I have been tracking Mew's skill records for about 160 days, and the total number of candies collected has exceeded 1,800. By the way, until last month, I didn't even have Skill Trigger or Helping Speed subskills.
Bodeso's Mew tracking tool is so fun that people are getting addicted to it.
With Miracle Snap over and the Mewtwo event approaching, I've been seeing more discussions about Mew. Therefore, as the person who uses Mew the most in the world (according to Bodeso's research), I will thoroughly explain Mew from scratch.
This is a definitive Mew strategy guide for those who say:
"I have it, but I don't use it at all."
"I don't know how to raise it."
"It's a jack of all trades, master of none, so other Pokémon must be stronger, right?"
It's a bit long, but you can just read the parts you're interested in, and feel free to refer back to it whenever you get stuck.
Professor Mew has arrived. It's a tights-style suit.
〈Conclusion of this Article〉
- Everyone, from paying players to free-to-play players, should raise Mew. There are two reasons: → The specifications of its Main Skill are excellent. → The "Candy Gathering" aspect of its Main Skill is simply incredibly powerful.
- For now, everyone should aim for Level 50. → It requires about the same amount of effort as raising a normal Pokémon to Level 60.
- The Main Skill Charge Energy S is the strongest, followed by Charge Strength / Cooking Power-Up. → The inspiration order should prioritize Main Skills first, then Subskills (it's fine to unlock up to Level 70).
〔Table of Contents〕
- The Two Reasons Why Mew is Strong
- Why the Main Skill Specifications are Too Strong
- Why It's Strong Even with Blank Subskills
- How Many Candies Can You Actually Collect?
- Recommended Order for Main Skills
- Recommended Order for Subskills
- Order of Using Inspiration Seeds
- Should You Aim for Ingredients (Especially Tails)?
- To What Level Should You Raise It?
- Summary
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1. The Two Reasons Why Mew is Strong
While it has various strengths, the definitive advantages unique to Mew that set it apart from other Pokémon are honestly just these two:
- The specifications of its Main Skill are exceptionally excellent (detailed below).
- The core purpose of its Main Skill is "Candy Gathering." → This is currently the resource whose value has increased the most in Pokémon Sleep.
Arguments about its ingredients like Tails, or its versatility across all specialties, are also valid, but they are just minor details compared to Mew's core strength. If you understand these two strengths, you will rarely make a mistake in its cultivation.
First, let's talk about why candies are so important.
Every time a new Pokémon is implemented, the amount of Dream Shards we get increases continuously (because newly added Pokémon have high Drowsy Power). However, the number of candies barely increases. Even the EX updates claim to increase candies, but the growth is minimal.
In short, the game structure is designed so that "the amount of Dream Shards collected will continue to increase, but candies alone will remain chronically scarce."
Particularly with the release of Level 70, I believe many players are currently thinking, "I don't have enough candies, I'm doomed." Unfortunately, this trend will not change in the future. If anything, it will get worse.
That is precisely why the value of a Pokémon that gathers candies for you is incredibly high.
Since many Pokémon Sleep enthusiasts enjoy taking their time to cultivate characters step-by-step, investing early in Mew to steadily gather candies turns out to be an addictive and fun loop for many people. I am already a Mew addict; if I remove it from my party, I feel like I'd collapse. I'm currently looking for fellow addicts.
2. Why the Main Skill Specifications are Too Strong
This is the most important point I want to convey this time.
Inspiration Seeds follow slightly different rules depending on where you unlock them. Ingredient and Subskill inspirations operate on a "draw a lottery ticket, put it back in the box, and mix again" system, meaning theoretically, you could pull the same unwanted result multiple times.
However, Mew's Main Skill is different. Once you pull a ticket, it disappears from the box for the next draw.
There are 12 types in total, starting with Metronome. As long as you repeat the process, you will inevitably reach the Main Skill you want. The worst-case scenario of continuously pulling bad options is fundamentally 100% impossible. This is why it's so powerful. I love it.
This is the decisive difference between Mew and Darkrai. Darkrai was a Pokémon that was "hard to use unless its Subskills were perfect," but Mew is different. Even if its Subskills are completely blank, it is strong enough to use as long as its Main Skill is good.
It's a versatile character that can read the room, adapt to any workplace, and get along well with everyone from newcomers to veterans.
3. Why It's Strong Even with Blank Subskills
Something I made before, it's cute right? Those are bubbles, not clouds.
Main Skills are divided into three activation probability tiers across all 12 types: "High," "Normal," and "Low" (*).
- High: Charge Energy S, Charge Strength S
- Low: Energy Cheer S, Berry Burst
- Normal: Everything else
Among them, the High-tier Main Skills are powerful enough to be equivalent to having a Skill Trigger L subskill. This means you can achieve the same effect as rigorously selecting Skill Trigger M and Helping Speed M subskills just by changing the Main Skill.
In fact, my own Mew didn't have any Skill Triggers or Helping Speed subskills at all. Even so, simply because its Main Skill was Charge Energy (High), it gathered candies perfectly normally.
