Tips to beat Classic Mode in PokeRogue

[@HoodlumCallum]

YO! Feel free to jump to anytime stamp, although I'd recommend watching the full video of course. If you have any tips you'd like to leave for newer players, I encourage it! Also, I wrote out a lot of these tips and they're available to read in the description also. Thanks for watching! Timestamps: Intro 0:00 Gamepad support 1:02 Which starter should you choose? 1:38 Settings 7:50 Focus on levelling 1-2 Pokemon 9:20 Grabbing Lures 10:16 Failing isn't bad 10:45 The Biggest Hurdles 11:03 Important Battles 11:46 Good moves to have 13:15 Important Battles 2 13:29 The Shop & Money 13:41 Boss Pokemon & Passive Abilities 14:36 Gym Leaders 15:08 Pickup 15:56 X Items 17:06 Meowth 18:44 Random Trainers 19:12 Generald Advice 20:11 Item Rarities 21:06 Items Stack 21:39 2nd Rival Battle 22:02 General Advice 23:10 Gym Battle 1 23:37 Eggs 24:35 General Advice 25:06 Mega Evolution & G-Max forms 27:30 General Advice 27:58 Vitamins 28:47 Pokemon Evolution 29:05 Healing Moves 29:10 Type Boosting Items 29:48 Exceeding the Level Cap 30:14 Setup Moves 30:48 Good Pokemon to Catch 31:17 Golden Pokeball 31:55 Lock Rarities 32:15 General Advice 32:36 Prepare for Important Battles 33:26 Biome Encounters 35:16 Stat Increases 35:55 Garganacl 36:17 Unnerve 36:34 General Advice 37:01 Terastalized Pokemon 38:39 General Advice 40:47 Shiny Pokemon 41:45 Read the descriptions 42:22 At the end of the day 42:37 REALLY Good Pokemon to use 42:57 Fairy/Steel types 43:18 Outro 44:16

[@braden9715]

Hey Callum do you know if items like grip claw stack in PokeRogue? I checked the reddit and discord but can't find an answer. Vids have been really helpful, thanks.

[@braden9715]

You answered that in the video :p nvm

[@deepfryme65]

Fantastic video bro 🤜

[@legthieff]

For the biggest hurdles, by far the best starter is sneasel, as it becomes a weavile as low as level 6, as long as it’s night. It can 2-shot the rayquaza with icicle crash without any boosts at all. Its speed stat isn’t necessary as it can also use ice shard.

[@legthieff]

@@braden9715 The grip claw does stack. I’ve used it in a run and my tyrantrum was stealing much more items with 2 grip claws.

[@alexplaster9358]

I have been lurking on your channel for literally most of a decade, and Pokérogue has resurged my enjoyment for your content! My fiancée and I watch your stream in the background while we're doing chores recently, and it is the most relatable and enjoyable Pokémon content we have access to. Thank you so much! Keep rocking on!

[@HoodlumCallum]

thank you ❤

[@Shindro69]

@@HoodlumCallum friend wheres the option to turn down advance hardware or something? cause im having fps and lag issues....

[@jo40p3dr0]

​@@Shindro69 same :( game crashes sometimes and I have to redo the last battle

[@Shindro69]

@@jo40p3dr0 i got the same yesterday...

[@indy_blehrg]

@@Shindro69 normally its a setting on the browser, not the game, :) hope it works

[@CommanderJonas]

20:00 You can also use Soak (it's working now) to turn Eternatus into a Water Type, this will let you Toxic it, and will let Salt Cure do 1/4 Damage instead of 1/8.

[@Blarkehuss]

Nice strat !

[@kyreevlade31]

This was what I used to beat it the second time hehe

[@Kaiser25]

Another tip for folks out there, every day 3 random pokémon get a purple box around them in the starter select screen, that's an indicator that they got pokérus which boosts the exp gain. This effect can be spread among the team trough battles easy so it's worth considering bringing one with you to help out in the early game

[@CurlyButYoutube]

That makes SO much more sense actually, I was wondering how I kept getting pokerus lmfao

[@silverytc1566]

Pokerogue is such a well developed game it’s actually insane. Some of their mechanics just make so much sense, their UI is super clean, and I’m just so impressed. Thanks for the content

[@FertIx26]

Helpful tip that worked for me: Amoonguss or any spore pokemon can be a very good teammate during the second phase of eternatus because putting it to sleep gives tour other mon plenty of time to set up or deal damage.

[@EcranPlasma]

the best sleeper for me was mega venusaur thanks to his bulk and thick fat providing a fire weakness

[@darfoz8807]

It usually has Lum berries tho

[@ezrilgames5675]

@@darfoz8807 It only has Lum berries if it steals them from you. Before the final fight you can transfer all your Lum berries to a Pokémon you don't plan on using to avoid this happening.

[@darfoz8807]

@@ezrilgames5675 u sure? i remember eternatus always holding lumberries

[@guillaumedormoy1599]

@@darfoz8807 Yes he is holding 1 berry so you have to make him use it

[@themathiasP]

I beat it. WHAT A FINAL FIGHT! It came down to a 50/50. It was down on its last health bar. Me with Ursaluna and a Tentacruel. Both ready to die in 1 hit. If he hits Ursaluna, I wipe. If he hits Tentacruel, I could win. He hits Tentacruel, I smash, I won. Loved it.

[@samuelbutler3332]

Flamigo TEARS through the early game. Carried me to my first wave 100.

