Pokémon UNITE General Thread

[Mega Ampharos the Dragon]

Well it took, what, 48 hours? And Sylveon has now seen nerfs to Mystical Fire and Hyper Voice. Judging by all the YouTube videos/Reddit clips I've seen, those nerfs are very much justified. Impressions afterwards indicate Sylveon is still viable to use but just less explosive in damage, which is good. People are moaning that Lucario/Venusaur/Blastoise/others didn't get nerfed alongside Sylveon and they're not wrong for doing so given it is pretty clear the first two at least are too good at what they do (although I dunno if Blastoise is too strong personally, it's weird).

Since my sister mostly uses Draining Kiss, none of these buffs would really affect her, maybe the Mystical Fire a little bit, but that is about it

Also, I did think that Sylveon might've been a bit too OP the moment I saw its moveset, so I'm honestly not surprised here

1) I don't think the concept behind the moves is OP, but numbers-wise it probably is and isn't. Like losing a third of your health to a move that puts you into the thick of combat is a massive liability unless it could pretty much one-shot characters, so maybe reduce the health loss and it should be okay? Lifesteal on the Unite move seems fine, and Reversal would likely be similar/identical to Snorlax's Flail right? Seems fine to me. Could even make Reversal different to Flail and give a timed window where the damage Reversal does is taken into account (say, 3 seconds) where you could dive in using Flare Blitz (taking recoil) whilst also taking damage from enemies, then Reversal does increased damage the more damage you took 3secs before using the move (which would take into account the recoil you took from Flare Blitz?) but as it is so far it's solid.

2) I'd swap Fire Spin and U-Turn - Flare Blitz + Reversal makes for a solid combo so you want those two to be opposite options, whilst U-Turn and Flare Blitz offer similar-but-different skills in terms of it being a movement-based skill (i.e. engaging or disengaging from combat). I think High Jump Kick would work better than Fire Spin judging by your current idea for Blaziken - a melee fighter who uses damage it takes to deal even more damage to the opponent using high mobility and moves that inflict recoil damage. HJK + U-Turn is also a solid combo so I'd say that's the best. Honestly this kind of skillset makes me want to make a Counter-based character who uses recoil damage too (Emboar or Rampardos maybe).

3) Don't see why not, would make it's Blaze a bit unique? You could just remove the recoil damage (Charizard doesn't have recoil on its Flare Blitz, heck it gains a shield?) and add a different secondary effect - maybe it could slam enemies around and stun them if they're slammed into walls, or the damage inflicted by burn heals Incineroar for the same amount? Could work. Or yeah your second idea seems solid too, whatever you like really!

I've not developed any ideas recently, so I'll make one up for my next post. Thinking maybe Heracross or Melmetal? Also I'd be interested in seeing Luxray done, that could be dope!

1) Well, I was just thinking of how much an attack really does, but maybe that much damage could be a bit too much, but then again, Blaziken runs on low HP, that is what Reversal is for. Also, I didn't know about Snorlax's Flail, I guess it is because I never see it used, I would agree it is useless for a Defense pokemon plus has Gluttony and Rest. As for how to make Reversal different, maybe it could give a small Attack and Speed buff for a bit? It would kinda make sense, might be a bit too strong though.

2) I don't see any reason to swap those 2 moves. Also, I was thinking of HJK and Fire Spin synergy, Fire Spin traps the opponent, making them unable to move, allowing for an easy HJK hit for those who don't want to play that risky Reversal game.

3) Well, I was thinking that Incineroar might need healing due to having no way to heal other than berries and support, maybe put the healing in the Unite Move? Or maybe make the healing only at 1/4 HP or something?

But either way, time for the last 3 of the original 20:

Staraptor, Novice, Melee, Attacker, Physical Attacker: Evolves at Lv 5 and then 7
Special 1 Moves: Quick Attack -> (Upon Evolving into Staravia) Aerial Ace or Take Down
Special 2 Moves: Wing Attack -> (Upon Evolving ) Brave Bird or Close Combat
Ability: Reckless, Unite Move: Sky Dive Somersault

Luxray, Intermediate, Melee, All-Rounder, Physical Attacker: Evolves at Lv 5 and then 9
Special 1 Moves: Thunder Shock -> (Upon Evolving into Luxio) Volt Switch or Wild Charge
Special 2 Moves: Roar -> (At Lv 8) Crunch or Rising Voltage
Ability: Intimidate, Unite Move: Electron Terrain

Magnezone, Intermediate, Ranged, All-Rounder, Special Attacker: Evolves at Lv 6 and then 10
Special 1 Moves: Thunder Shock -> (Upon Evolving into Magneton) Volt Switch or Charge Beam
Special 2 Moves: Magnet Rise -> (At Lv 8) Flash Cannon or Hidden Power
Ability: Magnet Pull, Unite Move: Absolute Discharge

Quick Attack: Slams into the opponent with quick speed, dealing damage, has a large range
Wing Attack: Attack the opponent with its wings, dealing damage
Aerial Ace: (Taken from Talonflame's page) "Flies towards the target Pokémon and does damage, the next Basic Attack is a boosted attack"
Take Down: Charges at the opponent, dealing a lot of damage, the user takes recoil if the move hits
Brave Bird: (Also taken from Talonflame's page, with a change of a move on it) "Jumps in range to the opponent and causes damage to them. Also inflicts damage on the user. If you use a boosted attack shortly after this attack, the wait time for Aerial Ace or Take Down will be 0"
Close Combat: (Taken from Lucario's page) "Unleashes a combo attack, dealing multiple blows to opposing Pokémon and shoving them"
Reckless: Increase the damage of moves that deal damage to you, increase Attack, SpD, and Speed when below half HP
Sky Dive Somersault: Flies up high into the air, doing a somersault as it charges into the ground, dealing massive AoE damage around the area hit by the user's beak, if this move doesn't hit a pokemon upon impact, deal recoil damage to the user

Thunder Shock: (Taken from Pikachu's page) "Releases electricity, dealing damage to opposing Pokémon in the AoE"
Roar: Makes a loud roar in front, shoving all pokemon back within the AoE
Volt Switch: Hits an opponent with an electric spark, dealing damage, teleports further away from the opponent, creates electrical energy
Wild Charge: Surrounds itself with electrical energy and charges into all opponents in front of it, dealing a lot of damage, user takes recoil, creates electrical energy
Crunch: Bites onto the opponent, dealing damage, decreases opponent's Defense and SpD for a short time
Rising Voltage: Absorbs all surrounding electrical energy and attacks and then bursts out electrical energy, dealing damage, deals more damage the more electrical energy and attacks absorbed
Intimidate: All opponents near this Pokemon have decreased Attack
Electron Terrain: Discharges a burst of electricity, dealing massive damage to pokemon surrounding the user, within this attacks AoE, all electric moves deal extra damage, creates electrical energy

