Effort Levels in Pokémon Legends Arceus: What they are and how to improve them

Unlike other installments in the series, the Effort Points (EVs) and the IVs are unified in a single modifiable value. We explain it to you.

Pokémon Legends Arceus is now available worldwide for Nintendo Switch and is packed with new features. If you are in the early stages of the adventure and want to fully immerse yourself in the experience without feeling overwhelmed by the depth of the statistics, those numbers that appear in the data of your Pokémon, do not worry: we will explain in this article what they are the Effort Levels, how they are upgraded, and what items are needed to upgrade them .

What are Levels of Effort? a clear explanation

Unlike the previous installments of the main Pokémon saga, where there were additional statistical values ​​such as EVs (Effort Values) and IVs (Individual Values) to Attack, Defense, Speed, Life, Special Attack and Special Defense, this time it remains all unified, legible and modifiable in the so-called Levels of Effort.

The EVs were the effort values, some non-genetic parameters that we could improve; for their part, IVs were pure genetics: they were determined at birth. Since there is no breeding (or hatching of eggs, for that matter) in Pokémon Legends Arceus, it made little sense to maintain the classic super-training structure. Effort Levels are the solution.

First key point: Each Pokémon has Effort Levels, but you can improve them

When you catch a Pokémon you will notice that, apart from its Nature and the numbers for each of its stats, there is another number with a yellow circle around it. That’s Levels of Effort. They are initially random; you might hit a creature with high effort levels (usually between 0 and 3), so you’ll have less work ahead of you. Those Pokémon that you always want to have on your team are the ones that you must improve to get their full potential in battle .

• Effort Levels range from 0 to 10.
• Effort Levels are randomly determined but are upgradeable (unlike IVs).
• Effort Levels require Items of Effort to upgrade.

Second key point: How Levels of Effort are improved

Having understood the first point, we move on to the second, how do you improve Effort Levels? With the Objects of Effort. There are four types.

• Effort Powder – Powder that increases a Pokemon’s Effort Level if its Effort Level is below 3 [0-2].
• Effort Gravel: Gravel that increases a Pokemon’s Effort Level if its Effort Level is between 3 and 5.
• Effort Stone: A stone that increases a Pokemon’s effort level if its effort level is between 6 and 8.
• Rock of Effort: Rock that increases a Pokemon’s effort level if its effort level is 9.

The Rock of Effort is also the ultimate: 10 is the maximum Effort Level of a Pokémon. When you do, that stat will have reached the limit of the fledgling Pokémon species at its current level.

Third key point: How to get the Items of Effort in Pokémon Legends Arceus

We have four Items of Effort in Arceus Pokémon Legends, but how do you get them? There is not only one method (luckily!), but there are methods that are more recommended than others. In the absence of being able to gather more information (the game is a box of surprises), these are the known methods to obtain Dust, Gravel, Stone, and Rock of Effort .

• As a reward for completing certain Requests (side quests)
• As a reward after defeating Alpha Pokémon

Alpha Pokémon, depending on their level, will drop very useful items when they are defeated. That is why we recommend that you go for them in each of the Hisui areas. Rewards are proportional to level: the higher the Alpha Pokémon’s level, the better its rewards. For example, Experience Candies, Star Pieces (which we can sell for a lot of money), Stardust… and Endeavor Items.

Once we have the Items of Effort, it’s as simple as selecting them from the bag or from the trunk and applying them to the Pokémon we want on our team. Remember that each of them is determined for a certain level of effort. Therefore, a Gravel of Effort will be unusable in a stat that is not between 3 and 5, for example.

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