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[Money Guide] Ditto Farming (2nd Edition)


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[Money Guide] Ditto Farming (2nd Edition)

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Before you read this guide, I would like to thank @Solist for his trust in me to restore his [Money Guide] Ditto Farming Guide.

 

Feel free to check out the First Edition of this guide.

 

I have been getting random whispers lately as to where and how I farm Ditto's. I don't mind answering any questions other players have, but I feel like referring them to the forums will make things easier for both parties. So here goes.

 

Before I start I would like to note I tried to write this guide to the best of my abilities, but English is not my first language. Spelling mistakes and/or unconventional combination of words will probably occur, lol.

 

Also, as others have stated in the comments, this is not the only method for farming Ditto's. However, I've spend quite alot of time doing so, and I personally believe this method is the best trade-off between time spend and profit.

 

Requirements.
 
Before you start farming, there are a couple of requirements to be met.
 
1. 
1GV7rSq.png Complete the Hoenn playthrough and become the Elite Four Champion.
 
This will allow access to Desert Underpass. The cave that has, according to Bulpapedia, a 50% Ditto encounter rate. I believe this encounter rate holds true for PokeMMO aswell.
 
2.
tZBZvq0.pngObtain a level 100 Smeargle with Spore and False Swipe.
 
Preferably one that can reliably bring Ditto down to 1 HP with False Swipe. I personally recommend a Smeargle with an attack nature, an attack IV of 20 or higher, and full (248 or 252) EV attack investment.

 

252+ Atk Smeargle Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ditto: 112-133 (100 - 118.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

This calculation was done using an Adamant, 20 Attack IV, fully EV trained Smeargle (Couldn't find False Swipe in the DPP calculator, Fake Out has the same power). The Ditto is level 45 (highest possible) with a neutral nature and a 15 (average) Defense IV.


A quick overview on how to make such a Smeargle.

Spoiler

Catch or buy a decent Smeargle, a Marowak, and a Parasect. Level the Marowak and Parasect up untill they learn False Swipe and Spore respectively. Then go into either a double NPC battle or a two wild pokemon battle in the Unova region to attempt to Sketch False Swipe and Spore off your own pokemon with your Smeargle. This might be a little bit tricky, but it works. PVP battles do not work.

 

Players more experienced at this than me might recommend a better method. I'll refer to this guide for further instructions.

https://forums.pokemmo.eu/index.php?/topic/13138-smeargle-and-you-a-comprehensive-guide-for-sketch/

Because the aim of this guide is efficiency, I recommend using a PP Max on your Smeargle's Spore move.
 
3.
Cash to buy t65qpF2.pngUltra Balls or De9TMue.pngRepeat Balls (implying that Ditto is registered in your Dex prior to the hunt) with.

 

Thank you @Minks for the Repeat Ball Suggestion.


Because of Ditto's low catch rate, you want to use Ultra Balls. I usually buy 200 Ultra Balls at a time. Which will cost you 240k for the Ultra Balls or 270k for the Repeat Balls. If you want to use a Repeat Ball and had not documented a Ditto yet, then be sure to do that before hunting for one.


4. A pokemon with the Synchronize ability.

 

Spoiler

cYWLcva.png


 
This might not add to the efficiency of catching Ditto's. But it sure adds to the value of your farm. Synchronize is an out-of-battle ability that grants a 15% chance for wild pokemon you encounter to have the same nature as the pokemon with the Synchronize ability.
 
As many of you know, some natures are much more desired than others, and will therefore increase the value of your Ditto's. This will also help if you yourself are looking for a Ditto with a specific nature. You can use a Ralts with an Adamant nature most of the time, but Jolly and Impish are also good. As the metagame changes, the demand for specific natures might change aswell. My advice is to consider what natures popular male-only pokemon (like Tauros or Braviary group) would want to have.
 
5.
zVYhv4c.pngLeftovers or Uq7wDJS.pngSilk Scarf.

 

If your Smeargle has access to a move that is able to kill other pokemon (not False Swipe), you want to give your Smeargle Leftovers. There are going to be occasions where Ditto will do significant damage to you. Or if you want your False Swipe move to hit a little harder, then you can have your Smeargle hold a Silk Scarf for a power boost.

