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[Money Guide] Ditto Farming


Solist

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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 refering 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 unconvential 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. 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. Obtain 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 AI double battles 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 Ultra Balls with.
 
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.
 
4. A pokemon with the Synchronize ability.
 
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. I use a Natu with an Adamant nature most of the time. But Timid, Jolly and Calm are also good. Obviously, as the metagame changes, the demand for specific natures might change aswell. My advice is to consider what natures popular genderless pokemon (like Porygon or Metagross) would want to have.
 
5. Leftovers.
 

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

Map

Spoiler

2i8kk6r.jpg

Route

Spoiler

16lijy8.jpg

 

Strategy.

 

1. Place your Synchronize pokemon in the first slot of your party, and kill it.

 

I usually fight Wally using Match call (He's at the end of Hoenn Victory Road) before I start farming. The out-of-battle effect will still be in effect after the pokemon has fainted. Use the boxes in your PC to heal your other pokemon from there on out (put them in, get them out). So to not reanimate your Synchronize pokemon.

 

Obviously, you want to put your Smeargle in the second slot of your party, so it gets send out first on every encounter.

 

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 gaurantees a catch in turn 3. I recommend the following pattern.

 

Use Spore turn 1. You always go first. Ditto sleeps.

 

Use False Swipe turn 2. You still go first. If you brought Ditto down to 1 HP and it is still asleep by the end of the turn, use an Ultra Ball turn 3 with a 100% chance to catch it. This is the best case scenario. I reckon there is about a 50% chance for this scenerio to occur.

 

There are three alternative possibilities. You didn't get Ditto down to 1 HP (due to weak Smeargle or Ditto 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 3 and pretend turn 2 never happened.

 

If Ditto is at 1 HP but transformed turn 2 (it woke up), use Spore turn 3 and hope 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 3 or turn 4). 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 guaranteed to catch the Ditto the turn after you wake up.

 

In the off chance you still need to bring it down to 1 HP, and it transformed (woke up) turn 2. I recommend going for False Swipe first to conserve Spore PP, and hope Ditto doesn't go for Spore itself. However, this doesn't happen very often.

 

In my experience, you will get Ditto down to 1 HP in one shot and catch it turn 3 or turn 4 most of the time (estimated 87.5%). I prefer Spore turn 1 instead of False Swipe because of the new Transform mechanics. If you opt for False Swipe turn 1 (the old method), you will have to speed tie with Ditto at least once, giving it more opportunities to Spore. You will also get hit more often which can be troublesome if the Ditto copied a move that allows it to faint your Smeargle.

 

There are other methods that will prevent Ditto from using Spore on you (like forcing Ditto to transform into Magikarp for example). But I feel the benefits of Ditto not being able to Spore do not outweigh the fact you have to switch and wait out extra turns (especially if the Ditto copies moves with long animations like Calm Mind). Giving up a little bit of control over the battle will, in the end, average in less time spend battling Ditto's. And more Ditto's being caught during a given timespan.

 

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 costs are somewhat offputting 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 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 )

(Metagross, Tyrogue, Tauros)

 

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

(Metagross, Tyrogue, Tauros)

 

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

(Magneton, Starmie, Porygon2)

 

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

(Starmie, Magneton, Electrode)

 

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

(Porygon2, Lunatone)

 

Interesting Natures :

 

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

(Porygon2, Lunatone)

 

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

(Tyrogue, Solarock)

 

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

(Tyrogue, Solarock)

 

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

(Claydol, Porygon2)

 

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

(Claydol, Porygon2)

 

- BRAVE or QUIET ( 5 x 25+ no speed )

(Mixed Metagross, Porygon2)

 

My 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.

 

I'm too lazy (and I also think it's irrelevant) to come up with well defined categories for all the possible Ditto's. Though 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 valueable 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 overal 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 Special Attack / 31 Speed IV and a Timid 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 overal IV's, unimpressive nature, but it will be useful for breeding with most any pokemon because of that single 31 IV.

 

Hidden power breeder.

