Why Does My Pokémon Have 3 Stars? An Expert‘s In-Depth IV Guide
Hey there! If you‘ve been playing Pokémon GO for a while, you may have noticed your Pokémon have appraisals with 1, 2 or 3 stars. But what does it actually mean if your Pokémon has 3 stars? As a long-time Pokémon GO player and data analyst myself, I‘m going to provide an in-depth guide explaining everything you need to know about 3 star Pokémon and IVs.
Introduction
First, let‘s quickly summarize what the stars indicate. The 1, 2 and 3 star ratings you see when you appraise a Pokémon refer to that Pokémon‘s Individual Values (IVs). IVs are hidden stats in the game that determine a Pokémon‘s potential in battle. A 3 star Pokémon has essentially perfect or near-perfect IVs, giving it better overall stats compared to 0, 1 or 2 star Pokémon at the same level.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll be covering topics like:
- What IVs are and why they matter for battling
- How common or rare 3 star Pokémon actually are
- Tips and tricks for finding more 3 star Pokémon
- The importance of appraising your Pokémon
- Comparing IVs versus CP
- When to power up based on IVs or CP
- Building raid, gym and PVP teams with high IV Pokémon
- And much more!
Let‘s get started!
What Are IVs?
IVs stand for Individual Values. They are randomly generated for each Pokémon when it first spawns in the game, ranging from 0 to 15 for each of the three base stats:
- Attack
- Defense
- Stamina (HP)
By adding together the IVs for all three stats, you get a Pokémon‘s overall IV percentage, which is represented by the 1-3 star rating you see when you appraise them.
Here‘s a quick breakdown of the ranges:
- 0-49% IVs = No stars
- 50-64% IVs = 1 star
- 65-80% IVs = 2 stars
- 82-100% IVs = 3 stars
So in other words, a perfect IV Pokémon with 15/15/15 would be 100%. Whereas a Pokémon with IVs of 10/5/0 would only be around 33% and likely have just 1 star when appraised.
Now that you know what IVs are, let‘s discuss why they actually matter for battling…
Why IVs Impact Battle Performance
A Pokémon‘s IVs play an important role in determining how much Combat Power (CP) it can reach when powered up to higher levels.
The higher the IV totals, the greater potential a Pokémon has to hit really high CPs. For example, take two Pokémon of the same species both at CP 2000. One has 50% IVs while the other is 93%. When fully powered up to level 40, the 93% IV Pokémon might reach 3500 max CP, while the 50% one may only get to 3000.
Higher IVs also give Pokémon an edge in battle. When attacking, greater IVs provide more damage output. For defense, higher IVs allow the Pokémon to survive for longer.
So while your Pokémon‘s current CP determines its actual performance, its IVs influence how strong it can become at higher levels. Finding and powering up 3 star Pokémon is the key to building truly effective raid, gym, and PvP teams.
How Rare are 3 Star Perfect IV Pokémon?
Alright, so clearly you want to get your hands on some perfect 3 star Pokémon. But just how scarce are they?
Researchers have estimated the odds of encountering a 100% IV Pokémon in the wild at around 1 in 4096. That‘s about 0.0244% chance!
Here are the approximate percentages for each star rating:
| Stars | IV Range | Rarity |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0-49% | 30% |
| 1 | 50-64% | 30% |
| 2 | 65-80% | 30% |
| 3 | 82-100% | 10% |
As you can see, 3 star Pokémon are the rarest category, at only around 10% of spawns. You‘re much more likely to catch 0, 1 and 2 star Pokémon randomly in the wild.
Luckily, certain methods can yield Pokémon with higher IVs:
- Raids – minimum 10/10/10 IVs
- Eggs – minimum 10/10/10 IVs
- Research rewards – typically high IVs
- Weather boost – IV floor raised to 4/4/4
- Trading – IV floor increased
- Lucky trade – minimum 12/12/12 IVs
For example, your odds of getting a perfect Pokémon increase from 1 in 4096 to around 1 in 216 when hatching eggs and doing raids!
Trading with a best friend and getting lucky Pokémon also gives you a great shot. Here are the estimated probabilities:
| Method | Odds of 100% IVs |
|---|---|
| Wild catch | 0.0244% |
| Raids/eggs | 0.46% |
| Trading | 5% |
| Lucky trade | 5% |
As you can see, you‘ll definitely want to utilize these special methods to land more high IV Pokémon!
Tips to Catch More 3 Star Pokémon
While 100% IV Pokémon are super rare, here are some tips and tricks I use to find more strong 3 star Pokémon spawns on a daily basis:
- Appraise everything – this is the only official way to see IVs without third party apps. I check before transferring!
- Target weather-boosted spawns – all have IVs of at least 4/4/4, so your chances are better.
- Catch high CP and evolved spawns – these tend to have better IV distributions.
- Do more raids/hatch eggs – remember the IV floors are higher at 10/10/10 minimum.
- Trade with friends – rerolls IVs with a better chance at luckies.
