PP-Zero Trap and an Indirect Nerf to Trap Scarf

The PP-Zero trap, at least in late game, is the leading reason the Trap Scarf is so much more viable than almost every other held item in the game. If this trap was nerfed, it would also serve as an indirect nerf to the Trap Scarf, helping to balance the meta.

Suggestion: Replace the PP-Zero trap with a trap that drains the PP of a random move by, let’s say, 5.

This will allow those of us who rely on Trap Scarves too heavily (I might be guilty of this) to experiment with new held items.

So many times one would drink a Max Ether and in the next 5 steps find a PP-Zero trap…
By that alone, I agree with this. Obviously it would need a name change. PP-Sap, perhaps?
Personally, I use Tight Belt more, but on SR room scans, not having to care about any bad luck the game wants to throw at me makes Trap Scarf oh so convinient. Not only for PP-Zero, but preventing Sticky from messing with my Exp All, while also stopping Warp, Pitfall, Summon/Grudge… the list goes on.

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Honestly I can kinda agree with this.

I sometimes experiment with other items like Tight Belt and Choice Items, but mainly only in dungeons that lack grudge traps. Grudge traps I feel are the biggest offender of the traps because you’re immediately thrown into battle, with the possibility of your moves losing all of their pp. They are especially awful in Harmonic Tower, since you don’t gain any exp from killing enemies there.

I do feel like some solution to this is a team held item that prevents your Pokémon’s pp from being drained, unless the Pokémon uses their moves as normal. Yes, that would take up yet another item slot, but it would be nifty as well. It could potentially save you some max ethers.

Other than that, a suction cups ability item could stop you from being affected by warp or gust traps, though this could also open up some trolling opportunities.

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What’s wrong with ethers? I am not looking to argue, I’m genuinely wondering. Like 100%. I don’t get It. Enlighten me. Improve my IQ. Make me Intelligent

You’re also likely to have at the least, 2 other attacking moves to use. Ethers can be brought Into dungeons as well as found In them.

Traps are annoying, which Is the point.

The most hindering trap Imo Is Sticky, because If you don’t have a Cleanse Orb something you really need might be unusable

Grimy Is countered by Recycle (Orbs and the move) or even Frozen Apples If you want

Ones that cause statuses are countered by status protection or a way to heal ( which most people have one of, though status conditions alone need to wear off on map change please ahem, be “rebalanced” )

Ones that deal damage are countered by taking 5 seconds to heal yourself

Slow Is annoying actually, because It doesn’t wear off after time

Summon/Grudge simply require reaction time ( and an ether for the latter )

What’s the most annoying trap Is for the most part a subjective thing. Like I said, I find Sticky or Slow to be the worst. But the rest from my point of view have reasonable counters, and when PP-Zero’s counter Is In the form of one of the most common Items you’re guaranteed to bring and probably find In most dungeons, all I can do Is ask why

We can look at other ways to balance traps without butchering their Identity. Consider; their rates In dungeons. Did one dungeon In particular have them In abundance? Not the trap’s fault, but a design flaw. Tanren Mansion doesn’t have relevance to overall balance, as having 1 billion traps Is the whole gimmick. I’d understand the frustration In a dungeon like TC or HC where Items are rng, but we’re talking standard content

Of course, Trap Scarf Is a good Item and I can see why people don’t want to be bothered with traps In particular. I’m a Choice Item person when It comes to training, and Tight Belt when running dungeons normally. But because some players hate traps more than others doesn’t make It that unbalanced. If anything, to balance It, It could be rarer. It’s still not a cakewalk to get, but It feels easier for an end-game player where In the real games It was kind of a holy grail Item, I think. The only thing limiting players who use a Trap Scarf heavily… Is themself? Exposure therapy, folks!!

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@Deleca
I do agree with you 100%, I don’t believe that traps should be altered or nerfed as they currently are. Traps are intended to provide somewhat of a challenge, and I don’t think we have bad options to combat the inconvenience they can bring. But that’s just my take on this whole discussion.

I’ve felt frustrated with traps on many occasions, so I understand that it feels difficult to work around them when they’re essentially just based on RNG. I think the Trap Scarf can be a very useful item if you’re looking to save Ethers/supplies or just find a lot more convenience in not worrying about traps. Perhaps at some point in the future we can rebalance some aspects of this.


This point is one that I agree with a lot as well. We all know how RNG is and how tricky these things can be to balance out. Some dungeons may not be perfect with their amounts/frequency of traps, but these are things we can improve on over time.

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