However, if you’re still trying to be the very best, then take note of these actually useful tips from five level 25+ players to guide you this weekend.
There’s tips everywhere. There’s tips about how to level fast. There’s tips about how to get Pikachu as your starter Pokemon. And there’s tips about how to find Pokemon near you by looking at the fiddly steps counter thingy on the bottom right hand side of your screen.
But Why Trust Me?
As an ex-competitive gamer (Call of Duty (PC) and World of Warcraft (PVP: Rank 11, 2.2K rating in 2s), I came into the game wanting to level up fast and be one of the best. I hit level 25 a few days back with a healthy entourage of 1800+ including a dangerous 2150 Snorlax, 2000 Vaporean, 1900 Lapras, and 150,000+ stardust left to power up my future toons.I’ve been fortunate to meet some smart and high-level Pokemon Go trainers during my travels. Here’s some of our tips that you may not have seen over the Internet yet.
1. Save All The Dust And Candy That You Acquire
Tom ‘motbackwards’ Phillips, a gamer from Melbourne, agrees with this strategy, “Hold off on from evolving your 3-stage Pokemon until you have enough candy to get to the third generation. Once you have enough candies to get your second level Pokemon to the third stage of evolution, you are more likely to have found a higher level base Pokemon from which to start.”
2. Level Faster By Planning Ahead
Not everyone can do this of course. It’s hard to catch so many Pidgeys in a Zubat-infested world, and Vincent ‘Vinnystrife’ Strife, a level 27 gamer from Melbourne, recommends to know your most populous lured-Pokestop area and draw a walking path to ensure maximum efficiency and leveling.
“The best piece of advice I can give anyone for leveling really fast is to know your area, or an area you can get to, and draw up a plan. Near where I live, there’s a place called Waverly Park where there are five lures around the football oval with a running track around it. I went down there and planned it so that I would run inside the oval just enough to grab each lure as I past. I tend to leave the Pokemon that is harder to catch and just move to the next one. There are two big stretches between in this plan where I use the time to capture Pokemon. I average about 30-40K XP an hour without evolving the Pokemon I catch — I save that till later. Once I have enough or need to take a break, I use my Lucky Egg to mass evolve my Pokemon for another XP boost.”
3. Learn How To Curve Your Balls
“As you climb the level ranks, the Pokemon get stronger. This forces you to start using Great Balls and Ultra Balls which not only wastes a valuable resource, but may introduce curves to your throws that become very annoying if you can’t control the curve. So learn how to curve your balls. Pokemon at higher levels tend to blow your Pokeball away as you throw it as well. The other benefit of throwing curve balls is an additional 10XP bonus. Now it may not seem like much but at my level, any exp is gold!”
4. Don’t Bother Taking Gyms Unless You’re Serious
The truth is right now, it doesn’t matter, claims B1adee.
“It’s advisable to put your strongest Pokémon into the gym to make it a lot hard for enemy teams to take you down but it is very easy to be brought back down. If you’re up for it though, don’t do it alone. Team up with a few people of the same team (go Team Instinct!) to reinforce your gym to make it harder to take down. This will increase the gym’s overall prestige so players can join and help strengthen the gym. Keep in mind, it does take a lot longer to level up a gym than it does to take one down.”
Note also that taking down gyms will help you level slightly, as beating a level 4 gym will give you 450XP, level 3 gym will give you 350XP, and so on.
5. Know Your Pokemon’s Movetype As You Start Battling Gyms
In Pokemon Go, there’s something called STAB, or Same Type Attack Bonus, which basically means if a Pokemon of a certain type uses a move of the same type (Grass-type Pokemon using a Grass-type attack), there will be a 25% attack bonus added to the move’s strength. A super-effective move will also charge your Pokemon’s special attack’s meter faster. Another useful tip for gym battling is naming your Pokemon based on their move types. This makes it easier and faster to choose a Pokemon that will be super-effective against the one you are battling at a gym.
For trainers of more advanced levels, it’s useful to know Pokemon also have hidden stats called IVs – In Pokemon Go, there’s stamina (STA), attack (ATT) and defence (DEF), and these influence your Pokemon’s CP and HP. Thus, they influence your Pokemon’s potential, and keeping ones with high IVs allows you to have the best Pokemon that you possibly can. Each stat has a maximum of 15, and a Pokemon with maximum IVs (15STA/15ATT/15DEF) would be the “perfect specimen” and will have significantly higher CP and HP than one with minimum IVs (0STA/0ATT/0DEF) when they are both powered up as much as they can be. If you want to learn more about these more complex layers of the game, you can find useful resources generated by fans here and here.
If you thought these tips were good, here’s a few additional ones based on my experience with the game:
- If you’re going to spend money on the game, buy Lucky Eggs. They’re about 70c a pop when you buy 25 at a time.
- Don’t waste money on incense. It supposably does something but I’ve never seen any tangible results while sitting down or walking.
- Make friends while playing the game. It’s a social game. Say hi to people when you’re sitting next to them while leeching off the same lure. Join Pokemon Go Facebook groups so you know what events are on. It’s a lot funner when you’re playing with people.
- Be helpful. No one person is an expert in everything. Everyone’s a student. We’re all still learning this game.
- Each suburb has different Pokemon. You gotta travel if you want to catch them all.
- I saved up my 10K eggs until I reached level 20. So when they hatched, the Pokemon are extremely high in CP (like my Snorlax). I’ve been told they don’t hatch any higher if you’re over level 20.
- Don’t be afraid to use those Great Balls and Ultra Balls. Especially if it’s for a Pokemon you NEED to catch. Same goes for the Berries.
- Don’t fall in love with your starter Pokemon pick. You’ll catcher higher level ones in no time.
- There’s a few businesses around Australia offering solid discounts and free lures/charging stations. Take advantage of them if they’re offering some worth your while.
- And finally and most importantly. Stay safe. Don’t go catching Pokemon solo at night. Don’t try battling a gym or catching Pokemon near a lure that’s in the middle of nowhere. Look up every two seconds if you’re playing while walking. Pokemon will always be there tomorrow. Some thing’s aren’t.
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