When I play through a Pokémon game, I'm always a bit of a perfectionist.
There's no denying that.
I've played every single Pokémon game since the original Pokémon Red on the Game Boy
but it was when I got to Pokémon Pearl that things changed.
That's when I got into breeding, EV training and battling my Pokémon competitively.
It made me look at the games through a different perspective - and I find myself doing it again
when I play through Shining Pearl.
My Pokémon always have to be the best that they could be and always ready for a battle.
Back in the day, this guy had an all-star team with a very high win rate and that was
because of my grind and strategy so naturally, I was curious how IV's and EV's worked in
Pokémon Legends Arceus.
To my surprise, IV's and EV's as we know them are gone.
Completely gone.
Legends Arceus completely changed the IV/EV system for a new one called Effort Levels.
It's streamlined, easier to work with and I actually like it.
When you look at how EV's are handled, it better explains why wild Pokémon and Pokémon
battles are pretty tough in this game.
I've never had a starter faint as many times as my poor Cyndaquil did when I first started
out.
Even low level Pokémon can do some serious damage to higher level Pokémon.
It's a total 180 from the easier Pokémon games that came before it.
Legends Arceus requires you to do a bit of grindingto progress through the game and I
love every second of it.
This new Effort Level system makes the game challenging.
It's pretty wild when you see what would be a lame Bidoof do some serious damage to your
team.
It definitely hits your pride.
So what are these Effort Levels in Pokémon Legends Arceus and how do they work?
If you've played the game, you've probably noticed those little circles with numbers
when you view your Pokémon stats.
Those are their Effort Levels.
These go from 0 to 10 and they are relatively easy to level up.
Also worth noting Is that there is no breeding, using vitamins or battling a certain amount
of a specific Pokémon to contribute to EV's here.
All you seemingly have to do, is catch a wild Pokémon with a nature that you want and raise
those Effort Levels as much as possible.
For example, Timid is a perfect nature for Electrode so I caught tons of Voltorb until
I got the nature I was looking for.
Then, I nearly maxed it out on it's Effort Levels and now it has well over 300 speed
before it's even level 50.
Crazy stuff!
Leveling up a Pokémon's Effort Levels is rather simple here.
Are you're going to have to use are Grit items.
Grit items are a new addition to Pokémon Legends Arceus.
These new Grit items consist of Grit Dust, Grit Gravel, Grit Pebble and Grit Rock.
They basically work in that order too.
Grit Dust raises a Pokémon's effort value on a stat up to 3, Grit Gravel up to level
5, Grit Pebbles to level 8 and finally, you'll need a Grit Rock to hit that coveted level
10 on a stat.
The most grinding you're going to have to do to raise up a Pokémon's Effort Levels
in Legends Arceus is to get a hold of those Grit items.
You'll no doubt find some along your adventure since they are drop items from Pokémon and
such but there's an easy way to stock up on them relatively quickly.
The easiest way to get ahold of these Grit items is to catch tons of Pokémon and release
them from your pasture.
Basically you get rewarded for working towards completing your Pokédex with some Grit.
It's pretty sweet.
I haven't finished the game yet as of this video but so far I've level up most of my
teams Effort Levels.
The standout is my Timid Hisuian Electrode, who is just an absolute speed demon on the
field.
Remember though before you do any of this work, be sure to grind a bit to ensure the
Pokémon you're leveling up has the correct nature for it's breed like
Electrode is Timid.
Sneasel is Jolly and that's just going to make the speed stat go as high as it can go.
What's interesting about this game though is that even if they don't have the correct
nature, they are still going to be an absolute beast if you max out those effort levels.
So really you can't go wrong but at the end of the day is preferable that you get that
nature and just max out their stats as much as possible.
Anywho, that’s about it for this video!
I hope you enjoyed it and found out helpful.
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Until the next one, I will catch you guys later.
Peace!