Thunder Shock: (Taken from Pikachu's page) "Releases electricity, dealing damage to opposing Pokémon in the AoE"
Magnet Rise: This Pokemon is immune to all attacks on the ground for a short time, also ignores obstacles for a short time
Volt Switch: Hits an opponent with an electric spark, dealing damage, teleports further away from the opponent
Charge Beam: Shoots a beam of electricity at the opponent, dealing damage, increases SpA for a short time
Flash Cannon: Shoots a beam at the opponent, dealing damage, decreases opponent's SpD for a short time
Hidden Power: Shoots out energy on all sides, dealing damage, this move changes which 3 Pokemon it would do more damage to each battle
Magnet Pull: Decrease the Speed of all pokemon near Magnezone, if a Pokemon near Magnezone is paralyzed, it is forced towards Magnezone
Absolute Discharge: Shoots an exploding of Electrical energy in an AoE around Magnezone, dealing massive damage, paralyzes all opponents affected

Is Intimidate or Magnet Pull too OP? At least Intimidate will give Luxray the upper hand in literally any 1v1 situation, so Luxray might need to be ganged upon to defeat

But either way, these are the last of the 20 I first created, I'm still creating more (have already created 7 more) and will probably share them soon

Otherwise, do you think any of these moves should be changed, buffed, or nerfed? I'm especially thinking of Magnezone due to Magnet Pull or Staraptor due to having many similarities to Talonflame or Luxray due to Crunch

 

[Ishiftyounot]

Well I've now played precisely 3 games with Sylveon and I lost 2/3 of those games - one was a CPU match with actual human teammates, so I am a little bit tilted right now! Do not understand how you can lose to the computer when 4 other teammates are actually playing (well one was AFK so maybe that answers that) but I digress. Sylveon herself feels okay, Mystical Fire felt really weak whilst Hyper Voice felt reasonable. Calm Mind definitely feels nicer than Draining Kiss too, but I've yet to try Hyper Voice + Calm Mind so that's on my to-do list. Given my low number of games on Sylveon + Mamoswine I'll likely hold off on buying the next new character even if they're a favourite, because I need to play the ones I own more. Machamp/Eldegoss/Mamoswine/Sylveon have less than 20 games played, and Zeraora/Venusaur/Talonflame/Snorlax/Blastoise are all below 30 games so I want to push everyone into the 50's to really get a feel of how much I enjoy them. But that's just me, I'd say I want 80 games played on all my currently owned characters but I'd be here for ages and I don't have the time!

1) Well, I was just thinking of how much an attack really does, but maybe that much damage could be a bit too much, but then again, Blaziken runs on low HP, that is what Reversal is for. Also, I didn't know about Snorlax's Flail, I guess it is because I never see it used, I would agree it is useless for a Defense pokemon plus has Gluttony and Rest. As for how to make Reversal different, maybe it could give a small Attack and Speed buff for a bit? It would kinda make sense, might be a bit too strong though.

2) I don't see any reason to swap those 2 moves. Also, I was thinking of HJK and Fire Spin synergy, Fire Spin traps the opponent, making them unable to move, allowing for an easy HJK hit for those who don't want to play that risky Reversal game.

3) Well, I was thinking that Incineroar might need healing due to having no way to heal other than berries and support, maybe put the healing in the Unite Move? Or maybe make the healing only at 1/4 HP or something?

1) Damage is purely numbers-based, so I try not to worry about those. You'll know if a character concept is broken from a design standpoint and none of yours seem to be so far! Especially not Blaziken, but numbers would need to be fine-tuned to establish that. Flail turns Snorlax into more of a bruiser, using high HP to take a lot of damage and dish a lot out back. I've used it, it's fun, but if I wanted a bruiser I'd run Lucario, Crustle, Blastoise or even Machamp personally. As for your Reversal plan, maybe increase Attack speed for x seconds depending on how much HP is lost? So like 3secs of increased Attack speed when below 50% or something.

2) I can see that, that's a fair decision to make. Good on you for offering alternatives ways to play on Pokemon! Always liked it when you could go either way with talents and such.

3) Not every Pokemon needs healing, and given Incineroar lacks healing moves in-game anyway (except... Drain Punch maybe?) I wouldn't say it needs it. If every Pokemon healed why would you run a Supporter?

Is Intimidate or Magnet Pull too OP? At least Intimidate will give Luxray the upper hand in literally any 1v1 situation, so Luxray might need to be ganged upon to defeat

Otherwise, do you think any of these moves should be changed, buffed, or nerfed? I'm especially thinking of Magnezone due to Magnet Pull or Staraptor due to having many similarities to Talonflame or Luxray due to Crunch

Those abilities might be a little bit too OP, but you could always slap a cooldown on them like Wigglytuff's ability and that might work better? Or apply those abilities at a certain health threshold like Lucario's ability?

Not seeing any major design issues with any of those 3 Pokemon, Staraptor might be a little bit too similar to Talonflame but they are very similar Pokemon anyway so not sure what you do there. Adding Close Combat was a must since that's what it's most known for, but beyond that I have no clue how you could alter it. Luxray seems fine, Crunch doesn't seem too overpowered to me, and Magnezone is solid.

 

[Mega Ampharos the Dragon]

Given my low number of games on Sylveon + Mamoswine I'll likely hold off on buying the next new character even if they're a favourite, because I need to play the ones I own more. Machamp/Eldegoss/Mamoswine/Sylveon have less than 20 games played, and Zeraora/Venusaur/Talonflame/Snorlax/Blastoise are all below 30 games so I want to push everyone into the 50's to really get a feel of how much I enjoy them. But that's just me, I'd say I want 80 games played on all my currently owned characters but I'd be here for ages and I don't have the time!

Not even if my ideas are added to the game?

3) Not every Pokemon needs healing, and given Incineroar lacks healing moves in-game anyway (except... Drain Punch maybe?) I wouldn't say it needs it. If every Pokemon healed why would you run a Supporter?

