Resource Simple Questions/Simple Answers: Random Battles Edition

In RBs, How do I pick the best/most effective move during a game? I've been having trouble trying to see which moves would be effective towards the opposing pokemon if they are not weak against it. Thank you!
2nd Question: Do you always have to look at BP(Base Power) to determine how much damage you will deal?
 
2nd Question: Do you always have to look at BP(Base Power) to determine how much damage you will deal?
I recomend to use the damage calculator typing "/rcalc"


In RBs, How do I pick the best/most effective move during a game? I've been having trouble trying to see which moves would be effective towards the opposing pokemon if they are not weak against it. Thank you!
I recomend u to see ur opponent team first, check how much time it take to select a move(so yes a i recomend activate timer) and use calc to see all the possible damages u can deal with ur mon, once u know more than 3 mons u can do risky plays (take in consideration that this is my opinion and should not take as the only answer, btw gl with ladder!)
 
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I recomend to use the damage calculator typing "/rcalc"



I recomend u to see ur opponent team first, check how much time it take to select a move(so yes a i recomend activate timer) and use calc to see all the possible damages u can deal with ur mon, once u know more than 3 mons u can do risky plays (take in consideration that this is my opinion and should not take as the only answer, btw gl with ladder!)
Thank you for responding! Though for my first question about how to select the best move, your answer didn't quite make much sense to me. I can't see my opponents team in Random Battles until they have switched it out. Is that what you meant?
 

Celever

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Thank you for responding! Though for my first question about how to select the best move, your answer didn't quite make much sense to me. I can't see my opponents team in Random Battles until they have switched it out. Is that what you meant?
At the start of the battle you should attempt to force your opponent to switch frequently by applying pressure to their Pokémon. This forces them to reveal their team to you, giving you information with which to start making riskier plays. Setting up and trying to sweep, for example, is usually not advised until you know at least most of the opponent’s team in case they have a counter.
 
At the start of the battle you should attempt to force your opponent to switch frequently by applying pressure to their Pokémon. This forces them to reveal their team to you, giving you information with which to start making riskier plays. Setting up and trying to sweep, for example, is usually not advised until you know at least most of the opponent’s team in case they have a counter.
Oh ok, thank you for elaborating more!
 
Is there a command to check a Pokémon's doubles random battle sets? Also, is there a way to see a Pokémon's possible abilities or items?
Use /randdubs [pokemon] without brackets.

To know possible abilities, I recommend playing the game more and over time, know what abilities can be generated. You may feel free to ask the random battles room regarding the specifics of generation.

For possible items, you may check out the random battles calculator to see at least one item that can be generated on a Pokemon. Again, this also comes with practice and experience, ultimately.
 
So for random battle gen 8, Urshifu (non-gmax, wicked blow) has sucker punch in its movepool, but can get band or scarf.
Do all mons, when scarf'd, never get priority moves? Is there a threshold in Speed stat involved? (in reference to Urshifu and this move/item generation rule.)
 

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So for random battle gen 8, Urshifu (non-gmax, wicked blow) has sucker punch in its movepool, but can get band or scarf.
Do all mons, when scarf'd, never get priority moves? Is there a threshold in Speed stat involved? (in reference to Urshifu and this move/item generation rule.)
It gets Choice Scarf only when it doesn't roll Sucker Punch. The same goes for any other pokemon with priority and the ability to roll choice scarf. Pokemon must be between base 60 and 108 Speed in order to obtain choice scarf in any scenario, with the exception of Ditto.
 
There's an explanation how gen3 items/movepools are selected they tend to be weird sometimes(like 1 in 10 battles u'll have a double status mon or a band mon when is not supposed to roll in normal circumstances)
 
Not sure if this counts as a "simple" question, but I'm trying to figure out what the odds are of two people leading with the same Pokemon (trying to solve this question on Pokebase).

The way the moveset file is formatted makes me think that the game randomly picks a Pokemon that has moves assigned to it, and then chooses four of the available moves randomly (if it has more than four moves assigned), meaning that the odds are 1 / # of Pokemon (not squared, because the first player's Pokemon can be anything, and then the second player's mon just needs to be the same). Assuming this and searching for randomBattleMoves and randomDoubleBattleMoves shows 460 and 452 available Pokemon, respectively, which I would be satisfied with if I knew for a fact that every Pokemon was weighted equally.
However, I feel like I remember looking through an older version of this file a few years ago and seeing that it was sorted by set, ie, several predetermined sets that the game could choose from for any given Pokemon. If that's the case, then naturally, Pokemon with more sets available are slightly more likely to be chosen than Pokemon with fewer sets.
Additionally, I also know that in Gens 6 and 7, the game would ensure that you didn't end up with a team with more than one mega or Z-crystal. I wouldn't think the same applies this Gen for GMax factor, but it would be nice to know for sure.

I'm pretty sure that 1/460 for singles and 1/452 for doubles are at least extremely close to the real answer, but I'd like confirmation.
 
