"Fixing your Machamp Solo-Squad [Graph Attack]"

#PokemonGO: Link to albumA week ago I posted a solo guide for the new tier 3 raid bosses. At that time, trainers asked if I could post guides for Machamp, Gengar, and Alakazam. Since I already have data collected on Machamp for my next predictive analysis and since Machamp is much more useful for gyming and raiding, I decided to make a more focused guide on this solo.This guide will mostly help you identify deficiencies in your team and suggest good Pokemon for you to use. If you want to know the performance of your own specific Pokemon, I suggest following this video guide on how to solo any solo-able raid boss. If you want more information on soloing Machamp, GamePress has an excellent guide as well.BreakpointsAll graphs use Pokemon at level 39. You'll notice that there are certain levels highlighted. These represent levels where either a Pokemon with a 15 attack IV deals 1 more damage with their quick move or where a Pokemon with a 15 defense IV takes one less damage from the raid bosses quick move. Since a Machamp raid is as much a fight for survival as it is against the clock, both types are included.This tool is very useful for finding both offensive and defense breakpoints.This tool doesn’t use google sheets, but only includes offensive breakpointsDynamic Punch/Close Combat Machamp [Graph]Helpful Mons/Breakpoints31.5+ Lugia (Extrasensory)32.5+ Espeon (Confusion)37.5+ Dragonite (Dragon Tail)Despite only being the 2nd hardest charge move, I decided to start out with Dynamic Punch since the Pokemon used here will also be useful against Close Combat. Looking at the graph, the first thing that really stands out is how objectively superior a level 31.5+ Lugia with Extrasensory is to basically everything. While its DPS isn’t high, its TDO suggests it will do over a third of the damage to the raid boss before fainting. Given that nearly all other Machamp counters appear to have trouble with their survivability, using just one Lugia will likely make the difference in raids.If you don’t have Lugia or don’t want to spend the rare candy to power one up, this solo is still perfectly achievable. A team of level 32.5+ Confusion + Future Sight Espeons and/or high level Psychic and Hurricane Exeggutors and Dragonites should be able to achieve this without dodging. Espeon is preferred over Alakazam because while they have very similar DPS, Alakazam just doesn’t cut it for survivability, even at level 39.Heavy Slam Machamp [Graph]Helpful Mons/Breakpoints31.5+ Lugia (Extrasensory)26+ Lugia (Extrasensory)32.5+ Espeon (Confusion)33.5+ Espeon (Confusion)37.5+ Dragonite (Dragon Tail)33.5+ MoltresComparing this graph to the last one, the biggest change is Lugia doesn’t carry as well (but still carries) and Espeon becomes less reliable. This transition in performance for Espeon is where I see a lot of players running into trouble on their Heavy Slam solos. For non-Lugia users, high level Hurricane Dragonites, Raikous, and/or Fire-type Legendaries may make the difference.The inclusion of Raikou, Moltres, and Entei is the main reason why I used separate graphs. Their use can be important in Heavy Slam raids, but they’re far less useful in Dynamic Punch ones (and Close Combat by extension).Counter vs Bullet PunchIn general, Counter is the more challenging quick move. Despite Psychic-types resisting it, it still often deals 1 more damage to them compared to Bullet Punch. For this reason, I use Counter in all my graphs, not Bullet Punch as I want trainers prepared for the more difficult movesets so they can moe reliably solo Machamp.Weird EspeonYou may notice that there are some weird, counter-intuitive changes in Espeon’s performance based on its level. The best way to explain it is that in raids, your damage influences the raid bosses charge move usage. Since these graphs use 2 bar charge moves, it’s likely that at certain attack breakpoints you end up charging the raid boss’s charge move so quickly that you’re more likely to faint before getting X amount of charge move damage off. Does this suggest that an Espeon at a lower level will outperform one of a higher level? Not exactly. When Machamp decides to launch its charge move will have a larger effect on your performance than purposefully cutting your DPS.This topic is explored upon a bit more in my GamePress article on Charge MovesEspeon Movesets [Graph]Since Espeon’s moveset is often debated, I decided to make a graph displaying their difference in DPS. The manila lines represent where one moveset’s highest point meets with Confusion+Future Sights. Going off of this graph, it appears that using a TM to get Confusion will have the largest effect on your performance. Your next best intervention would be to TM any Psybeams. If you get Futuresight, then heck yea. If you get Psychic and you’re on a TM budget, it will be better than Psybeam on average. As always, powering up 1 Lugia to level 31.5+ would be the greatest intervention of all.Note on “dodgeability”: Confusion has a cooldown of 1.6 seconds, Zen Headbutt 1.1. Raid Boss attacks cycle every 1.5-2.5 seconds. Charge moves have a delay before their damage window, usually ~1 second. Basically, "Weaving" Confusion will likely give you better DPS and Dodging where weaving Zen Headbutt with either result in extremely low DPS or more flubbed dodges. On top of this, Dynamic Punch and Heavy Slam are both stupid hard to dodge in the first place.I won’t stop you from using Zen Headbutt on the grounds that it has better “Dodgeability” with its shorter cooldown and if you rely on dodging to solo Machamp raids that’s fine. I’m merely highlighting that Confusion will often be superior. Overall, Zen Headbutt is a very clunky move. “Dodgability” and high DPS is achieved more optimally with Extrasensory, which our special cat unfortunately does not have.Where’s Gengar??Gengar is only useful against double Fighting Machamp movesets and even there it’s more of a niche option than something that makes the raid. Having a triple resistance to Fighting-type damage is neat and all, but Super Effective damage with a single resistance and more HP is even cooler. If you’re struggling to solo Machamp, try replacing this spikey boi for another Espeon or a level 31.5+ Lugia may make the difference.ClosingI hope this guide helps players who are struggling to solo Machamp or are hesitant to try soloing Machamp because they are unsure. The two biggest takeaways from this guide is a) A level 31.5+ Lugia will make the raid more than anything else and b) Espeon is the most easily obtained helpful option, even at lower levels. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2yNRIkR