How to Make a Balanced Team in Pokémon Platinum
Choose your starter wisely., Understand the effectiveness or some types against others., Know the informal classes of each Pokémon., Understand how a Pokémon's stats affect its effectiveness., Level up your team to at least level 50.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Choose your starter wisely.
The first Pokémon you get in the game will, in many ways, determine how the rest of your team develops.
You have three options to begin, the water-based Piplup, the fire-based Chimchar, and the grass-based Turtwig.
Piplup grows into a water/steel hybrid Pokémon, and can learn ice moves as well.
Because it is both water and steel, he has very few weaknesses and can learn a variety of useful moves, making his evolved form very powerful.
Often seen as the best possible starter.Turtwig is slow, but has great attack and defense and functions well against almost every gym leader in the game.
He is a good pick for entry-level players.Chimchar becomes a fire-fighting hybrid, which makes him useful in a lot of scenarios and useful in almost every gym.
Platinum has less fire Pokémon than other games, so Chimchar is a good choice if you want to save the hassle of looking for other fire Pokémon. -
Step 2: Understand the effectiveness or some types against others.
The main concern when building a team is making sure you are not weak to any one type of Pokémon.
That is because the game is built on a complex "rock-paper-scissors" system where one type of Pokémon will get an advantage over another based on type.
For example, Fire attacks are effective against Grass Pokémon, and their moves do twice as much damage.
The inverse is also true, as a Grass attack will only do half its normal damage to a fire Pokémon.
Attacks of the same type will only do half damage as well in most scenarios (Flying attacks against flying types do not have any extra effectiveness.) A complete table of effectiveness can be found on the Pokémon Database.
A status move will have the same effect no matter what type it is used on.
Most effectiveness is based on logic
-- Flying beats Bug (because birds eat bugs), Water beats Fire, Steel beats Rock, etc.
A Fire-type Pokémon who uses a Normal-type move, like Tackle, will not be effective against Grass-type Pokémon.
It will do normal damage as Normal-type moves aren't super effective against Grass types in most scenarios.
However, if a Pokémon has an ability like 'Pixilate' which turns certain typed moves to another type, this may be the case.
Some moves will do no damage whatsoever to the right type.
For example, a Ground attack will never hurt a Flying Pokémon., Longtime players have developed a lingo around certain Pokémon that makes it easier to think about building teams.
These terms don't refer to a type of Pokémon, like Fire or Ghost, but rather the function of the Pokémon.
Sweeper:
The most common Pokémon in your team, sweepers are powerful offensive Pokémon used for dealing damage and taking out the enemy.
You will likely have 3-4 in your team of 6, and some players want 5-6.
Try Alakazam, a Legendary Pokémon, Metagross, Luxray, Scizor.
Wall These Pokémon have high HP (health points) and defense.
They can survive a lot of damage while you use items to heal up the rest of your team, making them invaluable for staying in the fight.
Sometimes called "Tanks." Try Shuckle, Steelix, Bastiodon, Torterra, Rhyhorn, Aggron or Blissey.
Support:
These Pokémon use a variety of stat-boosting (for themselves) or stat-depleting (for your enemy) moves to weaken the opposing team.
For stat boosts, they need to know the move "Baton Pass," which gives the next Pokémon you sub in the same stat boosts that you just used.Try Raichu, Sandslash or Umbreon HM 'Slave':
Generally not used for fighting, HM Slaves are sometimes used for travel, as they can learn a variety of moves like Surf, Fly, Strength, etc. that are essential for moving the game along.
They are usually subbed in and out when needed, not used for battles.
Try Linoone, Charizard or Bibarel.
Catcher:
This Pokémon, usually not used in battles, is used to catch new Pokémon in the wild.
They usually have a mixture of powerful moves, some neutral, weak moves, and sometimes Sleep or Paralyze to make a Pokémon easier to catch.
They almost always know the move False Swipe.
Try a Scyther, Farfetch'd, Raticate or Gallade., Different attacks do different damage based on your stats, and knowing how the stats work will help you craft an effective team.
For example, if you have a Sweeper who uses mostly Special Attacks, like Luxray, you want to make sure it has a high Special Attack.
If you are fighting a trainer with lots of Physical Attacks, like a rock gym, sub in a Pokémon with a high defense stat, like Shuckle.
Attack:
Affects the power of a physical attack such as Scratch or Tackle.
Special Attack:
Refers to mental or indirect attacks, like beam attack or environmental attacks.
All non-physical attacking moves utilize the Special Attack stat.
Defense:
Determines the amount of damage taken by a physical attack.
Special Defense:
Determines the amount of damage taken by special attacks.
Speed:
Determines who attacks first.
Speed stats are compared between the two fighting Pokémon and the fastest Pokémon attacks first.
In a tie, it is chosen randomly., You will need a team with all the Pokémon around this level in order to compete against the best trainers in the game, specifically the final bosses, the Elite
4.