[@smartpatrick8690]

THIS, a Flamigo dealt the final blow to the final boss for me

[@justcallmejay12]

Was gonna say if no one else would, with proper set up it'll even 1-2 shot the final boss

[@kebegee]

damn just used flamigo in my run and damn he didnt disappoint

[@Kaghtaviy]

True, this guy almost demolished my whole team at first, but then I managed to catch him and he didn't disappoint

[@sanshraysathyan5543]

Nah, lemme one up u here: I chose flamigo as my starter and had a pure power medicham in my party, I got lucky and got the dna splicer and fused flamigo and pure power medicham into an abomination with 175 attack. This thing one shot most mons in the late game and carried me so hard against eternatus 😭😭 (zen headbutt + twisted spoon + stab + pure power on a relatively fast mon is insane)

[@Neofire4739]

my tip: Fairy types are must have for rival battles(poplio is best water for it)

[@creeperEXplode42069]

AVERAGE POPPLIO W

[@44p4ul]

common popplio W

[@iseegreen5297]

Ivy at 147 is so devious dawg

[@ParrishT3]

ice ice ninetails baby. The best because it negates all dragon (rayquaza outrage spam) and uses Ice which is a 4x against that asshole and with her other dragons.

[@EasternStory]

@@iseegreen5297 aint she at 145

[@rossstrickland1722]

Seriously just grab any decent early game carry and drillbur, a good excadrill can solo most of the game including the rival fight as long as you get it in on the right Mon. Even does dumb damage to the 200 boss. Also great in doubles with any flying or lev Mon.

[@BorisTheGoose92]

Can confirm. Excadril saved my 195 battle. I SD'd and barely survived the attack to spam EQ for win.

[@TheLastWizardOfTheCentury-u7o]

Its passive is Sandstorm. Couple that with Sand rush and Excadrill becomes insane after a swords dance

[@rossstrickland1722]

@@BorisTheGoose92 Yep, swords dance once and it will kill any non boss mon in one hit and even many of those lol. He has bailed me out of many fights lol.

[@rossstrickland1722]

@@TheLastWizardOfTheCentury-u7o Yeah im dumb, I thought his passive was his other ability so you could run sand rush and force on him but needed sand still so i lowered his cost. Still need like 15 more candies for the passive. Got near perfect ivs, missing 1 def, and a sp def.

[@TheLastWizardOfTheCentury-u7o]

@rossstrickland1722 Ah lol. Yeah his passive is insane since you can have both sandstorm and sand rush

[@CheesySkye173]

8:26 did you know theres a splash text that says something along the lines of "save scumming is allowed/encouraged" or something along those lines edit: any fusion, the mon that is used as a base (ex: garganacl as fusee 1, jumpluff as fusee 2) you keep garganacl and all its moves DURING fusion, so if i taught the fused gargaluff salt cure, recover, iron def, and leech seed, and unfuse it, my garganacl will keep all those moves.

[@MunchingOrange]

Thanks to these tips I am now a PokeRogue pro. Haven't ate in 4 days, my wife refuses to talk me, and the bills are piling up... but I'm on Level 99,000 going strong. Thanks Callum!

[@Roenja89]

Biomes are not random though. On the Biomes page on the wiki, when you scroll down you have a full map available. With the in-game Map you can actually plan a path if you're looking for a specific Pokemon or type.

[@amiablereaper]

Yeah, and you can sometimes cycle through a few related biomes to give yourself even more chances to see certain mons or to hit rare biomes

[@jasonbarry3301]

Double kick and a bulk up or two is more than enough to sweep through all of classic without ever having to worry about sturdy. The actual problem with torchickis that without speed boost its shares a speed tier with a sack of bricks

[@justintsui2522]

Cool guide! Super helpful! I agree with pretty much all of it but there are a few things I think could be mentioned/elaborated: 1. Starter Pokemon: I tend to find that I tend to favour bulkier mons compared to frailer ones. Grass: I find the best grass starters to be meow and bulb. Bulb is bulk and has access to early sleep and leech seed which are very good moves. It can also Growth boost as well. The only thing I find lets it down is its middling speed prevents it from sweep and its poor type coverage outside of TMs. Meow doesn't really start cooking until 36, but when it evolves, it can annihilate things with Flower Trick. Flower Trick is pretty much the reason why I think Meow is the best starter to choose for a vanilla run since it ignore stat changes (including intimidate) and can consistent do 140 BP of damage. If you get a Grass tera on this as well, it'll do even more damage. Also, U turn is nice way to do some chip damage before switch as well as damaging grass and dark types. Grookey is pretty decent since it's a bulky mon with high attack but for whatever reason, I don't find Chikorita a bad choice. Early access to poison, healing and reflect plus razor leaf at level 6 is surprisingly decent. Fire: It's just Fuecoco, it's not even close. Torch Song is ridiculous. Scorbunny and char have strong forms for sure, but they are a bit squishy. Litten isn't a bad alternative, tho, because it's bulk and typing. For whatever reason, I find Fennekin decent as well. Maybe it's bc it has special bulk, in addition to being fast and strong? Water: Squirt is pretty good choice, not only does it have its powerful forms, but it's pretty bulky too. Sobble has G-Max but it's a bit too squishy for me personally. Primarina is pretty bulky and has access to the coveted Fairy type. It also hits really hard! Too bad Sparkling Aria hits your teammate in doubles. Personally, I think Mudkip is the best overall. Not only is it bulky, but it has a myriad of resistances and one weakness starting at level 16. Water and Ground are also great offensively too and rain is not too uncommon to run into, so if it gains its Mega form, it can take advantage of swift swim. 2. Item priority: There are three resources that are vital to keep high in order to have a successful run. Your mons HP, Exp and money in that order. As such, your priority should reflect that. Keeping your team relatively healthy is obviously the most important since if you lose a battle, you lose the run. Of course there's a balancing act of keeping your team healed up and saving money. You need to be able to assess how much healing your team needs in order to survive the upcoming battle. If you spend too much money on healing, you may not have enough money to spend on healing items later against tougher opponents. Secondly, EXP. If you don't actively choose Exp. boosters when ever you have the chance, you'll very quickly fall behind the level curve and your team will struggle in every battle due to the level disparity. Whenever possible, favour things like exp charms, candy jars, lures and rare candies so your team can keep up in later floors. When it's clear that you've collect enough charms to comfortable cap the level cap on the floor, you can stop prioritizing these items and go for other useful items. Then, the next priority is money. Spending money is the most guaranteed way to heal up your team which is important if your team was battered by a tough battle (usually the rival) or you're heading to a tough/boss fight with a weakened team. Nuggets (which scale in value based on floor) and Amulet Charms are big gets to keep you comfortable moneywise. Other items can be prioritizes based on context. Like this vid said, X items are great for prepping upcoming tough battles. TMs can be great to depending on the move and can bolster a mons effectiveness or cover a weakness or provide valuable support moves. Berries are another good choice to stack buffs on mons. I tend to like Sitrus berry (for healing), Lum berry (which protects status which is debilitating in this game) and later on Leppa berries (for high power, low PP moves). Other good options are the pinch berries. Salac, Petaya and Liechi in particular works well with low HP type boost moves like Overgrow or Swarm. Of course, permanent upgrades like the Rarity lock, IV scanner and Map are great as well if your afraid of folding immediately if you forgo some of the high priority items. See more in reply...

