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Espinosa

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Posts posted by Espinosa

  1. Crawdaunt's special attack is fine, about the same as Sharpedo's. Training a slow water-type with an average natural movepool just seems like a bad idea, though it's kinda bulky and has a good defensive typing. Also, I don't see the point in listing every single move a Pokemon learns, especially Ancientpower in case of Crawdaunt, which it requires breeding to learn.

  2. I don't think so. It learns Crunch like 30 levels later than Sharpedo, which means it might not even learn it until E4 (where it would be great for Phoebe), and it gets no physical STAB so it's inferior to a whole lot of other water-types with decent speed.

  3. I'd argue Treecko has a better earlygame, FAR better on the basis that it can sustain itself without need of resources (my latest run I learned that I could possibly get to Mauville or even Verdanturf without need of a pokecenter, much less potions or berries aside from status clearers due to the occasional Shroomish), and speed. It also makes mons like Shroomish and Seedot look like a waste.

    I don't know... Sure, you've got Absorb with which you can restore your health to full every time you face a Geodude, but Absorb is all you get (Bullet Seed is better offensively but is unreliable since it usually hits 2-3 times) until Leaf Blade is learnt at lv. 29. Combusken gets Double Kick at lv. 16 and Marshtomp gets Mud Shot as soon as it evolves at the same level, which are all better. I'd argue that having a powerful attack is better than not having one, even if it means having to use a Potion here and there. If you don't raise a team of six or something, you can easily train Marshtomp/Combusken to the point where they easily OHKO without requiring much healing.

  4. Notice how I said "not an argument against Sableye in the versions where he is available by all means, but I've already said enough about that." Anyway, the purpose of that was to stress how you can't reject Taillow on the grounds that you're surely bringing a Sableye since Sableye isn't even available in every version (and when it is, it's not your best option for the gym either). Organising the tier list by lack of availability in specific versions is absurd and not something I suggested, much like it would be ridiculous to move down all the starter Pokemon because they're absent if you choose a different one.

  5. One problem with stressing Sableye's supposed superiority in the second gym is that it by no means sweeps it - the best you get is an agonisingly long battle where you either use Leer and Scratch (Leer is a bad idea since those guys have Bulk Up) or Night Shade, which takes countless turns because Brawly uses Potions as well. Really, if you want to get done with the gym faster, you might as well bring in somebody who beats him quickly, and you might as well bring somebody who is worth raising - I would say Kadabra with Confusion, but a good-levelled Taillow works as well. It's easy to see that Swellow's prowess only declines after its evolution as the opposition grows stronger and it waits 25 levels just to learn Aerial Ace which has the same power as Wing Attack. Still, Swellow is a good Pokemon for Mudkip users, because it covers its evolution line's only weakness - to grass, and when your Marshtomp/Swampert is overlevelled enough to OHKO grass-types with Ice Beam, you might as well stop using Swellow. The downside to raising a Kadabra at that point is having to switch him out constantly, because it's a little while until you get your Exp Share from your first visit to Granite Cave.

    Alternatively, bring a sleeper and try to beat Brawly with your starter. But that raises the question, which sleeper? Slakoth? Who's slow and gets OHKO'd? I need to think what other earlygame sleeping options you have available.

    I don't think skipping avoidable battles is a good idea (I'm all for using Repels in grassy areas when you do not intend to catch anything, though). It will only result in longer gym leader battles because you failed to appropriately raise the relevant Pokemon.

    And Sableye doesn't deserve a long-term investment, and I would argue needn't be captured at all. Plus, Ruby players can't even catch one so you need to think of separate Brawly strategies for that version (not an argument against Sableye in the versions where he is available by all means, but I've already said enough about that).

  6. Makuhita's not much faster than any of them. Makuhita also has less coverage (only fighting-type attacks are learnt naturally), and its defensive typing is far worse. I don't know where you're getting your information from, but steel is still the best defensive typing in the game boasting more resistances than any other type. Aron and its evolution line don't have to worry about being poisoned, they wall too many Pokemon and resist a large number of moves the opposition will throw at you. Aron learns Rock Tomb (and is possibly the best candidate for it) as soon as you catch it and it remains its best rock-type STAB for the rest of the game, and it can continue switching into poison, normal and flying types that you face. If you know well enough whom you're facing, you can switch Aron into earlygame water-types like Tentacool who haven't yet learnt a single water-type STAB and block them completely.

    Geodude comes just in time to wall Wattson, who is quite problematic if you didn't pick Mudkip as your starter. It also helps against Flannery and Norman.

