Marvel Puzzle Quest Discussion Thread

[Thunder Chief]

Welcome to the fold, TC!

Welcome.

Thank you, Sid, Grimm... appreciate it!

Not the superior Spider-Man but doc ock, is coming? Who saw them bringing in Dr octopus? Hey a new villain though!

I should have caught on to that Vitruvian Man reference in the patch notes waaaay sooner than I did...

For anyone building their IM40, go 5/5/1 because:

[...]

I don't understand this quite yet... please 'splain. Thanks!

 

[kojubat]

See what Sidlon started? Its fun, add your own! Rhyming is good!

Widow's Grey Suit could give them the boot!
Punisher could crack them like a fissure!
Spidey could leave things quite untidy!
The Human Torch could lock them out on the porch!
Loki could give everyone a pokey!
Nick Fury could cook up some spicy curry!

Okay, maybe some of those are not ready for prime time.

I don't understand this quite yet... please 'splain. Thanks!

The problem with IM40's yellow is that as you improve it, it requires more AP to trigger. Since level 1 of the power returns only red, he makes a great red battery if you don't mind a lower level cap. If none of the countdowns get matched away, that's 9 red AP for the cost of 6 yellow. Make two red matches while the countdowns do what they do, and you have 15 red, which gives you enough to cast Patch's The Best There Is. And since IM40 is underleveled, Patch should have at least three of the colors in his symbol, if not more, depending on the third character, so there are more tiles to feed into the multiplier.

tldr; You hit the weak point for massive damage.

 

[sidlon]

I don't understand this quite yet... please 'splain. Thanks!

5/5/1 essentially means that the ideal build (IMHO) for IM40 has only 1 yellow cover (and 5 each of red & blue). Unfortunately, if you ever apply a 2nd yellow cover, you can't go back.

I actually have my original IM40 at 5/2/3, but my new 1/2/1 has been much more useful!

 

[Thunder Chief]

Thanks Kojubat and sidlon! Only having 0/1/0, I had not yet looked into his powers, and not having Patch, I did not pick up on the name of the skill, or the intricacy behind needing his icon, hence the head scratchin'...

I do hate those increasing AP powers... I have my mBW at 5/5, and then shortly after read that a better build for her is 4/5, due to that 1 extra AP cost. But I have too much ISO in her at this point to rebuild. Maybe when I hit day 365 and have nothing better to do... Only on day 35 as of now...

But IM40's yellow AP increase is insane... 6 to 14??? Well, I don't think anybody would ever do that, so... 6 to 10???

 

[Thunder Chief]

Quick question: I finally stopped selling all of the Jugg covers I was getting (I had no intention of leveling him), and within 2 days, I had him fully covered without trying. As I have never used him, he is still L1. Is he useful in Story mode? Should I put anything into him, or leave him for a day he is boosted and only use him then?

I also have Venom at 5/3, but stopped leveling him at L6. I had read he is a beast with Spidey, but I have no clue when I would be getting any of him, let alone enough of him to be useful. Any thoughts on his usage?

Thanks!

 

[HuBu]

The only time I found him useful was when they did the 1*, 2*, 3* PvP where you need one of each category.

 

[sidlon]

Exactly. I never used Jugg until the last event like that, and since the event made *every* character level 270, there was no need to even put ISO into him.

In general, you will never actually need Jugg.

 

[britton_draws]

I have neglected Hero Academy for a while and am back to that!

I know multiple other people started playing too but it is best to just add me on Facebook and play games through there by just searching your fb friends who play in the game. Also then we can split our rewards to each other more in MPQ!

https://www.facebook.com/britton.bucciarelli

 

[ltrain23]

My facebook link, as well. This is specifically for gaming friends, so no worries about me spamming your wall.

Ltrain23 on Facebook

 

[kojubat]

Quick question: I finally stopped selling all of the Jugg covers I was getting (I had no intention of leveling him), and within 2 days, I had him fully covered without trying. As I have never used him, he is still L1. Is he useful in Story mode? Should I put anything into him, or leave him for a day he is boosted and only use him then?

