So this was discussed on the Discord for a bit. This is about the gems & crystals that rely on weather that is inconsistent compared to the other weather conditions. Let’s compare the weather types & their rocks that are used for gems & crystals real quick.
- Weather Conditions that have moves & abilities to set them.
The four standard ones: Rain, Sun, Sand, & Hail. The Rocks that these weather conditions use need clear weather in order to work.
- Weather Conditions that require rocks to be used
Cloudy, Foggy, & Clear. The difference between these is that clear rock works no matter the weather condition. Cloudy & Foggy require the weather to be clear.
Now, the main reason why I’m making this post is to bring to attention just how terrible Cloudy & Foggy are. Let me throw a scenario real quick.
You’re in a dungeon w/ a Ninetales & you have the Fire Gem. Since you have Drought the sun activates upon entering the floor. Halfway through the floor a Pelipper spawns & makes it rain. While that would be a problem your Ninetales know’s Sunny Day, so you keep your weather. Then you proceed to the next floor & there is a Altaria with Cloud Nine. Again this would be a problem but you’re carrying a Heat Rock as well. So everything works out for you. There are a lot of Pokemon that can learn weather setting moves & a small selection of those who have weather setting abilities.
Now pretend you were relying on a Foggy Rock, you’re forced to run a Cloud Niner (Mind you, there are no Cloud Nine Pokemon who rely on Foggy weather). Then half way through the dungeon, a Pelipper spawns. And that’s just it. No more weather for you. Nothing you can do about it. You’re just out of luck. Compared to Clear Rock where it works under any weather condition or the four main conditions where you have moves that can set them, this is a huge slap in the face. (This also applies to Cloudy weather dependent mons as well)
Personally, I think that the gems/crystals that depend on Foggy/Cloudy should be changed to match the reliability of the other weather conditions. These are my proposed changes.
- Electric Gem/Crystal (Cloudy)
I’m not even going to pretend that isn’t coming from my own personal bias, however I feel like the Electric Items should be changed to work with the Rainy weather condition. Not only does it make sense since Thunderstorms always bring rain. But it also just makes sense with the game. Electric types already benefit from Rain through the move Thunder, so why not make them synergize with the weather condition more? Not only this, but the Cloudy Weather condition reduces the power of Electric type moves (granted, yes the Cloudy Rock doesn’t reduce their power but it is still silly) This also will give the Rain weather condition another type to reliably use. Only one type of crystal/gems can utilize it and that’s the Water-type. Compared to Sun which has 3 types which can utilize it, it’s pretty lack luster. More teams can be built around Rain if this change was made.
I know that some may be against changing what Weather coniditon it relies on, but there was already quite a big change a while back that split the Status immunity & speed boost into two items so why not make a change like this?
- Poison & Normal Gem/Crystal (Cloudy)
Like Electric this one is dependent on Cloudy weather. In this case I feel like the Cloudy Rock should be buffed to match the Clear Rock and work regardless of the current condition.
- Psychic, Dark, & Ghost Crystals/Gems (Fog)
Similar to cloudy weather, I feel like the Foggy Rock should be buffed to work like the Clear Rock and work regardless of the condition.
Anyway, those are my proposed changes. I just feel like Electric, Poison, Normal, Psychic, Dark, & Ghost weather items are very lack luster compared to the others and feel like they should be buffed. Either by changing what weather condition they rely on or by buffing the rocks.