Well, I don't see many people use supporters, so I was thinking of an alternative, but then again, there are berries and a potion

Those abilities might be a little bit too OP, but you could always slap a cooldown on them like Wigglytuff's ability and that might work better? Or apply those abilities at a certain health threshold like Lucario's ability?

Not seeing any major design issues with any of those 3 Pokemon, Staraptor might be a little bit too similar to Talonflame but they are very similar Pokemon anyway so not sure what you do there. Adding Close Combat was a must since that's what it's most known for, but beyond that I have no clue how you could alter it. Luxray seems fine, Crunch doesn't seem too overpowered to me, and Magnezone is solid.

Yeah, maybe a cooldown would be a good idea, except for the paralyzed part of Magnezone's ability
As for Luxray's Crunch, I was thinking of getting rid of it due to being underwhelming compared to Rising Voltage, maybe switch it to a move that increases SpA and Speed depending on the amount of electrical energy is absorbed?
Also, what do you think of the idea of Luxray's electrical energy gimmick?

Today I feel like only sharing 1 pokemon, tomorrow I'll probably share 4 more:

Cresselia, Expert, Ranged, Supporter, Special Attacker: Does not Evolve
Special 1 Moves: Psybeam -> (At Lv 6) Psycho Cut or Skill Swap
Special 2 Moves: Mist -> (At Lv 8) Icy Wind or Lunar Dance
Ability: Levitate, Unite Move: Refined Moonblast

Psybeam: Launches a beam of Psychic energy, dealing damage, flinches opponent
Mist: Creates mist within an AoE for a short time, preventing all allies within the AoE from stat reduction
Psycho Cut: Launches a blade of psychic energy at the opponent, dealing damage, has increased increase crit rate
Skill Swap: Swaps ability with the nearest enemy or ally, has long cooldown
Icy Wind: Launches ice within an AoE in front, dealing damage, decreasing the Speed of all Pokemon hit by it
Lunar Dance: Faints the user to heal every ally to full HP, remove all their status conditions, and reset all their cooldowns
Levitate: Increases movement speed
Refined Moonblast: Launches a fairy ball at the opponent, dealing massive damage, increase user's SpA and Speed for a short time, decrease opponents' SpA for a short time

Yeah, kinda boring that it is only 1 Pokemon, but this Pokemon has quite a gimmick with Skill Swap and Lunar Dance
Is Lunar Dance too OP? Maybe the healing and cooldown can be determined by Cresselia's HP?
Otherwise, how can I make Levitate better so that it won't hinder an ally if it gets Skill Swapped to them?
Also, should I even have Skill Swap? Cause otherwise, I'll have this move instead (Also still a gimmick):

Trick Room: Movement Speed is swapped for a short time, the slower the Pokemon, the faster they are, the faster the pokemon, the slower they are

Trick Room will probably need to make Levitate changed, but what should it be changed into?

 

[Mega Ampharos the Dragon]

Is a pokemons attacks always the same. For example Mr. Mime he is a special attacker. But he runs around slapping people, is fake out a physical attack then. Would Mr. Mime benefit from a Muscle band or not?
Can I use muscle band on cramorant or that is completely pointless?
Thank you.

Nope, Fake Out is considered a Special Attack, so I guess all Special Attackers have Special Attacks no matter if they're Melee or Ranged or what they are in the games
As for Muscle Band, it seems to increase the Attack of the Basic Attack, which the Basic Attack is just your regular damage, so it might be useful, but tbh, I'm not the kind of person to ask

 

[Ishiftyounot]

Is a pokemons attacks always the same. For example Mr. Mime he is a special attacker. But he runs around slapping people, is fake out a physical attack then. Would Mr. Mime benefit from a Muscle band or not?
Can I use muscle band on cramorant or that is completely pointless?
Thank you.

@Mega Ampharos the Dragon was right on the first point - Pokemon are split between Physical and Special (the game itself tells you this when you pick them) and their moves correspond to that split regardless of how the original games work - Fake Out on Mr. Mime uses their Special Attack damage. Basic Attacks are mildly different - the boosted attack corresponds to whether the Pokemon is Physical or Special, but the other basic attacks are Physical.

As for Muscle Band, a lot of Pokemon will benefit even if they're Special Attackers if they tend to use Basic Attacks - Alolan Ninetales prefers it to the Special Attack items for example because it uses Basic Attacks as its main form of damage. That and Special Attack items don't scale very well on Pokemon, so most don't bother. Cramorant could use Muscle Band perfectly fine for some extra damage plus the 3% bonus when the item is at level 20 is solid! I recommend upgrading it after Buddy Barrier and Focus Band.

Not even if my ideas are added to the game?

Well, I don't see many people use supporters, so I was thinking of an alternative, but then again, there are berries and a potion

Yeah, maybe a cooldown would be a good idea, except for the paralyzed part of Magnezone's ability
As for Luxray's Crunch, I was thinking of getting rid of it due to being underwhelming compared to Rising Voltage, maybe switch it to a move that increases SpA and Speed depending on the amount of electrical energy is absorbed?
Also, what do you think of the idea of Luxray's electrical energy gimmick?

Trick Room will probably need to make Levitate changed, but what should it be changed into?

1) Well now that changes things! If any of your designs were implemented next I'd probably buy them, especially Dragonite or Luxray!

2) Very true, Supporters are fun though! In a way, if you don't mind dealing with rubbish allies. I want to try and play Eldegoss more and Blissey is on my to-buy list (alongside Gengar, and Wigglytuff)

3) Yeah that makes sense, not sure what move would work there!

4) Could change Levitate to reduce damage taken from AoE maybe? I'm not too sure.

 

[Mega Ampharos the Dragon]

3) Yeah that makes sense, not sure what move would work there!

Charge would probably be the best choice here, although it would be completely different to the one I gave Ampharos, so...

4) Could change Levitate to reduce damage taken from AoE maybe? I'm not too sure.

Maybe? But I also need to think of how to make it not too broken to make it worth swapping with the opponent as well

1) Well now that changes things! If any of your designs were implemented next I'd probably buy them, especially Dragonite or Luxray!

