Don't Run With Scizors
17th January 2004, 08:41 AM
Some jerk thought it would be a good idea to delete my old guide. Well, screw you too. :(
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Q: What’s an EV?
A: EV, or Effort Value is the stat that keeps tracks of your effort points. Effort points are one of the major factors in determining your Pokémon’s stats. At level 100, having your Effort points maxed out for a particular stat can earn you as much as 63 extra points for a stat. For example, let’s take a max-statted, level 100 Slaking here…
Without any effort points for Attack, it has a measly 356 in Attack (measly for a Slaking, anyway). But, if that Slaking goes and beats 255 wild Shuppets, that’ll max out its Effort Value for Attack, and, with a little box-tricking, Attack shoots up to 419!
Q: Neat! Now, how do I get these effort points on my Pokémon?
A: There are two ways. Vitamins will give you a significant amount of effort points – 10 points for a specific stat per vitamin. You can keep using vitamins until a Pokémon has 100 effort points for a particular stat, but once your Pokémon has 100 effort points for that stat, it can't take any more vitamins that boost that stat. This does not necessarily mean EVs are maxed out for that particular stat. It just means that the Pokémon can take no more vitamins pertaining to that stat. If you want to max out your Effort Value for that stat, you’ll have to battle wild or in-game trainer Pokémon (not those in link-cable or Battle Tower battles).
Each Pokémon doles out a certain number of effort points for certain stats. For example, the each of the 255 Shuppets mentioned above gave out 1 Effort point for Attack. I’ve attached an Excel file that contains a list of the effort points that each Pokémon gives out.
Q: I fed my Pokémon all these vitamins, and had them fight the right Pokémon, but I can’t max out all of its stats! What’s up with that?
A: See, a Pokémon can only have a total of 510 effort points for all its stats. Once it’s reached that limit, it won’t gain any more. So you have to be really picky about which stats you want to put effort points into. You wouldn’t want a Heracross to earn any Special Attack effort points since it’s not likely to be using any special attacks, for example. Not unless you feel that, for some strange reason, Thief ought to be doing as much damage as possible.
Q: So my Salamence can’t get decent attack power and defenses at the same time! What can I do about it?
A: You’ll have to be extra careful with how you distribute your effort points. Distribute your effort points so it best suits what you want:
- Where offense is your best defense, like on Alakazam, boost the attack (Attack or Special Attack, whichever works best) and Speed stats that help you bring down as many as possible opponents as you can in the shortest amount of time.
- To receive the least possible damage percentage for your EVs, you’ll want to adjust your EVs so that your HP and defenses are as close to each other as possible. If one of those stats can’t be maxed any further, then simply keep adding points to the other stat as you need to.
- Try to orient your movesets so you have to rely on as few stats as possible. I have a Metagross with Psychic, Earthquake, Meteor Mash, and Frustration, for example. But if I devote effort points to Special Attack just so I get a little extra power out of Psychic, I end up losing power in my other Attack-based moves. It’s not worth it, really. I might as well get rid of Psychic for Shadow Ball, leave Special Attack effort points at zero, and put what effort points I have left into Attack so I get more power for my attacks. Likewise, you can sacrifice some effort points in a stat if you have a stat booster that can make up for it.
Note that you don’t necessarily have to max out just two stats. Effort points can be distributed across several stats at once, but you only get 510 points to work with.
Q: Exactly what kind of effect does each point have on a stat?
A: It takes four effort points to have an effect on stats. At level 100, every four effort points equals one stat point. Note that, because of this, it is not a good idea to put 255 points into two stats because six of those points will be wasted (yes, I know my chart adds an extra point if you have 255 in a stat, but that’s a bug I have yet to work out). Those six points can be added to another stat to get another stat point. Regardless of how you arrange your effort points, you will always have two useless effort point left over because 510 isn’t evenly divisible by 4.