[@justintsui2522]

3. Experience groups*: I think a lot of people don't consider this too much for this game, I think it massively affects the early game where exp is hard to secure. I think that Medium Slow group is the mons to train for the early game with Medium Slow and Fast groups decent as well since they tend to require less Exp earlier on. Late game when exp can be secured easily then the exp groups don't matter as much. Mons like lax or gyara maybe powerful, but their slow exp gain may keep them underleveled for a long time. There are plenty of powerful mons in the exp groups above and they will have an easier time being leveled. Granted, take this with a grain of salt. I'm assume experience works the same as in the mainline games, but I haven't found any information confirming that it doesn't. It's possible that exp is standardized, in which case, disregard this. 4. Early Game fetches: Of course, early game should prioritize 1-3 carries, but having bodies to sack off in a pinch is never bad. If you don't want to use the FWG core you get at the start of the game, some strong alternate choices exist (for the early game at least). Meowth and Nymble has been gone over, but there are some other decent choices too. Any normal type with Fake Out like Skitty and Glameow can be decent choices. Bidoof with simple can set up Defense Curl and then later Curse/Amnesia easily later on. Zigzagoon has the pickup ability plus early access to headbutt. Wattrel just has good typing with Electric/Flying. Finally, Caterpie can evolve into Butterfree by floor 11. Compoundeyes Sleep Powder mean almost 100% accurate sleep, which is always useful, plus if you get it's GMax form, it can gain bulk which in conjunction with Sleep Powder, help it spam Quiver Dance and then sweep with Air Slash and Bug Buzz. Strong single stage mons are also a priority since they let you muscle through tough fights and can go toe to toe with other single stage mons from trainers which would be dangerous to your mostly unevolved team. 5. The Rival: Probably the most dangerous battles in the game outside of the final boss. Knowing when they spawn and making sure your team is healthy enough to fight them is vital. They are often run killers. They switch often so double switching and hitting the enemy with super effective coverage moves are an effective strategy. Using pivot moves on a predicted switch is great too since switching goes first and you can see what the rival pivoted into and choose the appropriate mon. The rival will have one starter and one regional bird. I find that Staraptor tends to be the hardest to deal with due to intimidate. Be sure to have money saved up before the battle too, as your team may be severely weakened and needs healing items to carry the run. Finally, be sure to have Flying/Dragon resist as later on, Ray will be tough to defeat. Steel and Fairy types are great choices and anything Ice is good to fire on its quad weakness. If you can lock it into Outrage, your Steel/Fairy type can have a turn or two of free setup before Ray can act again. 6. Strong Moves: Sleep Moves, Leech Seed, Healing Moves and Boosting moves but those already mentioned. Other moves that are useful include status moves (tic damage is good on bosses, stat drops are great, burn can cripple any physical attack boss) though look out for Lum Berries, reflect and light screen are great for softening the damage for teammates switching in and stat debuffs are great to weaken tough enemies. I personally enjoy Attack and Special Attack moves like Snarl, Charm and Breaking Swipes as well as Speed drop moves if I don't have access to paralysis or fighting an electric type such as Icy Wind. Sucker Punch is just a base 70 priority move in this game and First Impressions is a strong starting move. Covet and Thief can steal enemy items which is good. 7. Having a strong defensive core: Later in the game, when your exp. gains are secure and your team is set, it is important have a team that have strong defensive synergy as the game will toss out a variety of strong mons with different types which will require your mons to be able to switch into powerful moves of all types and being able to resist them will mean your team will less damaged for the next round and less healing resources and money needs to be spent, and your mons are less likely to die and your less likely to be swept. 8. Types to look out for: Grass Types: Oddly enough, I find Grass to be really useful type in this game. Being able switch into Water and Ground types and hit them super effective is really good but they are also immune to powdered moves as well as having access to strong moves like Leech Seed, Synthesis, Sleep Powder and Spore. Also, a lot of biomes have predominantly water and ground/rock types, plus it's not uncommon for it to be raining in these biomes. That means a Grass type can more easily switch into dangerous rain boosted attacks and hit back for super effective damage. Water Types: There's a lot of biomes that house Rock and Ground types and it resists Steel types which is nice. It can also use rain to boost in its moves but most mons you'll run into are most likely water types too so... Steel Types: Resist a lot of types and can cover for a lot of defensive holes, also tends to be bulky, which is nice for switching into. Bulky steels pair well with Curse. Of course, it resist Ray and Eternatus which is huge. Immune to Poison is a nice bonus. Fairy Types: Strong type in general. Tends to have strong special attackers. Immune to Dragon. Strong into Ray if they can resist Dragon Ascent. Ghost Types: Lacks defensive synergy so it can risky to use on a team that is defensively lacking but a terrific offensive type. Ghost is only resisted by normal and dark. Often has access to Will-o-wisp which is a great move. 9. Look at the top right corner: Look at the items the enemy mon is holding, especially if it's a boss or trainer mon and especially at higher levels, be sure to check what items will proc and give what effects. You don't want accidentally proc a bunch of pinch berries on a low health boss and get swept. 10. Take a break: Unless you're use to doing intense runs for hours without losing focus and especially if you're getting tilted, take a break. Take the time to relax and recuperate before returning to the run. One careless mistake can spell doom for the entire run after all. 11. Don't give up: Even if you're in a tough situation, down to your last mon, underleveled, low HP and no money, don't give up. The RNG may bless you and give you weaker enemies, good items or good RNG during your battles to let you claw your way back. My first run, there was a good ~15 floors where I only had Meowscarda left and no money, but Meow carried and was able to build enough money to revive/replace my team. That's probably all I can think of. Of course, it's just my opinion and I could be totally wrong (especially 3) and sub optimal, but at the very least, I hope this helpful to newcomers!

