Recently, we posted a full analysis article on how Donuts work mechanically in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. You can read the full article on the website.
There were a few key takeaways that I wanted to cross post here:
-
The Budget Wall: The game rolls a “wishlist” of powers, but caps them based on a total budget related to the total Flavor Power (up to a value of 9). If you over-invest in multiple flavors, you risk losing out on high-level powers.
-
The Sparkling Power Problem: Unlike other powers, Sparkling Power always costs 3 budget points, rather than a point per level. Combined with the other Sweet Power, Size Power, you might miss out on Sparkling from time-to-time even if it’s still extremely likely. This is also why you can’t consistently get high-level Sparkling Powers, each level has the same chance!
-
Rainbow Donuts: When a Rainbow Donut is made, all flavors get a boost to their budget, which allows you to get higher powers if you’re willing to risk the randomness of the game deciding between 4 or more power types.
-
Efficiency vs. Perfection: Statistically, it’s important to remember that chasing for the absolute perfect donut will only waste time in the long run, as “Good Enough” donuts (Power Lv. 1-2) will typically yield more Shinies per hour than spending your time resetting for perfection (yes, even with the guaranteed shiny!). Though if you’re going after something extremely rare (scans like Gimmighoul) you might want to reset more.
Those are really the key things to take away from this.
What questions do you have? What comments do you have? Do you have other recommendations? Let’s talk about it.