I also have Venom at 5/3, but stopped leveling him at L6. I had read he is a beast with Spidey, but I have no clue when I would be getting any of him, let alone enough of him to be useful. Any thoughts on his usage?

Thanks!

You should only level/cover 1* characters long enough to get decent 2* characters. I wouldn't just outright sell the ones you invested in, but ditch them as you get someone better you want. All that being said, it's worth keeping your favorite 1* around. As mentioned, there are events where you need a 1* to compete, or they get boosted to the same level as everyone else. Also, PvE Heroics will usually have a limited roster of about ten characters that you can use, and there are always two 1* characters in the list.

As for which one to keep around, it's really up to you. Juggernaut scales amazingly well when he is boosted, but his red will be a liability to longer play sessions. I keep a leveled and covered Iron Man around, and he's probably the best unboosted 1*. I could see Venom being useful, but he's more of an annoyance than a threat - his black will rarely get to eat people due to the number of web tiles needed. I suppose that's where the idea to pair him with Spidey comes from, but you're still talking some combination of 30 blue and/or 42 purple, plus the 12 black to actually use Devour. Back when Spidey could spam blue for 2 AP, this was probably more feasible. Now, that's a seriously expensive power that needs two characters with no other damage capability and is severely vulnerable to enemy matches/cascades, and only eliminates one opponent.

The rest of the 1*s are 'eh' in my opinion, with maybe Widow being passable (her powers are better as team ups instead of fielding her, too squishy), and Storm for her super annoying Hailstorm.

Another thing to keep in mind as you sell characters - you only get ISO for the levels, not the number of covers. A level 3 1/0 Yelena sells for the exact same as a level 3 5/5 Yelena. So if you don't plan on keeping a character around, don't put covers on them unless it will make that character competitive in the short term. This applies to all characters, not just the 1*s.

 

[downsouthtigger]

Quick question: I finally stopped selling all of the Jugg covers I was getting (I had no intention of leveling him), and within 2 days, I had him fully covered without trying. As I have never used him, he is still L1. Is he useful in Story mode? Should I put anything into him, or leave him for a day he is boosted and only use him then?

I just looked at your roster. I had a write up on if you're starting fresh what a good choice of action is. Its many posts back, so I'll refresh.

1. Play story mode completely, play all levels (nodes) for the prizes you want. Starting off you may just want character tokens, you'll learn the ISO prizes are what you really want to level your characters.
2. Dont spend ANY tokens. No matter how many standard character tokens you get, play through story first then spend the tokens. I know its exciting for the chance to win a shiny 3* cover. More than likely you'll get a crappy 1* you already have plenty of covers for. If you do get that 3* chances are you'll only have that 1 cover and it'll be worthless in battle.
3. Dont bother with nodes that have crap character, beat them once and move on. For nodes that give you- Venom, Juggs, or Yelena; just play them once to progress. Your standard tokens will give you plenty of those characters.
4. Do bother with the 2* character nodes- Thor, Storm, Wolverine. Get as many of those cards from story ASAP as they will become your main 2* team.
5. Try to build a good team. 1* Storm, IM35, and Black widow are a great 1* team and will get you through the story mode. Starting out IM 35 will be your tank. Dont be scared to level them up. With the covers story mode gives you 2* Thor/Wolverine/Storm, once again a good team; level them up.
6. Forget 3*s.... its not right now, learn to swim, dont jump headfirst into the deep end. I have a steam account (secondary) and Im in the same boat. I looked at my roster I have lots of 3*s but they only have 1 cover. I had to sell off a 1 cover ragnarok because I never use him on my main account and hes worthless. However I tried to hang on because it was a 3*. If you cant use them in battle they're taking up precious roster space. 2* Thor will always be more useful than 3* Thor if you have more covers for the 2*.
7. Speaking of roster space, save any hero points for roster space. The game will give you plenty of tokens for new characters. Dont waste Hero points or ISO on new characters! Also early on, roster space is at a premium. So maximize that real estate with useful characters. Which is why I say dont redeem tokens and dont bother with 3*s. Just less temptation to waste roster space.