Well, you're definitely gonna be broke of Aeos Coins after seeing these Pokemon with interesting gimmicks I created:

Alolan Golem, Expert, Melee, All-Rounder, Physical Attacker: Evolves at Lv 5 and then 9
Special 1 Moves: Spark -> (Upon Evolving into Alolan Graveler) Thunder Punch or Fire Punch
Special 2 Moves: Rock Polish -> (At Lv 7) Rock Blast or Explosion
Ability: Sturdy, Unite Move: Railgun Explosion

Sableye, Expert, Ranged, Supporter, Physical Attacker: Does not Evolve
Special 1 Moves: Shadow Sneak -> (At Lv 4) Shadow Claw or Will-O-Wisp
Special 2 Moves: Fake Out -> (At Lv 6) Ally Switch or Recover
Ability: Keen Eye, Unite Move: Megaburst Alpha

Bisharp, Expert, Melee, Attacker, Physical Attacker: Evolves at Lv 4
Special 1 Moves: Metal Claw -> (Upon Evolving into Bisharp) Night Slash or Iron Head
Special 2 Moves: Metal Sound -> (At Lv 6) Swords Dance or Guillotine
Ability: Defiant, Unite Move: Révolution!

Sandaconda, Intermediate, Ranged, Defender, Physical Attacker: Evolves at Lv 4
Special 1 Moves: Brutal Swing -> (Upon Evolving into Sandaconda) Dig or Sand Tomb
Special 2 Moves: Sand Attack -> (At Lv 6) Glare or Coil
Ability: Sand Spit, Unite Move: Sandblast Explosion

Spark: Charges at the opponent with electric energy, dealing damage, paralyzes opponents hit
Rock Polish: The user polishes itself, increasing its Defense, SpD, and Speed for a short time
Thunder Punch: Punches at the opponent with electrical energy, dealing damage, paralyzes the opponent
Fire Punch: Punches at the opponent with fire, dealing damage, burns the opponent
Rock Blast: Launches a huge rock at the opponent, dealing a lot of damage, can hit Talonflame while it is flying
Explosion: Explodes itself, dealing absolutely massive damage within an AoE of the user, faints the user, the revive timer is 1.5x faster if the user faints to using this move
Sturdy: (Taken from Crustle's page) "Every time the Pokémon loses a certain amount of HP, its Defense and Sp. Def are increased"
Railgun Explosion: Launches a large rock with electrical energy at all opponents in front, dealing massive damage, paralyzes all opponents hit, increases the user's Attack for a short time

Shadow Sneak: Attacks the opponent through a shadow, dealing damage, has a long range
Fake Out: The user slaps their hands onto the opponent, dealing damage, flinches the opponent
Shadow Claw: Scratches the opponent with a ghostly claw, dealing damage
Will-O-Wisp: The user sends out ghostly flames at the opponent, burning them, decreases the opponent's attack while it is burned
Ally Switch: Swaps places with the nearest ally, allowing to get you or your ally out of sticky situations
Recover: Heals the user and nearby allies a certain amount of HP
Keen Eye: The Pokemon with this ability can see all opponents on the map, this pokemon's vision cannot be narrowed
Megaburst Alpha: This Pokemon changes form and throws a large gem at a nearby area, dealing AoE damage to opponents within that area, the user's Defense and SpD is increased during the duration, Will-O-Wisp, Ally Switch, and Recover's cooldown time is decreased by 1/2 during the duration

Metal Claw: The user stabs at the opponent, dealing damage, may increase the user's Attack
Metal Sound: The user creates a loud sound with its blades, decreasing all nearby opponents' Defense and SpD
Night Slash: The user slashes at the opponent with dark energy, dealing damage, has higher crit chance
Iron Head: Uses head to slam into the opponent, dealing damage, may cause flinch
Swords Dance: Increases Attack for a short time
Guillotine: The user slashes the opponent with its blades, OHKO'ing them, this move has a very long cooldown time (This move cannot be used on the following: Zapdos, Rotom, Drednaw, Avalugg, Electrode, Regigigas, Araquanid, and Abra)
Defiant: When this pokemon gets a status reduction from an opponent, increase Attack until the status reduction wears off
Révolution!: Slashes at a nearby opponent, OHKO'ing them, decrease the user's Defense and SpD, increase the user's Speed (This move cannot be used on the following: Zapdos, Rotom, Drednaw, Avalugg, Electrode, Regigigas, Araquanid, and Abra)

Brutal Swing: Swings its tail at the opponent, dealing AoE damage in front
Sand Attack: (Taken from Garchomp's page) "Hurls sand at opposing Pokémon, narrowing their field of vision and increasing the user's movement speed and basic attack speed when it hits"
Dig: Digs underground, allowing it to move around underground until this move is used again, dealing damage to any opponents hit
Sand Tomb: Traps an opponent within sand for a short time, dealing constant damage until the opponent is free
Glare: Glares at the opponent, paralyzing them
Coil: The user coils up, increasing the user's Attack, Defense, and Speed
Sand Spit: When this Pokemon gets hit, spit sand at the opponent, dealing very small damage, narrows the opponent's vision for a short time
Sandblast Explosion: Creates a tornado of sand that randomly goes around the field for a short time, picking up all opponents it hits, all opponents inside of this tornado take constant damage

Well, what do you think of these little gimmicks? Believe it or not, most of their descriptions were created on the fly, this is the same with all other move and ability descriptions I've created

To start off, is any part of Alolan Golem's kit too OP? Should there be a different Rock type move instead of just Rock Blast? Should Explosion not shorten revival time?
Also, is any part of Sableye's kit too OP? I honestly don't see many problems with it, also this Sableye is what I created with the idea you created back when I showed Decidueye
Also, is any part of Bisharp's kit too OP? Guillotine might be a bit too much, but with the long cooldown, does it make it more balanced? Should I change Révolution! at all to make it not too OP? The OHKO in it might be a bit too much
Lastly, is any part of Sandaconda's kit too OP? I don't see much wrong with this one, maybe Sand Spit or Sand Tomb might be a bit much? But then again, I guess that depends on numbers, doesn't it?

