Gyms: How to take them down quicker
The current Gym system is very different from what Pokémon Go originally had. Thanks to CP decay, almost anyone can destroy almost any Gym in a short amount of time. Still, you can destroy them even faster if you want to, even if defenders are feeding berries.
It typically takes three rounds to take down a fully motivated Gym in Pokémon Go. If there's only one defender, that's three battles total. If it's a full six defenders, that's 18 battles. If you attack in groups, usually you all go together, and it still takes three rounds or up to 18 battles for everyone.
If you attack in waves, though, you can get that down to one round each.
- Attacker one enters the Gym and battles defender one.
- When attacker one defeats defender one, attacker two enters and starts battling defender one.
- When attacker one defeats defender two, and attacker two defeats defender one, attacker three enters and starts battling defender one.
- When attacker one defeats defender six, they can either stop or jump in and help attacker three with defender four. Either way, by the time attacker three is done, the Gym should be done too.
If you have more than three people, you can team up for the waves. Two people can do the first wave, for example. You only ever need three waves, though, because that's usually how many battles you need to take down the Gym.
You can also focus on taking out one Pokémon at a time, making it less likely other defenders will get notifications and start feeding berries as well.
- Attack the first defender.
- Drop out.
- Attack the first defender a second time.
- Drop out.
- Attack the first defender a third time.
- Drop out.
- Make sure the first defender is gone. If not (if someone is remotely feeding it), attack it again. If so, move on to the second defender.
- Repeat until all defenders are defeated, and the Gym is empty.
Combine the two methods, and you can wipe out any Gym quickly and effectively.
Gyms: How to defend them longer
Sure, under the new Gym system, anyone can take down any Gym they want. So, the trick becomes making them not want to take down your Gym.
Ideally, you want to work as a team and stack a Gym with the best mix of ultra-tanks and counter-counters as possible. You want to anchor your Gyms with the Pokémon that are the toughest to take down:
- Blissey
- Snorlax
- Chansey
- Slaking
If you want to optimize for intimidation, especially if you don't mind feeding Golden Razz Berry remotely, then you can go for higher CP and not worry about it. Especially with Slaking. That'll keep the Gym big and tall, further encouraging would-be attackers to keep stepping.
If you want to optimize for longevity, especially if you're low on Golden Razz Berry, you can stick to between 1200 and 1800 CP and hope for the best.
You can also anticipate counters. Most of the best defenders have one thing in common — and one weakness in common. They're Normal type and so are all vulnerable to Fighting types.
To help compensate for that, you want to make sure your Pokémon have Psychic or Fairy type moves to at least damage the Fighting types that'll be thrown against them.
- Blissey: Dazzling Gleam
- Snorlax: Zen Headbutt
- Chansey: Dazzling Gleam
- Slaking: Play Rough
Then you want to interleave them with Pokémon that do even more damage to the counters — or the generalists that less tactical players will throw at them. That'll either beat down the attackers or force compromises in the attack teams and/or switching between rounds.
- Dragonite
- Azumarill
- Vaporeon
- Steelix
- Milotic
If you're working with a team and go to the trouble of stacking a Gym for maximum effect, keep in touch with that team while you're defending. Whether you're using Facebook Messenger, Discord, iMessage, Whatsapp, or something else, coordinate slot filling and berry feeding to really maximize your defense.
Raids: How to run them right
Raiding has brought new challenges, new rewards, and a new sense of community to Pokémon Go. But if you're not careful, you can consume a lot of resources at best, and fail in your raid attempts at worst.
There's the simple stuff everyone already knows: Use the best counters and give them the best moves. You can get good counters by working your way up through raids. For example, get Machamp to get Tyranitar. Then use your TMs to give them the best moves. Heavy Slam Machamp or Fire Blast Tyranitar are near useless. Dynamic Punch Machamp or Stone Edge Tyranitar are forces of nature.
It's also best to put your effort into the most efficient counters rather than niche counters. Tyranitar and Golem, for example, typically counter a bunch of Raid Bosses, so they're better investments than a Pokémon that only counters one.
If you do want to use a Gengar or some other high DPS, low toughness Pokémon put them first in your Battle Team. That way, hopefully, they can get off a charge or two moves before the Raid Boss squishes them.
If you're lucky enough to have a lot of good counters, pay attention to what Pokémon Go auto selects for you. If they're decent and you think you will have to jump back into the raid, pick other Pokémon to start. That way, when you faint, the auto-select will be good enough, and you won't have to waste time healing or choosing all over again.
Also, if you notice odd auto selections, it might be an indicator of movesets you should worry about. For example, if you don't get Tyranitar for Lugia, it means Lugia has Hydro Pump, which hurts Tyranitar. Same for Gyarados for Groudon. It means Groudon has Solar Beam.
Select alternates accordingly.
