How do hard caps differ from useful stopping points?
A hard cap prevents additional investment from increasing the relevant capped effect. A practical stopping point means the effect can still change, but the extra change may no longer solve an important problem in the current run. A move-specific limit is different again: one attack may stop benefiting even if another attack in the same build still has room to improve. Keep these categories separate when reading an upgrade card.
For example, Dodge beyond its listed cap cannot be evaluated like extra range on a move that already reaches useful targets. One is a stated hard limit; the other is a question of useful coverage. The decision should therefore begin with the exact stat and the attack or survival function it serves. PokéBonk stat caps are helpful reference points, but the build still needs to turn the remaining upgrade choices into reliable damage, coverage, or survival.
| Stat or effect | Reviewed reference | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Base-move cooldown | About 0.12 seconds minimum | Inspect the actual move cooldown |
| Fused-move cooldown | About 0.60 seconds minimum | Do not aim for the base-move floor |
| Combined Critical Rate | 200% hard cap | Read normal and Super Critical Rate together |
| Dodge | 60% hard cap | Shift further survival investment elsewhere |
| Ordinary area coverage | About 36 meters can cover the spawn ring | Practical coverage reference; check move limits |
| Luck | Milestones around 80, 100 and 125 | Match the milestone to the intended benefit |
When should you stop adding attack speed?
Watch the move's actual cooldown rather than choosing an attack-speed number without context. The reviewed guide gives a minimum of about 0.12 seconds for base moves and about 0.60 seconds for fused moves. Once the attack has reached its applicable floor, further speed investment cannot be justified by expecting that particular cooldown to continue falling below the listed minimum.
This does not establish one universal attack-speed total for every companions and every move. The starting cooldown and the move you are evaluating still matter. If a fusion changes the attack, revisit the relevant floor before continuing the old investment plan. Ask which important move would actually become more useful from the next speed upgrade. If the answer is none because the relevant cooldowns are already at their limits, compare damage, coverage, or survival choices that can still change the outcome.
Does Critical Rate above 100% still help?
Yes. The reviewed guide describes additional Critical Rate beyond 100% contributing to a Super Critical check, with a combined upper limit of 200%. The ordinary Critical Rate display may stop at 100%, so reading that number alone can hide the distinction between reaching normal critical consistency and reaching the full combined limit. Check the Super Critical component together with the normal rate before concluding that every further rate upgrade is wasted.
Once the combined figure reaches 200%, stop adding Critical Rate for that capped purpose. Before that point, compare rate with critical damage in the context of the current build. The reviewed guide recommends establishing sufficient critical probability before focusing on critical damage, but it does not provide a single fixed ratio that wins every upgrade choice. Use the actual current values and the effect of the available card rather than applying an invented universal balance.
What changes after Dodge reaches 60%?
Dodge has a 60% hard cap in the reviewed material. Reaching it is a reason to stop buying more Dodge for additional avoidance and consider another survival layer. It does not mean the companion is safe from every attack. A 60% chance of avoiding a hit still leaves hits that connect, and the build needs enough durability and positioning to survive those failures.
This is an important distinction when using PokéBonk stat caps to plan upgrades. A capped avoidance stat can be working exactly as expected while a run still ends from a connected hit. Inspect the damage taken on failed dodges instead of interpreting a death as proof that the cap was useless. Armor and maximum health can address a different part of the problem. Continue to use movement and encounter awareness, because an average avoidance rate cannot promise that any particular dangerous hit will miss.
How do Dodge and Armor work together?
The approved example combines 60% Dodge with 45 Armor, where the stated Armor value halves damage from hits that connect. An average of 40% of attacks gets through Dodge; applying the half-damage factor gives 0.4 × 0.5 = 0.2, or about 20% expected damage compared with the same incoming attacks before those two effects. The calculation explains why two different defensive layers can complement one another.
Expected damage is a long-run average, not a statement that every individual hit deals only 20% damage. When Dodge fails, the connected hit is reduced by the relevant mitigation, and it can still be dangerous. This is why the guide recommends shifting further survival investment toward Armor and health after Dodge reaches 60%. Use the example to understand the relationship between avoidance and mitigation, without treating it as a guarantee against bursts or a complete survival formula for every encounter.
Why is 36 meters not a universal range cap?
Ordinary enemies are described as spawning roughly 24 to 36 meters away. A suitable area move that already covers about 36 meters may therefore reach the useful spawn ring, leaving less additional clearing value from even more range. This is a practical explanation for stopping investment when the attack already covers the targets it needs. It is not a claim that the range stat itself becomes unable to increase.
Check the actual move before borrowing that reference. Fusion and some individual attacks have their own limits, so extra range may not create the same useful coverage on every skill. Also inspect whether the attack lands frequently enough across the area you have reached. Large coverage without useful hits can still clear poorly. The next range upgrade should answer an observable gap in the current attack pattern, rather than simply making an already sufficient number larger.
What do the Luck milestones mean?
The reviewed Luck reference points are around 80 for a wild-shiny-related benefit, 100 for chest-price and slot-machine-related benefits, and 125 for the Gengar good-luck-related benefit. These milestones describe different uses of Luck. The stat is not stated to have a universal hard cap of 125, and some smaller benefits may remain beyond that point. Choose a stopping point according to which of those uses matters to the run.
Luck should also not be treated as a way to increase Bonk Coin drop probability. The recorded Bonk Coin guidance does not make that reward depend on the chosen companions, map, or build. Keep the reward system separate from the Luck purposes listed here. For PokéBonk stat caps, this is another example of why naming the desired effect matters: adding a stat because it sounds broadly fortunate does not establish a benefit to an unrelated reward check.
How should you choose the next upgrade?
Before selecting a card, identify the useful effect it would change. Check whether that effect has reached a hard cap, a move-specific limit, or merely a practical stopping point. Then compare the available alternative with the run's actual weakness. A capped Dodge build may need durability against connected hits; a cooldown-capped attack may need more effective damage or a different supporting move; sufficient coverage may free resources for a weak Boss fight.
Review the same decision after the next demanding encounter. Did the upgrade solve a real problem, or did the build continue investing in a number that was already doing enough? Use PokéBonk stat caps as a way to redirect resources deliberately. The goal is to stop spending on effects that cannot help further while preserving flexibility where the useful limit depends on the move, target, and objective of the current run.