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u/Cerricola

Leveling up strategies
▲ 20 r/pokemmo

Leveling up strategies

Sorry English is not my mother tongue, I wrote this on spanish/latex and had an AI translate it to english/markdown to post it here.

This note compares direct horde leveling with indirect leveling through gym-rerun income used to buy EXP Candy XL or Rare Candies in PokeMMO. The comparison is made in two common units: experience points per hour and Pokeyen per effective experience point.

The main result is that the relevant comparison is not the nominal item price, but the opportunity cost per experience point delivered. EXP Candy XL dominates horde training whenever its market price is below a calculable break-even value. Rare Candy becomes efficient only when the experience required for the next level is large enough relative to the price ratio between Rare Candy and EXP Candy XL.

Therefore, the Rare Candy threshold is not a universal level. It depends on the Pokemon's experience growth group and on current market prices.

1. Objective and Scope

The objective is to compare three leveling strategies up to level 100:

  1. direct horde training;
  2. gym reruns used to finance EXP Candy XL purchases;
  3. Rare Candy use in the late-level range.

The analysis compares methods by time requirements and Pokeyen opportunity cost. It does not attempt to optimize combat teams, Sweet Scent routing, Leppa Berry consumption, account-wide bonuses, Donator Status, Lucky Egg modifiers, obedience constraints, or player convenience. These factors can be incorporated by changing the parameters.

Market prices should be taken from current PokeMMOHub item-price pages at the time of use. The numerical calibration below uses fixed baseline values only to illustrate the formulas. The model remains valid when those values are replaced by current PokeMMOHub prices.

2. Experience Growth Functions

Let:

  • g = Pokemon experience growth group.
  • L = current level.
  • X_g(L) = cumulative experience required to reach level L for growth group g.
  • Delta_X_g(L) = experience required to move from level L to level L + 1.

The marginal experience requirement is:

Delta_X_g(L) = X_g(L + 1) - X_g(L)

The standard experience groups are Erratic, Fast, Medium Fast, Medium Slow, Slow, and Fluctuating.

Table 1. Total experience required to reach level 100 by growth group

Growth group Experience at level 100
Erratic 600,000
Fast 800,000
Medium Fast 1,000,000
Medium Slow 1,059,860
Slow 1,250,000
Fluctuating 1,640,000

For the main comparison, the relevant object is remaining experience:

Remaining_EXP_g(L) = X_g(100) - X_g(L)

3. Leveling Technologies

3.1 Horde Training

Let:

  • E_h = effective experience per horde.
  • H = hordes cleared per hour.

The direct horde-training experience rate is:

R_h = E_h × H

For a Pokemon in growth group g currently at level L, remaining experience to level 100 is:

Remaining_EXP_g(L) = X_g(100) - X_g(L)

The required number of hordes is:

N_h(g,L) = ceiling(Remaining_EXP_g(L) / E_h)

The implied time requirement in hours is:

T_h(g,L) = N_h(g,L) / H

3.2 Gym Rerun Income Converted into EXP Candy XL

Let:

  • M = net Pokeyen income per hour from gym reruns.
  • P_XL = market price of one EXP Candy XL.
  • q_XL = experience granted by one EXP Candy XL.

EXP Candy XL grants:

q_XL = 30,000 EXP

The experience rate obtained by farming gym-rerun money and converting it into EXP Candy XL is:

R_XL = (M / P_XL) × q_XL

The number of EXP Candy XL units required to reach level 100 is:

N_XL(g,L) = ceiling(Remaining_EXP_g(L) / q_XL)

The corresponding Pokeyen expenditure is:

C_XL(g,L) = P_XL × N_XL(g,L)

The implied gym-rerun financing time in hours is:

T_XL(g,L) = C_XL(g,L) / M

3.3 Rare Candy

Let:

  • P_R = market price of one Rare Candy.

