My name is inder, I am the support player for Team ROOT Dignitas. My job today is to make you a better player by using the best resources available. In this article, I’ll be covering a couple of sites and tools that every serious Pokémon Unite player should use. Let’s dive in!

Unite-DB

Pokémon Stats & Descriptions

In-game Pokémon descriptions don’t always tell the full story and for that reason you want to rely on a website that I study religiously: unite-DB.com.

Unite-DB can seem intimidating at first, but by the end of this section, you’ll be a master at understanding all the fancy numbers and text you’re looking at. Let’s use Lucario (image provided) as an example; a Pokémon that has received minimal changes over the last 4 years of the game.

At the top of the page you will find Steadfast (Lucario’s passive ability). The in-game description simply states: “When the Pokémon is at low HP, it is granted a shield and its movement speed is increased”.

Without checking a website like unite-db you would not know that it actually triggers at exactly: 50% max hp, increases move speed by 20%, the effect lasts for 5 seconds and most importantly it has a 45 second cooldown.

At first this extra information may not seem too relevant, but for an advanced player, these details are all the difference. For example, when laning versus Lucario, (image provided) you can look to trade health bars to bring it to just below half hp, trigger its passive and back away for 5 seconds. Now you have a 45 second window to fight a Lucario who has significantly less survivability.

Do this right before an objective and you’ve just given yourself and the rest of your team a winning edge!

Ratios & Formulas

You can take your unite-db comprehension to an even higher level by analyzing the formula on moves. We’ll use the same ability, Steadfast, as an example. You’ll notice it has the formula: “250% ATK + 50 x (Level - 1) + 50”. At first this can seem very intimidating, but trust me, it’s very easy to parse.

The formula consists of 3 components:

The ratio based on your stat (in red)
The level slider (in yellow)
The base number (in white).

The part that is the most relevant to our decision making is the portion in red; the stat ratio. This number signals to us that Lucario’s Steadfast shield is stronger by 250% of its current ATK stat. That means that if you have an Attack Weight giving you +100 attack, the value of your shield will increase by +250. Why is that relevant? It means that Lucario as an all-rounder can further increase its survivability with an item that might traditionally be reserved for solely increasing damage. Next time you think about running a more defensive item on Lucario, remember that maximizing your attack stat isn’t just about your damage output, but also your survivability!

Personally, whenever I’m picking up a new Pokémon I read up on all the small quirks so that I am never surprised when I’m on the battlefield.

Unite API

The next resource you want to be familiar with is: https://uniteapi.dev/

On the surface this website is a typical match history tracker. You can search your name or trainer ID to see your personal win rate and recent games. It’s always a good idea to keep track of your personal trends to know what’s working for you and what isn’t.

Where you can get a lot of value from this website is the “Meta” tab (image provided). This part of the website is updated weekly typically on Mondays. We’ll get started by scrolling down to see the Win/Pick/Ban rate.

Win Rate Last Week

This chart is amazing at understanding trends especially right after a patch. What I really like is seeing the change in percentages from week to week. Sometimes a Pokémon that didn’t receive buffs or nerfs can shoot up/down in winrate simply due to meta fluctuations. There have been cases where even as a pro team on Root Dignitas we leverage these stats to stay ahead of the metagame, so don’t be afraid to think like a pro!

Pick Rate Last Week

This goes in tandem with Win Rate when it comes to analyzing trends. Take this data with a grain of salt though as pick rate data can often be influenced simply by what Pokémon people enjoy playing as opposed to what might actually be good.

Ban Rate Last Week

This stat is arguably even better at understanding what the ladder believes to be strong. Often you will notice some Pokémon have over a 100% ban-rate this just means that on average it is being banned by both teams in a singular game. What I recommend is if you notice a particular Pokémon with a high ban-rate and you’re limited on currency, avoid purchasing it as it will likely be banned in most games.

Unite-API cont.

Aside from tracking your personal data and keeping up with overall trends my final tip for Unite-API is using it to learn about builds. After you’re done your reading on a Pokémon’s moveset and stats on unite-DB head over to the Pokémon tab on Unite-API. This is where you can get a really good understanding of which moves to play on a Pokémon but most importantly understanding what battle item can make or break the character. Let’s use Lucario again for example (image provided)

Extreme-Speed Lucario has an overall negative winrate, but it actually goes from below 50% to above 50% simply by wearing Full Heal. Often I see players want to use their favourite battle item on every build but as you can see with Lucario the difference between X-Speed and Full Heal is over 13%.

Social Media/Content

Don’t forget to leverage the amazing community resources to help take your game to the next level! Shameless plug but I myself stream almost daily, so don’t feel shy and feel free to hop into my livestream (image provided) and ask questions about the game or any build in particular.