"Candy and dust cost of getting a good raid battler"

#PokemonGO: tl;dr Data to make a decision about dust/candy cost for raid attackers - is short term gain or long term gain more importantI have seen this question being asked a few times - is it better to evolve a low level high IV raid battler or a low IV high level pokemon. There is no right answer as it depends how much you value candy vs dust vs TM and if you want short term or long term optimization. I represent some data that might allow you to do a decision. This guide assumes you are at least level 30.PokemonInitial costbase value and additional costRaid Pokemon>1 Raid passlevel 20, 50% chance of IV84%+, 16% chance of 15 attackEgg Pokemonkm walkedstats as Raid pokemon, +49 /+123 candy to evolveWild catchnormal playrange level 1-30, +0/+49/+99/+123 candy depending on what you catchIn additon you need 0.5 Fast TM's and 1 1/3 charge TM. Where do I get these numbers from? There are 2 quick moves. You have a 50% chance to get the right quick move straight away. This leave 1 x 0.5 = 0.5 Fast TM to correct the wrong move.For the charge move the chance is 1/3 to get the right move. You then have a 50% chance to get the charge move you want. This leave (1 + 0.5 + 0.25 + 0.125 + ...) x 2/3 = 1 1/3 Charge TM needed on average to get the charge move you want.The value is 1 Fast TM and 2 Charge TM if you start with a Pokemon with the wrong moves. You can save TMs if you evolve multiples and only pick the ones you want or do multiple raids etc. Off course these are average numbers - a lot of us have seen Trainer Tips using 7 charge TMs before getting FutureSight.This leaves candy and dust cost. The following table lists the starting level and the amount of dust/candy needed to level up to level 30 and to level up to level 39.LevelCandy to level 30Dust to level 30Candy to level 39Dust to level 39112212000027427000021201196002722696003118119200270269200411611840026826840051141176002662676006112116400264266400711011520026226520081081136002602636009106112000258262000101041100002562600001110210800025425800012981054002502554001394102800246252800149099600242249600158696400238246400168292600234242600177888800230238800187484400226234400197080000222230000206675000218225000216270000214220000225664000208214000235058000202208000244451000196201000253844000190194000263236000184186000272428000176178000281619000168169000298100001601600003000152150000So if you go all the way to level 39 then it isn't that much more expensive to start from level 1 then to start from level 20. If all you want is to get to level 30 then the saving is quite decent if you start at level 28/29 compared to a level 20.In the end it is a decision about short term vs long term. Personally I wouldn't invest in any arracker above level 30 if he has not very high IV stats. The cut off points for damage reported by others might help you to further optimize your decision. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2u0Pv4h