A Rare Candy advances the Pokemon by one level regardless of the experience required for that level. Therefore, its effective experience yield is not constant. At level L, its effective yield is:

q_R(g,L) = Delta_X_g(L)

The Rare Candy cost per effective experience point is:

c_R(g,L) = P_R / Delta_X_g(L)

The EXP Candy XL cost per experience point is constant:

c_XL = P_XL / 30,000

Rare Candy is more cost-efficient than EXP Candy XL for the next level if:

c_R(g,L) < c_XL

Substituting the two cost expressions:

P_R / Delta_X_g(L) < P_XL / 30,000

Solving for the marginal experience requirement gives the Rare Candy threshold:

Delta_X_g(L) > 30,000 × (P_R / P_XL)

This is the Rare Candy inflection condition. It shows that the threshold depends jointly on the price ratio P_R / P_XL and on the growth group g. There is no universal level at which Rare Candy necessarily becomes optimal.

4. Baseline Calibration

The baseline calibration is shown in Table 2. The price values P_XL = 14,000 and P_R = 12,000 are illustrative. They should be replaced by current PokeMMOHub prices before operational use.

Table 2. Baseline parameters for the numerical illustration

Parameter Description Baseline value
E_h Effective experience per horde 6,500
H Hordes cleared per hour 55
M Net Pokeyen per hour from gym reruns 350,000
q_XL EXP Candy XL experience yield 30,000
P_XL EXP Candy XL market price 14,000
P_R Rare Candy market price 12,000

Under this calibration, horde training gives:

R_h = E_h × H = 6,500 × 55 = 357,500 EXP/hour

Gym reruns converted into EXP Candy XL give:

R_XL = (350,000 / 14,000) × 30,000 = 750,000 EXP/hour

The relative speed of gym reruns converted into EXP Candy XL is:

R_XL / R_h = 750,000 / 357,500 = 2.10

Therefore, under these assumptions, gym reruns followed by EXP Candy XL purchases are approximately 2.10 times faster than direct horde training.

5. Break-even EXP Candy XL Price Relative to Horde Training

EXP Candy XL financed by gym reruns is faster than horde training when:

(M / P_XL) × q_XL > E_h × H

Solving for the EXP Candy XL price gives the break-even value:

P_XL* = (q_XL × M) / (E_h × H)

Using the baseline values:

P_XL* = (30,000 × 350,000) / (6,500 × 55) = 29,370.63

Therefore, if EXP Candy XL is below approximately 29,371 Pokeyen, the gym-rerun-to-candy method is faster than direct horde training. If EXP Candy XL rises above this value, horde training becomes competitive in time-efficiency terms.

6. Numerical Comparison for a Medium Slow Pokemon

Table 3 reports the implied number of hordes, horde time, EXP Candy XL units, candy cost, and gym-rerun financing time for a Medium Slow Pokemon at selected starting levels.

Table 3. Leveling to 100 for a Medium Slow Pokemon under the baseline calibration

Start level Remaining EXP Hordes Horde time, hours XL candies Candy cost, Pokeyen Gym time, hours
50 942,500 145 2.64 32 448,000 1.28
70 714,900 110 2.00 24 336,000 0.96
80 533,600 83 1.51 18 252,000 0.72
90 297,700 46 0.84 10 140,000 0.40
95 157,025 25 0.45 6 84,000 0.24

In this calibration, gym reruns used to purchase EXP Candy XL dominate direct horde training at all listed starting levels. This follows from the aggregate experience-rate comparison:

R_XL > R_h

7. Rare Candy Inflection Levels

Using:

  • P_R = 12,000
  • P_XL = 14,000

The Rare Candy threshold is:

Delta_X_g(L) > 30,000 × (12,000 / 14,000)

Therefore:

Delta_X_g(L) > 25,714.29

Rare Candy is more cost-efficient than EXP Candy XL for a given level only when that level requires more than approximately 25,714 experience points.

