• Our spoiler embargo for the non-DLC content for Pokémon Legends: Z-A is now lifted! Feel free to discuss the game freely across the site without the need of spoiler tabs, and use content from the game within your profiles!

DP Hints for Complete Newbs

S

SecretSolver3

New Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2007
Messages
114
Reaction score
0
Remember when you got Diamond or Pearl (Which for me was yesterday) Did you think there was a hint somebody could have told you that would be pretty helpful? Probably. If so, put them here! They can be quick one or two liners, paragraphs, or just some basic opinions.

Catching a wild Abra:
Abra are somewhat difficult to catch. It's not that they're really powerful battlers. It's just that the only move they know is Teleport. You need a powerful Pokeball to catch one on the first shot, and if you're new in the game, that's a very bad idea as you don't have money to burn. You need to beat an Abra who teleports whenever he/she gets a chance. This requires creative thinking...

What you do is not give the Abra a chance! Use a move such as Taunt to stop the Abra from teleporting (Taunt enrages the pokemon into only using damage-dealing mvoes for two turns.) Weaken it and Pokeball. Good as yours!

Training an Abra:
Abra also requires creative thinking to train if you have no TMs or HMs. The only move it knows is teleport. You could just have it use Teleport 20 times so it can use Sttuggle, but you have to redo it whenever your heal Abra and Struggle isn't the best move....

Put Abra first in your party and switch it out for a stronger Pokemon. Abra still gets half credit. And eventually it evovle sinto an Abra which actually known helpful moves!
 
^
I saved mine for Cresselia. I eventually migrated another one for Mesprit.


Oh, a tip about Pokeballs: The best Pokeball to use varies on your location, and on the time:

~> If it's daytime, and you're outside, the best is the Ultra Ball.
~> If it's nighttime, and you're outside, the best is the Dusk Ball.
~> If you're in a cave, the best is the Dusk Ball.
~> If you want to catch Pokemon that have damn low catch rates and you want to stall, the best is the Timer Ball, wherein catch rate increases as time progresses.
~> If you want to catch stuff quickly and right at the moment, the best is the Quick Ball, wherein the catch rate decreases as time progresses.
~> If you're catching stuff while surfing, or you're in Eterna Forest, the best is the Net Ball, which is 3x catch rate for Bug and Water-type.
~> If you're catching stuff you already have the Pokedex entry of, the best is the Repeat Ball.
 
Dive Ball also works in DP still, but for Pokemon you hook on your fishing line.
 
Quick tip for catching Dialga or Palkia

Use a quick ball right at the beginning. (i used one after about 5-6 turns and it still caught it)
It works The guide weighted companion cube qouted says so, and so did another guide.
 
Last edited:
That would be from sheer luck, so I don't suggest for anyone to try it.
 
Frankly, I liked this guide Onyx Kinslayer at GameFAQs wrote for those who are new to the game:

Onyx Kinslayer said:
Introduction:

In response to the swarming mass of new players that the holidays is carrying, i've revised my guide to building a smooth running in-game team. Please keep in mind that all pokemon selections are rated solely on their usefullness to defeating the pokemon league and starting a battle tower carreer. Many pokemon work better in competitive play, but ideas such as tanking and stealth rock have very little use in the standard game. Also, some pokemon work better in-game than they do in competition with other players. Torterra is a great pokemon to beat the game with, but he wont get you as far as Infernape will in PvP.


Note: This is NOT a power guide! I will not handpick you a magical dream team that will trivialize the game. Im going to make a few basic suggestions about pokemon available by the second gym. By Eterna Gym, you should have the framework of your team set at least. Keep in mind this is NOT from a competitive battling point of view. Certain ideas that dont work in competitive battling will still carry you through the game. I also WILL NOT educate you on every mechanic. We have several great guides that will explain types and what they do, what natures and EVS and IVs are, etc. Im just going to guide you into a decent team. I know plenty of people who honestly just didnt know that Dustox sucked until they wasted alot of time. So as I said, this is JUST to help you make a few good decisions in the early game that will impact your progression. Also note that I wont take full move pools into consideration. During an in-game run, noone wants to take time egg move breeding!

