this game is pokepath https://khydra98.itch.io/pokepath
I keep seeing the same questions pop up:
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“Why does PokéPath TD suddenly feel impossible?”
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“What am I doing wrong around Routes 5–6?”
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“Is my team just bad?”
After way more hours than I care to admit — plus digging through itch.io comments, Reddit threads, and a lot of trial-and-error — I figured I’d write down what I’ve learned in one place.
This is not a beginner guide.
This is about how the game systems really behave once you’re deep into it.
This isn’t a reaction-based TD — it’s a planning game
PokéPath TD may look like a classic static tower defense, but it plays very differently from older Pokémon TD titles.
You’re not meant to be constantly micro-managing during waves. Almost all the difficulty is decided before the wave even starts:
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What you deploy
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Where you place it
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When you swap units in or out
Every Pokémon is essentially defined by four core stats:
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Power
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Attack speed (recharge)
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Range
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Critical chance
These don’t scale smoothly. Early levels feel mild, but evolution breakpoints are huge spikes rather than gradual upgrades.
From testing, enemy scaling clearly follows an effective HP (EHP) model. That’s why late-game enemies feel immune to raw damage, and why percentage-based debuffs outperform pure DPS later on.
The 10-Pokémon cap changes everything
You can only have 10 active Pokémon at a time. Everything else sits in the PC box.
That single rule defines the entire meta.
You’re expected to rotate your lineup based on the wave type:
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Invisibility waves
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High-armor enemies
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Fast rushes
Trying to brute-force the game with one fixed “best team” is exactly what the game punishes.
Late-game success isn’t about having the perfect lineup — it’s about knowing what to swap, and when.
The economy is intentionally harsh (and borderline broken)
Money is the biggest wall for most players.
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Upgrade costs scale exponentially
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Stage rewards don’t keep up
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Eggs are random
And here’s the kicker:
The more Pokémon you own, the more expensive eggs become.
Late-game pulls can cost 50,000 currency per egg, which creates a brutal situation:
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Miss key utility Pokémon early
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Progress slows dramatically
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In some cases, you get soft-locked
This is especially painful if you don’t get invisibility counters early.
Why Meowth / Persian completely warps the meta
The community figured this out fast: Pay Day breaks the economy.
Meowth and Persian generate money every time they attack. That alone wouldn’t matter much — except for one interaction.
If you leave a slow, high-HP enemy alive at the end of a wave and let a low-damage Persian hit it repeatedly without killing it, you can generate money indefinitely without ending the wave.
This “wave stalling” method is basically mandatory if you want:
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Full Pokédex completion
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Late-game upgrades
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Achievement grinding
At this point, not explaining Pay Day to new players is almost setting them up to quit.
Invisibility is the real difficulty spike
Nothing spikes difficulty harder than invis enemies.
If your team can’t reveal invisibility, you don’t “play worse” — you just lose.
Known solutions right now:
Direct invis reveal (most reliable)
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Natu
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Murkrow / Honchkrow
Splash / AOE damage
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Lucario
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Octillery
Even if they can’t target invis units directly, splash damage can force reveals.
Projectile retarget RNG
Sometimes projectiles retarget invis enemies if their original target dies mid-flight. It’s inconsistent, but it can save runs in emergencies.
Armor and shields demand debuff chains, not raw DPS
From Routes 8–9 onward, enemies start stacking serious armor and shields.
At this point, brute-force damage falls off hard.
Armor-breaking Pokémon become mandatory:
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Machoke / Machamp are some of the most important late-game units
Once armor is stripped, DPS units like Weavile or Dragonite suddenly feel strong again.
Without debuff chains, late-game waves feel mathematically impossible — because they basically are.
Status effects shine on bosses, not trash waves
Burn, poison, and paralysis feel underwhelming on normal waves — and that’s expected.
Against bosses, though, percentage-based damage is absurdly strong.
Examples:
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Charizard burn: ~0.5% max HP per second for ~10 seconds
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Weezing poison stacks can melt massive HP pools
This is one of the most reliable ways to handle legendary bosses like Articuno.
Roles matter more than tier lists
After testing, these roles matter far more than raw rankings:
| Pokémon | Role | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Machamp | Armor break | Enables all late-game DPS |
| Ferrothorn | Slow / control | Buys time for debuffs |
| Persian | Economy | Makes late game viable |
| Sunflora | Aura support | Boosts damage & range |
| Natu | Invis counter | Prevents instant losses |
Positioning is just as important:
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Armor break up front
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Control at choke points
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Economy units off to the side
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Auras near your core
Routes, progression, and why AFK grinding is expected
There are 9 routes, each with 100 waves.
The game autosaves every 25 waves.
You’re clearly expected to:
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Switch routes when stuck
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AFK farm easier paths
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Come back stronger
Some players log 40+ hours, and honestly, the pacing seems built around that level of commitment.
Legendary bosses reward repositioning, not brute force
Boss fights aren’t just DPS checks.
One very effective tactic is staged redeployment:
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Let the boss pass your first defense
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Recall your units
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Redeploy them further down the path
This keeps your damage focused instead of spread out.
The game keeps improving — fast
The developer updates constantly, sometimes every few days.
Recent improvements include:
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Range preview hotkey
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Faster upgrade buttons
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Team presets (huge QoL)
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Achievement fixes
There’s also discussion around:
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Held items
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Mega evolution
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Visual overhauls for routes
Final thoughts
PokéPath TD isn’t just another Pokémon TD clone.
It’s a resource optimization game disguised as a tower defense.
If you don’t understand:
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The economy
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Invisibility mechanics
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Debuff chains
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Unit rotation
The game feels unfair.
Once you do, it becomes one of the deepest Pokémon-themed TDs out there.
Hope this helps someone get past the Route 5 wall.
you can find more strategy here directly →https://pokepath.io/