 

Alternate Method for Ditto Farming (Quoted DipStyle's Post due to this concept being explained well):

Spoiler

 


Assist set up requires 1 smeargle + 1 poke that knows spore and, preferably, uncallable moves only. The best way to run this set up is with 2 smeargles but 1 smeargle + 1 paras/shroomish etc. is also okay. For 1st smeargle, we put false swipe + assist + 2 moves that does nothing in 1v1 battle (sketch/splash/helping hand etc.) and for 2nd smeargle, we have spore + uncallable damage moves like covet. The list of uncallable moves can be found here: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Assist_(move)#Uncallable_moves

 

To catch ditto, simply do false swipe + assist (which will call only spore) and catch it. Ditto will transform into 1st smeargle which does nothing to slow catching progress. Procedure is same if you lead with sync poke like ralts.

 

As mentioned in the above link, this method is faster than breloom + subs since we don't waste a turn using substitute.

 

Also, it is better to use 2nd smeargle instead of paras etc. because we can put uncallable damage moves like covet to take care of the non-ditto horde in case of random shiny. For reference, this is the assist set up I use for ditto catching:

 

image.png.72eaf8034a23d14b7ca76feec489eb08.png

 

The only downside for this method is preparing this set up. Besides that, there is no other downsides.

 

Spoiler

I would also like to thank @Mikyii for mentioning this method in your guide.

 

 

Alternate Method for Ditto Farming (MoxieMozzie's Special Breloom Method):

Spoiler

 

 

 

Alternate Method for Ditto Farming that excludes Nature Hunting:

 

Spoiler

1. 1GV7rSq.png Complete the Hoenn playthrough and become the Elite Four Champion.
 
This will allow access to Desert Underpass. The cave that has, according to Bulpapedia, a 50% Ditto encounter rate. I believe this encounter rate holds true for PokeMMO aswell.
 
2.
uKiOmws.pngObtain a level 100 Breloom (while holding AEohI9t.pngToxic Orb) with Substitute, Spore, and False Swipe.
 
Lead with Breloom and use Subtitute for the first turn to destroy Ditto's chances of transforming. The next step is to use the move Spore which will put Ditto to sleep. While asleep, the final step here is to use False Swipe which will lower Ditto's health to 1 HP implying that your Breloom has a high attack stat and almost max trained (248 or 252).

 

3. Cash to buy t65qpF2.pngUltra Balls or De9TMue.pngRepeat Balls (implying that Ditto is registered in your Dex prior to the hunt) with.

 

Thank you @Minks for the Repeat Ball Suggestion.


Because of Ditto's low catch rate, you want to use Ultra Balls. I usually buy 200 Ultra Balls at a time. Which will cost you 240k for the Ultra Balls or 270k for the Repeat Balls. If you want to use a Repeat Ball and had not documented a Ditto yet, then be sure to do that before hunting for one.

 

Spoiler

Thank you @Paulo300991 for the alternate method.

 

 

Alternate Method for Ditto Farming that excludes Nature Hunting (Credit to @Pagani for bringing this to my attention):

 

Spoiler

I just have the following now:
 

1. 1GV7rSq.png Complete the Hoenn playthrough and become the Elite Four Champion.
 
This will allow access to Desert Underpass. The cave that has, according to Bulpapedia, a 50% Ditto encounter rate. I believe this encounter rate holds true for PokeMMO aswell.


2. tZBZvq0.pngSmeargle with False Swipe and Assist
 

3.zRIpka0.pngParas with Spore only

4.
e1JQ24R.png Octillery with the uncallable Move Dive only - high level with Leftovers, Ability: Suction Cups (prevents Hordes from fleeing in battle in case you're encountering a shiny in a horde). Using Dive would single-kill the other non shiny mons and then catch the shiny one.

With this setup it is safe and easy.


Location
 
You can find Desert Underpass at Route 114 near Fallarbor Town in the Hoenn region.

Map

Spoiler

caa35223ec510b818582e2641236683c.png

54e30ebf1d3b321643009112ccc58eba.png

Desert Underpass Layout

Spoiler

3b0c2fdeb5f6a8d267adbc1c40d4da8c.png

Strategy.

 

1. Place your Synchronize pokemon in the first slot of your party and switch into Smeargle.

 

When a wild Ditto appears, then you would need to switch into Smeargle. Once you do, then use False Swipe and Spore. If you kill the Synchronize pokemon, then the ability will not work.

 

2. Fill your party.

 

This is, I guess, an optional part. But I personally like being able to instantly release Ditto's I don't want after catching them. This prevents the boxes in your PC from clogging up, and saves you the trouble of filtering out all the Ditto's you don't want at a later stage.

 

3. Go to Desert Underpass.

 

4. Encounter a Ditto.

 

The goal is to bring Ditto down to 1 HP and it having the sleep status.

 

This part is up for debate I suppose. Ditto now copies your pokemons speed stat upon transforming (it will speed tie your Smeargle), so the easy pattern of False Swipe, Spore, Ultra ball no longer guarantees a catch in turn 3. I recommend the following pattern.