Managing your HMs

HM moves that arent Surf and Waterfall are useless. This isnt true for in-game play. You only need one real mule here.

-Strength is an 80 power normal attack, this isnt bad for an in-game poke and has great coverage. Not only this, but Strength is used alot in the caves so you'll need a mule to have it ANYWAY.
-Fly, it sucks in competitive, but if you wanna make travel easier and make less trips to the PC box (and the 20 minute save time that comes with the trip) its not a big deal for one of your pokes to have fly, it works quite fine.
-Surf/Waterfall, yeah, they both rock, dont worry about it.
-Cut/Rock Smash/Rock Climb, both horrible. Mule these two
-Defog, dont use it on your regular HM mule as you'll only use a couple times ever and most guides tell you when its coming up.

My mule suggestion: Bibarel with Cut, Rock Smash, Rock Climb and Surf/Waterfall (Whichever your main water poke doesnt have)

Setting your team up, here we go!

First off your Starting pokemon will impact alot of your team decisions as you go, so lets check them out in brief really quick.

Turtwig: Torterra learns earthquake naturally. This deserves mentioning as Earthquake is arguably the most dominant physical attack in the game. Grass has decent in-game coverage and I strongly suggest a grass attack on one of your pokemon. If you dont care for Infernape, this is your best option. Note that Roserade does Turtwig's job alot better if your trying to consider other options.
Piplup: Really, a pokemon that can be useful competitively but is less than stellar in-game is personified by Piplup and his evolutions. While he can certainly get you through the game, the presence of Gyarados and Floatzel ruin his usefullness as both of them do his job EXTREMELY better and the other two starters overshadow him alot.
Chimchar Absolute beast! Chimchar destroys the rule about your rival's starter being strong vs. your starter by picking up a fighting type, which violates Steel types in the no-no place. Chimchar is one of the most offensive pokemon you'll lay hands on for a LONG time and is great if that suits you. Really, nothing in this game thats normally available can do outdo Infernape. Also, hes one of only two starters from any generation to be considered in the standard meta-game (Swampert from Ruby/Sapphire being his only brother)

I suggest Turtwig or Chimchar as a starter (I used Chimchar). Im not going to spend tons of time here though as you really should choose on preference.

Route Pokemon

Im going to go route by route from here to the second gym and talk about some really good and really bad pokemon choices.

Starly: Im not one to say "Get this and use this and that" but... Starly is the best flying type your going to see until the end-game. He has a great move pool, a good ability (Intimidate), he can Fly for you, he hits hard, he hits fast and hes available in the first patch of grass you step in. Make sure you catch one that doesnt have a -attack or speed nature (Several good guides for which nature does what) and your golden. My Starly served me to the elite four, has gone to 70-ish battles in the battle tower (same starly) and im considering training one for competitive play. What you should know: Hes a physical attacker, dont bother with special attacks.

Bidoof: *sigh* This guy is really horrible, but catch one anyway. His evolution, Bibarel, is the best HM mule you'll likely see for a very long time. Sit him at the back of your party, level him only enough to evolve him to Bibarel, and feed him HM moves (See above for which ones I suggest.)

Kricketot: Dont waste your time. It evolves, but it never gets good, never does anything useful. I wasted some time here but it didnt take long to find out how much this thing sucked.

Shinx: Shinx is one of those pokes that do a very good job of getting you through the game, but turn to suck instantly when the Metagame starts. By all means, if you need a stable electric, use him! I used him for the entire game quite fine, then dropped him like a log after the elite four. Electric is decent type and he learns Bite and Crunch also, great moves for ya.

Psyduck: You NEED a water pokemon. I dont consider it an option. Psyduck is NOT a bad pokemon. For in-game purposes you couldnt ask for alot more. I recommend Gyarados (For mad easy play) or Floatzel (Still rocks), but Psyduck offers special water power as opposed to physical.