I've come across buyers looking for non 31 IV's for breeding a specific Hidden Power on their pokemon. Like 30 Special Attack for Hidden Power Fire Magneton. I personally keep the ones with 2 * 30 IV's or more. Mostly for my own breeding, but felt I had to put these in here.

 

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

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or you could just get a natu/abra with no damaging attacks only buffs/debuffs and have the ditto transform into it and not worry about spore/damage on your level 100 swiper. 

and there are a LOT of swiper options besides smeargle. ones that can guarantee 1hp after 1 hit. and if ditto is at 1hp with no healing/attacks, then why do you have to worry about catching quick? pokeballs are cheaper.

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or you could just get a natu/abra with no damaging attacks only buffs/debuffs and have the ditto transform into it and not worry about spore/damage on your level 100 swiper. 

and there are a LOT of swiper options besides smeargle. ones that can guarantee 1hp after 1 hit. and if ditto is at 1hp with no healing/attacks, then why do you have to worry about catching quick? pokeballs are cheaper.

Firstly, having the ditto change into natu/abra is time consuming. As long as the Smeargle is level 100 with decent attack IV + 252 EVs in attack it will put the ditto on 1hp.

 

Pokeballs are cheaper, but in the long run, you make more money from Ultra Balls.

 

it's been said many many times before, time is money.

Edited by KaynineXL
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Firstly, having the ditto change into natu/abra is time consuming. As long as the Smeargle is level 100 with decent attack IV + 252 EVs in attack it will put the ditto on 1hp.

 

Pokeballs are cheaper, but in the long run, you make more money from Ultra Balls.

 

it's been said many many times before, time is money.

may take a minute or two longer, but it'll be half to price per ditto or less on avg. yea time is money, but money is money too. i think you'd make more on normie balls.

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Maybe I should add that this not a definitve method for farming Ditto. And I agree that there is no need for catching Ditto's as quick as possible. Maybe you opt for a cheaper, but perhaps more time consuming method. However, this guide should answer at least some of the questions I get when spamming trade chat.

 

I tried using regular balls, because it does feel wastefull releasing most Ditto's knowing they're at least worth 1.2k. But probably not long enough to notice a significant change in profit. I just like being able to see what I encounter as quick as possible. Otherwise the grind will get too tedious. But that's just personal I guess.

 

The farm should be profitable either way.

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Strategy.

 

1. Put your Synchronize pokemon as the lead of your party, and kill it.

 

I usually fight Wally using Match call (He's at the end of Hoenn Victory Road) before I start farming. The out-of-battle effect will still be in effect after the pokemon has fainted. Use the boxes in your PC to heal your pokemon from there on out.

 

Obviously, you want to put your Smeargle in the second slot of your party, so it gets send out first on every encounter.

 

 

 

this is Something need to be confirmed , cause i heard ability out of battle only works when pokemon is not dead , if u kill the pokemon , its true the abiltiy keep showing its active but its kinda a bug

this is what i heard after the new update came out , need confirmation from staff

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this is Something need to be confirmed , cause i heard ability out of battle only works when pokemon is not dead , if u kill the pokemon , its true the abiltiy keep showing its active but its kinda a bug

this is what i heard after the new update came out , need confirmation from staff

I can confirm it works. I do this often.

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the chances of getting same nature are good ?

on pick up it doesnt work ur poke should be alive lol

I believe with Pickup, it doesn't work. With Synchronize I'm convinced that it does work. I don't have logs or anything. But I do have alt accounts filled with Ditto's. I own significantly more Adamant Ditto's than any other nature. Enough to convince me that it's worthwhile to use Synchronize this way. But yeah, no reliable data to show you.

 

Thanks for the feedback folks.

Edited by Solist
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Thanks for letting us know , and great job on the guide :)

 

btw ditto catch rate is like 255 and doesnt change with him transforming to ur poke in recent gen , only in old gens he change catch rate to the pokemon he transforms into , i tried letting ditto transform to magikarp wich have 255 catch rate just like ratata that let u at 1 hp and sleep 100% catch , sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt , so not sure about it

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Personally I like to false swipe first then spore because usually the ditto will wake up and then I have to waste a spore that I could have caught another ditto. But I guess with the update that ditto take your base stats it may be easier to spore first but I just wanted to give my input as another ditto hunter

If you false swipe first, the ditto transforms to you, with the new update it copies your speed so it's a speed tie, you don't want to get hit or spored so the best thing to do is spore first, then false swipe and hope it doesn't wake up.