I think thats all I have for now. I think they were giving a premium if you sold off your 2* Daken. If thats still going on it wouldnt be a bad idea to sell yours off. Oh I guess last thing would be pvp tournaments. Not something you should really bother with starting out. Just PVE events and story mode. Although the game seems easy in tournaments starting out, build yourself a good team then jump in. WIth a good team and starting out new you can easily take top 10 with little resistance.

Character direction wise, Id say start working on 2*s Thor/Ares/Original Black Widow/Classic Storm. Those are the main 2*s to focus on- Secondary I'd look at Johnny Storm (until you can get a good 3* Torch) Marvel Now Magneto, and Modern Hawkeye. Some people like Captain America, Im not a fan. I love the 3* Steve Rogers but the 2* pales in comparison. Its your personal preference. Any other 2* is also your preference, they can be useful to have when powered up in events but I wouldnt make an open space in the roster if you dont need to.

I think I typed more than I should have, but those are my observations with the game. I just want to repeat myself on this major point: Dont waste roster space on 3*s right now. Unless you get a hulk or punisher you'll probably sit on a 1 cover 3* for a while. Hulks/Punishers seem to be the most abundant 3*s our team runs across. Black panther sometimes. But please pick our brains! Sometimes its best for us to get back into the game to impart our wisdom....Just dont listen to Broly. Unless you want to learn how to screw up your MMR!

 

[britton_draws]

Koju is just laying down the knowledge. I love it!

I completely agree with everything he said. Dont judge by my roster though because once I went 3* I never looked back and just sold off everything hahah. The only 2* I keep is OBW because she still holds her own with the 3*s for a bit. Then for the events where we need 1*s I just quickly recruit one of the 20 I get each day it seems and just use that. Not the most effective but I dont like buying roster slots. Again, dont do what I do hahah Koju and Ds and LTrain all have a much more structured way of handling that kind of stuff and I am just off on my own like a goon : P

I remember when I started the game Venom had the coolest potential and I wanted Spiderman so bad but then yeah now especially with the Spidey balance that is one of the most ridiculous not worth it combos.

 

[britton_draws]

Knowledge

But please pick our brains! Sometimes its best for us to get back into the game to impart our wisdom....Just dont listen to Broly. Unless you want to learn how to screw up your MMR!

GREAT points DS haha I love how I can just rely on you guys to give golden info and I am just like... yup.

AND YOU SHUT YOUR FACE. I mess with the game like crazy but you know damn well I still am consistently getting the top most rewards with the least effort in everything : P

 

[kojubat]

I think thats all I have for now. I think they were giving a premium if you sold off your 2* Daken. If thats still going on it wouldnt be a bad idea to sell yours off. Oh I guess last thing would be pvp tournaments. Not something you should really bother with starting out. Just PVE events and story mode. Although the game seems easy in tournaments starting out, build yourself a good team then jump in. WIth a good team and starting out new you can easily take top 10 with little resistance.

I agree with just about everything you said, except this part. I would say PvP is worth doing just for the ISO and early cover rewards. Your MMR should be good enough that the characters you have can get you to about 300 points. Do it. If the 500 point level is a character cover you want, see if you can get there. The goal for PvP in the early game is not to place, it's the progression. If you luck into a great bracket and manage to place well, that's just gravy. You will lose often enough that you won't ruin your MMR by doing too well early on.

Also, the bonus sell back ended with the most recent patch.


And the Doc Ock event is out. Reading his powers, he seems like a good addition that I will want to use. Kind of wish the black was the active power and the green passive, but them's the breaks.

However, the event is a PvE Heroic with a bunch of characters I don't regularly use for a week long event with subevents, I assume. This is gonna hurt.

