"FAQ on IVs [Info Megathread]"

#PokemonGO: Hello Go-phers! There has been a lot of post lately on IVs sparking a lot of discussion. So, I thought we could have a place where people can ask question and get them answered by fellow redditors. As time goes on, I will post more FAQ's.What does the term IV mean? Pokemon have 3 stats: Stamina, Attack, Defense. Each type of pokemon has different base values for these. You can look these up in charts because they never change. For example, all Vaporeons have base stats of: 260 STA, 186 ATK, 168 DEF. However, each Pokemon is also randomly assigned a 0-15 bonus to each of them. These bonuses are called IV's (i.e. Individual Values, because they are values specific to each individual). They represent genetic variance, in that some pokemon are just genetically superior to others. A pokemon with a +15 bonus to all 3 stats (15/15/15) is considered 100% perfect. Pokemon with higher stats will have higher CP (combat points, the number above their head in the game). credits /u/Conan-The-LibrarianWhat statistics are used to calculate IVs? Not all of the effects of IVs are things that can be measured, but there are three things you can measure to help calculate IVs. Those are CP, hp and dust cost to upgrade. Dust cost is only related to level, but since level is part of the formula for CP and hp, knowing the dust cost gives you a narrower range of values for the inputs of those numbers. The one other thing that goes into the calculation of IVs is whether or not you've ever powered up that Pokemon before. That's just because Wild pokemon are always an odd level, so if you haven't powered them up before it can narrow down the possible sets of IVs significantly. credits /u/LastSasquatchWhy should I care about IV? What should I prioritze as an optimal order for a pokemon? People want to know what their pokemons' IVs are because they don't want to waste candy and stardust powering up pokemon with low IVs (and thus stats). They will wait until they find a really good one, and then spend resources powering it up. credits /u/Conan-The-Librarian Optimal order is the Pokemon itself, then move-set, then IV, then CP. Move-set has the biggest impact upon DPS, and can't be changed; IV has a less impact on DPS/survivability, and can't be changed; CP can be leveled up. credits /u/conspire_pokemon_goIs there anyway to see IVs ingame? Is it related to pokemon weight or height? The game does not show you any of these numbers, so people use spreadsheets to estimate what their pokemons' IVs are using equations. More ambitious players will set up proxies to intercept server data in order to know exactly what their pokemons' IVs are. credits /u/Conan-The-Librarian No, weight & height in this game does not affect any statistics. It's purely just an extra feature added to the game.Does IV change through evolutions? No. But, you do want to keep in mind about the movesets as they change randomly through evoltions. DPS is an important factor in this game and can be found here: http://ift.tt/29QxivF the IV calculator, what do the multiple lines and percentages mean exactly? Each line in the output is one possible IV set that would create the values you entered. The percentage after each line of output is what you get when you add all the IVs in that line and divide by 45 (15+15+15). It's a quick way of seeing how good the Pokemon is, because it's hard to tell at a glance if a 10/10/10 Pokemon is better than a 12/12/7 Pokemon unless you use percentages. Above the lines of output are the average percentage, and also the range of percentages from the minimum in that list to the maximum in that list, so you can compare that Pokemon quickly with others of the same type to see which one you are most likely to want to evolve without having to power up each one a couple times to narrow down their IVs to the exact values. credits /u/LastSasquatchThe IV calculator gives me a big range in percentage? How do I narrow it down? You can narrow it down by levelling up your pokemon once, then entering in the new values and hitting compare. There are a lot of combinations of IVs that can produce some sets of CP and HP at a given level, but the subset of these which also produce the new values for CP and HP at the next level is generally going to be much smaller. The only way to narrow down IVs without using dust and candy is to read data being sent between the client and the server. A guide for that was posted here. http://ift.tt/29OVH3W credits /u/LastSasquatchWhere can I find an IV calculator via android? http://ift.tt/29Qxmvq credits /u/dancmcWhere can I find an IV calculator via spreadsheet? http://ift.tt/2a9k4gH credits /u/aggixxWhere can I find an IV calculator via web app?http://ift.tt/29S7COk via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/29Yyw6X