 

the chances of getting same nature are good ?

on pick up it doesnt work ur poke should be alive lol

I think you have around 25% chance to get the nature you want with Sync. While using pick up it works differently, your pick up Pokemon must be alive.

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If you false swipe first, the ditto transforms to you, with the new update it copies your speed so it's a speed tie, you don't want to get hit or spored so the best thing to do is spore first, then false swipe and hope it doesn't wake up.

 

this is true so i guess in the end there will always be a chance to waste extra spore...such a shame

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I think you have around 25% chance to get the nature you want with Sync.


Idt this is true, normally there are 25 natures so u have 4% chance to catch a pokemon with the right nature or 1/25. Syncro doesn't increase that chance for 15% making it 19%, I think is just a flat 15% for the nature of the pokemon with syncro Edited by Arimanius
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Idt this is true, normally there are 25 natures so u have 4% chance to catch a pokemon with the right nature or 1/25. Syncro doesn't increase that chance for 15% making it 19%, I think is just a flat 15% for the nature of the pokemon with syncro

Could be true, we know it's either 15% or 19%

3e42e6997bfbc4b83e145bec78089685.png

from the tooltip, you would think its flat 15%, but sometimes tooltips lie ;)

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Could be true, we know it's either 15% or 19%
3e42e6997bfbc4b83e145bec78089685.png
from the tooltip, you would think its flat 15%, but sometimes tooltips lie ;)


Yeah anyway that % is still really low I use syncro a lot and I have to catch a lot of pokes to find a good natured one and they suck most of the time

EDIT: it should be like 25% to be really useful Edited by Arimanius
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Great guide !

As a genderless breeder, I think it would be helpful if you add a "what's a good Ditto?" part.

My contribution :

 

[spoiler]

Top Natures :

 

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

(Metagross, Tyrogue, Tauros)

 

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

(Metagross, Tyrogue, Tauros)

 

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

(Magneton, Starmie, Porygon2)

 

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

(Starmie, Magneton, Electrode)

 

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

(Porygon2, Lunatone)

 

Interesting Natures :

 

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

(Porygon2, Lunatone)

 

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

(Tyrogue, Solarock)

 

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

(Tyrogue, Solarock)

 

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

(Claydol, Porygon2)

 

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

(Claydol, Porygon2)

 

- BRAVE or QUIET ( 5 x 25+ no speed )

(Mixed Metagross, Porygon2)

 

[/spoiler]

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Yeah anyway that % is still really low I use syncro a lot and I have to catch a lot of pokes to find a good natured one and they suck most of the time

EDIT: it should be like 25% to be really useful

 

Thanks for pointing out the percentage is 15%. I did not do my research properly. I'll take 15% from a dead pokemon sitting at the front of my party though.

 

 

Great guide !

As a genderless breeder, I think it would be helpful if you add a "what's a good Ditto?" part.

My contribution :

 

[spoiler]

Top Natures :

 

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

(Metagross, Tyrogue, Tauros)

 

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

(Metagross, Tyrogue, Tauros)

 

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

(Magneton, Starmie, Porygon2)

 

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

(Starmie, Magneton, Electrode)

 

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

(Porygon2, Lunatone)

 

Interesting Natures :

 

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

(Porygon2, Lunatone)

 

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

(Tyrogue, Solarock)

 

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

(Tyrogue, Solarock)

 

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

(Claydol, Porygon2)

 

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

(Claydol, Porygon2)

 

- BRAVE or QUIET ( 5 x 25+ no speed )

(Mixed Metagross, Porygon2)

 

[/spoiler]

 

 

Yes, I was also thinking that might be useful. But I also think such a list is prone to subjective views and changes to the game/metagame. Though, I will gladly add your list to the guide as guideline for players new to Ditto farming. And also mock up a list of my own.

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