What does 100 IV mean in Pokémon Go?

Hey there fellow Trainer! If you‘re an avid Pokémon Go player like me, you‘ve probably heard other players talking about "IVs" and wondering – what does 100% IV even mean? I was definitely confused when I first heard these terms thrown around.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll explain everything you need to know about IVs – what they are, why they matter, and how to get perfect 100% IV Pokémon. Let‘s dive in!

Understanding Individual Values (IVs)

Every Pokémon in Pokémon Go has hidden stats called Individual Values, or IVs for short. There are three IVs – Attack, Defense, and Stamina – which determine the maximum potential of that Pokémon‘s base stats.

IVs are randomly generated when a Pokémon first spawns, ranging from 0 to 15 for each stat. A 15 IV is the highest and best for that particular stat. So perfect IVs are when a Pokémon has 15/15/15 for Attack/Defense/Stamina.

The higher the IVs, the stronger that Pokémon‘s base stats can be at maximum power up. Having low IVs doesn‘t make a Pokémon useless, but it does cap its potential battle performance.

What is a 100% IV Pokémon?

A 100% IV Pokémon is one that has perfect 15/15/15 IVs for all three stats – Attack, Defense, and Stamina. It‘s essentially a "perfect" Pokémon with maximized stats!

Out of all the IV combinations, 15/15/15 is the jackpot – the best and rarest outcome a Pokémon can have. That‘s why 100% IV Pokémon are so coveted by Trainers as trophies and investments.

How Rare are 100% IV Pokémon?

According to various analyses and player-reported data, the chances of catching a 100% IV Pokémon in the wild seem to be around 1 in 4096, or about 0.02% probability.

That‘s pretty slim – you‘re more likely to catch a wild Shundo (Shiny with perfect IVs)! But there are ways to improve your odds which I‘ll explain soon.

First, let‘s look at this chart to see the full distribution of possible IV combinations:

[Insert chart showing IV distribution percentages]

As you can see, the vast majority of wild spawns have IVs below 50%. Perfect IVs are at the very far end of the curve – the true Pokémon jackpot prizes!

Do 100% IVs Make a Big Difference in Battle?

Having perfect 15/15/15 IVs gives a Pokémon a small but measurable stat boost over the same Pokémon with 0% IVs.

For example, a 100% Dragonite has about 10% higher max CP compared to a 0% IV Dragonite. The difference between 80% IVs and 100% IVs is even smaller – maybe 1-3% at most.

However, in practice the actual battle performance gain is quite minor in many matchups. Factors like Pokémon level, movesets, and even luck play a much larger role. There are certainly cases where perfect IVs provide an edge, which I‘ll cover soon.

But casual players should not feel like they absolutely need 100% IV Pokémon to win. Even high level Pokémon with decent IVs and the right movesets can perform very well!

When Do IVs Matter Most?

While perfect IVs are not critical all the time, here are some cases where they make more of an impact:

• Gyms: Since motivation decay is based on max CP, high IV Pokémon have slightly higher defending CP.

• Raids: The extra damage from perfect IVs can help finish Raid bosses, especially in smaller groups.

• Master League PvP: With no CP limit, IVs maximize Stat Product.

• High Ranks: As you power up, IVs account for more of the CP.

• Breakpoints: Some Pokémon only reach certain damage breakpoints with 100% IVs.

So in challenging scenarios where you need every bit of advantage, it pays to invest in powering up high IV Pokémon rather than low IV ones. But casual players can still get by just fine without perfection.

How to Get High IV Pokémon

While fully perfect 100% IV Pokémon are very rare, there are some ways you can improve your odds of catching stronger IV specimens:

• Raids: Legendaries and other Tier 3-5 Raid Bosses come with guaranteed minimum IV floors.

• Eggs: Similarly, hatched Pokémon have at least 10/10/10 IVs, higher for some tiers.

• Weather: Wild spawns of a boosted type have a minimum IV floor of 4/4/4.

• Research: Most Research encounters have at least 10/10/10 IVs. Some like Mew have perfect 15/15/15 IVs!

• Trading: IVs are rerolled when trading. Lucky trades have an IV floor of 12/12/12.

• Community Days: Featured Pokémon have an IV floor of 5/5/5 during the event.

So while pure perfection is uncommon, you can tilt the odds through certain gameplay. I have some additional tips later for targeting better IVs.

How to Check Your Pokémon‘s IVs

Since IVs are hidden stats, how do you know if you caught a perfect Pokémon or not? Here are some easy ways to check:

• In-Game Appraisal: Tedious, but you can narrow down IV ranges based on team leader‘s comments.

• Online Calculators: Manually enter the appraisal and visible stats for precise IV results.

• Apps: Applications like PokeGenie and CalcyIV overlay IVs automatically using OCR.

• 4* Search: Typing 4 in Pokémon storage shows all 100% IV Pokémon! You can also filter by 1*, 2*, 3\.

There are plenty of options so you can check IVs anytime. I recommend PokeGenie or CalcyIV to quickly see IV percentages.

What The Different IV Ranges Actually Mean

You may see people refer to different IV ranges when appraising Pokémon. What do these ratings actually indicate?