[@igotdatjuice_2472]

@@justintsui2522 thank you this is very helpful and insightful I never gave up i will cheese the game by refreshing my run when going thru elite members and stuff and id always win them with my team cus i will practice what pokemon they switch in I feel like ppl should do that instead of doing it all over again and accept defeat cus believe me I could’ve lost lost of times but bc i was smart enough to reload the website I won my battles wish me luck tho cus Im close to facing of enternius

[@CedugoBoku-kr6yk]

This deserves top comment, appreciate this fr

[@Rahat7z]

Omggg dudeee you the besssttt

[@xxhobocatxx2869]

I finally won my first classic run today with Hisuian Typhlosion, Meowscarada, Shiny Ursuluna, Primarina, Alakazam, (never found the mega stone) and Garganacl. Meowscarada and Hisuian Typhlosion were definitely the mvps of the run. Flower trick and eruption usually one shotted most wild pokemon. Also shout out to Garganacl. I would have never beat Rayquaza and Eternatus without his salt cure.

[@MegaDarkness5000]

A good mon that can help with the final battle is slowbro, don't sleep on the bro.

[@johnryu2317]

Correct

[@VilasNil]

I was Unaware that it would work so well against him

[@KhanMann66]

I don’t have slowbro

[@kdiffin]

How

[@niamations2582]

Alr bro, I might have to use the bro that I have been sleeping on. Bro.

[@Nat-ff8pq]

Id like to mention some of the best starter starter pokemon (regular starters) for the hardest fights in the game. As Callum said, Venusaur is very good. Leech seed support and access to powder moves and synthesis gives Venusaur great longevity. Skeledirge is great with its bulk and torch song (and every reason said in the video). Swampert is great and has a wide movepool with coverage like Rock slide which can help against Rayquaza. (With the egg move Roost or without) I think Empoleon is a great starter. Its water/steel typing gives it a lot of resistances and an immunity. Its type perfectly counters both Eternatus and Rayquaza. It gets Brine and Aqua jet to pick off weakened pokemon, it even gets swords dance by level up if you want to run a physical set with moves like wave crash, drill peck, and metal claw (which isnt terrible in Pokerogue).

[@MrMariosonicman]

1 other tip for second phase eternatus, while it is a double battle, he doesnt have any spread moves, so you dont need to worry about having 2 pokemon weak to his moves at the same time since one of them can safely pull a move off.

[@burstvgc]

One thing mentioned is that there's no reason to revert your mega mons. I think there's 2 mons actually worth reverting temporarily. Those being gyarados and mawile. Why? Immunities and intimidate. These mons can abuse their base form immunities and intimidate cycle boss mons before mega evolving to actually take them out.

[@aqwkingchampion13]

I had one run that ended on the first rayquaza fight, and while it was doomed no matter how I played it, reverting my Mega Charizard X to a normal Charizard gave me a slightly better outcome due to opponent move choices in the first couple rounds. It wasn’t by much, and I still got swept by everything else, but I was only ever able to drop the Rayquaza when I had a normal charizard, not X.

[@Pootythief]

Been playing this game for a couple weeks now, it’s been so much fun and a great break from mainline Pokémon games or ROMhacks. I’ve only gotten to eternatus once and wasn’t able to beat him. This video helped answer some questions and makes me feel even better about hatching a shiny, jolly bulbasaur w/ giga drain 😊

[@prestinryan5373]

Saying it because I haven't seen anyone talking about it. I LOVE Basculin/Basculegion. It is super strong early with Adaptability and still hits super hard late with Wave Crash, Aqua Jet, Last Repects. Absolutely love that mon

[@justcallmejay12]

My biggest tip is, honestly, just keep trying new things! Pretty much any mon can be useful with the right moveset and careful application of items and stat boosts. For example, when I finally beat my first run it was with a shiny Vivillon. It didn't have it's Passive to buff it but it was pulling its weight anyway with Protect/Life Dew/Reflect. That's a mon that, quite frankly, I never would have looked twice at before this game. You really just gotta be patient and persistent.

[@kebegee]

can approve since my jumpluff that started as my starter has been on my side till I lost on 145

[@Dukstless]

unfortunately Vivillon now has Moonblast in place of Life Dew because imagine having a fast healer lmao

[@Shindro69]

it is normal that early runs doesnt go more than 35 floors?

[@Dukstless]

@@Shindro69 There are some possible chokepoints if you don't have decent team and/or luck with items.

