We made it to level 71 in Pokemon Go this past weekend, the first level up since the big game update in the middle of October.  My wife wants to make sure I tell everybody that she made it ahead of me, so she “won” that race.  She can be quite competitive.   She also complained quite a bit when I was ahead, but she has her ways.

So there we go.  The first of the final ten levels of Pokemon Go attained.

I will, once again, spare a brief moment to wonder aloud who thought it was a good idea to raise the level cap by 30 levels and then jump all the high achievers straight to the last ten.  Seems dumb, but I do have a very MMORPG drive outlook on levels I suppose.

On top of that, the new Saudi owners have really started emphasizing xp gain, giving people new avenues like the daily free 1km egg to get more xp on a regular basis than they used to.  So I get more xp when what is blocking me from leveling is the tasks that sit before us.

To counter that, I will say that there is something to be said for not having to grind xp, that having a task focus is a bit of a change.  And I will still need some xp as time goes on and we advance to higher levels.  I currently have about enough xp to get me to level 75 and need maybe another 65 million to have enough for level 80.  That will continue to accumulated as we’re focused on other things.  Here is the table they put out for xp.

• Level 10: 48,000 total XP
• Level 20: 258,000 total XP
• Level 30: 1,083,000 total XP
• Level 40: 3,953,000 total XP
• Level 50: 12,753,000 total XP
• Level 60: 34,353,000 total XP
• Level 70: 85,853,000 total XP
• Level 80: 203,353,000 total XP

I am at 140 million, so a ways to go before it is no longer an issue.

For level 71 we all needed to do the following:

• 15 Platinum Medals
• Power Up Legendary or Mythical Pokemon 20 times
• Make 999 nice throws
• Catch 100 Pokemon in a single day

I figure anybody who was boosted to level 70 with the big update probably had 15 platinum medals, so that was no obstacle.  Powering up legendary or mythical Pokemon 20 times ought to be easy enough.

So the real tasks were catching 100 Pokemon in a single day… which was a not that bad.  I went over to the community center, which is Pokemon central in our town, put lures up on a couple of Pokestops and just caught everything that showed up for 45 minutes and I was done.

That left 999 nice throws.   Nice throws in and of themselves are easy.  Just land the Pokeball inside the target ring, no matter the size, and it counts.  I changed up my play style and timed my throws to land at the point of maximum circle size… a habit I am now trying to break because doing that over a thousand times… not every ball hits… will make that your default behavior.

While I could do 100 catches in a day, 999 nice throws… I do have other things to do during the day.  Still, others on my friends list went right at it and I saw people at level 71 within two days of the big update.  In that context, me taking 15 days marks me as a bit of a slacker.  I closed it out on Saturday by going back to the community center to get in my last 90.  Lure out, incense lit, audio book playing in the car, and just sit and catch.

My level 71 stats

I didn’t even need to catch 999 Pokemon to get 999 nice throws.

Sot now we’re there.  We made it to level 71.  And that means the tasks for level 72 are before us.  Those are:

• 20 Platinum Medals
• Follow a Route 7 days in a row
• Use 200 supper effective Charged Attacks
• Earn 1,000,000 stardust

Well, I have 26 platinum medals, and my wife has 31, so we were good there immediately.

Following a route every day for a week… that will just take seven days.  That is very doable.  In fact, we have a route a couple blocks from our house that is half a kilometer long and which I can park, start it up, drive to the end, and finish it in about 3 minutes.  It would probably be better for my health if I walked it, but some days I am too busy to get out and do that before it turns dark.

200 super effective charged attacks… I might have to optimize for that one.  With the right group you can get in a good dozen during a raid.  We’ll just need to get out and do some raids to knock that one out.

Finally, earning a million stardust… well, that is just a matter of time.  You get 100 for every catch and some more for every spin and for every battle and every raid and some for daily tasks… it adds up.  That still might take a while.  The only way to optimize for it is to just play more I suppose.

Anyway, we’re off and running for level 72.  And, with an eye towards level 73 we have started accumulating tainted Pokemon to purify, as one of the objectives is to purify 100.  Might as well get started on that in advance.

I will also need to go back to my platinum medal strategy.  I currently have 26 and will need 30 to get level 74, and more for every level after that, for a total of 50 to achieve level 80.  The medals are likely to do me in before the end.