How do you feel about the SOS mechanic?

[King Robert]

Sometimes I wonder if they put ideas in a hat at Game Freak, and the SOS mechanic was drawn from it.

 

[Alolan Coconut]

I liked the concept, but it is so goshdarn annoying. Even for leveling up I think it isn't as profitable as it could be, since one-shots are limited to a few moves and your other moves are constantly being weakened by status moves. So, challenging? Yes. But fun? Heck no.

Maybe one of the few things I don't like about SM.

 

[Dizzard]

On one hand it seems annoying but on the other hand it seems like it might be a pretty straightforward way to get shinies and Pokemon with perfect IVs.

I haven't had any nightmare scenarios with the SOS mechanic, just some minor annoyances.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

I found it impossible to find a Gengar with it which annoyed me greatly. I rather just evolve Haunter by trade.

 

[TeaWest]

For some reason I really liked the mechanic in other games like Dragon Quest VIII, but in those games you had 4 people on your team instead of one Pokemon.

For me, it's pretty annoying, especially when trying to catch something. Throwing a ball, missing, then having to take out one of the two Pokemon when SOS happens, then they call in another Pokemon while your taking out one of the two... it gets really frustrating really quickly.

 

[Almonds]

I am so angry at this. I just witnessed a Corsola cry out for help until it Struggled itself to death and nothing came to help it all those turns. I was leading with an Intimidate pokemon, used the Adrenaline Orb, and just used moves like Growl and Sand Attack.

How on earth do people chain these things.

 

[UB-01 Kenobi]

I am so angry at this. I just witnessed a Corsola cry out for help until it Struggled itself to death and nothing came to help it all those turns. I was leading with an Intimidate pokemon, used the Adrenaline Orb, and just used moves like Growl and Sand Attack.

How on earth do people chain these things.

Sounds like you didn't lower its HP at all? You need to lower its HP to 1 using False Swipe. At 1HP with an adrenaline orb the chance to call for help is like 75% or something, but it will FEEL like something pops up every turn lmao

 

[jman21]

While I was trying to fill the dex, annoying as all get out. Now that I'm shiny hunting, I love it. Already have a shiny Bagon and Dewpider from it.

 

[Almonds]

Sounds like you didn't lower its HP at all? You need to lower its HP to 1 using False Swipe. At 1HP with an adrenaline orb the chance to call for help is like 75% or something, but it will FEEL like something pops up every turn lmao

Yes. I realized that later. When I tried chaining again, it was pretty hard to False Swipe a Corsola because they resisted it and kept healing themselves.

Also, I noticed this while trying to get a Salamance through Bagon chaining, but Attract/Cute Charm doesn't affect calling for help. So it would be a good move to charm the caller since it would waste a turn being immobilized in love, save PP, and still call for help. Might be handy when the chaining gets lengthy.

 

[Kiyomaro]

With its current state at least, I hate it. It wouldn't be so much of a struggle if there weren't so many SOS-exclusive Pokemon, at least.

Wes and Michael could throw their Poke Balls entirely fine when there were two targets, what's wrong with the SM protagonist? Did the Snag Machine add in bonus catching accuracy too, or what. The wild double battles in BW and horde battles in XY/ORAS were nowhere near this obnoxious.

No thanks, I'll stick to the Masuda method to get my shinies.

 

[ocelotlrama jaguar]

I liked the concept of it during my playthrough. Pokemon helping another Pokemon in danger is actually a nice touch from a storyline perspective.

From a Pokedex-completing perspective, however, I hate it. A lot of the times I'll get a chain of SOS calls that I don't want and when I actually do want them to happen, they never come, even with an Adrenaline Orb. If I have to waste over 20 minutes searching for something in the same battle that is exclusive to SOS calls, then that is not what I would call a good mechanic. It's also really annoying when you can only catch one Pokemon that is on-screen. It wasn't an issue with horde battles since when you knocked out the Pokemon you didn't want, they wouldn't reappear. With SOS battles, it's actually possible to get calls that can last so long that you just want to give up. It really kills any enjoyment I would have had with a concept like this.

 

[Like_Fahrenheit]

I'm not much of a fan of it, at least when trying to catch the one who would call for help. Just as I'm about to select a ball, the ally arrives. It's happened too often for my liking. I will say I was lucky enough to get a Mareanie early on (probably the only time I was happy to see an ally). I've no problem with it if I'm not trying to catch a Pokemon, however. I really do think it should count as the opponent's turn, though. As part of the Totem battles, I think it's great.

I'm not upset by some Pokemon appearing only in these battles (Salamence is pretty cool though) because when it comes to filling up the Pokedex, I'll wait until Bank is compatible.

 

[voidcritter]

I do like that you can get Pokemon with better IVs or Hidden Abilities because of this.

I hate literally every other thing about the SOS mechanic.

 

[Crimson Dagger]

From my experience with this mechanic, I would say that S.O.S. fights are, at worst, a sticky situation that forces a complete withdraw from the field of battle on my end. Most of the time, all they translate to is more meat for the grinder, & more blood for this guy:

Spoiler

However, I've been having some great things happening to me from this mechanic. I've had one instance where I was chaining Eevees with this mechanic, & one of them happened to be a female - Those are pretty hard to come by, even without their HA.

The best thing is, I've managed to crack the code on how the mechanic works, & in turn, get those Pokémon that can only be found using the S.O.S. mechanic.

So, if you're one of those people that are having problems finding that one 'mon, some Words of Wisdom for you: They only appear when one particular species calls for help. I.e. If you're looking for Sableye, look for Carbink. Looking for a Happiny? Best head to Route 4 & look for Igglybuff (daytime only, though.)

 

[Almonds]

I just got through a nerve wracking SOS battle.

I went to the desert to chain for either Gabite or Castform, and I met a Sandile. I started chaining withour knowing what would happen thirty minutes later...

The first few turns weren't bad. but at some point the Sandiles started using Swagger on each other.

And eventually, confuse damage knocked out the False-Swiped Sandile, ending the battle ._.

 

[dragon_nataku]

I really do think it should count as the opponent's turn, though. As part of the Totem battles, I think it's great.

I agree with both of those things. SOS should take up the opponent's turn, and it makes a whole lot of sense in Totem battles (in fact, I'm pretty sure that somehow that was my first experience with SOS calls: the first totem).

 

[Kisu]

I didn't mind sos,90 percent of the time nothing came but with adrenaline orbs I had no problem making them appear if wanted.

Didn't care for so many mons being locked behind it but the idea of say finding a salamence while sos fighting a bagon is cool,also if you don't wanna spend time building friendship with an igglybuff just sos and catch jigglypuff,hordes are only good for ev training.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[PaulTheProtist]

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

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

If they could make it so you could still catch Pokemon when there were two on screen, SOS battles would be less annoying.

 

[Almonds]

I officially hate this method now. I spent a few hours trying to get a breed and level up the right Synchronize Kadabra up to 46 for Trick. Then I went to the Eevee grass patch where Umbreon can join the SOS battle. I had an hour or so left of nighttime.

Frigging Sand Attacks. Sand Attacks from all directions, and I had to watch when I switch out to reset the stat changes because I need the Synchronizer on the field whenever a new ally arrives.

The result? No Umbreon and nighttime ended. Spent a lot of Leppa berries than I wanted to. I settled with a female Eevee but it doesn't even have the nature I was trying to Synchronize. Heh. I'm going to stick with breeding.