A Pokémon dataminer has claimed that Pokémon Legends: Arceus will not feature Effort Values (EVs) nor Individual Values (IVs) — two “hidden stats” featured in every mainline Pokémon title that determine each Pokémon’s effectiveness in battle. Rather, the game will reportedly introduce a new stat, Effort Levels, that seems to serve a similar purpose.
Pokémon dataminer Abyzab, who seems to have obtained a pre-release copy of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, shared this information on Sunday, alongside screenshots that appear to show how Effort Levels are displayed when viewing a Pokémon’s information.
The leaker claimed that each Pokémon would boast random base Effort Level values upon being caught, much like how Pokémon in mainline games have randomized IVs upon being captured. Effort Levels appear to operate similarly to both EVs and IVs in that each of a Pokémon’s six stats is assigned an Effort Level that, when increased, grants a boost to its respective stat.
However, the alleged new stat seems to differ slightly from the IV system. In prior games, Pokémon’s IVs were typically static; they could only be increased through Hyper Training. In Legends: Arceus, it appears you can modify them with specific types of items, based on Abyzab’s claim.
Furthermore, the leaker claimed players would be able to max out all six of a particular Pokémon’s Effort Levels, which seemingly distinguishes it from the EV stat seen in prior games. Previous Pokémon games limited the total number of EVs a Pokémon could accumulate across its six stats to 510 EVs. As each stat has a maximum threshold of 252 EVs, one could only max out the EVs for two of its Pokémon’s six stats.
Related: Pokémon Legends: Arceus exact release time, when can you pre-load,
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