What I want to say is, you don't need to worry too much if your Subskills are weak. Mew is a Pokémon where "once the Main Skill is set, the Subskills will follow naturally." Utilizing this optimal system where you won't continuously pull bad Main Skills, along with these probabilities, is key. Not messing up the order—prioritizing the Main Skill—is the most critical point in raising Mew.
If you're sitting there not using it because "it doesn't have Skill Triggers in its Subskills yet," you are missing out big time.
4. How Many Candies Can You Actually Collect?
I haven't removed Mew from my team for a single day since about a week after it was implemented (scary, I know). Not only during normal weeks, but even during event weeks, I keep Mew locked in while managing the remaining 4 slots. On top of that, I built my own tracking app and started recording data from the end of March. (It's incredibly fun, everyone should try it.)
Out of about 160 days of operational data, the total number of candies collected during that period was around 1,800 candies (an average of about 11 per day).
I had these Subskills until last month. Honestly, they aren't strong at all.
Here is the transition of candy collection:
- When the Main Skill was "Helper Boost": Average of 8–9 candies per day (Good Camp Ticket always ON)
- After the Main Skill changed to "Charge Energy": Average of around 13–14 candies per day (Good Camp Ticket always ON)
Furthermore, for the first few months, this was achieved at Level 50 or below without any Skill Triggers or Helping Speed.
In short:
- Even if the Main Skill is average and Subskills are blank: Just putting it in from Friday to Sunday without using a Good Camp Ticket can net you around 1,000 candies.
- If you have Helping Speed attached, even with just Friday-to-Sunday operation, you could earn 1,500 candies a year.
- If you manage to get a (High) tier Main Skill, earning 2,000 candies a year becomes completely realistic.
Just this alone gives it the strength equivalent to "being able to bring another Pokémon to Level 60 every year." (Though in reality, the candies will be distributed across species.)
Being able to recover this many candies every year just by raising it properly once is an incredibly strong investment. Even if the difference doesn't seem massive right now, it will undoubtedly become a huge gap over the years; in fact, the gap might widen even more for free-to-play players.
Also, I often hear concerns that "putting Mew in your party prevents you from earning Snorlax Energy," but this also depends on how you operate its Main Skill. If you use it to farm Energy, it can become a decent asset depending on its cultivation. (Using Mew, I stably hit around 1.5 million Energy every week on Lapis Lakeside during dead weeks without using any Helper Whistles.)
Now let's look at each Main Skill individually.
5. Recommended Order for Main Skills
My personal priority list looks like this:
I talk about the other details extensively during my streams, so I'll skip them here.
1st Place: Charge Energy S
→ It has a higher activation rate, allowing you to farm candies while contributing to Snorlax Energy. Its greatest strength is that it can be slotted in right from the start of the week. This is hands down the strongest tier. If you get this, I highly recommend never changing it.
2nd Place: Charge Strength / Cooking Power-Up (Almost Tied)
→ Charge Strength is the other "High" probability tier. It's great because it reliably fulfills its core strength of gathering candies. However, since it doesn't directly impact team energy maintenance, handling it can be slightly tricky.
→ Cooking Power-Up is consistently strong. Naturally so. It offers outstanding strength in terms of energy contribution and ease of use. Although the probability is normal, it remains useful for a long time and is powerful depending on your team setup.
3rd Place: Miscellaneous Others
→ There are various specific cases, but this tier depends heavily on the individual player. Every skill here has its uses and isn't a complete waste. Whether you make it work or let it go to waste is up to you. I'll skip the fine details here; if you're curious, come check out the stream.
Out of the Running (Apologies, but these are duds): Metronome / Ingredient Magnet S
→ Both are far too random, making it impossible to plan around them. Particularly for Metronome, there is no longer any reason to use it. I can state this definitively. Your first priority with Main Skills should be to change Metronome. Change it regardless. Unless you have a special love for Metronome, there's no reason to keep it.
6. Recommended Order for Subskills
Next up are Subskills. There are 17 types of Subskills in total, and my personal tier list looks like this:
The top spots are separated by a very narrow margin, so the exact order doesn't matter too much; anything up there is welcome.
Incredibly Great: Skill Trigger
→ To reiterate, what makes Mew great is its Main Skill and candy gathering. Since this directly impacts that, it is undoubtedly excellent.
Great: Sleep EXP Bonus / Helping Speed / Helping Bonus
→ Sleep EXP Bonus: This is fantastic for cultivation. Mythical Pokémon are incredibly hard to level up, so the benefit toward EXP is massive.
→ Helping Speed: Needless to say, it's great. Obviously.
→ Helping Bonus: It boosts the entire team's speed while increasing its own, making it strong in any scenario.
Normally Great: Berry Finding S
→ It's naturally strong on its own. However, since Mew is perfectly usable at Level 50 (detailed below), you don't need to be as desperate to raise its level compared to Darkrai—meaning Berry Finding S isn't strictly mandatory. But there's no doubt it's incredibly strong if you have it. This also depends on your goals; if you only use Mew on weekends, you don't really need it.
Others: Inventory Up, Ingredient Finder, etc.
→ If you want them, feel free to keep them. Take them as you please.