  7. Zangoose requires a bunch of TMs to be good otherwise it just has SD, QA, and Return/slash

    Makuhita does well agaist

    Rock

    Steel

    Normal

    Dark

    All are kinda common early on

    Well, somebody has to make use of said TMs, so might as well pick their best user (namely for Shadow Ball and Return, perhaps Brick Break and Dig too).

    Makuhita hitting Rock and Steel types is not a very solid argument at all, because those have an absurd phys defence stat most of the time. As for normal and dark types, those are faster than Makuhita, so he'll be taking a hit from all of them before dealing damage. Since it's got high HP but low defences and it takes hits constantly, it demands more resources than any of the faster Pokemon you could use. Like Zangoose, for example.

    I'm also repulsed at how low Aron is (rock/steel typing is just too good), and how Magikarp is so much lower than Wingull. You don't even have to go fishing for a Magikarp and baby it in this game since it's captured as a ~lv. 40 Gyarados around the time you tackle the last gym. And soon enough it learns Dragon Dance with which it sweeps the whole E4 easily. Dragon Dance and Earthquake as Gyarados options make their first appearance in this gen. At least keep a separate entry for Gyarados, if you still want to stress that catching a Magikarp is inefficient (Top Tier material IMO).

  8. That's what I tried to argue against it. Didn't seem to work. Also, there's an in-game trade for a Makuhita? Because I can't say I remember one.

    Yep. Catch a Slakoth and trade him for MAKIT (or whatever) in the city of the first gym.

  9. Manectric has one thing Magneton lacks - speed. It has a solid special attack and a solid speed, allowing it to OHKO things with Thunderbolt (even ones that aren't weak to it). If you're slow, you're susceptible to negative status effects, accuracy drops, confusion etc., and have a greater risk to eat critical hits since you take more attacks in general. An electric typing isn't nearly as good as it is in Kanto, but it's nevertheless a highly useful one, especially if you're playing Emerald.

    Zigzagoon provides not only HM utility but also valuable items, especially if you keep 2-3 of them in the party from the very start of the game. Nuggets for money, Rare Candies for levelling, stat boosters, Ultra Balls (get one and you can catch a Skarmory far easier). This is why it's probably a very good idea to keep him in a tier above Tropius and Tentacool.

    Taillow dominates earlygame and is probably the best choice for Brawley, better than Wingull anyway. Later on, it can function nicely with Facade if it's poisoned which isn't too hard to prepare. Top Tier is too good for it, but High Tier seems fitting.

    Shroomish has a slow start where it relies on leeching health and statuses to survive and deal damage. Once it evolves, it is a little too slow still, and its grass-type attacks are weak. Breloom is still great for all those Mightyenas and Sharpedos you face in such numbers, but training it early is a pain in the arse.

    Makuhita doesn't deserve a spot that high due to its speed, I would argue, even though the traded one grows at a very fast pace. Being a fighting-type is good in this game, however.

    Zangoose needs to go up due to its instantaneous sweeping capabilities and high attack/speed. Marill, on the other hand, doesn't deserve all the trouble of being trained, not even with Huge Power. Medicham, on the other hand, is THE Huge/Pure Power user you should care for in this game (Brick Break and Shadow Ball give perfect coverage, and it's faster than Breloom to be able to sweep with a Bulk Up set), but for some reason I don't see him anywhere in the list at all.

  10. Why wouldn't we? Hey, let's just sandbag Pokemon just because we think they're too good! Hey, what if we don't overlevel Taillow? Wouldn't that blow?

    ...

    If you're honestly not going to use Starmie to its full potential, then you may as well just not use it at all. It's kind of like not giving your Speedwings to Haar or Titania, but to a more severe extent, because Starmie without type coverage is just another run of the mill standard water type Pokemon.

    I believe an appeal to Fire Emblem is unfair to some extent, as Haar and Titania are essentially unparalleled and irreplaceable in Radiant Dawn, in that nobody can perform the same functions equally well. You also don't have to go out of your way to make them usable, but you actually need to catch a Staryu, get the right shard and trade it for the right stone, train it until it catches up with the trainers and feed all sorts of TMs to it. You needn't catch Haar or Titania in any metaphorical way (though you can ignore Haar in 2-P, but you're screwing yourself over if you do). If you're not planning to use Starmie, it just means you're using something else. A choice against Haar and Titania is not a poor choice only when it comes to taking them to Endgame (and they'd do just great there too).

    Your argument would make much sense if you stated directly that not training a Starmie is unreasonable (a statement I wouldn't have any problem with), but I'm not sure if you're implying it or not.