Leveling up increases your stats, teaches your Pokémon new moves, and gives you the chance to evolve your Pokémon into stronger forms. -
Step 3: Know the informal classes of each Pokémon.
-
Step 4: Understand how a Pokémon's stats affect its effectiveness.
-
Step 5: Level up your team to at least level 50.
Detailed Guide
The first Pokémon you get in the game will, in many ways, determine how the rest of your team develops.
You have three options to begin, the water-based Piplup, the fire-based Chimchar, and the grass-based Turtwig.
Piplup grows into a water/steel hybrid Pokémon, and can learn ice moves as well.
Because it is both water and steel, he has very few weaknesses and can learn a variety of useful moves, making his evolved form very powerful.
Often seen as the best possible starter.Turtwig is slow, but has great attack and defense and functions well against almost every gym leader in the game.
He is a good pick for entry-level players.Chimchar becomes a fire-fighting hybrid, which makes him useful in a lot of scenarios and useful in almost every gym.
Platinum has less fire Pokémon than other games, so Chimchar is a good choice if you want to save the hassle of looking for other fire Pokémon.
The main concern when building a team is making sure you are not weak to any one type of Pokémon.
That is because the game is built on a complex "rock-paper-scissors" system where one type of Pokémon will get an advantage over another based on type.
For example, Fire attacks are effective against Grass Pokémon, and their moves do twice as much damage.
The inverse is also true, as a Grass attack will only do half its normal damage to a fire Pokémon.
Attacks of the same type will only do half damage as well in most scenarios (Flying attacks against flying types do not have any extra effectiveness.) A complete table of effectiveness can be found on the Pokémon Database.
A status move will have the same effect no matter what type it is used on.
Most effectiveness is based on logic
-- Flying beats Bug (because birds eat bugs), Water beats Fire, Steel beats Rock, etc.
A Fire-type Pokémon who uses a Normal-type move, like Tackle, will not be effective against Grass-type Pokémon.
It will do normal damage as Normal-type moves aren't super effective against Grass types in most scenarios.
However, if a Pokémon has an ability like 'Pixilate' which turns certain typed moves to another type, this may be the case.
Some moves will do no damage whatsoever to the right type.
For example, a Ground attack will never hurt a Flying Pokémon., Longtime players have developed a lingo around certain Pokémon that makes it easier to think about building teams.
These terms don't refer to a type of Pokémon, like Fire or Ghost, but rather the function of the Pokémon.
Sweeper:
The most common Pokémon in your team, sweepers are powerful offensive Pokémon used for dealing damage and taking out the enemy.
You will likely have 3-4 in your team of 6, and some players want 5-6.
Try Alakazam, a Legendary Pokémon, Metagross, Luxray, Scizor.
Wall These Pokémon have high HP (health points) and defense.
They can survive a lot of damage while you use items to heal up the rest of your team, making them invaluable for staying in the fight.
Sometimes called "Tanks." Try Shuckle, Steelix, Bastiodon, Torterra, Rhyhorn, Aggron or Blissey.
Support:
These Pokémon use a variety of stat-boosting (for themselves) or stat-depleting (for your enemy) moves to weaken the opposing team.
For stat boosts, they need to know the move "Baton Pass," which gives the next Pokémon you sub in the same stat boosts that you just used.Try Raichu, Sandslash or Umbreon HM 'Slave':
Generally not used for fighting, HM Slaves are sometimes used for travel, as they can learn a variety of moves like Surf, Fly, Strength, etc. that are essential for moving the game along.
They are usually subbed in and out when needed, not used for battles.
Try Linoone, Charizard or Bibarel.
Catcher:
This Pokémon, usually not used in battles, is used to catch new Pokémon in the wild.
They usually have a mixture of powerful moves, some neutral, weak moves, and sometimes Sleep or Paralyze to make a Pokémon easier to catch.
They almost always know the move False Swipe.
Try a Scyther, Farfetch'd, Raticate or Gallade., Different attacks do different damage based on your stats, and knowing how the stats work will help you craft an effective team.
For example, if you have a Sweeper who uses mostly Special Attacks, like Luxray, you want to make sure it has a high Special Attack.
If you are fighting a trainer with lots of Physical Attacks, like a rock gym, sub in a Pokémon with a high defense stat, like Shuckle.
Attack:
Affects the power of a physical attack such as Scratch or Tackle.
Special Attack:
Refers to mental or indirect attacks, like beam attack or environmental attacks.
All non-physical attacking moves utilize the Special Attack stat.
Defense:
Determines the amount of damage taken by a physical attack.
Special Defense:
Determines the amount of damage taken by special attacks.
Speed:
Determines who attacks first.
Speed stats are compared between the two fighting Pokémon and the fastest Pokémon attacks first.
In a tie, it is chosen randomly., You will need a team with all the Pokémon around this level in order to compete against the best trainers in the game, specifically the final bosses, the Elite
4.
Leveling up increases your stats, teaches your Pokémon new moves, and gives you the chance to evolve your Pokémon into stronger forms.
About the Author
Amanda Flores
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