Alight /vp/, how about we have an honest talk about Totem Pokemon.

>>33225326
>implying I remember

Didn't have a problem with any.

As far as I can remember my team eventually consisted of

>Mudbray/Mudsdale
>E-Oricoro/G-Oricoro
>Mareanie/Toxapex
>Morelull/Shiinotic
>A-Vulpix/A-Ninetales
>Passimian

>>33225326
I think they were really cool. The ones that gave me trouble are lurantis and mimikyu. I hope usm has new totems(Pokémon that havent been totems)

>>33225326

totems were a cool idea but the later ones kind of got rolled by the nature of how much stronger your team got than the world in SM

totem raticate/gumshoos was the introduction so it wasn't hard

totem wishiwashi was a great fight

totem salazzle was... fine? the less tanky totems were way easier to deal with I found

totem lurantis was super cool

vikavolt was underwhelming, if only because his adds didn't do much

totem mimikyu was an interesting fight if you weren't overleveled

by the time you got to totem kommo-o if you didn't fuck him up almost immediately there's something wrong with you

>>33225326
Literally fucking destroyed every trial with Rowlet line.

>>33225326
>Which ones kicked your ass?
Wishiwashi wiped my team, i focused on killing the small wishiwashi instead of two shoting the big one and then when alomomola came i just couldn't get it down fast enough, so it killed the super efective pokemon i had for it and then it started helping hand oneshoting everything in my team

>>33225326
I remember everyone always panicked over totem wishiwashi but I was able to fuck it up with JUST pikachu

>Incineroar used Swords Dance!
>Incineroar used Darkest Lariat!

Easy game. Bring back gym battles, at least those had multiple enemies to fight.

>>33225326
suffers from the same problem Gym Leaders do. your team simply becomes stronger faster than the game can keep up with

>What do you think about them?
great
>Which ones kicked your ass?
>Which ones were just plain annoying?
None of them
>how would you rank them?
Wishiwashi > Mimikyu > Lurantis > Kommo-O > Vikavolt > Salazzle > Gumshoos
>How would you improve them?
give them retardedly high HP so the fight actually lasts

>>33225326
>Totem Pokemon and support now scale with the average level of your team
Fixed

>>33225326
>Dark Raticate
Used the regional bird to kick it's ass easily
>wishiwashi
Managed to solo him with a drowzee
>Salazzle
Used a Salandit with Dragon Rage to down it.
>Lurantis
Even with a Castform at it's side, Salandit managed to solo it
>Vikavolt
Salazzle kicked it's ass
>Mimikyu
I had a bit of trouble with this one, downed half my team before I killed it with Primarina
>Kommo-o
Used my own Kommo-o to wipe it in one hit.

>>33225326
>That pic
Is hilariously who the two of them reseemble so much, just buff and move away It took me like 7 tries to figure out.

>Raticate
Decent challenge thanks to the early routes' shitty selection
>Wishiwashi
No trouble, Razor Leaf shreds it
>Lurantis
FUCKING HELL, this one was way harder than it has any right to be
>Salazzle
Mudbray
>Vikavolt
Easy to kill
>Mimikyu
Also a decent challenge, but no real trouble
>Kommo-o
Literally the easiest, it got fucken curbstomped by Ribombee

>Dark Raticate
Combination of Dartrix and Bayleef
>Wishiwashi
Bayleef mostly handled it, then Dartrix came in to finish it off
>Salazzle
>Lurantis
Don't remember what i did.
>Vikavolt
Lycanroc one-shot it
>Mimikyu
Lost Salazzle, Decidueye and Meganium to it. Had to rely on Eviolite Misdreavus to finish it off.
>Kommo-o
Mimikyu used Play Rough! It's super effective! Totem Kommo-o was defeated!

>>33225326
In terms of difficulty:Mimikyu>Salazzle>Lurantis=wishiwashi>vikavolt>kommo-o

I mono-rocked my way through them without much effort. Hell, Wishiwashi was even soloed by Bonsly somehow...

>>33225326
the last totem, which was supposed to be the toughest one, is so hilariously easy because of the fairy type that it's sad

>Hard tier
Lurantis
Wishiwashi
Mimikyu
Salazzle
Vikavolt
Gumshoos
Kommo-o
>Easy tier

I thought they were pretty lame, to be honest. I would have preferred gym battles; at least it makes for a longer, more well-balanced (if done right) fight.

None came close to being a challenge, save for Mimikyu because I had to actually swap my lead for another Pokémon, but it's not like it was a tough battle or anything. I was also lower level than all of them except Kommo-O. Really, it was just a matter of spamming super-effective moves until it fainted, and don't give a rat's ass about the support Pokémon until the end.

Lurantis took the longest because all it used was synthesis, but that battle was still a piece of cake. I don't know how anyone found Wishiwashi difficult when he just spammed soak a billion times to make absolutely sure his attacks would never be super-effective or remotely damaging.

Maybe if they made the totem Pokémon a member of the trial captain's team (like their ace) and we fight the trial captains like gym leaders, it would be better. Think Lusamine's team except without all the buffs going to useless stats and her having 3 moves for each Pokémon.

