Jump to content

Pokemon Stats Primer


Recommended Posts

Hi,

I’m GaryGaryGaryGary and today we’re going to teach you Ash Catch’em wannabes some stuff about Pokemon stats. For a more detailed explanation (and before you start breeding, once it gets implemented) I suggest you read the more detailed guides on sites like Smogon and Serebii. Google is your friend as well when it comes to generic Pokemon questions. However, despite all these resources, getting out of the ‘EARTHQUAKE EVERYTHING’ mindset and taking your first steps into competitive Pokémon may prove difficult at times. That’s why I chose to write this guide for all of you fellow PokeMMO’ers!

Pokemon stats are built up from 4 different factors. There are

  • Base Stats,
  • Effort Values (EV’s),
  • Natures and
  • Individual Values (IV’s).

I will summarize these factors individually, and explain how you can manipulate these values to get the Pokemon with the best stats possible!

First off, Base Stats. Each Pokemon species has certain Base Stats, which are a huge influence on the power of a Pokemon, and the role it can fulfill on your team. These are its natural stats, and they’re the reason you would train an Alakazam, but not a Farfetch’d. The most powerful Pokemon in the game either have a very high BST (Base Stat Total), or a few specific high Base Stats. The 5 Pokemon with the highest base stats currently available in PokeMMO are Snorlax, Blissey, Gyarados, Jolteon and Vaporeon. Hmm, I wonder why these pokes are so popular?

Next come Effort Values. These were introduced in Gen 3, and they’re one of the reasons you can’t trade from Gen 2 to Gen 3 in the handheld games – stats were calculated completely differently. Anyway, the thought behind Effort Values is that every time you defeat a Pokemon, you inherit part of its knowledge. If you defeat the defensive Geodude, you get 1 EV in Defense. If you defeat a swift Rattata or Pidgey, you get 1 EV in Speed. Effort Values are the reason a pokemon trained from level 5 to level 30 is going to be stronger on average than the same wild pokemon at level 30. The in-game EV tool is truly a blessing for EV training pokemon; in the handheld games, you have to keep count yourself. Each stat can have a maximum of 255 EV’s, and each Pokemon can have a maximum of 510 EV’s. The best places to train are listed by Galium in this forum.

Third, natures. These are actually probably the easiest part of stats, yet they cause so much confusion. Each nature boosts one stat by 10%, and lowers another by 10%. Four natures boost the same stat they lower, so they cause no stat changes. You can hover your mouse cursor over the nature in the stat screen to see what effect it has. The most popular natures are Adamant and Modest. Adamant reduces Sp Atk and increases Atk, while Modest does the opposite. You can imagine you’d rather have a Modest Abra than anything else, because it doesn’t use its attack stat while it needs its special attack! Foax wrote a more detailed piece about natures in this subforum.

Next, Individual Values. These are the values a Pokémon is born with. They can’t be changed. For each stat, a random number between 0 and 31 is generated. 31 is good, 0 is bad. The Individual Values are the hardest factor of all to look up, since they are not separately visible. You have to use a calculator to find a Pokemon’s IVs. Serebii has a really good one that I use. Simply enter the Pokemon’s name, nature, level, stats and any EVs it already has, and it will calculate your IVs. Note that it works better with higher leveld pokemon, since it is less accurate if you’re level 5.

Last of all, some math! When a pokemon is level 100, its stats will be as follows: Each IV point gives 1 stat point. Each Base Power point gives 2 stat points. Each 4 EV points give 1 stat point. You always get 5 stat points for free. The maximum stat the Special Defense of a Blissey can reach, is therefore: 2 x 135 + 31 + (252/4) + 5 = 369. Add a Sp Def-boosting nature, and the stat becomes an obnoxious 405. There’s a reason Blissey is known as the best Special wall in the game!

I hope I helped you guys better understand how Pokemon stats are built up, and why people EV train and look for specific natures. Also, if a pokemon has a good nature, that doesn’t mean it’s automatically a pokemon worth training. If it has low IVs in important stats, it will still be a waste of time.

Until next time,

Smell ya later.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Great explanation! Helped me with some stuff I had confused but I still do have my questions! If you or anyone else could help me a bit with these that'd be awesome :D. How are base stats calculated for each pokemon? Is it an average of that pokemon on a certain level or..? I can't figure out from where did these numbers came from >,< Also, I found this calculator -> (http://www.psypokes.com/dex/iv.php) After you hit submit and you get your info, there is a 'Range' column. What is that? :o An estimation of what the stats would be with 0 and 31 IVs? I'm sorry for disturbing you with such noobish questions, I asked in another IV-related thread as well but I got no answer :(

Thanks in advance for your help and reply :D

Oh! Bonus, optional question! Do you have to use the calculator for every single pokemon you catch to check its IVs? Isn't there any faster ways? :o

Link to comment

How are base stats calculated for each pokemon?

