Emerald all Gold symbols prep FAQ

Emerald all Gold symbols prep FAQ

Q: What are you doing?
A: I am playing various parts of the Emerald Battle Frontier in preparation for an all Gold symbols run.

Q: Will you be using glitches?
A: No, as it would remove most of the challenge that makes it fun. You would just acquire a Pokemon with a glitched move that instantly wins a battle.

Q: What type of preparation is this?
A: To start, I want to get a general feel for each of the facilities, what battle strategies work best, and how well different Pokemon/movesets do there. The strategy for a speedrun is very complicated, so I can't just make a quick route and jump into runs. Once I'm more comfortable, I'll start learning enemy Pokemon movesets, AI, etc., and using that information to construct the team I'll use in the run.

Q: What teams are you considering?
A: It'll probably be Swampert/Latios/Metagross, since all three are excellent competitive Pokemon and can be RNG manipulated for good stats. I'm much less confident about levels, movesets, held items and EV spreads. A lot to explore here.

Q: Has anyone done a run like this?
A: Yes, Werster did a few all Gold symbols runs in 2013-2014, although he didn't complete one. You can find 40 hours of footage of his attempts here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw9xsXC7clOtsuDR6JkIcIQ

Q: How long will the preparation take?
A: Probably a few weeks, but I could spend more time if I had the patience. I might also lose interest after a few days and do other speedruns. I need to have the run down to a 30-hour estimate (preferably less), because any more would be too difficult to do in a single sitting.

Current estimates (as of March 7, 2017):
- Beat the game: 3 hours
- Farming: 3 hours
- Battle Factory: 1.9 hours (average 0.5 deaths)
- Battle Dome: 1.8 hours (average 0.6 deaths)
- Battle Tower: 5.7 hours (average 2.0 deaths)
- Battle Pyramid: 3.8 hours (average 0.4 deaths)
- Battle Palace: 5.5 hours (average 3.0 deaths)
- Battle Arena: 5.0 hours (average 2.0 deaths)
- Battle Pike: 1.4 hours (average 0.5 deaths)
- TOTAL: 31.3 hours (average 9.1 deaths)