- Research task rewards – have relatively high IVs compared to wild spawns.
- Battle in PvP – you can receive 3 star Pokémon encounters as rewards.
If you make a habit of using these methods, you‘ll start accumulating more high IV Pokémon for your roster!
Why Appraising is So Important
As mentioned above, appraising is the only official way to get an estimate of your Pokémon‘s IVs without using third party IV calculator apps or services.
When you tap the menu button while viewing a Pokémon and select Appraise, your team leader will give you a rough idea of where its IVs fall on the scale from 0 to 100%.
For 3 star Pokémon, phrases like "stats exceed my calculations," "I‘m blown away by its stats" and rating the stats as the "best" indicate you have a powerful high IV Pokémon on your hands!
While the appraisal doesn‘t give you the exact percentage, it‘s very helpful for quickly screening out low IV Pokémon before transferring them. I make sure to appraise any high CP catches before deciding to transfer, just in case they have hidden potential!
Comparing CP and IVs
One mistake players often make is assuming their high Combat Power Pokémon also have great IVs. But a Pokémon‘s CP and IVs are not necessarily connected.
CP depends not just on IVs but also on the Pokémon‘s level and base stats for that species. So it‘s very possible to have:
- Low CP, high IV Pokémon with power-up potential
- High CP, low IV Pokémon that won‘t improve much
Let me give you some examples to illustrate:
| Pokémon | CP | IV Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Venusaur | 1800 | 98% |
| Venusaur | 2500 | 50% |
| Magikarp | 121 | 91% |
| Magikarp | 300 | 23% |
As you can see, the high CP Venusaur actually has poor IVs, while the lower CP one is near perfect. And the stronger Magikarp is very weak compared to the 121 CP one.
My point is…don‘t assume your best Pokémon are the ones with the highest CPs. Checking appraisals and IVs is super important!
When to Power Up Based on IVs vs CP
Because IVs are hidden stats, you may be wondering whether you should power up a high IV or high CP Pokémon. Here are some general guidelines I follow:
- Mainly for gyms: Focus on high CP Pokémon
- Mainly for raids/PvP: Focus on high IVs Pokémon
- Unsure of use: Power up high level, high IV Pokémon
- Top attackers: Power up high IVs to max CP
For example, if you need a Pokémon to place in a gym and intimidate other teams, choosing the highest CP you have will likely give the best immediate results.
But for difficult raid battles where you need to squeeze out as much damage as possible, you‘ll want your top counters to have great IVs in addition to high CPs.
As a more casual player, I‘d suggest powering up high level Pokémon that require less dust, but still have strong IVs. They give you a lot of value! Hardcore players will want to maximize their top attackers, prioritizing IVs over everything.
Building Teams with 3 Star Pokémon
Now let‘s get into how to actually build great raid and gym teams by taking advantage of your 3 star Pokémon:
- Identify "meta" Pokémon – Look up top attackers and defenders and focus on powering those up.
- Max out perfect IV versions – Having the right movesets is key too.
- Counter the weaknesses – Use types that exploit the raid boss or gym defender‘s vulnerabilities.
- Weather-boosted backups – Keep high levels with good IVs in your back pocket.
- Trade to reroll IVs – Aim for lucky Pokémon with IV floors of 12/12/12.
Here are some examples of Pokémon that are absolutely worth powering up if you manage to get a 3 star variant:
- Machamp – One of the top fighting type attackers. Essential against gyms, raids.
- Tyranitar – A dominant dark type raid counter and gym defender.
- Dragonite – Ideal dragon type defender thanks to high CP and stats.
- Moltres – Strong as both fire and flying type attacker.
- Mewtwo – Legendary psychic attacker that wrecks in raids.
Building teams of maxed out meta Pokémon with optimal moves and IVs is absolutely key to dominating raids and holding gyms against rival teams!
How IVs Work in Pokémon GO PVP
While high IVs are generally desirable for PVP, the ideal IV spreads can differ from PVE in some cases.
Due to CP caps in each league, lower attack with higher defense/stamina IVs is sometimes optimal. This allows you to power up the Pokémon to a higher level before hitting the limit.
However, getting a 3 star or 100% IV Pokémon is still extremely valuable for PVP. Having perfect IVs gives you maximum potential if you do want to power up the Pokemon to its CP cap.
So even if your 3 star Pokémon goes beyond 1500 CP or 2500 CP, you can decrease the level while retaining those perfect IVs. Then you can unlock a second charge move for it! Having a high stat product will serve you well in PVP battles.
Conclusion
To wrap up, 3 star Pokémon have essentially perfect or near-perfect IVs, making them very rare and powerful assets in Pokémon GO.
While your Pokémon‘s CP determines its current battle performance, its IVs influence how strong it can become at higher levels.
Finding, trading for, and maxing out 3 star meta Pokémon is the key to dominating Pokémon GO! I hope these IV tips and strategies help you catch more 3 stars and build your ultimate teams. Let me know if you have any other questions!
