Gym Leaders and Elite Four Discussion Thread [Read First Post]

[GildedScizor]

Did anyone have a lot of trouble with a specific Gym Leader, and had to keep rebattling them over and over again? I haven't had that problem since the good old days of R/S/E against Norman and Winona. I assumed that I was going to be overlevelled for most of the gyms, but up against Burgh, I was really disadvantaged. I'd gone from overlevelled pokemon against Roxie to underlevelled Servine, Lucario and Drilbur. But I didn't want to just go and get Growlithe or something (because he wasn't part of my planned team), so I had to really buckle under.

[sAv1Or)]

Did anyone have a lot of trouble with a specific Gym Leader, and had to keep rebattling them over and over again? I haven't had that problem since the good old days of R/S/E against Norman and Winona. I assumed that I was going to be overlevelled for most of the gyms, but up against Burgh, I was really disadvantaged. I'd gone from overlevelled pokemon against Roxie to underlevelled Servine, Lucario and Drilbur. But I didn't want to just go and get Growlithe or something (because he wasn't part of my planned team), so I had to really buckle under.

I play a lot of Type mismatches so I didn't really have trouble. I owe a lot of that success to Magnemite/Magneton/Magnezone as well as it was the MVP of many of the Gym Leaders.

I think in BW1/BW2 a big part of your success in the Gyms comes from your approach and I found a vast majority of the approaches to be very successful. The difficulty of the Gym was more in your hands.

[Excitable Boy]

I've found that I usually don't ever end up losing Gym matches any more, but I'd probably just attribute that to my better understanding of the game mechanics and foresight of what I'm going up against.

[sAv1Or)]

I've found that I usually don't ever end up losing Gym matches any more, but I'd probably just attribute that to my better understanding of the game mechanics and foresight of what I'm going up against.

I would agree with this. The difficulty of the Gym really depends on your knowledge of mechanics and tactics within the game. The only thing that's a challenge to me the 1st time I play a game is not knowing their line-up. I don't really like to research it either

[gamer_legend]

I would agree with this. The difficulty of the Gym really depends on your knowledge of mechanics and tactics within the game. The only thing that's a challenge to me the 1st time I play a game is not knowing their line-up. I don't really like to research it either

Funnily enough the first time trying challange mode I actually lost to Cheren and Roxie. Although to be fair that might have more to do with the fact I was raising 4 pokemon at once whereas in earlier games I usually have at most 2.

[sAv1Or)]

Funnily enough the first time trying challange mode I actually lost to Cheren and Roxie. Although to be fair that might have more to do with the fact I was raising 4 pokemon at once whereas in earlier games I usually have at most 2.

Ya. I prefer to develop 1 Pokemon that I know will perform well in the current Gym. I don't like clutter in my teams.

Although, I do enjoy the occasional "rotation" tactic and having a vast selection to choose from.

[gamer_legend]

Ya. I prefer to develop 1 Pokemon that I know will perform well in the current Gym. I don't like clutter in my teams.

Although, I do enjoy the occasional "rotation" tactic and having a vast selection to choose from.

Ah yes the rotation tactic or as I like to call it the Ash Ketchum reflex. In all honesty it's simply because most of the pokemon I wanted in my team could be caught really early at the Floccessy Ranch. I have to admit though it's pushed me alot harder than I thought (much like R/B/G/S) did back in the old days. It's good fun. =D

[sAv1Or)]

Ah yes the rotation tactic or as I like to call it the Ash Ketchum reflex. In all honesty it's simply because most of the pokemon I wanted in my team could be caught really early at the Floccessy Ranch. I have to admit though it's pushed me alot harder than I thought (much like R/B/G/S) did back in the old days. It's good fun. =D

Even then I have to keep it under control so that I know what I have and what needs to be trained

[GildedScizor]

I've found that I usually don't ever end up losing Gym matches any more, but I'd probably just attribute that to my better understanding of the game mechanics and foresight of what I'm going up against.

