CP Is More Important Than IVs

Despite the in-game appraisal system in Pokemon Go telling us how 90% IV scores can "accomplish anything" or that low IV scores equate to my mon "may not be great in battle," there is not that big of a deal between 0 and 100% IVs, but it's been beaten into our heads so much that it's hard to ignore.

Yea, so much value is put on IV scores, when in fact the difference between 0 and 100% IV scores come out to an 8% difference added on top of a mon's total base stats. ONLY 8%. If you're pondering about a 50% vs 100% IV boost, that's a mere 4% difference.

Check out the numbers in this example I put together...

Pokémon

Max CP

CP Rank

Max HP

Attack

Defense

Stamina

Arcanine (base)

2,839

42

152

227

166

180

Arcanine 50% IV

2,839

42

152

234

173

187

Arcanine 100% IVs

2,839

42

152

242

181

195

- - -

In the above example, you can see how small of a difference there is between the 50% and 100% IV boosted attributes.

Thus, if you can't decide if you want to focus on a high CP mon with mediocre IVs or a mon with mediocre CP with high IVs, well, according to my local power player,

"I would focus on CP more, IV isn’t super significant. If you have a maxed CP level mon with 0% IV, it would be better than evolving a level 10 100% IV mon. The difference between a 100% and 0% Hariyama vs an Absol is only 8 seconds in a gym battle, so if you have a high CP 60%, that is better than a low CP 90% IV mon. "

In a classic move that can push players spend just a bit more money, Niantic seems to have designed the game to push players to chase the higher IV boosted Pokemon, and if you had not noticed, most of the well-ranked or IV boosted mons are always around the 50-70% or less mark on the CP arc while higher CP/level monsters you catch have miserable IVs. That is, if you believe the IV push.

Plus move-sets seem to be more of a factor than other factors, depending on who you talk to, or what Raid Boss you're up against. Crap move-sets versus best move-sets, best move-sets can deliver 35% more damage per second than the worse ones. So something to ponder, on top of everything else.


So if you were wondering, focus on the CP, or mon level, arc first. IVs are just bonus, while CP combined with move-sets seem to be the better stats to focus on.