Guess we get to see how a boosted Psylocke compares to a boosted Punisher from the Gauntlet.

 

[ltrain23]

Yep.

Yep.

I definitely second the part about holding all your tokens until you're done with story mode. I did the exact opposite and redeemed everything right away. What that means is you will sell off 3* characters because you don't have the roster space, because of all the 1* and 2* characters you need when you're just starting out.

It's also beneficial to know which characters you're going to want to keep through these early stages. Most of us started the game when it first came out, so there was no real structure to what we were doing. Now that we've all been through it, we can tell you, with certainty, that you should have sold all those Juggs covers right when you got them. 10 combined covers with no levels is the same ISO sell value as 1 individual cover. The game punishes indecision in that way.

Just to reiterate... 1* - Only keep Iron Man, Modern Black Widow and Modern Storm. You won't need anyone else, and the iso you get from selling those other covers will help immensely.

2* - Make Original Black Widow a high priority. She's extremely valuable through both transitions. As your damage dealer, Ares, Thor, and Wolverine should be your priorities. Classic Storm and Marvel Now Magneto are a great combo that gets boosted for a lot of events, and should be worth keeping as well.

3* - They take up roster space early, but don't sell them unless you absolutely have to. You'll wish you hadn't later on. (I'm looking at you, Doom, Hood, and GSBW.) Don't raise their levels yet, either. It's a waste of iso until you have the covers to bring them to level 102 at a minimum. Your 2*'s will be better until that point.

Use HP ONLY FOR ROSTER SPOTS. I can't reiterate that enough. Don't gamble on buying tokens in the early game (if ever). Some of these guys like to do it once they have a pile of HP, but rarely does it turn out well. Very rarely.

 

[downsouthtigger]

I agree with just about everything you said, except this part. I would say PvP is worth doing just for the ISO and early cover rewards. Your MMR should be good enough that the characters you have can get you to about 300 points. Do it. If the 500 point level is a character cover you want, see if you can get there. The goal for PvP in the early game is not to place, it's the progression. If you luck into a great bracket and manage to place well, that's just gravy. You will lose often enough that you won't ruin your MMR by doing too well early on.

Guess we get to see how a boosted Psylocke compares to a boosted Punisher from the Gauntlet.

The reason I say stay away is to avoid frustration. I agree with you about entering and placement. Honestly a new person should be only shooting for the 2* tier rewards anyways. They're probably going to get better rewards (iso/covers) from battling opponents in PVP than the end placement reward.

I guess my thought is the problem with going in half cocked. "Hey Ive got a 3* team, no way they can be beaten by a bunch of 1*s!" Not realizing that even though a 3* starts with a higher level its actually weaker than a 1* at the same level. It can cause burnout fast.

Sometimes something as simple as basic team building is lost on most new players. I guess its like me and lightning rounds, its something to play when I dont really want to play the game. Dont want to enter a tournament, or start an PVE event, I'll play a lightning round or the simulator just to get my daily reward.

Use HP ONLY FOR ROSTER SPOTS. I can't reiterate that enough. Don't gamble on buying tokens in the early game (if ever). Some of these guys like to do it once they have a pile of HP, but rarely does it turn out well. Very rarely.

But but I got a red hulk I didnt need from using hero points on a daily deal! My hulk didnt have 5 reds, only about 3, but if I wanted to use it, I could have! You know what its like to have that kind of power? All for a measly 100 hp! WORTH IT!!!!!!

 

[eldergamer]

I think I still have my 1-star Juggy. He's useful in those rare events he is boosted and he does make a nice tank or just sacrifice to cause damage.  I never use him in tournaments though.

Doom event is live. 6 days long. Interesting power set. With the new characters they've added recently, I've noticed a switch to powers having multiple effects. (Stuns and deals damage, steals colors and adds shield tiles, etc, etc) 

It adds more strategy than just your, attack of X damage generic.

The final progression reward is a blue psylocke, which is great as that's the last night I need to get her fully powered.

 

[britton_draws]

The final progression reward is a blue psylocke, which is great as that's the last night I need to get her fully powered.

I can still temporarily use another blue but I really would much rather have a red or black cover. This will put mine at 5 blue and ideally I would rather her only have 3 in that color. Lame.

AND I AM SO SICK OF USABLE GREEN POWERS.

I have way too many characters already that utilize that color. Bah.

Also like I said I feel no need to put my input in with all this stuff since everyone is rocking it. I will second however, roster roster roster. Buying packs are an absolute waste and should not be done unless you are spending copious amount of real world money on the game like a crazy person!

 

[downsouthtigger]

AND I AM SO SICK OF USABLE GREEN POWERS.

But I love green powers!

My Main team: Hulk, LThor, LDaken

My Backup team?

GSBW, Torch, Ares

GREEN GREEN GREEN!!!!!

Seriously though, I think green has over taken red. Seems like red is the new blue/yellow. Is it really hard to make a purple skill? I mean you just make it purple! C. Mags shouldve never changed from a purple to yellow. Strangely enough, Im happy with the amount of skills black has. I think its the right amount for balancing.

Psylocke 5 red 3 blue 5 black, nothing else will do! But whatever you can get to max her at 166 just do it. You can always respec her later.

 

[eldergamer]

My Psylocke's already at 5/2/5.  Just need that one more blue (and loads of ISO).

The game's doing way more loading than usual for me.

 

[ltrain23]

The game's doing way more loading than usual for me.

That'll go away. Happened to me yesterday after I updated, as well.

In the patch notes, it says something about reducing the initial install size. They just transitioned a bunch of the installing to the back end, so the first time download doesn't take as long. May take slightly longer in-game for a few downloads, but once that subsides, you'll be back to enjoying the game again.

Why would they do this? To trick people into installing a bigger game than they were bargaining for?

 

[britton_draws]

aksdjfhlkasdfhklash

Completely not MPQ related but Bungie just patched Destiny so that the rewards from the new Queen's Wrath event cant be dismantled for Ascendant material. Basically that material is the rarest in the game and you can get it from specific events or from breaking down Legendary items. This event yields unique Legendary items and so I was getting them just to break them down to power up my current legendary gear. I havent had a chance to play much at all this week though and was super excited to play through a bunch today after work to get a bunch and now they patched it. Bah, I am frustrated. Stupid work and school always getting in the way of shit.

 

[kojubat]

Why would they do this? To trick people into installing a bigger game than they were bargaining for?

I think the issue is with size limits over wifi/wireless. I know I can't install apps over a certain size unless I'm on a wifi signal.

 

[britton_draws]

I think the issue is with size limits over wifi/wireless. I know I can't install apps over a certain size unless I'm on a wifi signal.

I can it just tells me like 3x HEY ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THIS?!!?

 

[ltrain23]

I think the issue is with size limits over wifi/wireless. I know I can't install apps over a certain size unless I'm on a wifi signal.

So now, it just pounds your data plan in the backside without letting you know. So... they want to use Daken just to load the game.

 

[eldergamer]

The game always trolls me with my ranking position during my first few battles. There's no way I'm in 17th place with only 120 points.

when I check back in hours later, Im sure my ranking will be more accurate.

 

[sidlon]

Along with all the advice, I'd just like to give Thunder props for already progressing nicely with the roster!

For only a few weeks playing, you're well on the way to a solid 2* team with Thor/cStorm/OBW/MNMag.

24 roster spots is a really great start... just keep directing any HP there so you can keep the recent 3* prizes (like Doc Ock) that'll help with PvE!

 

[Marauder7]

The game always trolls me with my ranking position during my first few battles. There's no way I'm in 17th place with only 120 points.

when I check back in hours later, Im sure my ranking will be more accurate.