>>33225672
>2 pokemon of the same type
I usually never let myself do this unless it's a randomizer

lurantis and wishiwashi were both a pain in the arse because of their support mons
mimikyu and kommo-o were easy because i had owl and clefable for each of them
the others were uneventful, decently challenging battles and I am fond of the mechanic. I like the idea of gym leaders in alola simply out of curiosity of whom those leaders would be

>>33225326
Lurantis and Mimikyu were hell.
The other ones were fine. Kommo-o was pathetic.

>>33225326
Wishiwashi was a little rough.

>Totem Gumshoos
Okay for an introductory Totem battle.

>Totem Wishiwashi
Legitimately challenging (although that may have been because I started with Litten and the only Water-type counter I had on my team was one Magnemite).

>Totem Lurantis
Kind of annoying, but still fairly easy to beat.

>Totem Salazzle
My Mudsdale slapped her into the next century with his gigantic horse dick. Not even remotely challenging.

>Totem Vikavolt
Kind of disappointing (again, Musdsale and his enormous, Liam-Neeson-esque horse dick).

>Totem Mimikyu
Sort of fun, but not too difficult.

>Totem Kommo'o
This entire trial seemed really half-assed, and this Pokémon was nowhere near challenging. My Ribombee ate him whole and spat out his bones.

>Overall opinion of Island Trials/Totem Battles
A noble attempt to shake things up, but I'd rather go back to the challenge of Gym Battles. It's a shame, since I liked all of the Trial Captains. I think I'd have liked it a lot more if I could've fought them directly instead of some "mythical" Pokémon who isn't even that difficult.

>>33225457
>bring back one on one battles where I can steam roll everyone without worrying having to get hit by adds

>>33225326

They were easy, the only one that gave me a bit trouble was Mimikyu. I still think gyms are better because of the puzzles.

>>33225768
It was a nuzlocke, and used island scan for my first encounter. Just so happened to be a day when Chikorita is findable.

....not gonna lie, losing my Meganium hurt like a kick to the stomach. She was really good for setting up Reflect and Light Screen. She ate ice moves like it was no big deal even.
RIP Thistle.

>Dark Raticate
Wasn't terrible

>Wishiwashi
Had the most trouble with this one. Only had pikachu & Bounsweet, and it kept using alomomola for help

>Salazzle
Wasn't hard

>Lurantis
Didn't have much difficulty

>Vikavolt
Used incineror

>Mimikyu
Took two pokemon to take it down

>Kommo-o
Used my Ribombee. Ribombee is one of my favorite pokemon too

Wishiwashi.
>didn't have anything that resisted it until i trained up a bounsweet
>rain
>constantly firing off helping hand assisted attacks along with being schooled
>because it always had an alomomola helper, which was super bulky and would heal itself and wishiwashi (plus using helping hand)
>Didn't have any spread moves and the bulk of both totem wishiwashi and alomomola made it a moot point

It was a frustrating fight

>>33225326
I liked them for the most part. I didn't use the exp share so all of them were challenging except for Kommo-o. Salazzle fucked me up the hardest, I lost twice and actually made me grind for a little bit.

>>33225326
Totems were all pretty neat, to be honest. The only totem pokemon that I can remember giving me trouble was mimikyu.

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>>33225991
>Ribombee is one of my favorite pokemon too

BROTHER

>>33225326
I think they're cool, and would like to see Totem Battles become the default format for legendary encounters in future games.

Mimikyu caught me off-guard and wrecked my team. The others weren't too bad. IIRC I even managed to kill Lurantis before it got off a single Solar Blade.

Improvements... Give them more bulk, or even HP regeneration?

>>33225326
>Totem Gumshoos
Easy enough, I had a Magnemite.

>Totem Wishiwashi
Dartrix/Magnemite lol

>Totem Salazzle
Mudbray

>Totem Lurantis
Salandit 2v1'd it and the Castform. Had to potion-tank out the sun after Castform died though; definitely the hardest one.

>Totem Vikavolt
Salazzle 2-turn wonder

>Totem Mimikyu
Eviolite Magneton/Mudsdale with Heavy Slam

>Totem Kommo-o
My own Kommo-o got it eventually

Overall one decently hard one (Lurantis) but the others were easy mode. Although to be fair, my team matched up really well against them.

>>33225326
I thought they were cool at first but they were pretty lame by the end. Then again, that's probably just because Trumbeak/Toucannon just blasts through literally everything in this game. That nigger could solo every fight without trouble.
Had difficulty with wishiwashi and salazzle since I didn't realize the power of anger yet.

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Since we're probably getting new Trails, who do you wanna see as Totems?

I think he would be cool if the trial is you getting eaten and then trying to escape a dungeon inside of is castle

>>33225326
They were actually all pretty decent. I would just raise their levels though because its so hard NOT to be overleveled in SM. None of them really gave me that much trouble, but Lurantis, Mimikyu, and Wishiwashi were pretty cool. I wish the pre-totem areas were all expanded into actual huge dungeons.