I'd agree with this. I also do a fair bit of grinding just to make sure I'm a bit overtrained, even though I try not to research their lineups, but in this case I was just caught out by a bit of bad luck against Burgh. My approach to Gym Battles has been pretty much the same since D/P which has always worked, but there's still a fair few mechanics even now in 5th gen I'm adjusting to.

[sAv1Or)]

I'd agree with this. I also do a fair bit of grinding just to make sure I'm a bit overtrained, even though I try not to research their lineups, but in this case I was just caught out by a bit of bad luck against Burgh. My approach to Gym Battles has been pretty much the same since D/P which has always worked, but there's still a fair few mechanics even now in 5th gen I'm adjusting to.

I like to put myself in somewhat mismatch situations to where I barely win. Magnemite was my favorite for this.

[Aurath8]

I like to put myself in somewhat mismatch situations to where I barely win. Magnemite was my favorite for this.

For me i try as hard as I can to underlevel my team. I do this by getting as many team members in the early game as possible, so that I'm at 4-5 by the second gym. GF don't expect you to get a full team of 6 until about halfway through, so it's much harder to maintain a large team like this. I still fight every trainer, but I almost never grind against wild pokemon. When i come to gym leaders I skim over their movesets, and then use type advantage and my other prior knowledge to defeat opponents.
It's great because the game is still challenging, I can use a full/near-full team for the longest amount of time and it can still be experienced to the fullest without any grinding. Only problem is I often can't go to large side-areas, particularly in the early game as it can inflate my levels too much and ruin the challenge.

[Bolt the Cat]

It's great because the game is still challenging, I can use a full/near-full team for the longest amount of time and it can still be experienced to the fullest without any grinding. Only problem is I often can't go to large side-areas, particularly in the early game as it can inflate my levels too much and ruin the challenge.

I wouldn't worry about it in this game, the gyms are so clustered together that even if you venture into the side areas, you'd still end up underleveled because the gym leaders are getting the same level bump across a shorter distance than usual.

[sAv1Or)]

I wouldn't worry about it in this game, the gyms are so clustered together that even if you venture into the side areas, you'd still end up underleveled because the gym leaders are getting the same level bump across a shorter distance than usual.

I still see that being an issue. Especially in between Castelia and Nimbasa

[Aurath8]

I still see that being an issue. Especially in between Castelia and Nimbasa

Definitely. You've got all of Castelia city, including the Sewers, Desert Resort, a bit of Relic Castle, Route 16 and Lostlorn Forest to potentially explore between those gyms. Although after that, besides Relic Passage and lolMistralton Cave, there isn't much until Undella Town.

[AmbipomMaster]

I had the best luck with Burgh. My crappy Marill took out all three of his Pokemon. It was a 2 minute battle. I was so proud

[TotalPotato]

I still see that being an issue. Especially in between Castelia and Nimbasa

It's not as much of an issue as you might expect. For example, I explored everywhere I could before fighting Skyla, and my Pokémon were all level 35, which is 2-4 levels below Skyla's Pokémon.

[Bolt the Cat]

Definitely. You've got all of Castelia city, including the Sewers, Desert Resort, a bit of Relic Castle, Route 16 and Lostlorn Forest to potentially explore between those gyms. Although after that, besides Relic Passage and lolMistralton Cave, there isn't much until Undella Town.

Here's what you do, you go to the Sewers before fighting Burgh, then do Rt. 4, Desert Resort, and Relic Castle, then fight Elesa, then do Rt. 16, Lostlorn Forest, and Rt. 5 before you go to Driftveil City. I did something along those lines and I still had a fair bit of grinding to do to match their levels, especially before Clay.

[Street Comedy]

Gym leaders were too easy.

[Excitable Boy]

I still had a fair bit of grinding to do to match their levels

it's

a boss fight

you're not really supposed to be on the same level

and they're entirely possible while underleveled

[Bolt the Cat]

it'sa boss fightyou're not really supposed to be on the same level

True, but you're not supposed to be 10 levels below them either, which happened several times to me throughout the game, so obviously there are some pacing issues in this game.

and they're entirely possible while underleveled

They are, amazingly I can still mop the floor with them when I'm down about 2-3 levels.