Tuesday Tips: Gym Battles

[inkstone]

So, after playing this game for a while, you've probably noticed that it doesn't come with complete instructions. In fact, it seems like it was pretty much designed for you to figure things out on your own or by talking to other people. (Hence why this community was created!)

One of the things that keeps coming up in the free chats are gym battles. And yes, this is definitely one area where some instructions probably would have been useful. Since that's clearly not the case, I thought it'd be helpful to share tips & advice re: gym battles here!

The main thing to know about gym battles in PokeGo is that they're not turn-based. Once you see "Go!" on the screen, start hitting right away. Last pokémon standing wins.

The other thing to remember is don't be intimidated! With practice, persistence, and patience, you can still knock down that high level gym with strong defenders. Promise!

• Learn how to dodge! It'll take some practice to get the timing down but there is always an indicator when the defender is going to attack. Different people visually process the marker in different ways, but the two major ways are either a flash on the screen or anime action lines around the defender. (I personally see the latter.) When you see the indicator, you have a small window of time in which you can swipe to dodge.


• In general, stick with the basic attack. Using the charge attack will leave you vulnerable for a few seconds after its use.


• That said, you can use this vulnerability against the defender. If you successfully dodge their charge attack, you can use your charge attack (if your bar is full) against them.


• If your pokémon is about to faint, use your charge attack then.


• If the defender seems like it should be fainting but just doesn't seem to want to, you'll have to use your charge attack to knock them out.


• Learn the combat strengths and weaknesses of the various pokémon. If your brain can handle it, there are many charts online that you can memorize. For those of us who don't have this capability (it's okay if you don't; I don't!), I think of it in terms of elements. Water is strong against fire. Fire burns grass. Electricity does bad things to water. And so forth. Once you have these traits down, combined with dodging ability, you'll be able to take down pokémon several hundred CP stronger than yours!

What other tips and advice do you have?