Source
r/TheSilphRoad•
MarauderIIC

Pokemon spawn's CP is non-random and determined by trainer level

Analysis

tl;dr Two trainers capturing the same pokemon spawn at the same level get pokemon of the same CP. So, while it might be random between spawns, any single spawn is the same for everyone of the same level.

http://imgur.com/a/adWLI

My wife and I play Pokemon Go together a lot. Yesterday we spent quite a bit of time capturing the same pokemon spawns. Our levels overlapped for the majority of it; I'm pretty sure that the Venonat is the point at which I caught up in level (see the gallery for context).

The CP for every pokemon we caught from the same spawn when we were the same level is identical. So, each individual spawn is assigned a value, which is determined by a function of the Pokemon trainer level without any extra randomness added in for individual trainers.

Just thought that piece of information with proof might be helpful in some way.

Posted Jul 14, 2016, 2:06 AM UTC · edited

217
christopherwrongNew Jersey L26•

There's definitely a piece of code that is executed which works something like this.

Pokemon spawns, a list is created. Value 1 in the list is random(0-1). Value 2 is random between 0-2 and etc all the way up to 0-max trainer level. You then encounter a pokemon and an equation runs on your phone which is something like this. Pokemon cp = 10 + (pokemon global variable) * [trainer level](spawn list).

If you're level 13 it would grab the 13th value in the spawn list, generated random(0-13) when that pokemon spawned. A higher level does not guarantee a higher CP, but the random value in the spawn list had a higher potential max. And they will all be the same for the same level.

2
LeagueOfVideo•

I'm very confused. How is it not random? How is it calculated then? If anything it seems to assign each trainer level a random CP.

1
MarauderIICOPMaryland•

Two trainers capturing the same pokemon spawn at the same level get pokemon of the same CP. So, while it might be random between spawns, any single spawn is the same for everyone. I guess that's what I meant.

3
LeagueOfVideo•

okay cool think we're on the same page then. I guess this could be used in situational situations where one person catches a 40 cp charizard and then the other person levels up before going to catch it.

Or maybe if you see a 40 cp charizard you can run from the instace, level up, and then re-instance it and have the cp change.

3
christopherwrongNew Jersey L26•

Good point, my friends have seen this it's definitely true. I was wondering how to use this info for something useful. The next time I am close to leveling I will definitely find a pokemon, run, evo-level, re-instance, and record the result.

1
Deathwatch72TX•

I don't think so. I am 2 levels lower than my friend and caught much higher cp pokemon at the same spawn. My electabuzz is twice as strong, and my slowbrow was more than twice as strong

0
MarauderIICOPMaryland•

Maybe being a higher trainer level doesn't guarantee a higher CP level pokemon from the same particular pokemon appearance, but rather just the same CP as other trainers of your level? I haven't looked into this.

For equal level trainers capturing the same pokemon as they appear though, see the images - a very large number of identical CP pokemon.

2
ArsenixShirogonCFL•

my friend and I were both level 17 when we were walking around earlier tonight. Every pokemon we found was the same CP for both of us

2
silph_made_manWest Michigan•

The higher level person has a higher chance at seeing a higher CP, additionally, said person has a higher possible max CP potential.

0
Shock3600•

Found this too, however the lower person seems to limit it. When me and my friend ran around a park together we found a lot of Pokemon that we're all the same cp as each others

1
Dezwaan•

Not always true. I'm one level lower than my wife and ours are all over the place from each other especially rare spawns. Last night she got an 18comp hitmolee while my encounter was 877 and it ran away after the second great ball. Many of the rare encounters we notice vary widely.

0
minhthanh1994•

What he said is that if you are the same level, you got the same cp from the same spawn. He didn't said that higher lvl gonna get a higher cp than lower lvl from the same spawn of anything like that. Please read.

3
MilkshakeG•

This is 100% wrong. CP is calculated differently for each player based on the first select.

-1
christopherwrongNew Jersey L26•

this is wrong, OP is correct

1
MarauderIICOPMaryland•

See attached album.

1