IVs Explained
IVs do not matter as much as you think they do.
IVs are a very very minimal increase in stats. They are far less important than Species (Base Stats), Levels, and Moveset.
This is a 0% Kyogre. Kyogre has 270 Base Attack.
At Level 25, this Kyogre's actual Attack stat will be:
(270 Base Attack + 0 Attack IV) x 0.667934 = 180 Actual Attack
This is a 100% Vaporeon. Vaporeon has 205 Base Attack.
At Level 40, this Vaporeon's actual Attack stat will be:
(205 Base Attack + 15 Attack IV) x 0.79030001 = 174 Actual Attack
180 is larger than 174. It doesn't matter that your Vaporeon is a wonder and has perfect IVs, it's still going to be worse than a 0% Kyogre that's 15 levels lower than your Vaporeon.
This is a 0% Tyranitar. Tyranitar has 251 Base Attack.
At Level 25, this Tyranitar's actual Attack stat will be:
(251 Base Attack + 0 Attack IV) x 0.667934 = 168 Actual Attack
This is a 100% Tyranitar. Tyranitar has 251 Base Attack.
At Level 20, this Tyranitar's actual Attack stat will be:
(251 Base Attack + 15 Attack IV) x 0.59740001 = 159 Actual Attack
168 is bigger than 159. It doesn't matter that your Level 20 Tyranitar is a wonder and has perfect IVs; it's still going to be significantly worse than a 0% Tyranitar at Level 25.
This is a Level 40 0% Mamoswine, with the moveset Ice Shard/Avalanche.
Against a Tier 5 Rayquaza Raid, this Mamoswine will do approximately 44 Damage per Second.
If you use this 0% Mamoswine against a Rayquaza, you will be able to easily defeat it with 2 people.
This is a Level 40 100% Mamoswine, with the moveset Mud Slap/Bulldoze.
Against a Tier 5 Rayquaza Raid, this Mamoswine will do approximately 6 Damage per Second.
If you use this 100% Mamoswine with Ground moves, you will need 10 people to defeat that same Rayquaza.
IVs DO NOT MATTER. Prioritize having the right movesets and having high-level Pokemon over high IVs.
Every Pokemon has a set of base stats (What are base stats?). These base stat values range from 1-496, and are fixed within a Pokemon species (except for forms).
Kyogre's Base Stats:
ATK270DEF228HP205
Base stats are then multiplied by the CP Multiplier (Advanced Pokemon Stats) to produce your Pokemon's actual stats - the numbers that are actually used in damage calculations. The CP Multiplier is directly linked to your Pokemon's level.
A Level 40, 0/0/0 Kyogre's Actual Stats:
- ATK: (270 Base Attack + 0 Attack IV) x 0.79030001 = 213 Actual Attack
- DEF: (228 Base Defense + 0 Defense IV) x 0.79030001 = 180 Actual Defense
- HP: (205 Base HP + 0 HP IV) x 0.79030001 = 162 Actual HP
IVs are values that range from 0-15. Unlike base stats, IVs can vary between individual members of one Pokemon species.
IVs are added directly onto base stats before being multiplied by the CP Multiplier.
A Level 40, 15/15/15 Kyogre's Actual Stats:
- ATK: (270 Base Attack + 15 Attack IV) x 0.79030001 = 225 Actual Attack
- DEF: (228 Base Defense + 15 Defense IV) x 0.79030001 = 192 Actual Defense
- HP: (205 Base HP + 15 HP IV) x 0.79030001 = 174 Actual HP
The difference between a 0% and 100% Kyogre is around 12 actual stat points. But does this actually make a difference in performance?
- A Level 40, 15/15/15 Waterfall/Hydro Pump Kyogre will defeat a Groudon Raid in 777 seconds on average.
- A Level 40, 0/0/0 Waterfall/Hydro Pump Kyogre will defeat the same Groudon in 816 seconds on average.
Is a 39-second difference significant? Ask yourself this:
Do you regularly do Tier 5 Raids with few enough people that you consistently finish Raids with 39 seconds or less on the timer?
Or do you just join 20-person public lobbies and tap for 50 seconds before winning?
If you only ever raid with large groups, failing Raids is nearly impossible, and therefore there's no reason to power up your Pokemon, let alone obsess about IVs which have an even smaller impact than levels.
However, if you do Tier 5 raids with few enough people where the timer can go right down to the last second, IVs can sometimes make the difference between succeeding and failing.
So, to amend our statement from earlier:
IVs do not matter if you always raid with 4 or more people.
The most practical use that IVs actually have is to reach breakpoints faster.
Breakpoints are levels at which your Pokemon's Fast Move does 1 increased damage to a particular Raid Boss. This is actually a very significant increase in performance, considering how many times you use your Fast Move in a Raid.
Higher IVs allow you to reach these breakpoints sooner than you would with lower IVs.
Gengar's Shadow Claw does 8 damage per hit to a Lugia at Level 26.5.
The next level at which Shadow Claw's damage will increase from 8 to 9 is around Level 39:
Level Attack IV Damage 39 15 8 -> 9 39.5 14 8 -> 9 40 13 8 -> 9 40 12 8 -> 8
A 15 Attack IV Gengar will do 9 damage per Shadow Claw at Level 39.
A 14 Attack IV Gengar needs to be powered up one additional time, to Level 39.5, to reach this same breakpoint.
A 13 Attack IV Gengar needs to be powered up two additional times, to Level 40.
A 12 Attack IV Gengar cannot reach this 9 damage breakpoint, since you can't power up past Level 40.
For a more in-depth explanation, check out our explanation of Breakpoints.