EPTprevious blog post where I introduced pokestop farming:
http://www.liquiddota.com/blogs/511601-pokemon-go-alternative-high-level-exp-farming
abstract (aka TL;DR):
Ever sick of trying to catch a 300 cp pidgey?
In this blog, we considers two ways of farming experiences: sitting near a lure cluster and catch everything, or going on a bike spinning pokestops and occasionally catching. In this comparison study we find that with a generous approximation, lure farming yields a rate of 300 exp / min, while pokestop farming yields a rate of 309 exp / min. We'd like to advocate pokestop farming because it is faster and more healthy, and without the pokemon cruelty of poke-trafficking and cannibalism.
Today I decided to do a full comparative study between lure farming vs pokestop farming, as a follow up to yesterday's blog post on the issue.
+ Show Spoiler [quick_recap] +
Pokestop farming offers the following advantages:
1) It's healthy. You're on a bike, physically active. That's what pokeGo should be about, instead of sitting on a bench breaking your thumbs.
2) You get to encounter rare pokemons more often (as of today it's shown to be not entirely true)
3) you can STILL farm pidgeys, arguably even better. This is a huge benefit. You are traveling long distances, and you can pick and choose which pokemon to capture, and which one to ignore.
4) you can hatch eggs.
5) you get to make decisions on the fly, which is fun: do I catch this pokemon or spin more stops? Is my route optimal?
6) most importantly, really, it's just more fun... riding around, multitasking, instead of watching the freaking same pidgeon evolving animation n times in a row, it's mind destroying.
7) it's free. no incense, no lure modules.
Definitions:
lure farming: camp out next to a cluster of pokestops with lures attached and catch everything in sight
pokestop farming: move between pokestops at a rapid rate (on a bike) and selectively catch pokemons
# Lure Farming Study #
I headed out earlier today with some friends and stumbled upon a group of people farming pokemons near a lure cluster. The cluster consists of 3 pokestops in close proximity. I sat next to them and applied an incense to myself.
The session ran for 30 minutes, and here is the result, with number of pokemon overlayed
raw exp gain using lure farming
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/XuufJsj.png)
Overall, a total of 5205 experience gain, and 40 pokemons captured
The pokemons caught during the lure farming session
+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/OzSL3ym.png)
Of the 40 pokemons captured, the following are useful for further exp gain via evolution:
-- pidgey: 4
-- ratata: 9
-- caterpee: 1
-- pidgeoto: 1
For the rest 25 pokemons not suitable for evolution, let's make a very generous over approximation and say we caught 25 additional ratatats.
-- additional ratata: 25
Quick Reference from previous blog, regarding the exp value for pokemons when smelted for candy:
-- pidgey/pidgeotto/caterpie is worth 166 additional experience from evolution
-- ratata is worth 83 additional experience from evolution
note: I'm ignoring the additional candy u get from evolution itself, so these number should be bit higher.
If all these pokemons are transfered to make candies for evolution, here are the additional exp gain:
pidgey/caterpee/pidgeotto: 6 * 166 = 996
ratatats: 34 * 83 = 2822
Result:
In 30 minutes, we gained 5205 + 996 + 2822 = 9023 experience, or 300 exp / min
# PokeStop Farming Study #
I did the usual pokestop farming using the same route from yesterday during night time when nobody is around campus.
+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://i.cubeupload.com/opbm05.png)
My strategy is as follows:
If there's a pidgey, always try to catch it
If there's a fun pokemon, yolo catch it anyways
if there's a ratata not too painful to catch, try it
If there's more pokestops to be spun, bike there and spin ASAP
If the pokestops are not fully refreshed (rarely happens), look around and catch a ratata
+ Show Spoiler +
Here is a screenshot of me half-way through the run, as you can see on my route some pokestops are not yet refreshed, so I opt to catch the ratata close to me instead.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/dnAByec.jpg)
Here is the result of my run. I had to stop early at 26 minutes because a lot of my eggs are going to pop, and I didn't want to complicate my measurements + Show Spoiler [eggs!] +
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/GaeNJy6.png)
yes, I spent 10 dollars the first day to buy incubators before I realized they're a huge scam T__Traw exp gain from pokestop farming
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/SJRm4du.png)
As we can see, we gained a total of 5960 experience, and caught 16 pokemons on this run
Here are the pokemons captured:
+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/R4o4qiZ.png)
Of the pokemons captured, these are suitable for additional exp gain via evolution:
-- pidgey: 10
-- pidgeotto: 1
-- ratata: 3
If these pokemons are transferred for additional exp gain:
pidgey/pidgeotto: 11 * 166 = 1826
ratata: 3 * 83 = 249
Result:
In 26 minutes, we gained 5960 + 1826 + 249 = 8035 experience, or 309 exp / min
## Conclusion ##
Even making a very generous approximation, assuming the 25 random pokemon caught during my lure session are all ratatas, which can be used for evolution, the pokestop farming method yields more exp / min. Thus we can say as far as this comparison goes, it is more efficient to farm pokestops if you live in an area with a large number of pokestops, such as university campuses.
Farming with lure is actually better for capturing moderately rare pokemons. These are not helpful if you want to focus on gaining exp, because you really only want pidgeys. On the otherhand, if you are farming pokestops, you're covering a larger area and can pick out pidgeys on the go.
## Q&A: ##
When is this even viable?
A spin gives you 50 exp. A good basline to aim for is 200 exp / min, which means you want to spin about 4 pokestops every minute. Plan a route to see if this is possible. Just remember you can always still catch pidgeys / ratatas in the down time.
What about lucky eggs? I evolve all my catch in a batch and get tons of exp!!
Notice that I actually farmed MORE pidgeys on the pokestop scheme, a total of 10 pidgeys vs 4 when I'm using lures. In general you are guaranteed to find more pidgeys when you're traveling from area to the next. With lures you are better at finding rarer pokemons
Is lure farming daed gaem?
No ofc not. You cannot ride bikes for 2 hours straight I'm assuming, at best 1 hour. So this should be a compliment to lure farming, that is more healthy, and with higher benefits.
Lure farming is such a good social activity, I'd not pass it for anything else
How do you have so many pokestops!?
I live near an university campus. I go there around 3am in the morning and ride around campus, which has no traffic lights / cars, and pokestops aplenty. I truly think it is a huge unfair advantage I have, but hopefully I am using it to the best of my abilities as not to squander the resources, and making this blog post.
How do you go through them so fast?
I ride a bike with my right hand and swipe with my left hand. Keep your bike seats low so you can stop. I usually stop very briefly to make sure I get the signs. The GPS is slightly laggy so your location on the map is a bit behind of where you actually is, so get closer first.
My pokestops are buggy!
Make sure you spin it only when you're close (i.e. the icons are blue not purple/pink). Memorize where you need to be before spinning it, go there first then spin. Do not exit from the spinning page until you see the rewards popping out, then you can exit (you do not have to touch to collect the rewards).
I see a pidgey / ratata, should I catch it or continue to the next signs?
A pidgey is worth 5 spins, a ratata is worth 3 to 4 spins. You should optimize if you can catch them before you can spin that many pokestops. Generally, for a pidgey just go for it, ratata only if CP is sufficiently low.
closing remarks / shameless advertisements
Hopefully this is entertaining to read at least!
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