Nobody trains at the Training Dojo’s anymore, which is pretty sad since they could/should be an iconic part of the training experience in PMU. We’ve seen a popularity spike in Dojo training though when boosted XP was added to them, but without the boost, it seems players don’t have a lot of incentive to go to the Dojo’s as other dungeons simply give better XP along with other rewards.
With this in mind, I came up with a possible solution for the Dojo problem:
Every (viable) dungeon now has a small chance to contain a Dojo Key in its drop table. This Dojo key grants access to an XP boosted run at the training dojo, after which it dissolves. Dungeons can drop different keys based on said dungeon’s level range, for example:
Level 10-35 dungeons: Marowak Dojo Key (could be used for any of the routes?)
Level 35-50 dungeons: Winden Dojo Key
Level 50-60 dungeons: Archford Dojo Key
Level 60-70+ dungeons: Tanren Dojo Key
I think this would add a nice gameplay loop to the PMU training experience, while giving players incentive to organize runs at the training dojo’s whenever they obtain a key, making them have a
lot more use.
Obviously, both the XP boost rate and the drop rate of the keys would have to be balanced correctly (like short dungeons having a lower drop chance), which I did not fully think out yet when creating this post, as I want to hear others’ opinions first. That said, opinions are much appreciated!
Unfortunately, a lot of the dungeons got singled out once the exp event ended. (Mystic Coven being a prime example).
I use the dojo’s every now and then, but they aren’t used much at all - which is ironic given the whole ‘Training’ part of their name.
Now don’t get me wrong, It is very difficult to balance dungeons to the point where people go there often. But I feel like the dojo’s should be somewhere that should be at least a stand out to other dungeons especially since it’s a regional dungeon pattern. (Tanren Training Dojo, Winden Training Dojo and so on). I’d be okay with your idea too, I like it!
Although similar (I guess?), one thing that I LOVED about the dojo in Time, Darkness and Sky is that after beating the dojo, (I can’t remember if this was post game but oh well), Marowak shows you another dungeon within the dojo which is signigicantly more challenging and I guess more rewarding, as far as exp goes. It would be awesome if we could have something similar, or even morph your suggestion into it.
Oh, and I realise that Exbel’s dojo is pretty unique as far as the whole Bronze, Silver and Gold dojo dungeons go but they’re hardly used. Maybe make another called Platinum? I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but I’ve never really used the dojo (and basically many for that matter), nor do I see many people use it either so like I said it would be neat if it got more attention.
Yeah exactly! I’ve seen the idea of rotating XP boost going around for regular dungeons that aren’t visited often, and it seems to be something that staff is looking to implement already, but as you say, the dojos are especially meant for ‘‘training’’, hence the ‘‘training’’ part in their names.
I don’t think they should always be visited for training to the point where there’s no use in doing other dungeons anymore, obviously, that’s why a semi-rare key/ticket drop from regular dungeons that grants you access to one XP boosted run would be really cool to see. It’d weave the occasional visit to the training dojos in with regular training runs, and it’d give the dojos that little extra bit of flair to make it relevant to visit for players.
I like this idea!
Another thing that honestly bugs me is the fact that you can’t bring item in some of the dojos, which makes other dungeons easier to run because of all the stat boosts from dusts/silks, the speed boost from crystals, the boosted exp from chests and so on.
If you’re going to do this and keep the item restriction, the exp boost should be different between dojos, since for example exbel’s isn’t going to be run that much anyway if the EXP boost is lower than a MC.
Yeah, the variety in item restrictions across the dojos is another problem entirely - imo they should all be similar and either restrict all items, no items or have a limit on items. I do like the idea of item restrictions on dungeons because they force you back to the pure PMU experience, but how the dojo’s handle it is kind of arbitrary.
One thing though - the Exbel dojo would be used by mostly low levels, at that point most people don’t have access to crystals, MCs and stuff anyways, so I think they would be visited for training by newer players regardless. I’d say something like a 1.5x xp boost is pretty attractive early on in the game. I definitely agree with your points though!
Your suggestion is cool but I think the dojos need a couple more changes to make them worth it. Exbel’s dojo has been in a weird spot ever since its rework. Before rework, it was a reliable way to get experience on my lower leveled Pokemon, but now it just feels worse in all aspects for me. Silver dojo is just not worth running ever because it has a bunch of random status, while bronze dojo and gold dojo can see limited use but now exist more to hoard items/find Pokemon, which to me just sounds kinda silly for what the dungeons are “meant” to be. In addition, gold dojo does this weird thing where it mixes low and high exp Pokemon on the higher floors which makes it feel bad for experience.
Tanren and Winden dojos I think are fine, although the item limit, as someone mentioned, kinda messes with Tanren. The item restriction hurts Archford as well, but I think the bigger issue with that one is that it has a weird co-op requirement. It just seems like a really odd addition to what should be a training dungeon, especially when combined with the no item restriction.
I think if those factors could also be addressed, that may help with the dojos being ignored as well. To not stray far from your initial post though, I do like the idea of having an ability to unlock a boosted or “hard mode” version of a dungeon with upgraded rewards/exp/etc and I think it could be applied to more than just the dojos if successful.
There are certainly some things about the dojos that would need to be addressed in order to get them working optimally, and I agree with the points you’ve listed there - a co-op requirement should have some kind of reason or clue to it that is understandable to the player in some form, be it to enhance story (like in Scorched) or to solve a puzzle (like in HT or SFR).
I’ve also already answered Kayu0’s concern about the arbitrary item limits across all the dojos, I think those are all QoL things that are valid and can be addressed separately from my suggestion, and should probably have their own threads to keep things organized (not that I dont appreciate bringing it up!).
My idea was kind of inpsired by the dojo tickets from PMD where it gives you a limited time to train for boosted XP, which is actually used a lot in PMD from my experience! So incorporating this idea into the dojo’s would definitely give it more flair, since the point is to train rather than gain monetary rewards or other progression.
Bottom line is, I’d encourage people to make a separate thread about the specific issues with certain dojos, so this suggestion can get opinions/feedback separate from that, I apologize if the title of the thread was too broad!