>>33226568
That would require creating a new area, not happening because gamefreak is lazy

I liked them, but the rng really screws with whether they work as intended. I know they didn't want kids to not get spammed by solar blades or heal pulses by giving weaker helper options, but they did chicken out at some parts.

First one is fine since I don't think anyone expected much from it. Plus, Ilima is there as a prelude with ev trained mons, actually using items, and technician smeargle with the starter coverage move. On a side note, if they really wanted it to be bad, they should've given smeargle its rematch moveset at the start.

Wishiwashi only got water gun instead of brine, which it should've had at that level. I know water gun hits like a truck due to stats and rain but just take it into account. Wishiwashi is also an inferior helper to alomomola. It also gets helping hand, but having a partner that spams heals for your hp gimmick and tanky stats, plus a chance to cure status conditions with its ability is much more frustrating. Soak and growl were there to nerf it imo. Soak at least takes stab away from grass. It's not like wishiwashi was going to hit them for effective damage anyway.

Salazzle had a nice toxic venoshock combo going on. Plus it has the sp atk berry and good speed. It's however too frail to handle the fact that mudbray exists. Diglett at least has the steal typing to somewhat balance it. They kinda covered the water by buffing the sp def, but even that leaves it in the red if you are less or equal levels. (with brionne's z move in my experience anyway). Then just use priority or something. Sure leaving it in the red activates the berry, but it's a tradeoff.

>>33225326
Is this porn?

>>33225326
I was a dumbass and let the MImikyu summon a Gengar. So yeah.
Aside from that they fell like dominoes, especially poor Kommo-o. I still enjoyed them, though.

Lurantis is okay, sure it could be oneshot with leveling and salazzle is kind of there, but I wouldn't put it at the level that mudbray fucks salazzle. My main gripe is that I wish trumbeak actually used its skill link rock blast to cover typing. I've never actually seen it use the move. I could've sworn it had rock blast and if not, they should've just defaulted to castform. The fact that lurantis has a power herb for its solar blade was neat though. The battle would've been more challenging if leaf guard actually got rid of statuses in the sun though.

Vikavolt was the most blatant example of holding back. No special moves on a specially based mon with a helper that boosts its special attack. I hate to assume things that I have no knowledge about, but I think they made the gimmick and found it too overpowered when tested. The type dampening berry was nice I guess, but I forget which one it was.

Mimikyu was all around good. I don't think this one had any problems really. Haunters hypnosis spam was cheesing it, but whatever. Disguise is a nice ability for fights that can end in one shots. Plus, players might go into it blind and start with a z-move. Lum berry is nice as it covers disguise's status weakness for a turn.

Komo'o was not good. If it was earlier, maybe it'd have a chance, but fairy just wreaks it. Even when a fairy z move is weakened by protect, it'll still die. Sure, it has flash cannon and a possible under leveled scizor helper, but neither are taking out a on or even under leveled fairy. Plus, Hapu is a higher level and Mina gives you a win button. I liked the fact that it was a self maintained trial due to Komo'o seeming like a mon that'd do that, but that is unrelated to the design flaws.

>>33225326

The only one I remember from my original playthrough was Lurantis, and that's because the fucker managed to outspeed my entire team while fucking paralyzed, and managed to oneshot both my Trumbeak and my Torracat with resisted Solar Blades. And the Castform was annoying.

I'm fairly sure I only ended up winning that fight because it got fully para'd while my last mon, a Lycanroc-Day, finished it off.

>>33225326
None of them, actually. Turn 1 Z-Move helps. I like them because they can experiment with 2 v 1 scenarios and the sets they came up with in Sun and Moon were some of the most creative opponent sets I've seen in a while in single player. Wishiwashi was the most annoying because of Alomomola, Constant rain like Gen 5, and debuffing. I think they're fine as is. The only thing I could think of for improvement would be maybe incorporating a gift pokemon into being an ally for the Totem that you get afterward. Maybe it knows a special move it wouldn't otherwise. Also, DON'T MAKE IT EEVEE IT'S BEEN GIFTED IN ENOUGH GAMES.

Gumshoos: Not too interesting, but it's early
Wishiwashi: Just fight 3 normal ones then the totem. Boring
Salazzle: Half assed and instagibbed
Lurantis: One of the only decent fights, but the leadup sucked
Vikavolt: "lets give a special attacker that summons sp attack boosting pokemon all physical attacks!"
Mimikyu: The only other decent trial
Kommo-o: "Ribombee used Dazzling Gleam!" For being a pseudo at +1 everything, it was an absolutely pathetic fight.

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>>33225326
>What do you think about them?
Garbage.
>Which ones kicked your ass?
None of them. Salazzle Toxic spam is too braindead easy. Works on everything.
>Which ones were just plain annoying?
The Lum berry ones make you push the win button twice.
>How would you rank them?
Gyms>shit>totems
>How would you improve them?
Bringing back Gyms, and adding item rules or clauses. Or maybe not, Gyms were never as easy as
>push one buton to win
It was always two-six buttons.

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>>33227069
>not recognizing the patrician rpg
The game can be pretty hot sometimes though.