Q: Er, okay… now how can I tell exactly how many effort points I need to put in a stat to get what I want?
A: The Excel worksheet I’ve zipped and attached below has a chart that you can use to calculate stats. Just plug in personality, level, and effort points, then compare results based on which DVs (stat genes, if you will) your Pokémon has. You can find your Pokémon’s DVs by comparing their stats (so long as they have not received any training except for Rare Candies and the Daycare) with the stats in the chart. If one of your Pokémon’s stats corresponds to exactly one DV (DVs are the numbers listed on the left) then that is the DV for that particular stat. You may need to use Rare Candies to level it up enough to narrow down the possibilities and determine the DV.
Q: Earning effort points takes too long! Is there anything I can do to speed it up?
A: Equipping the Macho Brace on the Pokémon you're training will double the number of effort points gotten from battles. And, if you're lucky enough to get it, Pokémon infected with PokéRus will also earn double the effort points earned. For example, a Claydol gives 2 effort points for Special Defense. If a Pokémon with the Macho Brace and Pokérus defeats it, it will earn 8 points (2 * 2 * 2 = 8).
Q: Any good places I can go to for specific effort points?
A: There’s several:
- For HP, the waters on Route 117 (the one between Verdanturf and Mauville) are full of fat Marill which give out 2 HP effort points each. There are many other places where Marill can be found, but that place is conveniently close to a Pokémon Center.
- For Attack… if you have Ruby, gaining Attack is easy if you battle the wild Nuzleaves and Zangeese on Route 114 for two effort points each, but if you have Sapphire, you’ll have to fight Shuppets (which only give out one effort point each) on Mt. Pyre.
- The underwater Clamperl gives one Defense effort point. Just stay away from the Chinchous and Relicanths. (Alternatively, if you want to get HP AND Defense effort points at the same time, just fight everybody down there. Chinchou and Relicanth give two and one effort points for HP, respectively.)
- The grass on Route 118 is THE best place to earn effort points for Speed. All wild Pokémon there give you either one or two points (except for the Kecleons that show up on occasion, but they’re extremely rare).
- The Spindas on Route 113 all give one effort point for Special Attack each. Other good areas include the grass on Route 117, where Oddish and Roselia are plentiful (as are the annoying Zigzagoon, Volbeat, and Illumise, but they’re free Speed effort points if you want ‘em), and New Mauville for the Special Attack effort from Magnemites. The Voltorb there also give Speed effort points.
- If you want to boost your Special Defense only, look toward the sea and all those Tentacool living in it.
Q: How are effort points distributed in a battle?
A: Any Pokémon that participates in defeating a Pokémon, whether by piggybacking or Exp. Share, will receive the full amount of effort points - they are not halved. Macho Brace and Pokérus still apply to these points, so if a participating Pokémon has either one (or both), the points they receive will be multiplied by the appropriate multiplier.
Q: How can I tell how many effort points I have already?
A: Unless you write down every Pokémon that you battle, it can be tricky trying to tell. But if you’re raising only a few stats, you can use vitamins as a way of getting a rough estimate of how many you have left. For example, I’ve been training a Gardevoir for the Battle Tower, and I only want it to have effort points in Speed and Special Attack so they’re maxed out. I don’t keep track of exactly how much I have, but I know for sure that I’ve only battled Pokémon that give me Special Attack and Speed effort points.
So I save my game, and feed it Proteins. It manages to take ten of them, so I know I have AT LEAST 100 effort points to go. I don’t have any effort points in Defense either, so I feed it some Irons, and I can only feed it two.
12 vitamins * 10 effort points per vitamin = roughly 120 effort points to go.
I restart the game, and continue training. After some training, I try again…
This time, I only manage to feed it five Proteins, meaning that those five Proteins maxed out my total Effort Value.
5 vitamins * 10 effort points per vitamin = roughly 50 effort points to go!