Table 4. First Rare-Candy-efficient level transition under P_R = 12,000 and P_XL = 14,000

Growth group First efficient transition Interpretation
Erratic None EXP Candy XL remains more efficient through level 100
Fast None EXP Candy XL remains more efficient through level 100
Medium Fast 93 to 94 Rare Candy becomes efficient from level 93
Medium Slow 89 to 90 Rare Candy becomes efficient from level 89
Slow 83 to 84 Rare Candy becomes efficient from level 83
Fluctuating 69 to 70 Rare Candy becomes efficient from level 69

The main implication is that Rare Candy is primarily a late-level optimization, especially for Medium Fast, Medium Slow, and Slow growth groups. For Erratic and Fast growth groups, the marginal experience requirements are not large enough for Rare Candy to dominate EXP Candy XL under the stated price ratio.

8. Discrete Candy Effects

The Rare Candy threshold compares one Rare Candy against the exact amount of EXP Candy XL needed to produce the same amount of experience. In practice, EXP Candy XL units are indivisible.

For a finite interval from level L to 100, the exact EXP Candy XL cost is:

C_XL(g,L) = P_XL × ceiling((X_g(100) - X_g(L)) / 30,000)

For single-level comparisons, indivisibility can make Rare Candy appear cheaper whenever P_R < P_XL, even if the marginal experience threshold is not met. This happens because one EXP Candy XL may oversupply experience for a low-experience level.

However, when leveling across many consecutive levels, excess experience from EXP Candy XL carries forward. Consequently, the marginal threshold is the appropriate rule for deciding when to switch from EXP Candy XL to Rare Candy in a multi-level plan.

9. Decision Rules

The comparison yields the following rules:

  1. Horde training is preferred when the player wants to avoid monetary expenditure, combine leveling with EV training, or avoid market dependence.

  2. Gym reruns followed by EXP Candy XL purchases are time-efficient whenever:

    P_XL < (30,000 × M) / (E_h × H)

  3. Rare Candy should not be evaluated by its nominal price alone. It should be evaluated by the experience requirement of the next level:

    Delta_X_g(L) > 30,000 × (P_R / P_XL)

  4. The Rare Candy switch level is lower for slower growth groups and higher for faster growth groups.

10. Limitations

The results are conditional on the following limitations:

  1. market prices are time-varying and should be updated using current PokeMMOHub prices;
  2. gym-rerun income depends on route quality, Amulet Coin usage, team quality, cooldowns, loading time, and player execution;
  3. horde experience depends on the location, opposing species, traded-Pokemon bonus, items, charms, and whether experience is split;
  4. the analysis abstracts from Leppa Berry costs, travel time, healing time, and opportunity costs of team preparation;
  5. the analysis treats experience as the target variable and does not incorporate EV-training benefits from hordes.

11. Conclusion

Under the baseline calibration:

  • E_h = 6,500
  • H = 55
  • M = 350,000
  • P_XL = 14,000

Horde training produces:

357,500 EXP/hour

Gym reruns converted into EXP Candy XL produce:

750,000 EXP/hour

Therefore, the gym-rerun-to-EXP-Candy-XL method is approximately 2.10 times faster than direct horde training.

The Rare Candy inflection condition is:

Delta_X_g(L) > 30,000 × (P_R / P_XL)

With:

  • P_R = 12,000
  • P_XL = 14,000

The threshold is approximately:

25,714 EXP for the next level

This condition is first satisfied at:

  • level 93 for Medium Fast Pokemon;
  • level 89 for Medium Slow Pokemon;
  • level 83 for Slow Pokemon;
  • level 69 for Fluctuating Pokemon.

It is not satisfied for Erratic or Fast Pokemon before level 100 under this price ratio.

The efficient strategy is generally: use gym reruns to finance EXP Candy XL while the market price is below its horde break-even value, and switch to Rare Candy only once the Pokemon's growth group and level satisfy the marginal experience threshold.

References

u/Cerricola — 16 hours ago