Abra: Abra is one of those pokemon available in the early game that will NEVER stop being a bad mother. You need to do some tricks to evolve him though. Put him in the front of the team, get into a battle, and then switch him to something that can actually attack. Do this until he evolves. Not only is this a very strong pokemon, hes actually somewhat of a complete beast when he evolves into Kadabra (and Alakazam if you trade him, see GTS trick below)

Budew: Remember that much better option to Turtwig? Here ya go. Budew sucks, but put him in the front of the party and run in circles for 20 minutes (Or just use him as your lead pokemon to fight alot) and he'll evolve into Roselia. Roselia is a great grass pokemon who will destroy a few gyms by herself (And the second elite four) with little investment. At some point, you'll get a Dawn Stone to evolve her into Roserade, a bigger beast, but hold off on the evolution until she has all her moves. I didnt use him, I honestly didnt know this ugly thing turned into Roselia.

Buizel: Buizel will do more than fine in-game and does a decent job with good setup beyond that. He actually isnt a bad choice at all. Hes a total monster in BL play and outclasses most water pokemon offensively (Gyarados and Starmie being obvious exceptions.). In-game Gyarados is the only pokemon with more raw power (Among Waters) than Floatzel. However, Floatzel has a more versatile movepool and isnt x4 weak to the common electric attacks. Its a tough choice.

Shellos: If you want a defensive water pokemon, and didnt choose Piplup, Shellos is your man. He even learns Recover later on. Hes only weak to grass attacks (But takes x4 damage from them). Cynthia, the league champion, uses him, if that tells you something. Still, I dont like defensive pokemon for in-game play, they take too long.

Meditite: Well, you probably WONT find a physical attacker than hits harder for a good long while. If you spend some time in the underground and have a few heart scales, get this guy for sure. Those scales will open up some solid attack moves when he evolves and you progress farther. If you didnt get Chimchar, Meditite is a GREAT choice for a fighting type.

Machop: Well, you could do alot worse. Machop needs alot of time to bud into the powerhouse he can become, and he actually needs some TMs and breeding to reach his full potential. Hes alot more defensive than Meditite is but doesnt hit quite as hard. His ability, No Guard, is amazing, pure and simple. The developers had to be careful who they gave that to, it could break ALOT of pokemon. In the long run, Machop will do you well, but (Even though hes my personal favorite) Meditite is generally a better in-game choice.

Heracross: Eventually you'll run across the Honey item and a Honeytree. If your lucky (and very patient) you'll get a Heracross to come out. You wont find better. Seriously, Heracross is a very dominant pokemon when it comes to dismantling a team.

Beyond Eterna Gym:

There are a few pokemon that are worth mentioning you should consider in your planning. I wont go over every pokemon in the game, but a few shining starts need to be pointed out.

Ghastly: If you've played pokemon before, you remember Gengar. Hes one of the most over used competitive pokemon based on his raw power, versatile move pool and ability to whoop ***. Hes available once you get CUT in the Eterna forest, near the northern fringes in a haunted house, or in the pokemon tower.

Bonsly: Available near the pokemon tower. He evolves at level 17 only if you let him learn Mimic. He evolves into Sudowoodo, who isnt a strong competitive pokemon, but is a monster in-game with his high powered attacks, while still have decent defense.

Sneasel: Once upon a time the most common answer to a Rate My Team topic was "You, sir, have a Weavile weakness." Thats because hes as fast as greased lightning and hits like a truck. He cant take hits though, so keep that in mind. Weavile will require a TM or two to be his best, but he'll need no breeding.

Tips and Advice:

1) Consider your PP when choosing new moves. There are some points in the game that seriously test your endurance and it sucks to get half-way up Mt. Coronet only to find out that your out of PP! However, some moves are so powerful you'd be foolish to pass them up. Close Combat comes to mind, have it on every pokemon who learns it.
2)Some pokemon only learn certain moves in certain stages. Infernape NEVER learns Flamethrower or Nasty Plot, two of his better moves. He has to stay as a Chimchar until he learns then, then evolve up to Infernape.
3)Use your held items. You'll find several plates and incense and such in the game and it doesnt hurt to put, say, an Ice Plate on Floatzel so his Ice Fang is stronger (He doesnt need water power, his Waterfall will kill.) Most of these suck competitively, but the GOOD held items arent available until after the Elite Four.
4) SPOILER!