    One could have a different motivation for training a Starmie. Like you said, somebody just might want a solid water-type and Starmie fits the bill with high speed and special attack. Somebody might want their weaknesses covered. These are just two possible reasons to catch a Staryu and they don't necessarily involve putting all of the battle experience into the starfish Pokemon.

    The fact is that Starmie is an elite Pokemon when it's around. Its type coverage is unparalleled - so what if it requires Thunderbolt and Ice Beam? You get one each for free; using Ice Beam on any water type Pokemon necessarily carries the opportunity cost of using it on another water type Pokemon, and most Pokemon that require Thunderbolt are electric types with absolutely no type coverage to speak of. It's fast enough to outspeed most opponent Pokemon in the game even with a level disadvantage, and it can take a hit while you throw in an X Special to prepare for a full sweep.

    Raichu gets Brick Break, Dig and Iron Tail, which is superior to what other electric-types get, but clearly pales in comparison to Starmie's TM movepool. Fully agreed otherwise.

    By the way I really disagree with most of the logic being thrown around in this thread. Offensive power is paramount in in-game runs and should take precedence over defensive capabilities whenever possible. You save yourself a lot of trouble by KOing opponent Pokemon in 1 attack without giving them an opportunity to do damage. Furthermore, Pokemon like Starmie with huge type coverage rarely require visits to the Pokemon Center because it has about 40 PP total (50 if you give it Psychic instead of Recover) and should be OHKOing a variety of opponent Pokemon. By contrast, Pokemon like Lanturn and Claydol are not particularly fast and do not pack much power behind their attacks unless they're STAB and super effective. The only exception to this rule is when you need to stat up using X items, but even then you only need enough defensive capability to endure a single attack, and then ideally you're poised to sweep.

    I agree that speed and offence take precedence over defensive abilities, but Pokemon play different roles. You may want to use Blaziken as your sweeper of choice and Starmie simply as a supplementary Pokemon to cover his weaknesses, or it could be the other way around. In the event Starmie is just there as somebody who takes out the problematic dragons with Ice Beam, not fed enough experience to outspeed the speedy, high-levelled Flygon and Salamence, you might as well train a bulkier Pokemon over whom Starmie wouldn't have an advantage at a level where both fail to outspeed higher-levelled quick hitters.

  11. I don't see why Chinchou's late evolution matters at all in the 3rd generation. You dive into the water, you catch one of a high enough level (they come at <=30) and it evolves the next level. Clearly, if you are using a Lanturn, you will teach it Thunderbolt; otherwise, why use one in the first place? Its niche is to deal super-effective damage to water-types without worrying about taking any substantial damage back.

    I also don't like how it's assumed that we overlevel Starmie and it outspeeds everything. What if we don't? It's very likely that Starmie won't be faster than Drake's Salamence (to OHKO with Ice Beam) and die to Crunch, whereas Lanturn doesn't mind being attacked with anything Salamence has (it doesn't have Earthquake). Same applies to facing Sidney's Sharpedo.

    Starmie is half-psychic, and being psychic-type isn't so terribly good in this generation (unless you are Medicham), when the fighting-type gyms precedes the time you can catch and evolve a Staryu, a poison-type gym is non-existent, and most of E4 has super-effective move against you (two of them specialising in dark and ghost types). Lanturn, on the other hand, comes just in time to face the water-types used by the last gym leader.

    Also, as far as Shock Wave on a non-electric type goes (like Kadabra), unless we're talking about attacking Gyarados, Psychic will always hit harder. It can be argued that Ralts line's access to Thunderbolt makes it about even with the Abra line in terms of efficiency.

  12. I see a lot of advice about giving this blade and that blade to Felgus, so I had to ask, is Leaf a good combat unit, or do we just have him seize and that's that? Because I left him with the Rapier on all of my unfinished runs and he wasn't doing very good at all.

  13. Something I've been meaning to ask the Fire Emblem players of this forum...

    When it comes to the time you spent playing Fire Emblem, what else do you do besides play the game? Namely, how much research and scrutiny goes into how you play?

    I'll ask some more questions to make my idea clear:

    - how many times do you usually restart a chapter you've done without any casualties or serious errors (like letting an enemy thief getting away with treasure or something unlikely to happen after you know a map well enough)? Do you rehearse before you proceed to the next chapter? Do you often look for discussions and playlogs by other online to see what strategies others use to clear the maps? In that case, what is the ultimate goal? Self-improvement, competition, higher rank, etc.?

    - do you often find yourself looking at enemy stats in chapters still to come, so that you can plan ahead how to distribute the resources necessary to complete those future chapters more efficiently? Or is it mainly trial and error?

    Do you make many notes for yourself that you can come back to later and check/compare to your earlier attempts or progress?

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