolves into Gyarados!
Why Did CP Go Down After Evolving?
CP formula puts more weight into a Pokemon’s attack than it does into its HP or defense. A pokemon’s CP drops along with the drop in its attack because the Pokemon loses a bunch of attack when it evolves, and only gains a little bit in its other stats.
Should I Prioritize CP or IV Pokémon Go?
Higher IVs always have priority over high CP. CP you can change by powering up the Pokemon but IVs cannot be changed. The most ideal situation would be both, of course, because higher IVs will naturally give you a higher CP pokemon once it’s fully evolved and powered up.
Should I Keep My Low CP Pokémon?
You will catch higher CP pokemon soon enough as you level more, so low CP pokemon are useless. Toss everything under 200CP in the blender. The higher ones you’ll be able to use a bit, until you level even more.
Should I Increase CP or Evolve First?
Evolve first, if the moves are good, then you worry about CP. The creature’s max CP potential remains the same and is solely dependent on the pokemon breed and your personal trainer level.
How Rare Is A Perfect IV Pokémon?
There’s a one in 4,096 chance, or 0.0244% portability, of finding perfect IVs from a wild catch. There is also a Weather Boosted wild catch though, which gives you a significant odds boost.
Is CP or Stars More Important?
Rating stars represent the potential, and CP represents the current state. If you power up a Pokemon with 3 stats to the same level as a 0 star Pokemon of the same species, the 3 star one will have more CP. Usually CP is your best indicator of your strongest fighters (but there are TONS more factors).
How Do You Get The Perfect 3 Star In Pokémon Go?
Just to note, it’s all random and RNG based. Pokémon obtained from raids, eggs, research have a base IV floor of 10/10/10. This is your best chance to find a perfect IV. Wild Pokémon have random IVs, but weather boosted Pokémon have a raised IV floor of 4/4/4. … Trading rerolls IVs. … Finally, get to level 30.
Are Lucky Pokemon Always 3 Stars?
IV Floor for Luckies is 12/12/12, which would be on the very end of 2. Anything 82% or higher (13/12/12+) will be 3.
Should You Always Evolve Shiny?
Aesthetic Appeal: Shiny Pokémon have unique coloration compared to their non-shiny counterparts. If you appreciate the look of the shiny form and prefer it over the regular form, evolving your shiny Pokémon can be a way to enjoy its unique appearance.
Are 4 Star Pokemon The Best?
A Pokemon with perfect IVs is classified as a 4-star Pokemon. Players can also search Pokemon based on their stats by using filters: On the overworld map, select the Poke Ball icon, then Pokemon. Tap the search bar, and select “See More.”
What Is a Good IV Value Pokemon?
The value will be somewhere between 0 and 31 — 0 being the worst and 31 being the best. For example, if a Pokemon’s Speed IV is 31, that means its Speed can reach the maximum a Pokemon of that species can accomplish as long as its Effort Values are properly allotted.
Should I Purify A Pokemon For Perfect IV?
Purified Pokemon will have better Appraisal and receive 2 points towards all their IVs. This can potentially bring a 2-star Shadow Pokemon to a 3-star if it’s purified. Purified Pokemon will receive a significant boost in Combat Power (CP).
What Is A Bad IV Pokemon?
If a Pokemon is created with IVs even below 20, they’re considered worthless and unusable. There are two cases who you wouldn’t want a 31 in a stat. The first case is primarily the Speed stat, where you want a 0, for the purposes of Trick Room, which reverses the turn order.
By prioritizing IVs over CP, you will find yourself building a strong Pokémon GO team! To learn more about the intersection of gaming and learning, explore the resources at GamesLearningSociety.org.