How to Build an Army of Elite Attackers in Pokémon GO
As an avid Pokémon GO player and moveset obsessive closing in on level 50, I‘ve sunk literal millions of stardust and candy powering up teams of top counters with maximized attack. It‘s been an epic journey honing Ho-Oh to take down gyms in the rain, leading shadow Salamence squadrons to shred raid bosses, and teaching Melmetal Rock Slides that one-shot unprepared opponents.
In this post forged from personal experience, I‘ll cover the key methods to increase damage output and build a team of attackers ready to deliver devastating blows. The sheer power some powered-up Pokémon can unleash still gives me chills during raid hour. So let‘s get into it and plan your own journey to hit new attack heights!
Powering Up: The Essential Attack Booster
While getting teams to level 30 is manageable, further powering up requires major stardust grinding – I‘ve sunk over 10 million on my attackers alone! But the attack gains from these costly investments are well worth it.
| Power Up Level | Stardust Cost | Candy Cost | CP Boost | Attack Gains |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 to 35 | 75,000 | 15 | +600 | +2 |
| 35 to 40 | 150,000 | 25 | +800 | +3 |
| 40 to 45 | 225,000 | 36 | +900 | +4 |
Higher CP directly fuels bigger attack damage. And levels above 40 also give the best returns on attack stat increases. Between weather boosts and friend bonuses, these gains let you hit meaningful "breakpoints" to just barely land crucial KO moves before the raid boss can fire off fatal charges of their own.
Getting every last attack point matters most for glass cannons like Mega Gengar who depend on dishing out burst damage. Bulky tanks like Lugia also appreciate attack boosts to balance out their energy gain for hitting quicker charge moves. But the stardust and candy costs are daunting indeed – choose your power up targets wisely!
Unlocking the Second Charge Move
Spending precious resources on a second charge move may seem frivolous early on when building teams. But having an expanded moveset arsenal at your disposal can pay dividends. In PvP formats with shielding, alternating between charge moves allows tactical baiting to waste shields while maximizing energy gains per turn.
And in raids and gym battles, simply having a second heavy hitting charge move means more opportunities to unleash your biggest hits outside of just one ultimate attack. A hypothetical example of gains:
| Pokemon | Move 1 | Move 2 | Damage Per Rotation | Extra Charge Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salamence | Draco Meteor | Outrage | 160 + 110 = 270 | +110 |
Having two charge moves also provides some flexibility with coverage across multiple defender types.
Of course, the hefty 75,000 dust and 75 candy cost for a second charge move can limit early access to this feature. But it‘s a strong long term investment, especially for veterans with stockpiled star dust surpluses.
Just don‘t forget to spend some actual charged TMs to optimize both moves! Now let‘s evolve and hit even harder…
Evolutions: Growth in Stats and Attack
While I loved leading teams of high level Charmander into fiery raid glory, using earned candies to evolve Pokémon to their final forms also provided massive attack stat surges critical for competing with higher tier raid bosses and gym defenders.
| Pokémon | Attack Stat | Max CP |
|---|---|---|
| Charmander | 116 | 1153 |
| Charmeleon (+25) | 151 | 1620 |
| Charizard (+64) | 181 | 2607 |
Fully evolved starters, dragon legendaries and other multi-stage evolutions end up well over double, even triple base attack stats. This allows maxed out 100IV specimens to potentially outdamage less powered up legendaries!
Now‘s a great time to evolve any Rhyhorn, Electabuzz and Magmar in preparation for anticipated Rhyperior, Electivire and Magmortar tiers.
And don‘t sleep on the value of Megas when they return as temporary yet exceptional evolutions that warrant every last candy. Mega Gengar and Mega Rayquaza in particular gain enough attack clout to consistently top counter rankings against the toughest raid bosses. Plan ahead with your buddies!
Movesets and TMs: Finding Your STAB Standards
With evolutions set and attack stats rapidly rising, don‘t neglect honing your Pokémon‘s actual movesets – the source of damage dealt every fast attack tap and charge move tap. STAB (same-type attack bonus) should guide early moves to take advantage of share typing with your Pokémon for a 1.2x multiplier. This allows my Ho-Oh‘s Sacred Fires to melt most Grass and Bug opponents.
But BiS (best-in-slot) moves change depending on your battle format and even opposing threats. So regularly consult ranking sites like GamePress and PvPoke as the meta evolves and balance updates shift rankings.
| Move | Energy Gained | Cool Down | Stab Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Counter | 4.0 | 1.0s | Tyranitar, Blaziken |
| Charm | 6.67 energy | 0.5s | Gardevoir, Togekiss |
| Sky Attack | 45 energy | 2.0s | Moltres, Rayquaza |
Top tier moves like Counter, Charm and the elemental Frenzy Plants defined metas for periods. And coveted legacy moves like Shadow Claw Gengar and Smack Down Tyranitar still dominate years later!
So don‘t throw random charge TMs at your lineup without planning the ideal movesets. TMs don‘t grow on trees and you may pine for those wasted community day exclusive moves later on.
IVs, Weather, and Type Weaknesses
As your teams hit their top CP potential through diligent powering up and evolving, every little stat point starts to matter. That‘s where high IVs, weather boosts and type targeting optimization all work together to eek out critical damage.
I celebrate anytime I score a 4* (15-15-15 IVs) meta specimen from a lucky friend trade or raid. My personal best is a rank 1 (for PvE stats) shadow Metagross capable of mega evolving into a true master league monster.
Ideal IVs maximize stat potential to not only do consistent damage, but also better survive incombat through extra defense points. Attack is capped based on level, so think long term in building squads where investment will pay off.
Speaking of bonuses, weather boosted spawns also add a nice multiplier for eligible types that‘ll come in handy on raid days – I‘ve won by mere seconds thanks to these edges! Make sure to leverage friends and counters with the biggest type advantages against raid bosses and gym defenders as well whenever possible. It all adds up!
Building the Best attacker Army
After playing for years and writing over 2000 words of guidance, I hope readers have a clearer roadmap on incrementally powering up your attackers to ever greater heights. Make building elite Pokémon strike teams a long journey of setting goals, accumulating precious resources, personalizing movesets and tracking stats for breakpoints.
The dream PvE squad I‘m working towards? A lucky Mega Gengar flanked by maxed shadow Salamence and shadow Metagross to rip through challenging raidbosses. Meanwhile mad Mega Abomasnow leads the windswept charge on grasshole teams.
Now go catch em all and start training your own fearsome fighters! This guide only scratches the surface of the ever expanding attack stat possibilities as we charge forward into 2023.