I personally like the Alolan Golem I created just last night, it was an idea I came up with when thinking of what Pokemon could be a good hit and run Pokemon, but then Lunar Dance gave me an idea of a hit and run Pokemon where the running is more of fainting, but the hit is large, you can get out of sticky situations with this, all you gotta do is Explode

Sturdy especially helps by making it have more longevity as it gets lower in HP for the perfect time to Explode

 

[Ishiftyounot]

In Pokemon Unite news this week, Reddit is pretty riled up over this week's Battle Pass missions, namely the 120 point one requiring you to play 6 games as Garchomp. The issue is that Garchomp isn't on the free rotation, will cost you 10,000 coins to buy if you REALLY want those 120 Battle Pass points, and is the worst Pokemon in the entire game due to a high evolution level and not enough strength to carry it in the late game. It's the same as the Slowbro mission last week people weren't too enthused about - seems like the developers want us to play certain Pokemon more so they can judge how good they are in-game and buff/nerf accordingly. Makes sense to me, although they should have put Garchomp on the free rotation to prevent backlash like they have now.

I honestly think Garchomp needs a rework though, because its toolkit just isn't that good. It's unique, but in practice it's not good enough right now. Plus the evolution levels screw it over super badly so... yeah. I was thinking about All-Rounders as a whole today actually, and how they're in a weird space - what are they meant to do? They're bruiser-type characters but honestly the Defenders can do that just as well (Crustle and Blastoise are solid bruisers in my opinion, not so much as tanks). I figured in my head they could still be bruiser-types, but they need to pick one between self sustain / mobility / crowd control. I'm aware this won't happen and honestly Machamp at least feels super fun to play (Lucario needs a nerf and I've never played the other two) but these are my thoughts:

- Lucario should be the mobility-based one - remove the shield on Steadfast, keep the movement speed increase at low health and maybe increase attack speed at low health? Do it incrementally - at 75% / 50% / 25% thresholds - alongside removing the healing from Extreme Speed, maybe buff defenses a bit if necessary and you have a mobile tanky boi without sustain, so he'll need to retreat fairly often to heal and return to the fight.
- Machamp could be the crowd control one - Submission works beautifully as it is, and Cross Chop could shove targets which stuns if they hit walls? Dynamic Punch could make them jump like Blastoise's ultimate, and Close Combat is a pure-damage option for times where CC isn't needed.
- Garchomp could function as the self-sustain one - Dragon Rush / Dragon Claw could be the crit-based moves as they are which heal Garchomp if they crit for a reasonable chunk, while also lowering Garchomp's number of basic attack stacks (it's currently 5, make it 3-4 maybe) so it can function correctly. Increase the duration the stacks last too so Garchomp can jump from target to target a bit easier, but if you escape well enough the stacks will reset. Not sure about Dig / Earthquake beyond maybe they buff Garchomp's defenses when used? I dunno.
- Charizard I never really touched on because I've never played it before, but it's the only ranged All-Rounder so maybe that can be its niche? If it picks the melee moves it gets self-sustain, if it goes for ranged attacks it gets mobility? But no CC for Charizard, and maybe make combinations so that if you go one melee + one ranged attack you don't have amazing mobility and self-sustain - you need both ranged or melee moves to get the sufficient levels.

Are they perfect? No. You'd likely have to rework other characters too for it all to function cohesively and after a year or two of Pokemon releases in the game you'll inevitably get power creep. But it was a fun idea, I have more for the roles in general (changing the roles altogether for example, and evolution levels) that I may discuss if people are interested. Otherwise I'll go back to doing what i've normally been doing.

Anywho, onto more personal thoughts - I suck as Sylveon. 33% winrate over 9 games is the worst start for a new character I bought since Talonflame I think? I do enjoy playing as Sylveon, because they're pretty and Mystical Fire is a fun move to use. But they just lack the oomph other characters possess, so will take some more time to practice them! Also need to play more Mamoswine, they've been out nearly 2 weeks and I've only played 7 games on them. Major yikes.

@Mega Ampharos the Dragon just from the quick scan I did all the kits look very interesting and I will definitely go through them all probably after your next post! This post got a little bit long so will just leave it until you post your next designs and do them all at once! Great work as always though!

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Well, I went ahead and got Garchomp anyway. Still have over 26k coins.

 

[Mega Ampharos the Dragon]

Since I have not really updated much about my own experience playing Unite, I'll talk about it now, since now it won't be as boring as "Oh, I used Gardevoir" or "Oh, I used Crustle"

I had mained Crustle before Gardevoir came out, my experience playing as Crustle is that he seems more of an All-Rounder IMO, a Pokemon that is good in all areas
Although, then again, that is only all thanks to Shell Smash, which is why I like using Crustle

I decided to main Gardevoir after I tested it out when it came out, I saw how strong Psyshock was (especially with Moonblast)

But today, I decided to go back to Crustle after realizing that I can't really do much of anything as a Ralts and am dead weight to the team until I evolve, which takes time with that Lv 6 evolution

I also decided to actually play as other Pokemon for once, I'm now trying out Blastoise which I bought thinking that it would be similar to Crustle, oh how I was wrong...

But due to realizing that X Speed was an item, I decided to test out Blastoise, haven't exactly done a proper test yet, but will probably do so today or tomorrow

If I had the Aeos coins, I would also try out Mamoswine, but I don't...

Also, I think Absol might have a bug due to its usability going up it seems and how strong it has become, it is almost impossible to win 1v1s against it, unless this is just me...

and even then, Absol's usage might've gone up due to being the perfect counter for Sylveon? Not actually sure if it is, but it would kinda make sense

@Mega Ampharos the Dragon just from the quick scan I did all the kits look very interesting and I will definitely go through them all probably after your next post! This post got a little bit long so will just leave it until you post your next designs and do them all at once! Great work as always though!

Well, the 4 I posted yesterday probably will need a bit more balancing, but for now, I'm actually gonna share a few Pokemon with not many interesting gimmicks to them and are a bit blander

Mawile, Expert, Melee, Attacker, Physical Attacker: Does not Evolve
Special 1 Moves: Fairy Wind -> (At Lv 4) Play Rough or Draining Kiss
Special 2 Moves: Bite -> (At Lv 6) Iron Head or Crunch
Ability: Hyper Cutter, Unite Move: Megaburst Omega

Hawlucha, Expert, Melee, Speedster, Physical Attacker: Does not Evolve
Special 1 Moves: Aerial Ace -> (At Lv 4) Flying Press or High Jump Kick
Special 2 Moves: Detect -> (At Lv 6) Sky Attack or Roost
Ability: Limber, Unite Move: Rolling Wrestle