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Okay, there’s the FAQ. I imagine I’ve left a couple of questions unanswered, so… ask away so I can add to it.
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Q: What’s an EV?
A: EV, or Effort Value is the stat that keeps tracks of your effort points. Effort points are one of the major factors in determining your Pokémon’s stats. At level 100, having your Effort points maxed out for a particular stat can earn you as much as 63 extra points for a stat. For example, let’s take a max-statted, level 100 Slaking here…
Without any effort points for Attack, it has a measly 356 in Attack (measly for a Slaking, anyway). But, if that Slaking goes and beats 255 wild Shuppets, that’ll max out its Effort Value for Attack, and, with a little box-tricking, Attack shoots up to 419!
Q: Neat! Now, how do I get these effort points on my Pokémon?
A: There are two ways. Vitamins will give you a significant amount of effort points – 10 points for a specific stat per vitamin. You can keep using vitamins until a Pokémon has 100 effort points for a particular stat, but once your Pokémon has 100 effort points for that stat, it can't take any more vitamins that boost that stat. This does not necessarily mean EVs are maxed out for that particular stat. It just means that the Pokémon can take no more vitamins pertaining to that stat. If you want to max out your Effort Value for that stat, you’ll have to battle wild or in-game trainer Pokémon (not those in link-cable or Battle Tower battles).
Each Pokémon doles out a certain number of effort points for certain stats. For example, the each of the 255 Shuppets mentioned above gave out 1 Effort point for Attack. I’ve attached an Excel file that contains a list of the effort points that each Pokémon gives out.
Q: I fed my Pokémon all these vitamins, and had them fight the right Pokémon, but I can’t max out all of its stats! What’s up with that?
A: See, a Pokémon can only have a total of 510 effort points for all its stats. Once it’s reached that limit, it won’t gain any more. So you have to be really picky about which stats you want to put effort points into. You wouldn’t want a Heracross to earn any Special Attack effort points since it’s not likely to be using any special attacks, for example. Not unless you feel that, for some strange reason, Thief ought to be doing as much damage as possible.
Q: So my Salamence can’t get decent attack power and defenses at the same time! What can I do about it?
A: You’ll have to be extra careful with how you distribute your effort points. Distribute your effort points so it best suits what you want:
- Where offense is your best defense, like on Alakazam, boost the attack (Attack or Special Attack, whichever works best) and Speed stats that help you bring down as many as possible opponents as you can in the shortest amount of time.
- To receive the least possible damage percentage for your EVs, you’ll want to adjust your EVs so that your HP and defenses are as close to each other as possible. If one of those stats can’t be maxed any further, then simply keep adding points to the other stat as you need to.
- Try to orient your movesets so you have to rely on as few stats as possible. I have a Metagross with Psychic, Earthquake, Meteor Mash, and Frustration, for example. But if I devote effort points to Special Attack just so I get a little extra power out of Psychic, I end up losing power in my other Attack-based moves. It’s not worth it, really. I might as well get rid of Psychic for Shadow Ball, leave Special Attack effort points at zero, and put what effort points I have left into Attack so I get more power for my attacks. Likewise, you can sacrifice some effort points in a stat if you have a stat booster that can make up for it.
Note that you don’t necessarily have to max out just two stats. Effort points can be distributed across several stats at once, but you only get 510 points to work with.
Q: Exactly what kind of effect does each point have on a stat?
A: It takes four effort points to have an effect on stats. At level 100, every four effort points equals one stat point. Note that, because of this, it is not a good idea to put 255 points into two stats because six of those points will be wasted (yes, I know my chart adds an extra point if you have 255 in a stat, but that’s a bug I have yet to work out). Those six points can be added to another stat to get another stat point. Regardless of how you arrange your effort points, you will always have two useless effort point left over because 510 isn’t evenly divisible by 4.
Q: Er, okay… now how can I tell exactly how many effort points I need to put in a stat to get what I want?