 

Switch Ralts out on turn 1.

 

Use Spore turn 2. Your Ditto clone will sleep if you win the Speed tie. Ditto has to win the speed tie (50% chance) and select Spore (assumed 25% chance) to prevent you from catching it turn 4. I can't prove the second probability, but I think it's save to say there is a 87.5% chance of you having caught Ditto at this point (turn 4 or turn 5). Occasionally, Ditto wins the speed tie and selects Spore to attack you. You will have to sit out the turns of sleep spamming your own Spore. You are almost guaranteed to catch the Ditto the turn after you wake up.

 

Use False Swipe turn 3. If you brought Ditto down to 1 HP and it is still asleep by the end of the turn, use an Ultra Ball or Repeat Ball turn 4 with a 100% chance to catch it. This is the best case scenario. I reckon there is about a 50% chance for this scenario to occur.

 

There are three alternative possibilities. You didn't get your clone down to 1 HP (due to a weak Smeargle or Ditto is holding Metal Powder), Ditto wakes up and transforms, or both.

 

If Ditto is still asleep but is not at 1 HP, use False Swipe turn 4 and pretend turn 3 never happened.

 

In Solist's experience, you will get Ditto down to 1 HP in one shot and catch it turn 4 or turn 5 most of the time (estimated 87.5%).

 

There are other methods that will prevent Ditto from using Spore on you (like forcing Ditto to transform into Magikarp for example).

 

Feel free to debate this strategy to your hearts content.

 

Harvest.

 

You will probably already have a good idea of the spoils of your farm. But assessing what Ditto's you caught is in my opinion the best part of this whole ordeal. It's not in the domain of this guide to recommend what you should do with your harvest. But I do feel like I need to elaborate on how profitable this farm can be. Especially since the Ultra Ball or Repeat Ball costs are somewhat off putting at first. I cannot look into the future, so I'm going with the current state of the game.

 

In my opinion, the reason this farm is profitable, is the seemingly constant high demand for 31 IV Ditto's. At the time of writing this guide, these Ditto's sell reliably for 20k each. I don't see the demand for these Ditto's changing without the current breeding system changing. On paper, 1 in every 6 Ditto's will have a 31 IV. So your Ultra Ball or Repeat Ball costs should statistically be well covered if you're willing to spend time trading (666k for every 200 Ultra Balls). However, the reason I think this farm is more profitable than others, is the chance of finding abnormally good IV Ditto's, or multiple 31 IV Ditto's. I do not have any statistics to back that up, nor can I give reliable price ranges for these kinds of Ditto's. But it seems the value of these Ditto's grows exponentially the better they are. I will leave it up to you to fill in the blanks.

 

Happy farming.

 

 

Guidelines for determining your Ditto's value.

 

First and foremost, the value of your Ditto is not set in stone. There are numerous factors that influence this value. However, it might be helpful for newer players to have a reference as to which Ditto's are usually considered valuable. I'm not going to burn my fingers trying to come up with any numbers though. I will leave that up to you.

 

This list was contributed by @Sashaolin.

 

Spoiler

Top Natures :

 

ADAMANT : ( 31 ATK / 31 SPEED ) ( 25+ HP DEF SP.DEF )

(Tyrogue, Tauros, Throh, Sawk, Braviary)

 

JOLLY : ( 31 ATK / 31 SPEED ) ( 25+ HP DEF SP.DEF )

(Tyrogue, Tauros, Throh, Sawk, Braviary)

 

Interesting Natures :

 

CAREFUL : ( 31 HP / 31 SP.DEF ) ( 25+ DEF ATK ) ( 20+ SPEED )

(Tyrogue, Throh, Braviary)

 

IMPISH : ( 31 HP / 31 DEF ) ( 25+ ATK  SP.DEF ) ( 20+ SPEED )

(Tyrogue, Braviary)

 

Relaxed : ( 31 HP / 31 DEF ) ( 25+ ATK  SP.DEF )

(Throh)

@Solist's own contribution.

Spoiler

If you are not familiar with competitive pokemon, I suggest you study up on that first. It will help deduce which combination of stats will be valuable. But I think it should speak for itself that, for example, a 31 Attack / 31 Special Attack Ditto will be less valuable than a 31 Attack / 31 Speed Ditto (since Dittos are only useful for male-only pokemon).

 

I probably sort my Ditto's in the following manner (most valuable in ascending order).

 

Jackpot tier.

All Ditto's with 3 * 31 IV's or more.

 

Desired breeder.