Fairy Wind: Throws sparkly wind at the opponent, dealing damage
Bite: Bites on the opponent, dealing damage, flinches the opponent
Play Rough: Attacks the nearest opponent in quick succession, dealing damage, decreases opponent's attack for a short time
Draining Kiss: Kisses the opponent, dealing damage, heals the user, causes infatuation on the opponent
Iron Head: Uses head to slam into the opponent, dealing damage, may cause flinch
Crunch: Bites onto the opponent, dealing damage, decreases opponent's Defense and SpD for a short time
Hyper Cutter: This Pokemon ignores all Attack reduction effects, the more consecutive times a move is used, the more damage it does (Ignores Basic Attack)
Megaburst Omega: This Pokemon changes form and thrash around the area, dealing massive damage to opponents who got hit, the user's Attack is doubled during the duration, the user's Defense and SpD is increased during the duration

Aerial Ace: (Taken from Talonflame's page) "Flies towards the target Pokémon and does damage, the next Basic Attack is a boosted attack"
Detect: Next time when this pokemon is about to be hit, move to the side, avoiding the damage
Flying Press: Jumps up into the air and crashes onto the opponent, dealing damage
High Jump Kick: Kicks the opponent from high in the air, dealing a lot of damage, if this move doesn't hit the target, deal 1/4 of the damage suppose to be dealt to the user
Sky Attack: Charges up the attack, the next time this move is used, charges towards the opponent in a glow, dealing a lot of damage, shoves the opponent
Roost: Heals the user a certain amount of HP
Limber: When this Pokemon is paralyzed, double its Speed
Rolling Wrestle: Grabs onto a nearby opponent and somersaults them into the ground, dealing massive damage

Yeah, not as interesting as the previous 4, but there are still interesting parts of each Pokemon

Mawile doesn't exactly have moves that work together, maybe Iron Head and Draining Kiss to flinch and heal or Crunch and Play Rough to decrease Defense so Play Rough can decimate the opponent? Megaburst Omega's effect is supposed to reference Mega Mawile's Huge Power, which allowed Mawile to be viable in competitive, would it be too broken for Unite?

Hawlucha is probably more interesting, you can even mix and match if you want

Sky Attack to shove Pokemon away from you whilst supposedly "flinching" them like Snorlax's Heavy Slam, and then Flying Press onto them to make sure they won't dodge, High Jump Kick also works, but if the opponent dodges, it would be more of a problem

Or if you really want to play risky, you can have High Jump Kick and Roost

Also, I'd think Flying Press and High Jump Kick would work as a way to get somewhere faster, which is why someone might choose Flying Press over High Jump Kick even with Special 2 having "flinching" or healing, depending on what you choose

Also, Hawlucha's Unite move is kinda boring, maybe I should add something to it?

 

[Ishiftyounot]

Thank you for the answers. Are all basic attacks physical or why does sp. attackers that uses base attacks benefit from muscle band?

So you know basic attacks tend to work in threes? Basic -> basic -> boosted, with that boosted attack having some other effect (Mr. Mime makes enemies jump, Venusaur slaps enemies around a bit, etc.) - well the boosted attack works off of whatever stat the Pokemon uses the most. So Mr. Mime for example, who's damage scales from Sp. Atk, has their boosted attack use Sp. Atk as well. But the two basic attacks before that boosted attack do not, and use regular Attack.

Some Special Attackers use Muscle Band anyway because a lot of their damage comes from the boosted attack - Alolan Ninetales is a Special Attacker whose Aurora Veil move means its basic attacks become boosted ones when in the aura, and so benefits from Muscle Band's Attack Speed percentage increase and the 3% damage increase per successful basic attack. Other Special Attackers may not scale as well with Sp. Atk items so the boost for their boosted attacks is welcomed (like Venusaur for example).

Since I have not really updated much about my own experience playing Unite, I'll talk about it now, since now it won't be as boring as "Oh, I used Gardevoir" or "Oh, I used Crustle"

I had mained Crustle before Gardevoir came out, my experience playing as Crustle is that he seems more of an All-Rounder IMO, a Pokemon that is good in all areas
Although, then again, that is only all thanks to Shell Smash, which is why I like using Crustle

I decided to main Gardevoir after I tested it out when it came out, I saw how strong Psyshock was (especially with Moonblast)

But today, I decided to go back to Crustle after realizing that I can't really do much of anything as a Ralts and am dead weight to the team until I evolve, which takes time with that Lv 6 evolution

I also decided to actually play as other Pokemon for once, I'm now trying out Blastoise which I bought thinking that it would be similar to Crustle, oh how I was wrong...

But due to realizing that X Speed was an item, I decided to test out Blastoise, haven't exactly done a proper test yet, but will probably do so today or tomorrow

If I had the Aeos coins, I would also try out Mamoswine, but I don't...

Also, I think Absol might have a bug due to its usability going up it seems and how strong it has become, it is almost impossible to win 1v1s against it, unless this is just me...

and even then, Absol's usage might've gone up due to being the perfect counter for Sylveon? Not actually sure if it is, but it would kinda make sense

Always love to hear someone's backstory for the game! I would never have guessed you were a Gardevoir/Crustle main so that's awesome, and it's nice to see you're trying out Blastoise too - it's a really fun Defender and I think you may find over time that it's as aggressive as Crustle can be, and awesome at defending a lane or scoring. I hope you do stick with Gardevoir to some degree, at least for casual matches - people should play their favourites even if they aren't very good. As for Absol, it recently got some buffs in the last patch (with mobile release) and the addition of Razor Claw to its held item toolkit was nothing short of a blessing for it (on top of the Super Enhancers that can boost Scope Lens to Level 30) so now it's a credible threat that can annihilate any single Pokemon 1v1... at least in the early game. It falls off by the late game.

Mawile doesn't exactly have moves that work together, maybe Iron Head and Draining Kiss to flinch and heal or Crunch and Play Rough to decrease Defense so Play Rough can decimate the opponent? Megaburst Omega's effect is supposed to reference Mega Mawile's Huge Power, which allowed Mawile to be viable in competitive, would it be too broken for Unite?

Also, Hawlucha's Unite move is kinda boring, maybe I should add something to it?

I might not increase the defenses of Mawile during the Unite move, but the idea behind it seems solid! Hawlucha's Unite move may be boring but it's essentially a form of crowd control so I think anything added to it would've made it too over-the-top.

Well, I went ahead and got Garchomp anyway. Still have over 26k coins.

Damn, how many other characters do you own? I'm sat on 15k but I've bought Lucario, Machamp, Eldegoss, Talonflame, Blastoise, Mamoswine and Sylveon.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Damn, how many other characters do you own? I'm sat on 15k but I've bought Lucario, Machamp, Eldegoss, Talonflame, Blastoise, Mamoswine and Sylveon.