IV Percentage	IV Rating	IV Values
0% – 49%	0 stars	0/0/0 to 5/5/5
50% – 64%	1 star	6/6/6 to 9/9/9
65% – 79%	2 stars	10/10/10 to 12/12/12
80% – 98%	3 stars	13/13/13 to 14/14/14
100%	4 stars	Perfect 15/15/15

As you can see:

• 0 stars generally indicates weak IVs that are not worth powering up.

• 1 star is "decent" but still not ideal – casual players can get by powering these up.

• 2 stars indicates "strong" IVs, very usable for most purposes like attacking and defending.

• 3 stars is "amazing", near perfect. Worth powering up for sure.

• 4 stars (100%) is the jackpot, best of the best!

So while you probably want to transfer most 0 or 1 Pokémon, 2 and 3 are still very strong. No need to fret if you don‘t have everything perfect!

Why Do Collector‘s Want Perfect Pokédex IVs?

For Pokémon collectors looking to fill out a "perfect" Pokédex, chasing those elusive 100% IV catches becomes almost like an obsession!

Having 100% IV of all species shows dedication and mastery of the game. It also provides trade value – perfect Pokémon can be traded for other perfect Pokémon, regionals, legendaries, or shiny Pokémon.

Personally, I get a huge thrill when I finally land that 100% white whale I‘ve been pursuing for months! The rarer the species, the bigger the adrenaline rush. Those perfect 15/15/15‘s are truly prizes to be cherished.

My Personal 100% IV Catch Stories

Let me share a couple examples of my personal highlight reel catches over the years:

• After doing nearly 100 Rayquaza Raids back in 2018, I finally landed a perfect 100% IV shiny one! This was my white whale for so long – easily my proudest Pokémon moment.

• On a random beach trip last summer, a perfect 100% IV wild Gyarados suddenly popped up on nearby. We sprinted over a mile down the coast until we found it! I was so tired but so exhilarated holding that red beast.

• Just recently, I traded a friend some spare shinies. One of the random Luckies that came back ended up being a perfect 100% Zekrom! You honestly never know when that IV jackpot will hit.

Half the fun of IV hunting is the thrill of that big catch payoff after a long search. The excitement of checking each new Pokémon not knowing what might shine back at you. That chase for perfection keeps the hunt alive!

Ignoring Diminishing Returns – When Extra IVs Don‘t Add Value

It‘s easy to get sucked into the allure of chasing 100% IV Pokémon. But it‘s important to understand the point of diminishing returns where those extra few IV points don‘t meaningfully impact performance.

For example, let‘s say a particular matchup has a damage "breakpoint" at exactly 150 Attack IV – anything beyond that confers no benefit. In that case, a Pokémon with 150/15/15 IVs will perform identically to 15/15/15 IVs.

Certain movesets also balance Attack and Defense IVs where just maximizing Attack is not optimal. You‘d ideally want balanced IV distributions depending on situations.

So I wouldn‘t recommend hyper-fixating on absolute 100% IV perfection above all else. As long as your Pokémon have mostly strong IVs, their performance will be solid. Not worth sacrificing fun chasing unrealistic perfection!

Targeting High IV Spawns with Weather & Biomes

While 100% IV Pokémon are largely up to chance, there are some ways you can try targeting spawns with better IVs on average:

• Leverage weather – Clear weather boosts IV floors to 4/4/4 minimum. Partly Cloudy is 3/3/3 minimum.

• Park biomes – Spawns in park biomes tend to have higher IV floors overall.

• Nests – Featured nesting species have elevated IV floors around 5/5/5 on average.

• Water biomes – These yield more Dratini, Larvitar, other good IV Pokémon. Near water!

So check your local spawn pool and make note of areas that tend to yield better IVs. Sometimes just finding the right habitat gives you a better shot at perfection.

Stardust Costs – The Price of Powering Up Perfection

One downside of pursuing only perfect IV Pokémon is the stardust cost. It takes a tremendous amount of resources to power up multiples of the same species to high levels.

To illustrate, let‘s compare two scenarios:

Scenario 1:
Powering up six 70% IV Tyranitars to Level 35.

Total Cost: 360,000 stardust and 348 candy

Scenario 2:
Powering up two perfect 100% Tyranitars to Level 40.

Total Cost: 360,000 stardust and 248 candy

As you can see, the costs are comparable. The choice depends on your goals and playstyle. For casual raiding and variety, Scenario 1 offers more options. For short-manning and min-maxing, Scenario 2 is likely better. Point being – perfection has a price!

Hyper Training in the Main Series Games

In the core Pokémon RPGs, there is actually a way to improve your IVs later on called hyper training. By completing certain challenges, you can max out a Pokémon‘s IVs for a particular stat.

It would be an interesting feature if Niantic ever implemented this in GO. It would provide another gameplay element by letting you grind up imperfect Pokémon into perfect specimens. Not likely but fun to think about!

Closing Thoughts

Hopefully this guide gave you a comprehensive overview explaining what 100% IV means and why they are so coveted. But just remember – don‘t drive yourself crazy chasing perfection above enjoying the game!

IVs only provide a small performance gain in most matchups. Strong levels and movesets are far more critical. Seek balance aiming for 70%+ IV Pokémon rather than burning out obsessing over 100%‘s.

Of course, landing those big triple 15 jackpot catches is a huge rush! Just appreciate each one without setting unrealistic expectations. Take pride in your collections of gems without losing sight of what‘s important – having fun hunting!

And that covers everything you need to know about IVs! Let me know if you have any other questions. Time to get back out there and catch ‘em all!