[@justcallmejay12]

@@Shindro69 Unfortunately yeah, until you're able to get better mons and some luck in shops/encounters you're gonna have a hell of time making it past the 20s. Keep catching mons you think will be useful for their candies, hatch eggs whenever you get vouchers for them, and remember that you CAN in fact run from most bosses if they're gonna wipe you (at the cost of the potential EXP)

[@sfasef1338]

Beaten classic 15/20 times already, best starters to run with no egg moves and IVs are easilly turtwig (grass ground), fuecocco (fire ghost) and popplio (water fairy). Popplio is invaluable in rounds 145 and 195, and can be very very useful for 200 aswell (especially if you can get bouncing bubble)

[@shahzarsshowshow4441]

thanks for the advice trying differen starter combos to beat calssic

[@sfasef1338]

@shahzarsshowshow4441 definitely popplio is a must. Been running froakie too with battle bond which has been amazing aswell, especially with the dark typing later too, but if you have mewtwo it's a no brainer as mega mewtwo-y is unbelievably powerful

[@jasondahfolf4325]

Small tip about type effectiveness items, they typically only drop when you have a mon that eventually becomes that type. In my experience, you will not get a useless item even when stealing

[@MartyrPandaGaming]

Take the Map the moment it is offered. This can lead to you filling your team out with a specific pokémon early or taking a route that you can easily beat. The earlier, the better, but after a certain point it doesn't have as much valuem

[@MythicAce218]

imo it always has avlue since you can pick stages you can clear with ease. which my late game is important

[@Delonto]

Another thing I'd like to point out on Meowth that makes it good is access to Payday, which while not much is certainly a nice form of passive money (Enough to cover potions pretty well in the early game)

[@MegaManNetworkOfCourse]

As well as early fake out and technician

[@creeperEXplode42069]

13:30 Torterra leech stall carried me through eternatus

[@ShwackerSwag]

My tip/checklist for every Classic run: (SPOILERS) -1 Setup sweeper with an ice move for the wave 195 Rayquaza. Gyarados is an easily accessible one early on with access to Dragon Dance, Ice Fang, & gets a mega evolution. -Steel primary type + Dachsbun in party. If you get lucky and find a DNA splicer in your run... you automatically wall wave 200 eternatus until it's moveset changes in the future. You have immunity to it's Poison, Dragon, & Fire moves. -1 pokemon with either leech seed or salt cure . Sturdy Garganacl is best since it guarantees the chip damage. Venusaur another good option since it has access to both Gmax form & Mega depending on items you get

[@jvstsomedog]

I started playing this awesome game last night and got a god run and only need to clear 10 more stages I got to Champion Lance and we were taking each others mons out one after another, flying in and out of combat as their comrades fell to the way side. It was down to 4 mons; Lance with his signature Dragonite as well as Kingler, while I had Toxapex and the spliced Mega Salaknight (Salamance, Corviknight). The Dragonite wore down my mons but was ultimately taken out from the big stall that is Toxapex. But it wasnt enough, because what came next would stay in my head rent free for the next 2 to 3 hours. Lance throws in his Kingler and immediately cuts down Toxapex with guillotine. Ok. They were gonna get one eventually. I throw in Salaknight with the intention to flinch out the Kingler with iron head, but without hesitation, Salaknight is struck down by a second guillotine. I sat there in disbelief. As the menu music began to play I leaned back into my chair, thinking about what I could have done differently. In reality there wasn't anything that could be done. "Guess it just wasn't meant to be" I said as I closed my browser.

[@ryanfitzpatrick7041]

My starter choices have been Fennekin, Popplio, and I try to get a steel type. It’s easy to cycle around the fairy and steel against eternatus at the end. Delphox is so strong.

[@penguinsarecool6357]

Could use tinkaton for both

[@Killer_Queen_310]

I got so lucky with delphox that , I got its egg move torch song and on the way I found stored power and multi-lens. So broken it carried me till first 100 stages .

[@ivorycxxxx]

I’m a massive no guard Cinderace advocate. I love Cinderace, and with trop kick as an egg move covering water, then High Jump Kick and Pyro Ball never missing, it’s just a goated choice.

[@ThornxRoses]

Tip because I haven't seen people talk about this mon: Bibarel. It doesn't have a lot of stats but it IS usable. Yawn+super fang+ unaware +headbutt+ other move is really good into etern because Bibarel often has just enough stats to tank one or two hits from it. Bibarel isn't amazing and you shouldn't be gunning for it but if you have a shiny version like I do then you can try and fit it on as a 2 point mon, especially if you're starting out with a hypercarry legendary as your other starter.

[@joshmcdonald1141]

Great vid so far, I’ve been obsessed with this game for about a week now and your channel is one of the only ones consistently posting it.

[@Aka60thChip]

Mudkip learning a fighting and rock type move early on is amazing for early game with all the normal and grass types you'll encounter

[@magicalgirllaurie]

I beat classic mode starting with Furfrou, Mudkip and Starly. Furfrou destroys the early game, and Mudkip and Starly are both really good upon their second evolutions. Furfrou eventually got replaced but Mega Swampert and Staraptor were amazing till the end.

[@Tyyrannical]

Excadrill is mega op with one swords dance you pretty much one shot everything

[@lux_less]

I will say, if someone is struggling with clearing classic mode but have gotten a decent drilbur, that's a great 'mon once you get it to Excadrill. Swords dance + Rapid spin on the first couple pokemon every stat reset and you can easily sweep through things with EQ and Iron Head. I destroyed over half of the final boss of classic mode's hp with just my Excadrill. Easily carried me through classic mode.

[@Michael-kw1mz]

I've got a run going with one of my starters I chose being flamigo. One stage flying fighting puts in work.

[@GunSpyEnthusiast]

Step one: get moweth Step two: get it to level 12 Step three: it's payday fella's Step four: profit

[@ferretsuuu]

don't forget to get it technician so payday hits harder c:

[@eddienieveslugo9666]

Also, second stage eternatus can steal items, and if one of your pokémon has a reviver seed, it can steal it, so when you finally kill it, it will just revive again at half health with its stats reset

[@grapejuisewhizzard7471]

Rolled a Heatran with the egg move Torch Song. Carried the entire run with DD Gyarados

[@Regiultima]

I had an insane run on my first Classic Mode run with Calyrex-S (a massive carry), Excadrill, Talonflame, Meowscarada, Aegislash, and Okidogi.

[@robby1766]

I think another good move to have is Haze. Bosses get stat boosts after an hp bar gets depleted and trainers spam berries. Haze will reset all their stat boosts.

[@FoxyBlack2247]

For a Normal Type inclusion, Meowth/Persian are amazing for the long run, especially with Technician. Pay Day's pay output is boosted in this game, so it's easy to pile up money, as long as you avoid Normal's resistances/immunities.

