How do you feel about the SOS mechanic?

[SUP3RN0VA]

I never really had a problem with it. I personally found that their S.O.S calls failed enough times for me to get the job done.

Also, this morning, I used this feature to find myself a Shiny Dratini, so I am grinding it extremely difficult to NOT love this feature right now.

 

[Soki]

Finally was able to try my hand at some SOS chaining and I gotta say that even though I was very positive about it before, I now find it annoying as hell Though that might be because so far I've only chained mons that are annoying to chain.

The first is Roggenrola, which not only often has Sturdy so you need two hits to take one down, but it also keeps using Sand Attack, so being able to attack it at all becomes almost impossible pretty quickly. Luckily this is easy to fix with moves like Feint Attack, but having to constantly use a Leppa Berry so I can keep using that one move is pretty annoying. Chaining that thing took forever :/

Secondly is Petilil, who constantly heals itself with Leech Seed and Absorb, so you need to keep using False Swipe on it to keep it at 1 HP D: Again, chaining that thing took forever.

I wanted to try and get a competitive shiny for both, but I've completely given up on that already after hours of trying to chain them.

The thing that bothers me the most is that Synchronize does not work if the Pokémon with that Ability is fainted in front of your party, so you need to actually battle with a Synchronize mon, none of which can learn False Swipe So if you're looking for a mon with a specific nature, you constantly have to switch out if you need to use False Swipe to bring the caller down to 1HP. Not to mention you're always stuck with using a Psychic- or Dark-type Pokémon, and you constantly have to heal their HP and PP.

That said, I do absolutely love that you only need a chain of 30 to get a Pokémon with 4 guaranteed perfect IVs. Makes breeding a lot easier. Just wish there was still an easy way to know which Ability the mon you're going to catch has, but can't have everything I guess.

 

[Matleo]

maybe with a good activation rate it will get really good.
They could make it like hord battles have 10-25% chance of appering and have single battles have so,mething like 50-60%.

 

[The Outrage]

I strongly prefer Horde Battles. Easier to initiate, better for EV training, less annoying during the main story, etc.

Intuitively, Horde Battles are easier to understand, but SOS battles are better for EV training. There's a calculator now to tell you exactly how many SOS Pokemon you need to defeat and also whether you need to defeat the original caller. The only issue, of course, is if you get a Pokemon that can call another species/evolution family member (but you can avoid that by looking for a specific Pokemon).

I do find SOS battles annoying when I'm just trying to catch a single Pokemon...

 

[Iteru]

I like the idea of SOS battles. It makes sense that other Pokémon can rush to a wild Pokémon's aid. But why would your character not decide to also reinforce? You should be able to send out a 2nd Pokémon when one is called, and then take it back when you're back to facing a lone Pokémon. I know it defeats the purpose a little, but it can be optional to send out the 2nd.

 

[Lysson]

Was annoying at first, but for competitive and collection purposes... amazing.

I like how sometimes different Pokemon appear too, keeps things interesting as a collector.

 

[Faye Scarlet]

I really hate it. :V Mostly cuz it's annoying when I'm trying to catch a spare Pokemon for trading, and it decides to be difficult.

 

[Zexy]

I like how it helps with getting a Pokemon with desired characteristics and EV training at the same time.
The side-effect of being slightly annoying when I just want to catch a single Pokemon isn't as bad as the benefits it has, so I really like it.

 

[Beth Pavell]

It's all very well being great for EV training but that should not get in the way of other aspects of the game - like catching pokémon in the first place. Repetitive though Super Training was (Though, chaining pokémon is hardly any less so), at least it was something that wouldn't bother you if you didn't want it. I suppose it's telling that people are getting steadily less irritated by the mechanic once they've finished the game

 

[Daren]

SOS is possibly Sun/Moon's biggest mistake. It adds massive tedium to capturing and leveling up. Hordes were better for EV training. ORAS's Radar was better for finding rares. In Sun/Moon itself you can EV train very easily with Pokepelago if you don't mant trading time (which you can use for other things) for effort.

 

[Xanikk999]

I wish that with the "Skip Battle Animations" option checked it would skip the entire animation of the pokemon crying for help. It's a huge time waster when trying to farm a pokemon with good IVs through SOS.

 

[Kisu]

Sos should have been optional outside of totem battles,just use adrenaline orbs if you want to sos IV chain

 

[RileyXY1]

I thought of it as very annoying, especially when you're trying to catch Pokemon.