Base stats are what a Pokemon would have at lv 50 without a nature, 0 EVs, and with 0 IVs, minus 5.

there is a 'Range' column. What is that?

A Pokemon with perfect, 31, IVs in every stat would get 31 to every stat at lv 100, and 15, 31 divided by 2 rounded down, to each stat at level 50. That means at low levels a one point difference in stats could be a big range of possible IVs. Once you level up more that range will become smaller and eventually just be a single number. By 20-30ish you should be able to tell a Pokemon's IVs within 2 numbers.

Oh! Bonus, optional question! Do you have to use the calculator for every single pokemon you catch to check its IVs? Isn't there any faster ways?

I open up http://www.psypokes.com/dex/stats.php and see what the perfect stats would be for the level of Pokemon I'm currently farming and only compare the ones that have good natures. That's the fastest method I've seen.

Link to comment

Base stats are what a Pokemon would have at lv 50 without a nature, 0 EVs, and with 0 IVs, minus 5.

A Pokemon with perfect, 31, IVs in every stat would get 31 to every stat at lv 100, and 15, 31 divided by 2 rounded down, to each stat at level 50. That means at low levels a one point difference in stats could be a big range of possible IVs. Once you level up more that range will become smaller and eventually just be a single number. By 20-30ish you should be able to tell a Pokemon's IVs within 2 numbers.

I open up http://www.psypokes.com/dex/stats.php and see what the perfect stats would be for the level of Pokemon I'm currently farming and only compare the ones that have good natures. That's the fastest method I've seen.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me :D These stuff make more sense now lol xD

Link to comment

Great explanation! Helped me with some stuff I had confused but I still do have my questions! If you or anyone else could help me a bit with these that'd be awesome :D. How are base stats calculated for each pokemon? Is it an average of that pokemon on a certain level or..? I can't figure out from where did these numbers came from >,< Also, I found this calculator -> (http://www.psypokes.com/dex/iv.php) After you hit submit and you get your info, there is a 'Range' column. What is that? :o An estimation of what the stats would be with 0 and 31 IVs? I'm sorry for disturbing you with such noobish questions, I asked in another IV-related thread as well but I got no answer :(

Thanks in advance for your help and reply :D

Oh! Bonus, optional question! Do you have to use the calculator for every single pokemon you catch to check its IVs? Isn't there any faster ways? :o

A Pokemon with perfect, 31, IVs in every stat would get 31 to every stat at lv 100, and 15, 31 divided by 2 rounded down, to each stat at level 50. That means at low levels a one point difference in stats could be a big range of possible IVs. Once you level up more that range will become smaller and eventually just be a single number. By 20-30ish you should be able to tell a Pokemon's IVs within 2 numbers.

I open up http://www.psypokes.com/dex/stats.php and see what the perfect stats would be for the level of Pokemon I'm currently farming and only compare the ones that have good natures. That's the fastest method I've seen.

http://veekun.com/dex/gadgets/stat_calculator is my current favorite IV calc. It has nice colored bars to show you what your range should be, and that gives it a nice friendly read-out, unlike Serebii's calculator. It's also one of the easier to plug in. Psypokes' is good, but Veekun's is just much cleaner to look at.

As for simplifying your calculations, I do what Jert does, but in reverse. I separate my pokemon into bad, alright, and optimum in terms of Nature. For example, Modest and Adamant are optimum, while Lonely and Timid are alright. I check the IVs of all the optimum-Natured pokemon. If the average of all the IVs (add the min+max, divide by 6, divide by 2) beats 20, then we've got a great pokemon on our hands. If none beat 20, then we go to the alright-Natured and find the best one there in terms of IVs. Out of 27 Digletts I only needed to compare 3 because only 3 had good Natures, so it's safe to assume that you won't get bogged down too much by stats.

Oh, and for those that wonder about Nature vs. IV, let's look at that Blissey's stats.

(135*2)+0[iV]+63[EV]+5=338

A good Nature makes this 372, while perfect IVs makes it 369. However, IVs spread across all stats, not just 2 like a Nature does.

I really liked this guide; it's sure to help a lot of players out.

Link to comment

Fixed some typoes. Thanks for answering the questions about IV's, everyone!

IV's are certainly the hardest to 'get', and probably deserve a guide of their own. Another option would be to link a couple comprehensive guides in the OP. I personally learned by reading Smogon and Serebii, and those websites are recommended across the boards and in-game. Don't really feel like adding a 'link for the lazy', because if you're that lazy you're probably not going to spend hours catching and EV training!

I think my intro referencing to those sites is enough, but do you guys think?

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.