Was about 27th with 119 points but just dropped to 50th. Pretty much done with the simulator with 1273 points and nothing but maxed 3* and 4* nodes. Only way I can get points is if someone attacks me. Going to join Doc Ock event tonight and hopefully get a decent bracket and enough time to help out the Alliance.

 

[kojubat]

The game always trolls me with my ranking position during my first few battles. There's no way I'm in 17th place with only 120 points.
when I check back in hours later, Im sure my ranking will be more accurate.

Yep, that's how it works. Sometimes people start playing an event and don't necessarily play for three hours straight, or someone can join right behind you and play those three hours against top tier players and rocket to the top of the pops.

Unless you join in the last couple of minutes of an event, scores are going to take a while to equalize. Not everyone in your bracket will have the same play habits.

 

[britton_draws]

When do the first sub events end this time around?

 

[kojubat]

When do the first sub events end this time around?

I haven't joined yet, but this is the one that should have two 48 hour subevents followed by repeatable nodes in the main event.

 

[sidlon]

I think the subevent will end around noon EST Saturday.

 

[Thunder Chief]

Sooooo much good info, and I don't have time to reply to it all right now, and if I tried to quote everything it would be an absolute mess. There are a few things I want to ask about immediately, so I will just throw them out there.

1* Tokens: Why not open them? Does the game give you better odds of pulling a 2* or 3* if you wait until after story mode?

Sure, I could have built IM35, mStorm, and mBW 3x over now with all their overs I have pulled from tokens, but I have also pulled out some Ares covers, two Daken covers, 2 oBW covers, Thor** cover, mHawkeye cover, 2 Moonstone covers which I got 2 more through events and she was very helpful in a recent event, one sole PSYLOCKE cover (thanking the heavens for that one during this Ock event right now... big help tanking and I have only used her blue skill twice, at inappropriate times, but whatever...).

I did change the way I redeem tokens now, as when I did them as I collected them, I would get crap almost all the time. Now I open in batches of at least 5, and today I waited for 10. Seemed like I faired better, tho that may have all been an illusion.

PvP: I wasn't setting out to do PvP, then there was one 2 or 3-day event about 2 weeks ago, and I ran it from the beginning, and got pummeled into the ground during the last day (from ~280 back down to 110). Then I read an article by a D3 dev that was posted back in January or so, where he openly admits that their current PvP system is set up to favor latecomers (not sure how accurate that is today), so I decided to only get into them late and aspire towards the first or second progression reward (usually a 1* token). I still get hit with passing 3* L94 freight train, but since I got what I came for, it doesn't matter. Like the Lightning Rounds the last few days, I would start with 30mins left and try to get to 100, maybe 200, depending on match length (Ragnarok ones seem to take forever!!!).

My best outing thus far was the Deadpool event. With game lines blurring together and RL getting in the way, I forget if that was the Punisher reward or something else, but I did get into that one at the very beginning, and if it was Punisher, I was sooo stoked to hold on to a top 25 spot to get two covers. That was awesome!!! (Of course, that was also before I knew about brackets... :facepalm

BTW, is it just my bad memory, or did they tighten the 2 cover reward window for Doc Ock from Top 25 to Top 20???

Oh, and getting Colossus was pretty great, too, and then landing a second yellow cover was awesome and really helped me out during Gauntlet and the Real Steel PvP event. Wish I would have one of his attack skills, but for an entry level 3* bullet sponge, you can find no better.

Gee, this is ending up being a lot longer than I set out to type... oh, well...

So, my current high-end keepers are Colossus, Punisher, and Psylocke. I am hoping to get another IM40 cover out of this event, so I can keep him as well, but I wouldn't mind dumping lCap, Hulk, or lThor if I really needed the space. I was actually very happy to get Daken (he saved my butt in one of the recent events where he was a progression reward, since I had a node I could not pass until I after I earned him). Bagman is actually the first on the chopping block, unless I should keep him around until I finish Story mode, and I can dump Venom, Jugg, and Hawkeye*. I really only started collecting their covers after weeks of selling them individually, just to see how long it would take to get them all. Stupid, I know now, due to the lack of return on the "investment", but it is what it is.