I have only ever bought Lucario, Gardevoir, Wigglytuff, and Garchomp.

 

[Ishiftyounot]

I have only ever bought Lucario, Gardevoir, Wigglytuff, and Garchomp.

That would explain it then! Is there a Pokemon out there that would be an instant buy for you, or are you more interested in how they work in this game?

Will also add (since I played for an hour tonight) that I'm getting better at Sylveon! I took them to ranked mode and was blessed with an actual competent group who absolutely demolished every team fight, took all the objectives and we won quite handily. I ran Hyper Voice + Calm Mind and I now see that it is the way to go, definitely has the oomph once you learn how to target properly. Beyond that every other game I played was as Machamp or Zeraora trying to complete those "Win 12 games as an All-Rounder" / "Play 24 games as a Speedster" missions. Did most of it in CPU matches because I had to get MVP twice for the Battle Pass but eh, it's been fun! A full crit build for Machamp with Scope Lens + Muscle Band + Razor Claw makes Submission / Cross Chop super fun to play, although I prefer Dynamic Punch over the former. Zeraora isn't my favourite character personally but I can play them reasonably well and Discharge is a stupidly strong move so eh.

Will say though that CPU matches today have been garbage - I actually lost one because we had an Absol who ran around the map and didn't contribute to any team fight at all (and didn't really leave the top lane). Problem is even if I report them because they move around and kill wild Pokemon the game thinks they're not AFK? Nightmare. So I took a break, can't play Unite for as long as I used to! Reaching Master rank kinda took away my want to play, nowadays the goal is to complete dailies, finish the Battle Pass and get my number of games up on any Pokemon that isn't Cinderace or Lucario. Maybe trying to get everyone to 40+ games wouldn't be a bad idea, then I can find a main! Since I don't have one at the moment and it feels like I'm missing out.

 

[KirbyHamtaro]

Perhaps i'll join in on the conversation, but

I feel the people's or everybody's pain here about the other players not showing any teamwork and cooperating even they're new, but it's just ridiculous. I mean these new players haven't been showing any teamwork and cooperation at all in my experience and in these latest matches. It's just that the matchmaking is currently unfair. I always get teamed up with new players against advanced and experienced people and then these new players were the ones that caused losing the matches. Every time i call for back up and say gather here in a specific spot, they just never come.

I've been playing since day 1 and getting teamed up with a bunch of new players and going up against advanced and experienced players is just painful even though i got demoted from veteran at the cost of the ranked match mission and me and my friend(s) have minimal help. We could ask for help and assistance to get our ranks back, but i don't see how are we gonna communicate better in terms of activity outside of the forums here (via discord and facebook)

players who idled (or afk) and disconnect during the match should have a harsh penalty like about 60-100 fair play points although this case is worst in ranked matches because it costs the team and themselves a rank and a diamond (if performance points is less than 100 or more).

If some of us played together, that would've make us feel better and keep us away from new players in standard matches and lowest ranked players from ranked matches.

In any case, I did hear a lot of negative reviews about the game lately from the iOS' app store. The negative reviews contained cheating, but i don't see any of that as proof or screenshot. The other is unfair or unbalanced matchmaking and others which I mentioned and unstable game server.

As much as I like to expand my search to play with advanced and experienced people here along with my friend, but I just like to see it's gonna go (or where it flies)

Anyway I do play as venusaur and greninja as my top best or most used, but sylveon, well after the nerf, i know mystical fire helps a lot although it's not useful for mobbing and taking out multiple targets and i do believe the move is made for single targets also i always go to the central area, but some players refuse to let me in on that area for their play style reasons.

Reading all these past posts about these tips and others should help me better, but usually the results of the victory may vary though.

 

[Mega Ampharos the Dragon]

Always love to hear someone's backstory for the game! I would never have guessed you were a Gardevoir/Crustle main so that's awesome, and it's nice to see you're trying out Blastoise too - it's a really fun Defender and I think you may find over time that it's as aggressive as Crustle can be, and awesome at defending a lane or scoring. I hope you do stick with Gardevoir to some degree, at least for casual matches - people should play their favourites even if they aren't very good. As for Absol, it recently got some buffs in the last patch (with mobile release) and the addition of Razor Claw to its held item toolkit was nothing short of a blessing for it (on top of the Super Enhancers that can boost Scope Lens to Level 30) so now it's a credible threat that can annihilate any single Pokemon 1v1... at least in the early game. It falls off by the late game.

Well, I've tried out Blastoise, I think this Pokemon is pretty good when used correctly

Also, since I only really like using pokemon with good Speed, the X Speed really does help, it even boosts Rapid Spin's Speed!

As for Gardevoir, I wouldn't consider it my "favorite", none of my most favorite pokemon are in the game

Which reminds me, I should use Talonflame again after casting it aside for Crustle back when the game came out, it would definitely fit my playstyle

I might not increase the defenses of Mawile during the Unite move, but the idea behind it seems solid! Hawlucha's Unite move may be boring but it's essentially a form of crowd control so I think anything added to it would've made it too over-the-top.

I guess the defense thing makes sense due to Huge Power boost, so...

Also, I guess in a way, the Unite move kinda does have crowd control, maybe it can also flinch the opponent to High Jump Kick after?

As for the next few Pokemon, I won't reveal them yet, I'll only tease them, I still want the comments on the "gimmicky" Pokemon I created earlier

Will say though that CPU matches today have been garbage - I actually lost one because we had an Absol who ran around the map and didn't contribute to any team fight at all (and didn't really leave the top lane). Problem is even if I report them because they move around and kill wild Pokemon the game thinks they're not AFK? Nightmare. So I took a break, can't play Unite for as long as I used to! Reaching Master rank kinda took away my want to play, nowadays the goal is to complete dailies, finish the Battle Pass and get my number of games up on any Pokemon that isn't Cinderace or Lucario. Maybe trying to get everyone to 40+ games wouldn't be a bad idea, then I can find a main! Since I don't have one at the moment and it feels like I'm missing out.

What kind of playstyle do you have? I can create a Pokemon that would be perfect for that playstyle

Jokes aside, here are the next 3 Pokemon that I'll share tomorrow:

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Well, now there are Mamoswine-related quests, except this time, the game gives you 2 full-day passes (one each) to use it for that much time.

