My proposed solution is to codify orbs to amplify status-based abilities. While wielding an orb and suffering from its status, a Pokemon should ideally receive an additional 1-2 BAP increase from Guts/Flare Boost and/or recover 1-2 more HPPA from Poison Heal. This compensates for the items' lack of immediate use and the degenerate strategies required to maintain their benefits in common matchups, and gives players a better incentive to select these niche items. Given the linear game plan of status abusers and the plentiful counter play to their abilities, I believe that such a buff to the Orbs is completely justified, and doing so will positively impact the metagame by improving the viability of several unappealing Pokemon.
Completely agreed.
Flame Orb: At the end of each action, the holder is burned. If the holder is currently burned due to this item's effect, it cannot receive any other major status effect. The holder gains two (2) additional BAP on attacks that are affected by Guts or Flare Boost.
Toxic Orb: At the end of each action, the holder is badly poisoned. If the holder is currently badly poisoned due to this item's effect, it cannot receive any other major status effect. The holder gains two (2) additional BAP on attacks that are affected by Toxic Boost. The holder heals one (1) additional HP from Poison Heal at the end of each action.
Here's some full writeups of those proposed buffs. I'm being a little cautious on Poison Heal for two reasons: there was discussion in Discord of potentially buffing Poison Heal to be 3hp/a naturally, and passive recovery in this form could be really strong just in how difficult it is to remove. If we do decide to keep Poison Heal as is at 2hp/a, I'd be very open to extending Toxic Orb's buff to +2hp/a, maintaining the same total as now. I'm not sure if anything deserves to have 5hp/a as passive healing quite yet.
======
Rework? proposal... I think. Not sure if this is directly a nerf or a buff, but I know it changes the purpose/role of the item.
[Type] Gem: Type: Consumable | Trigger: Command - Syntax (Attack [GEM]) | Uses:
Two | When using a [Type]-type Attack, this may be activated. When activated, increases the BAP of the attack by
five (5).
Currently, Type Gems are 3 BAP per activation with 5 activations. This, while numerically sound, is basically close to a direct overlap with the type-boosting items
Charcoal: +4 / +8 / +12 / +16 / +20
Fire Gem (N): +3 / +6 / +9 / +12 / +15
Fire Gem (SE): +4.5 / +9 / 13.5 / +18 / +22.5
A Gem currently only has benefits over a type item currently if you can hold an SE matchup the whole time, and the benefit is
very marginal. Now, here's numbers with the proposed rework
Charcoal: +4 / +8 / +12 / +16 / +20
Fire Gem (N): +5 / +10 / +10 / +10 / +10
Fire Gem (SE): +7.5 / +15 / +15 / +15 / +15
The difference here is quite clear. Charcoal performs better over the long term, outpacing SE usage of the gem after 4 actions, but the Type Gem is
significantly more powerful in the short term. This gives Type Gems a reason to actual exist as items beyond "well I need to enable Acrobatics/Unburden and I really want a Type Booster." If you don't think a favorable matchup will last long, or you just
need that bonus pressure, or maybe you're just worried about Knock Off and co. completely stifling your potential item value, the Type Gem provides a strong burst of value.