At the top of Mt. Coronet you will fight your version's exsclusive legendary (Dialga for Diamond, Pakia for Pearl.) If you want to catch this pokemon, bring some ultra balls with you when you chase Team Galactic. You'll know when its coming. You only get one shot at it, so save before hand. Both have high catch rates of 30. You could EASILY throw a Quick Ball at one right at the start and succeed.
Click to expand...
 
I got this tip from a couple walkthroughs on IGN.com. When you throw a ball of any sort at a pokemon, tap the middle of the pokeball on the bottom screen once just before the ball up top shakes for the first time, once more just before it shakes for the second time, and then make a circle around the lower pokeball just before the third shake. Don't know why, but this trick really seems to help catch rates -- it's worked wonders for me in the past.
 
you sure that luck isn't just in your head?

Best tip I can recommend: keep your Pokemon's levels nearly equal to one another. This can mean all the difference when you're trying to take on a Gym with a full team and need a poke with a certain attack type.
 
Don't over level your starter. I ALWAYS DO THIS and it annoys me to no end. If it dies, you die.

@Emerald Dragonite:Stuff like that never works. Trust me.
 
Overleveling your starter is a classic strategy. If you only fight with that pokemon, it gets to a point where you don't care about type disadvantages because you're thirty levels higher than them.

But that doesn't work very well when you try to use your (appearingly) unbeatable pokemon online, as you tend to find it's not as strong against pokemon that can put up a fair fight.
 
I did that in crystal, had a Lv 100 starter before Clair. It annoyed me because even then, Surge steamrolled me. Told myself I'd never do it again. RSE, Lv92 starter. Oops. DP was better.
 
Midnight Celtic said:
I did that in crystal, had a Lv 100 starter before Clair. It annoyed me because even then, Surge steamrolled me. Told myself I'd never do it again. RSE, Lv92 starter. Oops. DP was better.
Click to expand...

All you gotta do is make sure you rotate your team regularly.
 
I've got that part down now, although I swept Cynthia with a Lv. 39 Mixcario, Empoleon, Azelf, and Dialga, but mostly Lucario.
 
Dont Overlevel your squad by obsesive wild battles in the story mode, it kills the fun when you can sweep through gym leaders and trainers with one pokemon.
 
Going through the game, you might need to tradeoff power for PP, especially in the longer runs (Mt. Coronet, Stark Mountain, even Iron Island). Not an issue if you tend to buy lots of items or milk berries, but I usually blow my budget on balls (about 30% Quick, 40% Dusk, 20% Ultra for when nothing else works, and a few timers and repeats).

A whole lot of legendaries are fought indoors (and you can blow your budget on Quick Balls for Mesprit or Cresselia), so Dusk Balls are typically the best ball for the job. You don't really the Master Ball at any point in the game unless you're facing something like Beldum with someone totally inappropriate (like a sweeper) and are racing the clock to catch one before the swarm is over. (Beldum is probably the trickiest Pokémon to catch due to it having the game's lowest catch rate and the tendency for them to suicide from recoil - first turn Quick Ball has only a 1.5% chance of success).

Someone who can stall using sleep will help catch Pokémon. Even with full health, using Spore in the first turn and Quick Ball in the second will guarantee a catch against anyone with a better rate than Seviper (catch rate 90), and at least a 50% chance of catch against anyone with a better rate than Munchlax (catch rate 50). If you can whittle a Pokémon down to 1HP, then Spore + Dusk Ball, then you can guarantee a catch against anyone with a better rate than an untransformed Ditto (catch rate 35), and a 75% chance against Pokémon with catch rates of 25 (like Mantine). (Also, with this strategy, you have a roughly 30% chance of catching even Pokémon with the lowest catch rate - 3 - before it wakes up)
 
Please note: The thread is from 18 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom