PokéRogue Early Beginner Guide
What are the Rogue-like Elements?
Meta progression is the name of the game. Every time you start a run, everything that you caught, hatched, and unlocked previously will be available to you.
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As you obtain various Pokémon, you will unlock the option to use them as starters.
- You can catch all generations of Pokémon across 35 different Biomes.
- Eggs are found via redeeming egg vouchers in the Egg Gacha. Hatching them can allow for powerful starting egg moves.
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Any time you catch or hatch a Pokémon, its starter will receive the Ability, Gender, Form, Shiny Variant, Nature, and IV for each stat that is greater than the starter's existing IV. Keep obtaining more to give your Starter Pokémon all of these options the next time you use them.
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As you catch, hatch, and use your starters you will obtain starter-specific candies that have various uses.
Breaking Down the User Interface
Starter Select Screen (Pokédex)
This is what you first see each time you start a new game. Put simply, it is every Starter Pokémon you can choose from to build your team.
| Number | Element | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pokémon Details | Here you can see detailed information about the highlighted Pokémon. |
| 2 | Generation Selection | Here you can change the generation to see the other Pokémon you have access to. Scroll up and down. |
| 3 | Box | Here are all of the Pokémon you have access to build your team with. |
| 4 | Pokémon Added to Party | Here is your team of Pokémon you've selected to bring on your journey. You may have up to 6. |
| 5 | Options | As you catch and hatch more Pokémon, you will unlock additional abilities, natures, and more! Cycle through each Pokémon's options here to your liking. |
| 6 | Points & Start | You have a limit of points based off your game mode, try and fill it the best you can. Click start to begin your adventure. |
Pokémon Details Section
The left side of the Starter Select Screen has all of the details for the Pokémon you scroll over to. You can customize your Starter Pokémon here to have the abilities, moves, and so on you want before adding them to your team.
| Number | Element | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Candies | This shows how many candies you have for this Starter Pokémon. You can use these the lower the starter's cost and unlock its Passive Ability. |
| 2 | Total Captured | This shows how many Pokémon from this evolution line you have caught. |
| 3 | Total Hatched | This shows how many of this Starter Pokémon you have hatched from eggs. |
| 4 | Form | This shows what form this Starter Pokémon is. You can cycle through the different forms you have unlocked with F. |
| 5 | Luck | This will appear once you've caught a shiny Pokémon. The Luck stat increases with Shiny Variant rarity. |
| 6 | Egg Moves | You can unlock egg moves to give to your Starter Pokémon from hatching them. |
| 7 | Gender | You can cycle between the Starter Pokémon gender with G. Genders affect some abilities, moves, and evolutions. |
| 8 | Moveset | Your Starter Pokémon's current moveset. |
| 9 | Ability | Abilities provide your Pokémon with unique effects within battle as well as outside of battle. |
| 10 | Passive Ability | Unlocking a Passive Ability gives your Pokémon a 2nd ability to have in addition to its main ability. |
| 11 | Nature | Each nature increases one of its stats and decreases another. There are 5 natures that are neutral and do not affect the stats at all. |
| 12 | Controls | The controls to cycle through each of the options for your Pokémon. |
Box Section
The right side of the Starter Select Screen has all of the Starter Pokémon you can choose from to build your team. Scroll around. There are also icons and sprite variations to show various aspects and unlocks.
