Soullocke Best Practices: Tips & Tricks

Soullockes fail differently than solo Nuzlockes. It's rarely one bad crit — it's two trainers slowly drifting out of sync until someone takes a risk the other didn't sign up for. These tips come from the community's collective scar tissue.

Before you start

Write your rules down. Not "we basically know them" — actually written. Dupes clause, shiny clause, gifts and statics, level caps, items in battle. Ninety percent of mid-run arguments are really "we never agreed on that." Our rules page is a good base to point at.
Agree on what counts as an encounter zone. Is Granite Cave one encounter or one per floor? Does fishing count separately from surfing? Decide before it matters. You can use the locations defined in the Soullocke app as a definition.
Pick a pace you can both keep. The run works best when you play at the same table (or on call) and stop at the same milestone. Decide your "pause points" — most groups stop right before each gym.
Play together on a voice call or in person. The best way to stay in sync on where each trainer is going or doing, is to play together. Communicate and move from location to location together.

Think in pairs, not Pokémon

A pair is only as safe as its frailest member. Linking your ace to a Magikarp means your ace is one Magikarp-crit from the grave. When choosing which links go on the team, judge the pair's weakest moment, not the best Pokémon in it.
Spread your types across pairs. If both halves of a link are weak to Ground, one Earthquake ends the pair. When you can choose (starters, gifts), pick complementary types.
Keep a bench. Solo Nuzlockers can limp along with three Pokémon; soullocke deaths come in twos, so a thin bench collapses fast. Box depth is life insurance.

During battles

Do the sacrifice math twice. "Sacking" a Pokémon to get a safe switch costs the other trainer a team member too. What's a fair trade in a solo run is a double loss here — always ask your partner before sacrificing anything.
Fear double battles. One spread move (Earthquake, Surf, Explosion) can hit both your Pokémon in one turn — which can mean four Pokémon across the link. Enter every double battle with a plan.
Respect priority and status. Most run-ending turns start with "it's slower than me, we're fine." Quick Attack, Sucker Punch, and a bad sleep roll disagree.
Call out risk before you click. "I'm staying in on a possible crit range, okay?" is the single highest-value habit in a soullocke. Your risk is their risk.

Between battles

Stay level-synced. Agree on level caps (the next gym leader's ace is the usual cap) and check in on levels at every pause point. One trainer overleveling quietly breaks the difficulty for both.
Log encounters immediately. Track catches the moment they happen — in the heat of a session it's easy to forget which route linked what, and retroactive "wait, who was linked to my Zubat?" debugging is miserable. (This is what this tracker is for.)
Save before statics and gifts. Not to re-roll outcomes — that's against the spirit — but because rulings on gifts/statics are the most commonly disputed, and it's easier to resolve before anyone's committed.

When things go wrong

Losses come in pairs; grief accordingly. Losing a link hurts twice as much and that's the point. Take a break after a bad wipe instead of revenge-playing into a second one.
Agree on a wipe rule upfront. Is the run over when one trainer whites out, or both? Most groups play "one whiteout ends the run for everyone" — but decide before it happens, not during.
It's a co-op game. The challenge is the game; the point is playing it together. When in doubt, pick the ruling that keeps the run fun for both of you.