Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl

On the topic of the level cap...

Instead of trying to make ways to get to Lv 100 that all end up being quantity over quality, why not just... lower the level cap?

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Not really sure what lowering the level cap would even accomplish, other than making stat gaps between two differently-leveled Pokemon even larger to compensate for the lower cap.

Is it just me, or did they buff Maylene's Lucario? I had some trouble with it, but now it's over thanks to Wukong the Monferno (now Infernape)'s Flame Wheel and Mach Punch.

All that really changed from what I'm aware is that its item got changed to a Big Root (more HP healed from Drain Punch) from a Sitrus Berry, as well as Bone Rush and Force Palm getting swapped out for Bulk Up and Screech.

There' also her Meditite's Light Clay-buffed Light Screen, though if your Monferno was Attack-based that wouldn't have affected you at all.

Edited by ITNW1989 on Dec 28th 2021 at 1:31:56 AM

Yeah, Bulk Up was pretty bad, now it could KO my entire team with Drain Punch, thank Arceus for Screech missing so that I could Burn it with Flame Wheel.

Also, Hawkwings the Staravia (now Staraptor) managed to outspeed and OHKO the Meditite with Aerial Ace.

Edited by jacksonk987 on Dec 28th 2021 at 1:33:46 AM

I meant that Maylene's Lucario now has Bulk Up and Screech in BDSP over the originals' Bone Rush and Force Palm.

Other than that there might have been some stat changes, but overall I'd say the gym leaders are slightly stronger than the originals since they all hold relevant items even on their first fights this time around compared to just berries from back then.

And perhaps some E Vs and I Vs as well, can't recall.

Cynthia's Garchomp has a MASSIVE stat buff due to having a favourable nature and EV investment, rather than "just" perfect I Vs and a neutral nature. As in, 40 more attack and 60 more speed.

Cynthia's level 66 Garchomp in BDSP outspeeds and has higher attack (but does less damage due to level being part of the damage calculation) than her level 78 Garchomp in the Platinum rematch.

Edited by Eriorguez on Dec 28th 2021 at 4:25:27 PM

Why are you running crappy flame wheel when the flamethrower tm is the the department store right there?

No reason you shouldn't have taught it to Infernape by now.

Physical build perhaps?

It depends on the build; if the Infernape is a Physical attacker with a +Atk Nature then Flame Wheel would end up far better than Flamethrower in basically every single case.

'd

EDIT: It does suck that Flame Wheel is the best Physical Fire move Infernape has access to aside from Flare Blitz. You'd think the flaming monkey with Iron Fist as a Hidden Ability would at least be able to learn Fire Punch.

Edited by ITNW1989 on Dec 29th 2021 at 5:19:17 AM

I've run a damage calculation on a target with equal def and spdef. Flamethrower still does more damage (roughly 1 Life Orb worth of damage) even with an Adamant nature, assuming EV and IV are equal.

Not to mention most Steel types focus on def anyway.

Why would you be running 252 EV on both Atk and SpA, though? At best you'd do maybe 252/96 depending on which one is your primary move, with the remaining EVs on Speed. Even with the nature put into consideration, if the EVs and IVs are exactly the same of course Flamethrower's going to win out; the move's 90 base power is naturally going to beat Flame Wheel's 60, .

Edited by ITNW1989 on Dec 29th 2021 at 6:03:02 AM

You... don't exactly have perfect control over EV during the single-player campaign.

For example, if you use Kadabra to wipe out a bunch of Fighting types, then you get a Kadabra with high atk EV.

I mean, trading for the stat berries is a thing, and growing them isn't exactly the most time-consuming task in the world; just a week's worth of planting and harvesting has net me over a hundred berries per stat, and since the removal of the limit on vitamins applies to BDSP, it's not a big deal to max out EVs in one go.

EDIT: Still, I see your point of EVs not being picture-perfect, particularly that early in the game.

Edited by ITNW1989 on Dec 29th 2021 at 6:39:01 AM

No one is running optimal spreads on a main campaign pokemon lol. Flamethrower's 90BP means it's almost always the better option than Flamewheel unless you're fighting like a chansey or something. And Monferno's got fighting moves for that anyway.

I wonder if they'll ever let you treat E Vs as something more adjustable, like, beating x mon gives you x points for a stat, and you can use those points on whichever mon you'd like, even if they're not the one that fought. Make E Vs more into a currency I guess?

I was running Flame Wheel because I had previously blew my money on Carboses. Also Wukong was holding a Charcoal.

Edited by jacksonk987 on Jan 2nd 2022 at 1:56:09 AM

Blowing your money on Carbos before the third gym? If there's a personal need to have perfect EVs that early, you'd be better off battling wild Pokémon just considering how limited money is this early, especially in Sinnoh.

I'm pretty sure the effects of EVs are also super minimal below like Level 50 due to them scaling. I don't know how the game calculates it, but it's entirely possible that a single Carbos won't even give you a single point of Speed around Level 30. That's a huge waste of money.

Edited by Karxrida on Jan 2nd 2022 at 2:44:08 AM

What's your favorite Dance Evaluation theme? Mine is the Coolness one. It just slaps so hard. Especially when the electric guitar kicks in.

It's pretty cool that both the Darkrai and Arceus in game events are coming to BDSP.

Its nice to finally see all three officially available.

Although I would have preferred it if the Darkrai/Shaymin events were like the Arceus one. And available via a connection with other games.

A hybrid approach could be even better. Letting you get them via Mystery gift now. Or access via a tie in game later on.

It only took 16 years to finally implement the Azure Flute.

Finally, Masuda figured out we it isn't too confusing to keep us from activating it

Edited by jdeo1997 on Mar 16th 2022 at 8:06:31 AM

I mean, we were able to evolve Galarian Yamask...