"The simplest way to re-balance Suicune"

#PokemonGO: TL;DR – If we re-balance Bubble Beam, Niantic can target a buff at Suicune without arbitrarily (randomly) buffing its base stats, and this can be implemented immediately. Hopefully some of what I say isn't too spicy for the Road.WhyBefore I explain how Suicune can be improved in a way that makes sense, I first want to justify why it deserves such improvement, and this is largely for readers who’s first introduction to Pokemon was made through GO. Simply put, Suicune is a good Pokemon in the main series; it is better than Vaporeon. Suicune’s base 100 HP, Base 115 Defense, Base 115 Special Defense give it excellent bulk that allow it to take hits from pretty much anything. If you don’t know, Vaporeon doesn’t have such well-rounded stats. It has a glaringly weak base 60 Defense, which is compensated by its base 110 Special Defense via GO’s specialization formula. Base stat totals (BSTs) aren’t everything, but it feels a little (a lot) wrong that Vaporeon’s CP maxes so greatly above Suicune’s, given that Suicune is a Legendary with a 580 BST, and Vaporeon has just a 525 BST. In Gen II, Suicune’s bulk basically allowed it to switch in freely without fearing serious damage. Suicune could run various support moves; some examples being Roar, which forces switches, and Leer, which gives your opponent a Defense drop. At this point, Suicune is a versatile Pokemon, with considerable mixed walling capabilities, and then we get Gen III... Gen III added Calm Mind to the game. Calm Mind raises your Special Attack and Special Defense. Suicune of course has the bulk and recovery options to survive using a turn to set up with Calm Mind, which makes it even bulkier, and with just a few uses can allow it to sweep your opponent’s entire team. Vaporeon did gain some useful support options like Wish (allows you to recover HP on your next turn), and Baton Pass (allows you to pass off stat changes to a mon you switch in). But in much the same way that Vaporeon outclasses Suicune in GO, Vaporeon was overshadowed by Suicune in the main series. Thus, Suicune does not deserve to dwell in Vaporeon's shadow. Furthermore, it is bad game design that a Legendary Pokemon should so pale in comparison to a common Pokemon (and yes Legendary doesn’t necessarily mean strong, but Suicune is supposed to be strong, and certainly shouldn’t be outclassed by an Eeveelution). Suicune’s unfortunate state kills the hype of its current host region for an entire month. Instead of being something to look forward to, it becomes a raid you pass the time with until something better rotates to your continent. HowSo, let’s all agree that Suicune should be better. How can we manage this in a balanced way that makes sense? And more importantly, how can we do this without a major overhaul to the battling mechanics, or without a stat split? This is going to sound a little weird, but this is the cleanest way for Niantic to buff Suicune easily without resorting to more burdensome changes: Bubble Beam is a Water type move that is only given (in GO) to weak, mostly 1st stage, Water types. Which in all honesty, it is kind of an insult that this move finds its way into Suicune’s movepool. That, in conjunction with the lack of a quality Fast move, leaves Suicune doubly screwed over. To rectify this, and through a very rigorous mathematical approach, I formulated that the base power of Bubble Beam, which is currently 45, should be doubled to 90, which is proportional to the number of times Niantic gave Suicune the middle finger. I know this sounds strange, but the math checks out, as I’m using the same internal Niantic-logic that determined a 100 base power move like Iron Tail should be a quick moveBubble Beam Currently: 45 Base Power, 1.9s duration, 33 Energy CostBubble Beam Proposed: 90 Base Power, 1.9s duration, 33 Energy Cost As there literally isn’t a single good Pokemon that learns Bubble Beam, nothing is accidentally buffed way out of proportion in doing this. Though Bubble/Bubble Beam Krabby amusingly becomes the highest DPS Water type, it is far too frail to really make use of this DPS. Pokemon Ranked By Weave DPS:PokemonMovesetCycle DPS%GengarShadow Claw/ Shadow Ball100.00%AlakazamConfusion/ Future Sight95.15%DragoniteDragon Tail/ Outrage94.65%MoltresFire Spin/ Overheat94.61%FlareonFire Spin/ Overheat92.49%EspeonConfusion/ Future Sight91.96%MachampCounter/ Dynamic Punch89.48%EnteiFire Spin/ Overheat89.38%HaunterLick/ Shadow Ball87.69%ExeggutorConfusion/ Solar Beam87.24%EspeonZen Headbutt/ Future Sight87.15%KrabbyBubble/ Bubble Beam86.27%RaikouThunder Shock/ Wild Charge86.23%TyranitarBite/ Stone Edge85.67%UrsaringCounter/ Hyper Beam84.52%HeracrossCounter/ Close Combat84.39%Ho-OhSteel Wing/ Fire Blast83.94%SuicuneExtrasensory/ Bubble Beam80.89% I decided not to include Mewtwo as I thought that would rub some unnecessary salt in the wounds of many. Anyway, Suicune’s DPS with Extrasensory/Hydro Pump is quite bad, hovering at about 59.26% of Shadow Claw/Shadow Ball Gengar’s DPS, and keeps company with the likes of Peck/Dark Pulse Murkrow. If we buff Bubble Beam, nothing else important is buffed, and Suicune doesn’t become crazy powerful at 80.89% of Gengar’s DPS. The practical effect of the DPS increase is a significant buff to Suicune’s Total Damage Output, or TDO, which is the amount of damage it can be expected to deal before fainting. Despite being bulkier than Vaporeon in GO, Suicune’s middling DPS leaves it outclassed in this crucial stat, with Extrasensory/Hydro Pump Suicune sitting at 47.12% of Blissey’s TDO: Pokemon Ranked By Offensive TDO:PokemonMovesetTDO%BlisseyPound/ Hyper Beam100.00%Ho-OhSteel Wing/ Fire Blast87.09%LugiaExtrasensory/ Future Sight74.51%SnorlaxLick/ Hyper Beam70.90%SuicuneExtrasensory/ Bubble Beam64.33%EnteiFire Spin/ Overheat63.29%TyranitarBite/ Stone Edge62.39%DragoniteDragon Tail/ Outrage58.73%VaporeonWater Gun/ Hydro Pump57.60% Now I know some of you out there are asking right now, “b-b-but but what about Hidden Power Wahterr?” Hidden Power isn’t a very good move offensively; for neutral damage, HP Water/Bubble Beam sees a 1.4% DPS drop from Extrasensory/Bubble Beam. Obviously when dealing SE damage, HP Water will be better than neutral Psychic type damage, but wow Hidden Power sucks. Though this does add an extra layer of challenge in acquiring a Suicune with HP Water from a raid, as this will be its best performing moveset when Water type damage is SE. Parting ThoughtsChanging Bubble Beam's base power only requires updating the value in the Game Master. This is a simple update that could completely transform Suicune's viability overnight, and it is fitting because Suicune's defensive stats actually enabled it to be a serious offensive threat (when paired with Calm Mind) in the main series. In GO, Suicune already has the base stats to dominate. All it needs is a quality moveset with the DPS to allow it to capitalize on its bulk. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2fXt79n