#having 3 sync nuke multipliers and high base power attack backed with high special attack

[books-are-my-life-stuff]

I finally decided to spend my General Move Candy and my Tech Candy to SC Diantha, so she can stop being unused. And I also finally get her amazing EX outfit. Steamrolling legendary arenas with her in my testing runs has been fun, it's nice to use her a lot again.

N is currently at level 170 of lodge. I also got quite a bit of Bonus Events here and there!

[crystalelemental]

Okay.  Okay, I got it this time.  This was a lot harder than it needed to be for me, but mission accomplished, I think.

Anyway, when is it Caitlin’s turn to get the Korrina treatment and get a Sygna Suit?  She needs her true ace in Gothitelle.

The general application is another Psychic Terrain setter, because I’m of the mind we can never have enough, and as a PokeFair level Pokemon, you know exactly where I’m going with this.  If anyone gets Terrain Extension, it will be Caitlin.

1/5 Caitlin is designed to slot in as a technical support for the Psychic archetype.  Psychic Terrain is obviously a huge benefit, but I wanted her to have some other useful tools.  X Speed All is fantastic for the Psychic-types that love spamming high-gauge moves despite not being all that fast, and Head Start 1 is a very nice tool for SS Lusamine in particular, who was a big focus when designing this.  I love SS Lusamine, I’m a bit sad SS Steven has kinda eclipsed her, I want her back on the map.  In general support, I opted for a new passive, Pacify 9, to lower both Attack and Special Attack per successful hit.  This is partly just to lean into Caitlin’s general style of bulky offense, given Reuniclus, but also I wanted someone who can potentially combo with C!Iris and Anni N.  Mind Games 9 was then chosen for some added power behind the attacks, and to really facilitate the Psychic-type archetype, since all of them are special.

“Isn’t three -1 debuffs too much?”  At this point in the meta, I don’t think so.  We’re getting options like SC Rosa throwing out -2 in two stats, packing natural Power Play, and an absurd sync nuke, all in one, that can be set up to full power in three turns to first sync.  Comparatively, Caitlin has a wider spread of debuffs, but is much slower.  This is significant, because it translates to having a much better time in Gauntlet than CS, due to taking considerable time to set up what she needs.  Additionally, consider that these only hit AoE under Terrain.  Which means she has to start with that before attacking.  BUT!  It’s a three-bar move.  And if you want anyone else to do stuff, you need to be setting up her speed buffs.  Meaning at least two uses, then Terrain, and now you’re at first sync.  Hopefully the problem is clear.  Caitlin’s pulled in a lot of directions, and isn’t doing an exceptional job in any particular role.  The fact that Terrain is also short-lived means she doesn’t have a ton of time to actually utilize it.  While it’s active, Expanding Force is a pretty strong move.  80 base power isn’t anything fantastic, especially for a 3-bar, but under Terrain it’s 120.  Granted, split with AoE, but I feel this is a fair trade.  It’s not terrible but not great without Terrain, but with Terrain it’s fantastic, albeit slightly weaker than Blizzard.  Which felt like a fair trade.  Without MPR on Psychic Wish, she just doesn’t get a ton of time to abuse the damage output.  So I feel like while it’s a lot of obscene-sounding abilities and powers, it comes together in the form of a unit that’s good but not a worldbeater.

2/5 would include things like Dauntless, Stalwart, and Antitoxin for fun.  I’d also like Grand Entry 2, to top off special attack from trainer move.  Precognition 2 might be nice, as well.  But nothing too impactful.

3/5 is where we get fun stuff.  The big one is Team Sharp Entry.  This caps her crit rate, but also means getting SS Lusamine perfectly ready for sync after two turns.  She’s an ideal partner now.  I’d also want Power Play as a sync multiplier.  There are like a billion Tech nukers that have overlap between grid multiplier and innate multiplier, like with Relentless, so time for Power Play.  I think two Power Plays are fine, given that it still comes out to less than an innate multiplier and two 100%s on grid.  And of course, we need MPR on Psychic Wish.  I’d want First Aid 4, and ideally Catalytic Cure 3, to lean into her survival.  I really like Caitlin as someone who emphasizes bulky offense.  It doesn’t significantly expand on her baseline effects, but it does give her more of an offensive presence, with some healing options for the more supportive role.

4/5 is tougher.  I’d say maybe Stupefication 9.  I know she doesn’t have Max Moves, but the additional debuffing could be helpful.  Overwhelm 9 basically means doubling up on her targets.  This makes her insane, but that’s the point of “best tiles,” right?

5/5 I’d give the Weird Warning 3, for terrain extension.  This is really significant for a unit like Caitlin that actually uses the terrain for more practical purposes than damage.  I kinda want to say Terrain on entry would be fun, just to really set up her support for debuffing, but you know.  It’s hard to balance 5/5.

But that’s the concept.  A general structure designed to improve further on the Psychic archetype, with SS Lusamine as a central focus.  I love me some debuffers, so I wanted to emphasize debuffing, and Terrain setters are really valuable, so that’s part of her role.  I wanted to bring in Expanding Force as a concept.  I don’t think this would be too much, but I’m open to suggestions.