Not sure if this counts as a "simple" question, but I'm trying to figure out what the odds are of two people leading with the same Pokemon (trying to solve this question on Pokebase).

The way the moveset file is formatted makes me think that the game randomly picks a Pokemon that has moves assigned to it, and then chooses four of the available moves randomly (if it has more than four moves assigned), meaning that the odds are 1 / # of Pokemon (not squared, because the first player's Pokemon can be anything, and then the second player's mon just needs to be the same). Assuming this and searching for randomBattleMoves and randomDoubleBattleMoves shows 460 and 452 available Pokemon, respectively, which I would be satisfied with if I knew for a fact that every Pokemon was weighted equally.
However, I feel like I remember looking through an older version of this file a few years ago and seeing that it was sorted by set, ie, several predetermined sets that the game could choose from for any given Pokemon. If that's the case, then naturally, Pokemon with more sets available are slightly more likely to be chosen than Pokemon with fewer sets.
Additionally, I also know that in Gens 6 and 7, the game would ensure that you didn't end up with a team with more than one mega or Z-crystal. I wouldn't think the same applies this Gen for GMax factor, but it would be nice to know for sure.

I'm pretty sure that 1/460 for singles and 1/452 for doubles are at least extremely close to the real answer, but I'd like confirmation.
You are mostly correct with this. However 1/460, 1/452 is not the real answer.

The code randomly picks pokemon and it wants them all weighted equally. A pokemon can appear more than once on the file and the code accounts for this by making that pokemon appropriately less likely to be chosen. The result is that any pokemon with pokedex number "x" has an equal chance of being chosen.

eg Silvally or Arceus, listed on file with 18 types, is not 18 times more likely to be chosen than dragonite. Arceus (any type) has the same likelihood as dragonite. But Arceus Dark specifically is 18 times less likely to be chosen than dragonite.

Variations include eg silvally types, galar/alola versions, necrozma (normal)/dm/dw, genesect/genesect douse, pikachu's hats, gmax/nogmax, etc...

So it isn't 1/460 because some pokemon are listed multiple times but the probability of picking a team is based as if each pokemon was only listed once. You can get the real answer by removing these extra listings from 460 but i don't see an easy way to do it. Otherwise it's just 1/# with # being the number of pokemon included in random battles (not counting the extra variations) and if situations like lead raichu vs raichu alola is acceptible as 'same leads'.

That particular file with sets you saw years ago must have been bss/battlefactory, and they probably do something similar with picks. I think you aren't allowed more than one gmax on your team but not 100% sure.
 

Celever

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Is there any discussion at all about banning dynamax? Its kinda wack and makes a match feel like a 1v1 rather than a 6v6. I havent played gen 8 ran bats till this week so im not sure if the meta game was always like this, i was just wondering if it was permanent.
 
Is there any discussion at all about banning dynamax? Its kinda wack and makes a match feel like a 1v1 rather than a 6v6. I havent played gen 8 ran bats till this week so im not sure if the meta game was always like this, i was just wondering if it was permanent.
Dynamax was suspect tested in rands and the result was it staying unbanned. The main Gen 8 Random Battles ladder will be keeping dynamax, but if you want to play without dynamax, there is a no dynamax ladder as well.
 

UT

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Is there any discussion about making Super Staff Bros 5? And if so, who would be the person to talk to about it?
 

Irpachuza

You didn't get this far by giving up, did you?
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Is there any discussion about making Super Staff Bros 5? And if so, who would be the person to talk to about it?
SSB4 was launched last year and got officially finished just a few months ago. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of time and it's not a priority to have a new version of it soon. We'll probably wont see the next version in a short time, much less I could tell you who'll be in charge of it. Better enjoy and ladder the one we have now, it's great, people enjoy playing it in the Randbats room and ladder, and has a nice discussion thread available!
 

UT

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SSB4 was launched last year and got officially finished just a few months ago. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of time and it's not a priority to have a new version of it soon. We'll probably wont see the next version in a short time, much less I could tell you who'll be in charge of it. Better enjoy and ladder the one we have now, it's great, people enjoy playing it in the Randbats room and ladder, and has a nice discussion thread available!
Oh I’ve been very active on SSB4 and do love it! I was more hoping if there were current discussions about 5, since 4 has been taken off support, offering to help. But if those won’t be anytime soon, I won’t worry about it.
 

HiZo

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Is there any discussion about making Super Staff Bros 5? And if so, who would be the person to talk to about it?
right before I called it quits for my technical contributions, the backdoor decision was to wait til next gen for the next staff bros. Of course, that could change depending on who is in charge now. But as far as I know, just be patient my friend.
 

Irpachuza

You didn't get this far by giving up, did you?
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Is there a thread where you can find and fight other people from the forum in random battles?
Hi and welcome! No, we don't have a "Find an opponent thread" or similar, because we have a whole chatroom for it! Join the Random Battles Room on Pokémon Showdown! and you can ask for battles there, or even directly use the Ladder system of PS! to search for random opponents wanting to play the same format as you!
 

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