Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players divided on “broken” DLC buff for low HP Mons
The Pokemon CompanyThe Affection mechanic in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet leads to a Friendship bonus in battles that let your Pokemon survive hits meant to knock it out, often in impossible situations. While many players love this, others think it ruins the challenge.
Many Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players lauded the challenging battles in the Indigo Disk DLC, particularly those with the Blueberry (BB) Elite Four and champion Kieran.
With a focus on double battles and several powerful Pokemon added to the Gen 9 meta, fans are eager to battle more to earn bragging rights but the Affection mechanic may be playing spoilsport for them.
This feature lets your Pokemon tank hits that would have otherwise fainted them, giving your team an ‘unfair’ edge over your opponents.
But, after a Reddit user named ‘AnIvysaurLover’ posted a clip of their Meowscarada tanking super-effective hits from a Feraligatr and wrote: “Friendship > Strength,” fellow trainers debated whether or not they liked the feature.
Right off the bat, a fellow player shared a similar experience on the “absolutely broken” buff: “I had this happen recently; my Scizor was at 1HP and kept shrugging off attacks from our opponent,” prompting a few players to gush about the feature.
They wrote: “Always like seeing our mons take it up a notch in the name of companionship. This is high key one of my favorite features in modern Pokemon games” and “I love the friendship in the games. It makes my heart swell. All those baths and playing ball and walking together pay off.”
As more fans admitted that they “love it when the Pokemon show their valor and grit,” others had a contrasting view on the popular Pokemon Scarlet and Violet battle buff.
“I hate this addition. It makes me look for bitter items so it will never trigger. Makes the game easier than it already is,” a trainer commented before another added:
“I’m not a fan of friendship buffs… If they want the 1HP effect in the game; then your Pokemon should faint during the end of the next turn regardless if you KO the defending Pokemon.”
With more joining the ‘love or hate’ bandwagon, a trainer shared how the buff can be avoided: “I have heard that friendship is hard capped to 160, just enough for friendship evolutions but not enough for friendship bonuses, being picnics the only way to get past 160 and get the bonuses.”
If you’re looking for some exciting things to do in the Indigo Disk DLC, check out the Synchro Machine feature and how you can open the secret room in Area Zero of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