A: The Excel worksheet I’ve zipped and attached below has a chart that you can use to calculate stats. Just plug in personality, level, and effort points, then compare results based on which DVs (stat genes, if you will) your Pokémon has. You can find your Pokémon’s DVs by comparing their stats (so long as they have not received any training except for Rare Candies and the Daycare) with the stats in the chart. If one of your Pokémon’s stats corresponds to exactly one DV (DVs are the numbers listed on the left) then that is the DV for that particular stat. You may need to use Rare Candies to level it up enough to narrow down the possibilities and determine the DV.
Q: Earning effort points takes too long! Is there anything I can do to speed it up?
A: Equipping the Macho Brace on the Pokémon you're training will double the number of effort points gotten from battles. And, if you're lucky enough to get it, Pokémon infected with PokéRus will also earn double the effort points earned. For example, a Claydol gives 2 effort points for Special Defense. If a Pokémon with the Macho Brace and Pokérus defeats it, it will earn 8 points (2 * 2 * 2 = 8).
Q: Any good places I can go to for specific effort points?
A: There’s several:
- For HP, the waters on Route 117 (the one between Verdanturf and Mauville) are full of fat Marill which give out 2 HP effort points each. There are many other places where Marill can be found, but that place is conveniently close to a Pokémon Center.
- For Attack… if you have Ruby, gaining Attack is easy if you battle the wild Nuzleaves and Zangeese on Route 114 for two effort points each, but if you have Sapphire, you’ll have to fight Shuppets (which only give out one effort point each) on Mt. Pyre.
- The underwater Clamperl gives one Defense effort point. Just stay away from the Chinchous and Relicanths. (Alternatively, if you want to get HP AND Defense effort points at the same time, just fight everybody down there. Chinchou and Relicanth give two and one effort points for HP, respectively.)
- The grass on Route 118 is THE best place to earn effort points for Speed. All wild Pokémon there give you either one or two points (except for the Kecleons that show up on occasion, but they’re extremely rare).
- The Spindas on Route 113 all give one effort point for Special Attack each. Other good areas include the grass on Route 117, where Oddish and Roselia are plentiful (as are the annoying Zigzagoon, Volbeat, and Illumise, but they’re free Speed effort points if you want ‘em), and New Mauville for the Special Attack effort from Magnemites. The Voltorb there also give Speed effort points.
- If you want to boost your Special Defense only, look toward the sea and all those Tentacool living in it.
Q: How are effort points distributed in a battle?
A: Any Pokémon that participates in defeating a Pokémon, whether by piggybacking or Exp. Share, will receive the full amount of effort points - they are not halved. Macho Brace and Pokérus still apply to these points, so if a participating Pokémon has either one (or both), the points they receive will be multiplied by the appropriate multiplier.
Q: How can I tell how many effort points I have already?
A: Unless you write down every Pokémon that you battle, it can be tricky trying to tell. But if you’re raising only a few stats, you can use vitamins as a way of getting a rough estimate of how many you have left. For example, I’ve been training a Gardevoir for the Battle Tower, and I only want it to have effort points in Speed and Special Attack so they’re maxed out. I don’t keep track of exactly how much I have, but I know for sure that I’ve only battled Pokémon that give me Special Attack and Speed effort points.
So I save my game, and feed it Proteins. It manages to take ten of them, so I know I have AT LEAST 100 effort points to go. I don’t have any effort points in Defense either, so I feed it some Irons, and I can only feed it two.
12 vitamins * 10 effort points per vitamin = roughly 120 effort points to go.
I restart the game, and continue training. After some training, I try again…
This time, I only manage to feed it five Proteins, meaning that those five Proteins maxed out my total Effort Value.
5 vitamins * 10 effort points per vitamin = roughly 50 effort points to go!
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Okay, there’s the FAQ. I imagine I’ve left a couple of questions unanswered, so… ask away so I can add to it.
[attachment deleted by admin]