Player Level Is King
Why is player level soo important?
- The general rule is, the higher your player level, the better Pokemon that spawn and the better items you get from Pokestops. So the quicker you can level, the sooner you get access to the better "stuff".
How does player level affect Pokestop loot?
- As you hit certain levels, new items have a chance to spawn at the Pokestops. For instance, before level 5, you wont get any healing or revive potions. As you hit level 10, you start getting the 50hp healing potion, level 12 unlocks the Great Pokeball, level 20 unlocks the Ultra Pokeball etc...
How does player level affect Pokemon spawns?
- As your player level increases, you will notice the average CP of the Wild Pokemon that spawn will keep increasing. So where you start battling under 50 cp Pokemon, as you level up, the same species of Pokemon will start spawning with 200CP etc... So the higher your level, the more likely you are to get a higher CP pokemon.
Does your player level affect the Max CP of your Pokemon?
- Yes - Everytime you level, your Pokemon are able to be Powered Up more and hence have a higher max CP. So if a level 10 player and a level 20 player Max Powered Up the IDENTICAL pokemon, the level 20 player's Pokemon would have a higher CP value (But he would've also had to spend more Stardust and Candy to reach the Max Level then the Level 10 player.
- Below is an image that is of the same Pokemon from my inventory, the only thing that changed is my player level. The first screenshot was taken at level 10 and the second at level 16. You can see that i have more room to Power Up the Pokemon now that player level increased.
Eevee Example - Difference between level 10 and 16
Image Eevee Example
- So the higher your player level, the higher your max CP is for each Pokemon.
What happens when you reach max CP for a Pokemon?
- The "Power Up" button will be greyed out and if you press it, you will get the message "Trainer level is too low to power up". So after you raise your player level, you will be able to Power Up any previously maxed Pokemon.
What happens if i evolve a Max CP Pokemon, can i power it up some more?
- No - The cost to Power Up a specific Pokemon is the same regardless of which evolution form it is in. When you evolve the Pokemon, it keeps the same CP% as the pre-evolved Pokemon. So it makes no difference if you Power Up to max and then evolve, or evolve then power up to max - you end up at the same point.
Will all Pokemon of the same species have the same max CP?
- No - Not all Pokemon are created equal - I'm still working on this part of the puzzle. Below is the current theory i'm working on but its not confirmed and there is conflicting data.
There is a relationship between the size of the Pokemon and that max CP and HP that you finally end up with. From my initial testing, it seems the smaller (XS) Pokemon will have a higher max CP but a lower max HP. Where as the larger (XL) Pokemon will have a lower max CP but a higher max HP. I'm still working on specifics for this one but this theory holds for most of my examples.
Ok, So player level is important, what are the ways you can earn XP?
Here is a list of actions that earn XP:
- Catching any Pokemon : 100xp
- Catching a new Pokemon : 500xp (ontop of the 100xp you get normally)
- Hatching a new Pokemon : 500xp
- Evolving a Pokemon : 500xp
- Evolving a new Pokemon : 500xp (ontop of the normal 500xp)
- Catching a Pokemon with a Curveball : 10xp
- Catching a Pokemon with a Nice Throw: 10XP
- Catching a Pokemon with a Great Throw : 50XP
- Catching a Pokemon with an Excellent Throw : 100XP
- Spinning a Pokestop : 50xp
- Winning a Gym Battle against 1 Pokemon : 150xp
- Winning a Gym Battle against 2 Pokemon : 250xp
- Winning a Gym Battle against 3 Pokemon : 350xp
- Winning a Gym Battle against 4 Pokemon : ???
- Training at a Friendly Gym : Varies but its not much
How does the bonus Throw XP work?
- The way the throw xp works is all about the size of the colored circled when you release your Pokeball. If you have a max circle and you manage to hit the Pokemon within that circle, you will get a "Nice Throw". Now if you let the circle get a bit smaller before you release your pokeball, and still hit within the colored circle, that will be a "Great Throw". Then if you let the circle get even smaller, and still hit it, you will get an "Excellent Throw".
- To get the "Curveball", tap and hold the pokeball and spin your finger in a circle until it sparkles, the release the pokeball - but careful, it will curve so adjust your aim accordingly.
- To change the size of the circle, tap and hold the pokeball and you will see it change size, then just release when you are ready.
Are there any items that help with XP?
- Yes - Lucky Eggs double your XP gains - so if you have some spare lucky eggs and you are about to go hardcore XP mode, use the lucky egg to get +100%XP for 30 mins.
So how do you recommend you level up?
- I believe the best way to level up is to find an area with a bunch of pokestops and simply do a loop around those pokestops and capture any pokemon that spawns. You ideally want a loop that takes you 5 minutes to complete as that will mean the first Pokestop you spun will be ready to be spun again. I would avoid going out of my way to complete a Gym battle as i dont feel the xp gain is worth the time and items required to consistently do them. Better to just loop around the pokestops and catch all pokemon. Combine with a lucky egg if you have them spare.
- If you have lots of candy for a particular pokemon that only needs 12 for that first evolution (Pidgey), you can pop a Lucky Egg and then evolve all those Pidgeys for a quick double XP boost.