Ditto's like the ones listed by Sashaolin in the previous list. These can be just as valuable as Ditto's with many 31 IV's. The Ditto has the nature and IV's of a good competitive pokemon. One or two 31 IV's in the proper stats, good overall IV's, and a suitable nature.

 

2 * 31.

Maybe lacking overall IV's and a suitable nature. But the current breeding system stimulates breeding with 31 IV'd pokemon. There seems to be quite a big market for Ditto's like these.

 

Minimum IV breeder.

This includes Ditto's with, for example, 25 Attack / 31 Speed IV and a Adamant nature. But the remaining IV's are lacking. These Ditto's still seem to be desired because not everyone can afford Ditto's like the ones mentioned before.

 

Allrounders.

This group encapsulates alot of Ditto's, and their value can differ quite a bit. There seems to be a trend to advertise these Ditto's as, for example,  4 * 25+ or 5 * 20+. Good overal IV's and perhaps a good nature too.

 

1 * 31.

My main trading commodity. Lacking overall IV's, unimpressive nature, but it will be useful for breeding with most any pokemon because of that single 31 IV.

If you want to contribute to or discuss any part of this guide, feel free to comment.

 

Edited by Bestfriends
Thank you Solist for letting me update your guide.
Link to comment
6 hours ago, Minks said:

repeat balls are better

I can list it, but that implies that the readers of the guide had documented Ditto in their Dex already. Thank you for your feedback.

 

3 hours ago, Popolocrois said:

Whats the best item besides leftover?

You could invest in a Silk Scarf to make False Swipe hit a little harder.

Link to comment
  • 3 months later...
Quote

4. Encounter a Ditto.

 

The goal is to bring Ditto down to 1 HP and it having the sleep status.

 

This part is up for debate I suppose. Ditto now copies your pokemons speed stat upon transforming (it will speed tie your Smeargle), so the easy pattern of False Swipe, Spore, Ultra ball no longer guarantees a catch in turn 3. I recommend the following pattern.

 

Switch Ralts out on turn 1.

 

Use Spore turn 2. Your Ditto clone will sleep if you win the Speed tie. Ditto has to win the speed tie (50% chance) and select Spore (assumed 25% chance) to prevent you from catching it turn 4. I can't prove the second probability, but I think it's save to say there is a 87.5% chance of you having caught Ditto at this point (turn 4 or turn 5). Occasionally, Ditto wins the speed tie and selects Spore to attack you. You will have to sit out the turns of sleep spamming your own Spore. You are almost guaranteed to catch the Ditto the turn after you wake up.

 

Use False Swipe turn 3. If you brought Ditto down to 1 HP and it is still asleep by the end of the turn, use an Ultra Ball or Repeat Ball turn 4 with a 100% chance to catch it. This is the best case scenario. I reckon there is about a 50% chance for this scenario to occur.

 

There are three alternative possibilities. You didn't get your clone down to 1 HP (due to a weak Smeargle or Ditto is holding Metal Powder), Ditto wakes up and transforms, or both.

 

If Ditto is still asleep but is not at 1 HP, use False Swipe turn 4 and pretend turn 3 never happened.

 

In Solist's experience, you will get Ditto down to 1 HP in one shot and catch it turn 4 or turn 5 most of the time (estimated 87.5%).

 

There are other methods that will prevent Ditto from using Spore on you (like forcing Ditto to transform into Magikarp for example).

 

Feel free to debate this strategy to your hearts content.


Its seems a bit uneffective to me. You will catch a bunch of pokemon of the same species (Ditto in this case) if you want to breed, so ill eventually catch a desired nature.
I think its way better use Poison Heal Breloom to catch ditto stead Smeargle. Just Substitute turn one and ditto ill be unable to transform.

The magikarp trick is good, also.

Edited by Paulo300991
Link to comment
3 hours ago, Paulo300991 said:


Its seems a bit uneffective to me. You will catch a bunch of pokemon of the same species (Ditto in this case) if you want to breed, so ill eventually catch a desired nature.
I think its way better use Poison Heal Breloom to catch ditto stead Smeargle. Just Substitute turn one and ditto ill be unable to transform.

The magikarp trick is good, also.

The first turn, you have to pop in Ralts so you can Syncronize the natures you want. The Breloom trick can get an honorable mention, but unfortunately, there is no real way to avoid Ditto to transform into either your Ralts or Breloom.

 

Thank you for the tip, you can be credited for coming up with this method.

 

As for Moxie's method, the Net Balls are a bit expensive. They are $1,500 compared to the Ultra Ball's $1,200 or Repeat Ball's $1,350 which makes it slightly more affordable. I would like to thank him for mentioning the method.