The important thing is not to use this tier list as a "reason to only start using Mew after its Subskills are perfect." As discussed in Chapter 3, even if your Subskills are completely blank, Mew is perfectly usable and has a clear role as long as your Main Skill direction is set. Don't obsess over it too much; just treat it as a general guideline for priority.
7. Order of Using Inspiration Seeds
So, in what exact order should you use Inspiration Seeds? Here is my personal recommended sequence:
- First, reroll the Main Skill 1–2 times. Keep going until you get a Main Skill other than Metronome or Ingredient Magnet S (since it's locked to Metronome initially, pulling once guarantees it will change to something else). Treat whatever you get here as a "temporary Main Skill."
- Once the Main Skill is somewhat settled, unlock Subskills up to Level 50. Since Level 10 is locked to Skill Level Up M initially, go ahead and unlock Level 25 and Level 50.
- If you aren't satisfied with your initial temporary Main Skill, pick about 5–6 target skills out of the 12 total types that you consider a win, and reroll until you hit one. If you try at least 4 times here, you have about a 90% chance of landing a win. If there's one you absolutely want, you can keep pushing for it.
- Once you are satisfied with the Main Skill, return to the Subskills. For the second round on the Subskill side, I personally recommend unlocking up to Level 70. Some might argue, "What if the one I want lands on Level 70?!" But even if you have about 7 winning Subskills out of the total pool, reducing that pool to 6 doesn't make a massive difference. Improving the completion rate up to Level 70 is far more impactful. You will eventually hit Level 70 even if it takes time. Once you've unlocked that far, reroll the unwanted slots below Level 50.
Repeat this process.
As for unlocking the Level 80 Subskill slot, honestly, either way is fine. Personally, I'm in the camp that unlocks it, but I understand if it feels way too far off, so do as you prefer. Though, I do recommend unlocking it.
8. Should You Aim for Ingredients (Especially Tails)?
Conclusion: It's incredibly strong, but priority is low. It's something you should only aim for at the very end after you are satisfied with everything else. My honest impression is that it's high risk for a return that doesn't quite match the investment.
Mew's ingredients can be broadly divided into three categories (especially the 3rd slot):
- Ingredients that actually get in the way if you have them
- Temporary ingredients that are slightly nice to have
- And the ultimate final goal: Slowpoke Tails
While categories 1 and 2 will vary depending on the selection progress of your other ingredient Pokémon, category 3 remains constant.
In short, everything except Tails is just a temporary placeholder. Early on, there was buzz about "Leek/Leek/Leek being strong," but you should absolutely not aim for that. Trying to target something specific in the 1st and 2nd slots carries a probability that is too low, making the cost-performance ratio incredibly poor.
You might see posts on Twitter saying "I got Tails on my first try," but that is simply pure luck. Out of 100 people who try, nearly 90 will miss. Seeing that and rushing to unlock ingredients out of impatience will actually result in a detour, so be careful.
9. To What Level Should You Raise It?
Level 50: Everyone should aim for this
You can get there with roughly the same amount of candies required to bring a normal Pokémon to Level 60. We are in an era where even free-to-play players are steadily building Level 60 teams.
With various distributions and rewards, regular players likely have around 600 candies, and those with more probably have around 800. Since the required amount is roughly 1,600 candies, you can use Candy Boost or switch to an afternoon nap strategy midway through. Reaching Level 50 is a realistic goal for anyone. Treat it as an initial investment and give it your best.
Level 70: Requires significant commitment
This direction is quite tough. Since Mew's purpose is to gather candies, pouring too many Handy Candies into it might give you pause. However, once it hits Level 70, it becomes genuinely strong in terms of energy production as well. This depends entirely on how you operate Mew. If you want to use it from the start of the week, it's completely understandable to want to push it that far.
10. Summary
This turned out long, but what I want to say is:
Everyone, including free-to-play players, should raise Mew. That's all.
The reasons come down to just two points: its Main Skill specifications and its candy-gathering capability. While its cultivation looks daunting, reaching Level 50 actually takes about the same effort as bringing a normal Pokémon to Level 60.
Even free-to-play players can catch roughly 5 Mew a year if they manage their biscuits well. Over 2 years, you can inspire it more than 10 times, meaning you can easily raise it to a decent configuration for both Main Skills and Subskills following this guide.
For those who still have it tucked away in their storage, it's about time to put it to work. Cultivation isn't as brutal as it looks. If you put in the effort just at the beginning, it becomes an incredibly excellent Pokémon that brings returns simply by being in your party. Let's take this opportunity to start a Mew candy investment life together!
And that concludes our somewhat lengthy overview of Mew cultivation. Ultimately, as you progress, things might get tricky depending on your synergy with your current roster. If you need advice on specific situations, I stream Pokémon Sleep every night from 22:00 on YouTube, so please come by for a consultation.
We also have a membership Discord, so I'll be waiting for you there as well 🐶
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Postscript: While the Main Skill probabilities are listed as three tiers in the in-game text, research by raenonx has revealed slight variations even within those tiers. If you want to use it as a reference for candy gathering, please check this out as well (Source: https://pks.raenonx.cc
Thank you as always for your support.