[@tieegg]

Your starter tip immediately doubled my results. I was struggling in mid 20s and now I'm at 30 and still going strong. Bulbasaur is my distrupter and capture pokemon, so much easier than when I was picking 2 water starters.

[@marcspencer5994]

Silk Scarf Pheromosa with Rapid Spin carried me so hard the first time I passed floor 100. That Rayquaza still shredded me but still such a great combo

[@SennySPM]

If you get super lucky to find a Splicer and you have an Aegislash (or any other good primary Steel type) and a Dachsbun, fuse those together to get a Steel/Fairy type with Well-Baked Body and just be completely immune to anything Eternatus would want to hit you with!

[@timurtheking]

best way to win: have a pickup pokemon, catch a legendary to carry you and have a klefkei (walls dragons)

[@icedoutaidan3318]

i’ve been starting with a duraludon who is an absolute beast and solos literally everything and then i have a skill link shelder and just set up shell smash and then spam icicle spears razor shell or rock blast and usually sweeps everything especially that mega rayquaza. theres also a rare item that i got one time which doubled the amount of times a pokemon’s moves hit so i put it on my skill link cloyster and it made it hit 10 rock blasts or icicle spears guaranteed

[@Killer_Queen_310]

Multi-lens you mean for the item ig

[@spookymoblin8888]

I got SUPER lucky to get a Water Fighting Tauros as a starter and it WRECKS early floors. Level 13 Double Kick does work against all the early Normals

[@theCOOLguy1763]

the biggest tip I can give for classic is use Mawhile and protect it at all cost this is because Mawhile destroys eternatus and rayquaza, because of its over powered type combonation, I'm pretty sure its immune to all of Eternatus moves and is immune or resist all of rayquaza moves. The only problem is that its not too good against the rest of rivals team, so you have to protect it. Overall, if your struggling with early game classic then dont use mawhile, but late game, mawhile is really good

[@GodofGoblins]

Eternatus second form has flamethrower which is neutral. With Stat buffs it can one shot it, so it's something to look out for. One flamethrower was enough to destroy my tinkaton who is also steel fairy.

[@igotdatjuice_2472]

What area u can find mawhile?

[@zoruasnivy]

This game is reviving my love for Pokemon, it feels like it respects how disgustingly OP you can get. Super super fun.

[@theregularterrarian3933]

cool to see you posting all these guides for PokeRogue, hopefully this will help more people get into it

[@teaturtlesuffers]

Tried using Revavroom, and dayum. Its not great early game with its low accuracy moves, but if you get some shift gears in once its evolved, it can ohko a ton of pokemon. It swept the elite four, and almost all of Ivy's pokemon except rayquaza, who just needed to be hit with a first impression afterwards. (no gholdengo on that run)

[@Gang-Amai]

wouldn't recommend incineroar to a complete newb lol its broken in vgc because it's bulky, has a nice type combo, and most importantly fake out + parting shot and both of these are egg moves.

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

Something useful especially when you have them as starters is Aegislash and Exacdrill. Steel + another type with an immunity is really useful, and Aegislash with Shadow Sneak, Iron Head, King's Shield, and Aerial Ace was on my first winning team. But if you can get Doublade to level 56 it gets Sacred Sword which is way better then Aerial Ace. Also its egg moves are insane. In fact look at what Pokemon you've gotten egg moves for, Swoobat was used on my winning run because it had- wait they changed Mystic Power and Esper Wing to Quiver Dance and Stored power... Oh well

[@kleddiecute]

BRO i was just watching your best ways to unlock passives video and i thought man i could use a new pokerogue video AND IT JUST APPEARED!

[@cryo7847]

I ended up beating it blind on my first run, mostly due to luck. I started with Turtwig, Charmander and Mudkip, though ended up releasing Mudkip later on. Torterra's tanky stats and Leech Seed + Synthsis as well as Earthquake proved extremely useful, and Charizard's access to mega forms + G-max plus powerful Fire and Flying special attacks made him a perfect pair, I ended up getting him G-maxed later. Mid run I caught Kartana, with its Beast Boost and massive type coverage completely cleaning up everything else. From there, Snorlax and Kilowattrel finished off my team, Snorlax's extreme bulkiness, Yawn, Body Slam and Rest made it incredible for dealing with boss pokemon (especially those last few bosses!!!!) while Kilowattrel had Volt Switch and Discharge plus very high Speed helping me deal with potential sweeper threats. Overall I was shocked to win in one go, but luck and strategy were both on my side! Gonna keep playing and try to get even stronger starters now.

[@lykurato]

Accidentally caught a Partner Pikachu, little did I know it carries me to the end

[@SeedSuikoden]

I like how you do a run and explain everything. Also the idea behind why you would or would not use or buy an item

[@JoshuaVang-f2l]

THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS VIDEO WAS USEFUL

[@NovaSolarsis835]

My big tip is probably get an Aegislash. Aegislash is one of the most consistent counters to the 2 most threatening pokemon in the game, which will always be there on floors 195 and 200. Super tanky, super powerful, amazing typing to switch with, invaluable team member. Ive probably beaten classic 6 times and every time Ive gotten an Aegislash its gone to the end of the game and won.

[@dotmadhack]

Meowth with technician is a crazy early game killer, if fake out doesn't kill the opposing pokemon a payday or bite will.

[@princexarion8511]

Frillish and duraludon pretty great starting out too guys

[@creeperEXplode42069]

38:33 Does this also count higher iv’s? I’m pretty sure it does but I’m not sure.

[@TheSamOnYT]

Decdueye and Raging Bolt is an insane combo

[@cosmix9013]

a good pokémon for rival and boss is whimsicott, leech seed for boss and fairy to resistant mega ray, but very rng heavy bc u need sunstone and memory mushroom to complete set

[@Bubbly_Cloud]

this helped me so much getting started thanks :)

[@supierre3299]

random tip: if you ever plan on using some leftover, prepare some countermeasure since in classic ethernatus have an item that steal each turn one of your active pokemon item (leftover x3 hit me so hard) or generally just watch out for what item you plan to bring in the final fight

[@KururuJi]

Skill Link is a VERY GOOD ability for killing bosses. I got lucky and had Heracross as starter, and then Mega Heracross became a killing machine. Like, took down first form in one move.