Link to comment
On 8/27/2020 at 1:03 AM, Paulo300991 said:

I think its way better use Poison Heal Breloom to catch ditto stead Smeargle. Just Substitute turn one and ditto ill be unable to transform.

Since this thread is revived, I'll mention the assist smeargle set up, which is the most efficient set up for catching dittos. This is also briefly explained in this guide post:

 

Assist set up requires 1 smeargle + 1 poke that knows spore and, preferably, uncallable moves only. The best way to run this set up is with 2 smeargles but 1 smeargle + 1 paras/shroomish etc. is also okay. For 1st smeargle, we put false swipe + assist + 2 moves that does nothing in 1v1 battle (sketch/splash/helping hand etc.) and for 2nd smeargle, we have spore + uncallable damage moves like covet. The list of uncallable moves can be found here: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Assist_(move)#Uncallable_moves

 

To catch ditto, simply do false swipe + assist (which will call only spore) and catch it. Ditto will transform into 1st smeargle which does nothing to slow catching progress. Procedure is same if you lead with sync poke like ralts.

 

As mentioned in the above link, this method is faster than breloom + subs since we don't waste a turn using substitute.

 

Also, it is better to use 2nd smeargle instead of paras etc. because we can put uncallable damage moves like covet to take care of the non-ditto horde in case of random shiny. For reference, this is the assist set up I use for ditto catching:

 

image.png.72eaf8034a23d14b7ca76feec489eb08.png

 

The only downside for this method is preparing this set up. Besides that, there is no other downsides.

 

Link to comment
On 8/28/2020 at 12:32 PM, Dip said:

Since this thread is revived, I'll mention the assist smeargle set up, which is the most efficient set up for catching dittos. This is also briefly explained in this guide post:

 

Assist set up requires 1 smeargle + 1 poke that knows spore and, preferably, uncallable moves only. The best way to run this set up is with 2 smeargles but 1 smeargle + 1 paras/shroomish etc. is also okay. For 1st smeargle, we put false swipe + assist + 2 moves that does nothing in 1v1 battle (sketch/splash/helping hand etc.) and for 2nd smeargle, we have spore + uncallable damage moves like covet. The list of uncallable moves can be found here: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Assist_(move)#Uncallable_moves

 

To catch ditto, simply do false swipe + assist (which will call only spore) and catch it. Ditto will transform into 1st smeargle which does nothing to slow catching progress. Procedure is same if you lead with sync poke like ralts.

 

As mentioned in the above link, this method is faster than breloom + subs since we don't waste a turn using substitute.

 

Also, it is better to use 2nd smeargle instead of paras etc. because we can put uncallable damage moves like covet to take care of the non-ditto horde in case of random shiny. For reference, this is the assist set up I use for ditto catching:

 

image.png.72eaf8034a23d14b7ca76feec489eb08.png

 

The only downside for this method is preparing this set up. Besides that, there is no other downsides.

 

You wrote all the steps for me, so I did not need to write them from scratch. Thank you for your explanation.

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  • 1 year later...

Wanted to add my own little thing here.

At the current moment in PokeMMO, Dusk balls are arguably the best pokeball to use right now, as they are cheaper than repeat balls, and are worth using compared to timer balls if you're using Breloom as well, since they don't max out on catch rate until I believe turn 5, but someone might need to fact check me there.   [FUTURE EDIT]Wanted to add that this is now sort of outdated, as there are multiple options to use depending upon the strategy you use, such as dream balls, still dusk balls, repeat balls in certain scenarios, and more. Keep looking into different methods, and you will find different ones. I like to use dusk balls still, but I cannot say they are the best anymore.

I wanted to include my own strategy I cooked up recently for ditto farming. I have used the Breloom method in the past as well as the Smeargle with assist method to great success, but I with the introduction of false swipe in Meowth's learnset plus assist as an egg move, it opens up the ability for you to use Meowth as a Ditto catcher, allowing you to get pickup items while farming Dittos.

My Meowth only has 2 moves, false swipe and assist, while my Paras has spore and dig which is pretty common for assist-oriented movesets. However, because Meowth's only attacking move is false swipe, you don't need to use leftovers at all, since your Meowth will NEVER fall under 1 HP. This is useful because it can save time in the long run since you won't ever go through the leftovers animation + text. If you wanted to have the option of using it as a payday mon still, you might be able to run leftovers but I have no experience with that set. I used a payday on my Smeargle catcher, and I only ever died ONCE after getting unlucky. 

The Two Pokemon In Question(Items don't matter):

image.thumb.png.5fc3654ab5c8ca289515d6ae32d09165.png

Edited by MagicJini
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