Shadow Pokemon status

In Pokemon Go, shadow pokemon have been changed to deal and take 20% more damage. In PMU, I’m thinking that an item or some other simple method could be used to give the player a “shadow pokemon” status. This status effect could use a simple animation that could be reused for every sprite, similar to how burn and poison work now. The exact amount of this damage increase can be changed in PMU to better suit the gameplay as needed.

As this status is naturally risk/reward, it would have more gameplay balance than choice items do now, and would effectively add hundreds of new options for hundreds of pokemon at the price of a single new status effect and a single new item. More combinations and custom options add to the fun of video games, and this would add a huge number for much less effort than other gameplay mechanics pokemon games have had.

Ehh? So just a free 20% damage buff to aoe spam? (or whatever number it ends up being) Because getting hit generally results in the mon getting stunlocked into oblivion. :diglett:

Shadow Pokemon are cool and all, but i don’t think they’re super needed here. Certainly not in just “have a damage buff for basically free” form.

On the other hand, Shadow moves from XD are super cool and (with a bit of moderation bc being super effective against everything would be way too good) could add more complexity to new bosses/dungeons. Imagine like a ravaged forest, full of feral Pokemon. Then at the end Shadow Lugia itself is “waiting”. When you beat it, it purifies half way to let you escape (to also explain repeated runs still having it as a boss). A lot of opportunities which just having it as a boring damage buff would end up wasting them.

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The post above mentioned that shadow pokemon also take more damage. Viewing it as a damage buff for free doesn’t make sense.

I think that Diego’s point was that this mechanic would ultimately benefit avoidant strategies much more than risky strategies - thus, the additional power would be most useful with an AoE playstyle which already heavily mitigates direct confrontation and wouldn’t feel a defense nerf very hard. For riskier playstyles (the styles which I personally believe should receive additional power) would be less able to make use of the damage buff.

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Everything in this game benefits AoE playstyles, adding an additional mechanic wouldn’t change that. I don’t see why the line would have to be drawn at a new mechanic with serious consequences when other items exist as they are.

Because one can do so much more with Shadow Pokemon than just a damage buff which asks you to not get hit.

Of course it’d take some job from the spriters but as i said, a whole dungeon of Shadow Pokemon with Shadow Lugia at the end would be way better imo. Then you can put the item in that dungeon if you want, but don’t just leave it at the item.

i’m personally not seeing how this mechanic is supposed to add more options or costumization,
trying to deal as much damage as possible while not taking damage is already how you want to play this game normally,
it’s not incentivising any different gameplay style, it’s just making the current existing one more polarizing,
it’s like a mechanic that the only reason to turn on or off is simply your confidence, not related on how you want to play, it dosent add anything to the gameplay,
something more interesting would be honestly, a item that does the complete opposite! half the damage you deal and take! that would make people play differently, cause the extreme time consumption to kill someone from far away with such low damage would be unbearable. and thus incentivise risky play with stronger damage dealing moves at close range,

i never understood these glass cannon type of item in any game honestly, all games that include these glass cannon items seems to actively be worse for it.
they seem one of those popular traps people slap in games cause it’s like a thing everyone does without actually thinking what they are doing. :eeveesad:

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We’re two months into summer and still have spring season shop up, and it can often take more than a year to hear from the only programmer this game has had for half a decade. There is no possible way a Shadow Lugia dungeon with new in depth mechanics being programmed is a realistic ask.

Players who don’t want it wouldn’t be forced to use it. Just because you don’t personally like the idea of glass cannons in video games doesn’t make them any less enjoyable for people that do. There are countless games with similar mechanics that don’t suddenly become awful when they’re added, and saying that a mechanic that does the reverse would be more interesting doesn’t have any objective weight behind it. Both would be customization by definition. Obviously, the goal of any game is to deal more damage and take less. The glass cannon archetype doesn’t change that. Your idea of making gameplay at long range “unbearable” so that people have to use more balanced moves doesn’t exactly sound fun in comparison, and games are supposed to be about fun.

So what, would it be yet another Event only item that hands an advantage into those who get it and screws over those who don’t (due to lack of time or incentive)?

Running away and clicking the big area move is already the dominant strategy, it has no need to be made even better along with taking away a concept with so much potential as Shadow Pokemon are.

But you clearly can’t take a no when it’s handed directly in front of you. :mewtwofacepalm:

As I said before, everything in this game benefits an AoE playstyle, yet we still have items to boost speed and power by sizably larger margins than this suggestion. I didn’t mention events. I don’t really want to talk about events on this post. I still don’t see a sensible argument against this idea that doesn’t completely ignore the fact that there are already items in this game that give more than double the power of this idea with absolutely no risk attached to them.

i belive this is getting off point,

my main issue and argument against this idea is the fact it wouldn’t add anything to the gameplay since shadow pokemons would play the same exact way a non shadow pokemons would, despite your claim it would add “options and customizations”

if i’m missing how this idea adds variarity to the current gameplay style of pmu please shine some light on it

It would work as a potentially stronger option for more defensive based pokemon, which are currently tend to be the weakest in the game. I don’t think a single individual idea should have to solve all of PMU’s issues by itself in order to even by viable. There isn’t a single item in this game that could be added to create true variety running the same dungeons repeatedly. That’s a problem with how NPC’s function and game design. This one at least gives more options to a type of pokemon that can’t ko mons 40 levels lower than it, or gives offensive mons a little more of a risk reward system that can help them slowly train in higher level dungeons.

Aden:

Variety in playstyles

Also Aden:

Make defensive Pokemon offensive, actively reducing variety

Makes sense to me.

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Choice is variety. As I said before, this isn’t a mechanic anyone would be forced to use.

Let’s end all argument/sarcastic remarks and keep the channel to the suggestion, thoughts on the suggestion, and additional ideas based around them. End of argument.

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Ngl I’m not personally a fan of this. The game revolves around nuking before you even get hit, so regardless of playstyle that kind of becomes a buff to what already worked, further leaving the defensive/tank playstyle behind, while basically allowing said playstyle to be thrown out of the window by abusing this hypothetical status…

I get that more defensive mons should have a place and all that, but allowing them to trade their bulk to blend in with “the nukes” just adds more to that issue instead of fixing it imo.

While you can argue that this gives the game more variety, in reality it just makes it more stale as everything would be doing the exact same thing: Nuke everything, don’t get hit.

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There are still items that are more powerful for this that exist with no drawbacks. Tank and defensive styles are lacking because there are almost no defensive items in this game. The only ability item that is defensive is marvel scale, and being made held-only makes it completely awful. That’s still a problem with the game itself and not the idea.

I’ve never argued that PMU doesn’t have less balanced stuff on the table, but rather that this status just adds more fuel to that very same fire, something that I don’t personally want to see happening to the game even if it was completely optional.

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Let’s say this was a fighting game where fast, offense based characters dominate the meta. Refusing to add anymore offense based characters won’t make the game any less polarizing to play. This mechanic at best is the power of a single use of Work Up, for a heavier price than any other damage item in the game asks for. It’s the equivalent of equipping a type item that you could find in level 15 dungeons except there are real drawbacks to the extra power. It’s more balanced than what the game has now.