[@VilasNil]

Another interesting thing, Seismic Toss and similar moves that deal as much damage as the users level are great against Eternatus, as they ignore defense boosts. Hadn't it been for that random Pinsir with Seismic Toss I caught right at the end, I would've lost

[@FunnyWahooMan]

Sunkern is surprisingly useful for a 1 cost if you get some of its egg moves. Spore and Sappy Seed at 1 cost, plus Sappy Seed can bypass grass type's leech seed immunity. It might even be busted if you get the passive ability, you could use chlorophyll + drought to get a fast spore off. I think if you can get a primary steel type and Dachsbun, you can fuse them to create a steel/fairy with well-baked body, the final boss cannot touch it at all. But the DNA splicer is super rare and the chances of having a steel/something and Dachsbun when you get it are slim unless you specifically aim for the combo, so meh.

[@blazie42069]

Hey Cal, Primarina is also a stupid good starter choice. Punk rock is super good for it, as if you manage to get the combination of liquid voice and boomburst, you have one of the strongest moves in the game. Even if you don't run that combo, water/fairy is fantastic and Primarina does not disappoint, especially since it even gets calm mind

[@microwavedpizza]

Primarina also gets Torch Song as an egg move. Insane.

[@xAshuriix]

Cal, you're some kind of god. Watching your tips and advice helped me beat my first daily run and get to level 80 in classic mode for the first time! Fucking love your content, man, keep at it.

[@rajpatil3808]

I am newbie with only couple runs but i find combee so great , the constant supply of more money early give access to free potions and have a safe journey

[@flamingythermit314]

This might be slightly late but its worth saying. Once you get a couple good attempts undet your belt I highly recommend a couple things 1. Steel and fighting types are very strong early game. They match up well against most of the first like 70+ floors and are typically just strong pokemon 2. Don't be afraid to use a party slot on a support pokemon. My best run so far had an orbeetle that would set screens and set up with calm minds. Light screen+ reflect are very good to have. Klefki is another very good screen setter 3. Single stage mons are gonna make the start alot more consistent. I've really grown to like Duralodon and P-Taurus. Especially Dura, if you can manage to evolve it archalodon with stamina is an absolute beast.

[@GodofGoblins]

Be mindful of the items you pick up as you approach eternatus. I passed up revive seeds, shell bell and leftovers because since eternatus steals items, it can make him a God. If you really know what you are doing, go for it. But just keep that in mind

[@AmberDragonair]

Just beat classic mode for my first time using skeledirge, venusaur and blastoise, thanks so much for the advice callum!

[@Rykarie]

Anyone struggling with Eternatus just use Chancey. Didnt use him once for any other battle other than soloing Eternatus by PP stalling him out so Eternatus can only use cosmic power / dragon dance. Moveset: Soft boiled Light screen ( Carrying PP restore berry) Also, Scatterbug is probably the strongest and cheapest starter option, when evolved into vivillon spamming hurricanes is super strong, especially with: Quiver dance Sleep powder Hurricane Bug buzz

[@WheatOatmeal]

I haven't watched the whole video yet, but personally i use Flamigo and Abra as starters, Flamigo has a really good typing for early game and even carries over to late game, while Abra is super good later on

[@liamblack5]

(Just watched until Min 17, so far.) I just began Pokerogue (9h playtime, 10 classic games) and confirm your advise to focus to level 1-2 pokemon first, or in my humble opinion even my 2-3 starter. I found the beginning pretty harsh, but I pretty early came to a point where my 3 pokemon were max level at the end stage (30, 40, ...). But what I actually want to say is: When you still want to capture pokemon, which you don't want to level though: capture them, and release them in the next battle. Your experience will get divided only on your 3 pokemon you want. I think at 40 or 50 I got a 4th pokemon, that too reached max level for the boss stage. Don't know if you mentioned somewhere. Worked great for me so far. After failing at floor 8 several times in a row it helped, because I tried to level all pokemon I cought so far. Guess they were under-leveled. I suddenly am at floor 91 now. I even captured the last boss which was 3 level above all my other pokemon. So I have 5 now. Let's see how it goes. And thank you for your videos. It helped a lot understand some mechanics of the game.

[@arthurpprado]

Speaking of Leech Seed, don't sleep on Sappy Seed. It's a really powerful grass-type attack and has Leech Seed as a secondary effect. Because of that, it can force Leech Seed into Pokémon that wouldn't be affected by the move Leech Seed. I've been using a Chesnaught with Sappy Seed and it's been helping him stay alive and tank a ton of moves, including super effective attacks

[@UprisenGaming]

READ THIS BEFORE BEATING CLASSIC MODE: I beat Classic Mode for the first time last night and was insanely happy about it, just to wake up to my progress being set back to somewhere before I beat it with my completion save still being gone! I don't know what exactly caused this but I'm heartbroken so here are the things I did after I beat the game that you should remember when beating it yourself: - do NOT load a Classic Mode save of a run you started before the one you beat - do NOT spend your vouchers on eggs without starting a new run afterwards - I highly recommend you start a new run, preferrably in Endless Mode (or both modes honestly, better safe than sorry) and at least beat the first battle It did thankfully save my super lucky Meloetta and Latias catches but everything after round 180 seems to be lost :( Was looking forward to grinding Endless Mode today but now I'll probably end up not being able to beat Classic Mode for a week again so I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else!