 

[dragon_nataku]

*grumble grumble* spent the last 5-6 days (might've been longer) SOS-chaining for a shiny Rockruff. I finally gave up today because AAAAGGGGHHHH can I do something else with my DS now (or at least turn the bloody thing off ffs). I officially hate Rockruff now *grumble roar knocks over buildings*

 

[Bewear of Mimikyu]

The first is Roggenrola, which not only often has Sturdy so you need two hits to take one down, but it also keeps using Sand Attack, so being able to attack it at all becomes almost impossible pretty quickly. Luckily this is easy to fix with moves like Feint Attack, but having to constantly use a Leppa Berry so I can keep using that one move is pretty annoying. Chaining that thing took forever :/

Secondly is Petilil, who constantly heals itself with Leech Seed and Absorb, so you need to keep using False Swipe on it to keep it at 1 HP D: Again, chaining that thing took forever.

I don't know if you've tried this, but you could use stealth rock to break sturdy, keen eye pokes to avoid sand-attack, and substitute to avoid leech seed. If you decide to try again, hope this helps!

 

[Syrinaris]

I despise this mechanic with every fiber of my being. If I'm level grinding and a higher level poke jumps down, like the Gabite I caught, okay fine, that's a pleasant surprise. Otherwise, if it's just the same poke that jumps down, I'll just faint the one I was level grinding against and run away.
I also have my Shiinotic with Spore, and my Ribombee with Stun Spore. If they are in my team at the moment, and I usually try to always make sure one of them is with me, I'll just status it, so it doesn't even call for help.
I have yet to go to Ten Carat Hill and engage in an SOS battle to catch Sableye, because I am absolutely dreading it.

 

[SpikOriundo]

Beautiful and amazing mechanic.
Very poorly done, too.
On my opinion, it could be even better by mixing horde battles and SOS battles together, and by making it so that it is possible to THROW A F-ING BALLWHEN THERE IS MORE THAN ONE POKEMON ON THE FIELD.
The argument that the game puts about "not being able to aim when there is more than one pokemon on the field" is dumb. You mean that I can hit a small Caterpie that is hiding behind my Snorlax, but I can't hit a 2.2 meters Kangaskhan if it is side by side of a Cubone?
Anyway, by mixing the horde battles it would be simpler to find SOS exclusive Pokemons, and by being able to aim, you'd be able to capture multiple different Pokemon on the same battle. (In Pokemon XD, Michael can capture 4 legendaries and 3 other pokemons on the same battle, shouldn't be too difficult to aim at a flailing Magikarp near another flailing Magikarp)
Maybe even capturing multiple shiny Pokemons? It wouldn't be very easy, and it would still be time consuming. Maybe make it impossible to flee if there's more than 2 Pokemons on the field? I'd imagine that if you angered 3 different Tauros, you'd wouldn't be able to just walk off the battlefield.

 

[Soki]

I don't know if you've tried this, but you could use stealth rock to break sturdy, keen eye pokes to avoid sand-attack, and substitute to avoid leech seed. If you decide to try again, hope this helps!

Well like I said, the problem is mainly that you need to fight with a Synchronizer if you want the right nature, so Keen Eye is a no go, and Stealth Rock isn't learned by the Abra Line/Espeon/Umbreon. You're stuck with the limited movepool these mons offer. Substitute could work though, never used it so didn't think of that.

 

[SpikOriundo]

Stealth Rock isn't learned by the Abra Line/Espeon/Umbreon.

Huuumm... You know you can switch pokemons, right? e.e
If you want my recomendation, get a Carbink, it's really good for SOS battles. It has Clear Body against any stat changing moves, can learn Skill Swap to see if the pokemon has it's HA, can learn Stealth Rock for Sturdy Pokemon, it's very defensive, and you can easily find a high level one, if you don't want to train one from the beginning.
Then, you can SOS streak until the pokemon has just about the right IV/HA/in range of having high shiny chances and switch to the Synchronizer.

 

[Soki]

Huuumm... You know you can switch pokemons, right? e.e

As I've mentioned before, I was trying to get competitive shinies, not just mons with good IV's, those are easy enough to get indeed. But to get a shiny with the right nature, the Synchronizer has to be in battle all the time, since you never know when a shiny pops up.

Needing to go and get specific Pokémon just to be able to get this chaining done easily is a complaint in itself though, at least Dexnav chaining could just be done with any mon cause all these problems weren't there in the first place, you just gotta knock out each mon you find. There's just so many things you have to take into account, it's annoying imo.