| Number | Image | Implication | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Not Yet Seen | Every starter Pokémon is blank until you first see them in the game. |
| 2 |  | Seen | Once you've seen a Pokémon, then its starter is unveiled with a darkened sprite. |
| 3 |  | Caught or Hatched | Once you first catch or hatch a Pokémon, its starter is unlocked. Rattata is now available to add to your team! |
| 4 |  | Hidden Ability | This icon appears once you've obtained a Pokémon's Hidden Ability. The Hidden Ability will be written in a Yellow font. |
| 5 |  | Champion Ribbon | This icon is a Ribbon given to your team as a reward for winning Classic mode. |
| 6 |   | Point Cost | You can use candies to lower a Pokémon's cost. Spearow's cost was reduced once from 2 to 1. Reducing it a second time would bring it down to 0.5. See more details on cost reductions and candies here. |
| 7 |  | Shiny | Shiny Pokémon increase your Luck. There are also 3 variants with the more rare giving higher luck. There is Common, Rare, and Epic. |
| 8 |  | Pokerus | The purple box around Geodude means that it has Pokerus. A virus that makes it gain exp quicker and spreads to your team. |
By pressing Z or Spacebar on keyboard or A on mobile/controller you will open the Pokémon's menu. Here you can:
- Add them to your party
- Toggle IVs
- Change Moveset
- Use Candies
- Enable/Disable Passive Ability once unlocked
Battles
| Number | Element | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Passive Boost Items | Each item that gives a passive boost to the game or your Pokémon. |
| 2 | Your Pokémon's Held Items | Each Held Item on your current Pokémon. |
| 3 | Opposing Pokémon's Held Items | Each Held Item on the opposing Pokémon. |
| 4 | Wave Counter | The current wave you are on. |
| 5 | Money | The current amount of Pokédollars you have to buy Shop Items, such as Potions or Revives. |
| 6 | Biome | You can tell which Biome you are in based on the background artwork. |
| 7 | Nameplate | See below for details. |
| 8 | Level-cap | There are also level-caps for your Pokémon in PokéRogue. For every 10 waves completed, the level-cap increases. You can see you are at the level-cap by your Pokémon's level number turning red. Check here for more details. |
| 9 | Menu | This is where you can select what to do on your turn in battle. Use Moves, Throw a Pokéball, Open the Pokémon Party, or Attempt to Run. |
Pokémon's Nameplate
Every Pokémon will have some of the following icons on their nameplate. Each of these tells the player something about the Pokémon.
From left to right along the top, there is:
- Name
- Gender
- DNA Spliced
- Shiny
- Terastallized
- Level
- Type
From left to right along the bottom, there is:
- Pokeball Indicator
- There is NO Pokeball if you have NOT caught or hatched this species yet. Meaning this exact evolution.
- There is a Darkened Pokeball if you HAVE already caught or hatched this species but NOT this one's specific Ability, Gender, Form, or Shiny Variant.
- There is a Brightened Pokeball if you HAVE already caught or hatched this species AND this one's specific Ability, Gender, Form, and Shiny Variant.
- Champion Ribbon
- Boss
- HP Bar
- If it is a Boss, then the HP Bar will have these segments. Check it out here for more details on Bosses.
Shop & After-Battle Rewards
After most battles are completed, you enter the Shop before continuing on in your journey. This gives you a break from battle and lets you buy common Shop items as well as choose one free reward item from random drops. You can check the different rarity drop rates here.
As you progress through the waves, you may encounter certain items that change your gameplay experience. Make sure to check out the Items Page for more details.
| Number | Element | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shop Items | You can buy as many of these Shop Items as you can afford, just make sure to do it before selecting your reward. |
| 2 | After-Battle Rewards | You can select one of these rewards for free. The number of options increases as you progress. You can see all of the items here. |
| 3 | Money | The current amount of Pokédollars you have to buy Shop Items. |
| 4 | Luck | Your Luck grade is dependent upon having Shiny Pokémon in your party, not fainted. Luck increases your odds of having an After-Battle Reward upgrade to the next rarity tier. You can see the upgrade below. |
| 5 | Reroll | You can choose to reroll the After-Battle Rewards for a new set of random rewards for a price. |
| 6 | Transfer | Move your held items between the Pokémon in your party. (Vitamins and Form Change items are non-transferable) |
Game Modes
A detailed guide to each Game Mode can be found here.
Classic
The story of a trainer's adventure to become the champion re-imagined to fit the rougue-like progression.
Classic Mode will test your bond with your Pokémon. You will have Wild Pokémon and Trainers challenging you; as well as Gym Leaders, Boss Pokémon, an Elite Four and Champion.
Daily Run
A fixed trial that resets daily with preset Pokémon that is the exact same for everyone. Beat it the best you can to get your place on the daily leaderboards.
Additional Game Modes
Endless
Fight waves of ever increasing difficulty and see how long you can last. No trainer battles, just you and endless Wild Pokémon.
This Game Mode has its own rules and challenges apart from Classic. And of course you can endlessly level-up your Pokémon!
- Must win Classic Mode to unlock
Endless (Spliced)
Just like Endless, but all the Pokémon you encounter will be DNA Spliced. Including your Starter Pokémon.
- Must win Classic Mode with a DNA Spliced Pokémon to unlock
Key Differences Between PokéRogue and Main Series
- Pokémon can level past 100
- Some Movepools have been changed
- Some Evolution methods have been changed
- Shiny Pokémon have a purpose by giving Luck
- GMax/Mega/Tera stats
- Passive Abilities
- DNA Splicing Fusion