[@MKCyborg]

Do you think we'll be getting an updated version of this guide that'll focus on the Evil Teams update? I know the second Leader fight can be another real difficulty spike, what with the guaranteed legendary and paradox pokemon, among other things

[@nathanbrill3412]

Pokerouge has given me a whole new level of respect for zigzagoon/linoone because of pickup

[@smackjack78]

On my 3rd run, I beat classic. If I can recommend some things, this one might be obvious, but Pokémon w/ good stats and some type synergy. From my run, Ursaluna eats up hits like it’s nothing, Annihilape punches holes through everything, and most starters can clean up fights as long as they’re fast. I had Delphox and Samurott-H, and they worked perfectly. You don’t need gimmick forms to win, but just bring some generally good Pokemon. If you can encounter a Tinkaton, CATCH IT! It’s basically a slow win button against a lot of tougher dragons. Lastly, priority is pretty helpful, and Raichu gets a damn good move called Zippy Zap. Physical, Priority, and it always crits! I thought Raichu would be a temp teammate, but it stuck w/ me to the end of the run because of that one move

[@drabbitzgo2377]

Gyarados was a literal godsend for my first run. Great bulk, decent speed, phenomenal Attack, and if you can get Dragon Dance, you’ve won the game already.

[@Solvum]

When you do your literal first run you have access to every Pokémon’s hidden abilities.

[@raymondfan2402]

I've been using fuecoco, sprigatito, and magikarp starting trio. I get mega gyarados about 75% of my runs and when I do it's a guaranteed win. Even without mega it's still pretty easy to win. Being able to set up with all 3 mons makes it easy to sweep thru most of the game.

[@alexbale6592]

They’re such good advices. Thank you man !

[@suitwo]

For me I would say Bulbasaur, Piplup and Fuecoco. In runs in general leech seed is fantastic, and of the grass starters I think Venusaur is by far the best at using it plus there's always the option to get it mega or dynamax. Skeledirge goes without saying as being fantastic, with probably the easiest to setup sweeps with thanks to torch song, and that ghost type gives it a lot of good immunities. Empoleons typing is just about perfect against a lot of the tough dragons like Eternatus and Rayquqza which you badly need on teams. I would also give a shout out to Fenekin as mystical flare all but guarantees Eternatus is a walk in the park, plus it has torch song as an egg move so it can act as both a support and a sweeper.

[@GeorgeTheIdiotINC]

Couple question 1. can you have multiple mega at the same time 2. if you have a couple Pokémon that do mega should you prioritise a team of mega Pokémon or have a mix of mega and dynamax 3. Can I fuse shinnies so they take up less space, I have a couple but most are god awful Pokémon so don't want them wasting up my slots on the team 4. will Pokémon in the wild have the pkrs, like if I were to find a bagon randomly will they still have the exp boost?

[@the_vine_queen]

I usually struggle pretty bad with the early game, until I picked up a Meowth with Technician and Fake Out. It was great as a lead into wild pokemon since I could bring them down to below 50% and flinch turn one and then throw a ball the next turn. It also learns Pay Day pretty early on which can get you tons of extra money!

[@rakurai4953]

I love using Fuecoco because of learning Incinerate at level 15 or 16 so right before the level cap. That move hits both enemies on the enemy's side of the field but not your ally and is super good. Duraladon is also a good starter because it only costs 5 points for it being as strong as it is and, as long as you get lucky, you can get the Sheet Metal pretty early on for Stamina Archaluadon for crazy defenses.

[@hdb5369]

If you can manage to get a Mudbray, it will TEAR through the first 100-120 floors, especially if you can get egg moves on it. First run i beat the game with, I used Stamina + Iron Defense + Body Press = for an instant one shot on most important fights, and usually a solid 2 shot by floor 120+

[@Brogie_21]

I mostly play on mobile, and because of that browser just randomly refreshes all the time. So whether I like it or not I have to redo long battles a lot

[@deltaphazon4688]

As someone who literally just beat the classic mode, plan for the Rayquaza at the end and bring someone with Leech Seed and Will-o-wisp. My final team was Magnezone, Mega Venusaur, Tinkaton, Duskinor, Drapion and Siesmitoad though I used a Lokix all the way til the final 30 floors. If you can get so lucky, Venusaur and Magnemite get Giga Drain and Paraboltic Charge from egg moves respectively which helps a ton, especially with the lucky heart item that boosts healing from moves and also Leech Seed by 10%. Honestly, if you have DOT then the penultimate fight is harder than the final fight so it's probably better to prepare for the rival if you have them. Just make sure to have a hard hitting Electric, Ice or Fairy type attack and an actual Fairy type to wall Ray. Your rivals pokemon are random for the most part. I got stuck having to deal with Dracozolt and Blissy for example. If you don't have good DOT then whatever can handle Ray should in theory be able to handle the final boss anyway. For starter choices after you've built up eggs and stuff then you should have a healthy selection. I like Magnemite since it's a strong steel type that walls the entire first 20 floors. You always go from town to plains in classic so it's a lot of normal, flying and bug types with the possibility of Cilan or Cress as Gym Leaders on Floor 20. For the early game, grab a starter that can get you through that easier. After floor 20, you can go either randomly or chose to go depending on your luck with maps to three different areas so start planning teams after the rival fight on floor 25 so you can see how their team is looking and react accordingly. Do what you think you need to. Just try and avoid a glaring weakness. I had a major fire weakness that the rival didn't exploit but Crispin sure as hell did when I hit the Elite Four. Oh, and most importantly, save scum. Save scum to hell and back. The RNG doesn't change so, after a while, you can figure out a "script" that can take you through a good portion of any fight that isn't impossible and if you've gotten to floor 195 then it's not impossible. Just don't give up and you can find that path to victory.

[@Youknowmikekhan]

One of these to beat endless would be sick

[@jonathangillooly9361]

The best runs I’ve had have been one of the daily pokerus pokemon, skitty and a swords dance zubat. Normalize skitty or technician meowth carry early game until you get some good moves on zubat and pokerus helps you turn it into a crobat almost immediately after it becomes a golbat. It’s got good coverage, stat changes don’t go away between most fights and it can carry for most of a run. It gets wind rider as a passive so it becomes immune to a lot of moves and gets free attack buffs from them.