 

[KirbyHamtaro]

The trick parts about those missions is that both drednaw and rotom can be targeted easily and it's hard to cooperate with your teammates for them and not only that also opponents tend to steal them from you and they won't count if they get the final kill regardless of attacking it once.

Some of us do own mamoswine so i don't think we need the temp mamoswine for the day.

 

[KirbyHamtaro]

The zapdos mission on the other hand, well doing it on standard takes longer since you have to wait for 2min warning for zapdos to appear. doing it on quick CPU match in mer stadium would process this mission much faster.

I'm not sure if the mamoswine passes will give us coins if we acquired the temp ones although we have to keep an eye out who used them, ask, and get information from them and see if we get coins for the temp mamoswine.

 

[Ishiftyounot]

What kind of playstyle do you have? I can create a Pokemon that would be perfect for that playstyle

Jokes aside, here are the next 3 Pokemon that I'll share tomorrow:

I would love to see Dusknoir or Keldeo, i think they'd be fantastic! Never understood why Dusknoir didn't have Iron Fist as an ability, its moveset was tailor-made for it. Keldeo is also sword-boi so we love to see it. As for my playstyle... not sure, tanky I guess? I like going into battles and not dying immediately. Probably why I resonate so much with Defenders (who have some of my highest win-rates overall). Think next season I'll focus on maining Defenders and Supporters and see where it gets me.

If the Mamoswine passes are anything like the extra Zeraora one, I guess they convert into coins.

They do apparently, but lot a lot of coins since it's only a temporary pass. I'm surprised Mamoswine is being offered though, rather than... Garchomp? The Pokemon with the Battle Pass quests nobody plays? But that's just me, maybe Mamo sold less than they wanted.

Well, what do you think of these little gimmicks? Believe it or not, most of their descriptions were created on the fly, this is the same with all other move and ability descriptions I've created

To start off, is any part of Alolan Golem's kit too OP? Should there be a different Rock type move instead of just Rock Blast? Should Explosion not shorten revival time?
Also, is any part of Sableye's kit too OP? I honestly don't see many problems with it, also this Sableye is what I created with the idea you created back when I showed Decidueye
Also, is any part of Bisharp's kit too OP? Guillotine might be a bit too much, but with the long cooldown, does it make it more balanced? Should I change Révolution! at all to make it not too OP? The OHKO in it might be a bit too much
Lastly, is any part of Sandaconda's kit too OP? I don't see much wrong with this one, maybe Sand Spit or Sand Tomb might be a bit much? But then again, I guess that depends on numbers, doesn't it?

Since I never covered this last time...

1) Alolan Golem's kit looks fine to me, the damage would need to be fine-tuned but I think design-wise it looks fine? Fire Punch feels a little bit out of place, could replace it with a different Electric or Rock move there and maybe alter the effect. If you're after a hit-and-run style attacking Pokemon I'd replace Fire Punch with Rollout / Magnet Rise / Rock Polish and maybe provide a new effect for them.

2) Sableye seems solid, probably is my favourite of the bunch! Seems like a cool Supporter with tricky Ghost-themed moves to make it annoying. The Unite move may be a bit OP with the cooldown reduction + defenses boost + AoE? And I'd personally alter Keen Eye to not be permanent vision of the whole map but maybe increased vision when Pokemon in Sableye's range go into bushes, it can still see them for x seconds. Something like that.

3) Yeah Guillotine is still gonna be ridiculous even with the cooldown, plus Bisharp wouldn't be as fun if it only had one move to really use. I'd replace it with something that maybe benefits from or boosts critical hit rate? Gives you a combo with Night Slash then. Same applies for the Unite move, 0HKO moves are never a good idea in my opinion. Cool name though, but yeah maybe alter it somewhat. Maybe make it a charge like High Horsepower but with extra effects?

4) Sandaconda seems fine, I do like the Unite move although I dunno how long you intend for the enemies to be caught in the tornado? But the idea of a big AoE displacement that functions differently to Blastoise is pretty rad?

 

[KirbyHamtaro]

About that garchomp battle pass mission, i heard people say that we don't have to force ourselves in doing it, but they were outraged by this mission and we have to spend coins or gems to get garchomp for the battle pass mission even if they say it's not worth doing it or their time. It would've been better to do the garchomp battle pass mission if garchomp was available temp for the week or just give us a temp garchomp pass from the mission to get this garchomp battle pass mission out of the way.

 

[Ishiftyounot]

About that garchomp battle pass mission, i heard people say that we don't have to force ourselves in doing it, but they were outraged by this mission and we have to spend coins or gems to get garchomp for the battle pass mission even if they say it's not worth doing it or their time. It would've been better to do the garchomp battle pass mission if garchomp was available temp for the week or just give us a temp garchomp pass from the mission to get this garchomp battle pass mission out of the way.

Essentially, yeah. It's a 120 point mission for the Battle Pass (an entire level for the Battle Pass) and so skipping it because you don't own the character is going to feel rough. They have two alternatives - put it on the weekly rotation so everyone can try it out, or make it the Pokemon you could get the trial tickets for instead of Mamoswine. That way you have a day or two this week to use Garchomp and get the Battle Pass mission done. And yet here we are, it feels rough.

My matchmaking woes continue with a loss in ranked mode due to the most useless Ninetales I have ever encountered. Never defended (even with an ally), never helped with objectives, completely ignored the enemy team beyond dying to them from time to time... was awful. Especially since I was on Sylveon trying to hit that 50% win-rate on them, which isn't happening any time soon. Might have to genuinely consider finding people on Discord or forums or somewhere to play some Master-ranked games without having teammates who genuinely have no business being in that rank. Nightmare.

Also, Halloween event incoming? The background music in-game changed, and there's been some funky datamines revealed. Looks like Lucario's Sir Aaron costume was from an official Halloween artwork rather than based off of the movie itself, some other characters may be getting some new costumes and two new Pokemon may be coming? These are:

Spoiler

Greedent & Decidueye!

The former makes sense - it was datamined ages ago and I believe it's going to be a Defender? Bit of an unusual choice but if the moveset is good I'd probably get it. The latter is cool, makes sense for adding a third basic attack focused Pokemon like Greninja and Cinderace (it completes a Fire-Water-Grass trio plus it means Gen 6-7-8 are all covered) plus it's a Ghost type - Halloween time!