And my roster is a little artificially nice... after the first event I had gotten to a point where I could not afford any more slots due to lack of hp (I had 150, and needed 400 for 3). I did not know how freely they give away hp through events, and then they did a bonus hp offer for the weekend (600 bonus at the $20 level), so I caved... I know... not very CAG of me... but I don't regret it since I did not have to sacrifice any of my 1* core and future 2* core that was just beginning (Ares, Wolverine) to be able to hold onto a few 3* that have now been great. And due to knowing that a sole 3* cover is usually crap (Colossus excluded, since his single yellow cover did make him the perfect sponge for a 2* team), I have toyed with the idea of keeping myself out of the top 100 on certain events just to score more Ares covers, since he seems to be the flavor of the month (I am presuming they change who the "runner-up" cover comes from... but almost all of the recent events seem to have been Ares), but I have yet to actually do that.

Correction: I did lose 2 covers that I had recruited due to not having the hp to redeem them in time: 1 cStorm and 1 HT**. Kinda miffed about losing the HT, esp with the current event, and I wish I had that cStorm since she is my highest leveled 2* char and would be that much closer to max covers... awesome glass cannon that is even more awesome alongside mnMag, and with both hiding behind Colossus' yellow, lol.

And yes, I have only used hp for slots. Nothing else. I did spend ISO on a 1* token once, but got a cover I didn't need, and that seemed to drown that idea real quick.

The only other thing I can thing of right now is what MMR is and how you affect it, that would be helpful. I read earlier here that the Simulator is where you go to lose your high ranking to be able to place in better brackets, but I am not sure how to do that.

Anyway, keep the advice coming, I truly appreciate it.

 

[HuBu]

my current pvp bracket. #1 has 1600 pts. WTF

 

[Marauder7]

my current pvp bracket. #1 has 1600 pts. WTF

At 64th place with 476 and #1 has 1018 points. Should had done 2 more battle to get the 600 points progression prize yesterday before losing 100 points overnight. Didn't know I played that much until I saw that I had over 30 covers to sell and now sitting on 20k of ISO.

 

[ltrain23]

Tokens

The idea behind saving the tokens is to allow you to build up some HP for slots before you open them and they have no place to go.

As has been mentioned before, you don't need to keep a lot of 1* characters. Level up the three (maybe 4, if you feel the need) main ones to focus on, and get rid of everyone else. You'll never use them, and they take up those valuable roster slots. There are even some 2*s that you can dump on sight. Some people like to keep Bagman just to troll, but he's on that list, as well as Bullseye (worthless moves and no health. His passive is a PITA, though) and Moonstone (moves are too expensive). I would throw Modern Cap in there, too. His moves, while useful, don't have a lot of value compared to the other 2*.

And with the real money spent on roster space, clearing out the unnessecaries should leave you with more than enough slots. As others have mentioned... don't go for the 3* characters yet. If you get them, great, and hold on to them if you can, but right now you want to focus on getting your main 2*s up to level 94.

 

[britton_draws]

Pro tips

Completely agree with that EXCEPT for the 2* Cap. He saved me countless times in my transition to 3*s and I know you guys always knock him especially now because his 3* iteration is leaps and bounds better, but at that level he is still damn good I think.

 

[sidlon]

Cap love

I too benefitted from mCap's stun for a good while.

He's an option if you really need space, but definitely get rid of BagMan, Venom, Jug, cHawk, and Moonstone before him.

 

[ltrain23]

Okay. I'll give you that. His stun is useful. Does he need to be level 5 to place on countdown tiles? I can't recall. That's where I got the most use out of him pre-Steve.

 

[britton_draws]

Okay. I'll give you that. His stun is useful. Does he need to be level 5 to place on countdown tiles? I can't recall. That's where I got the most use out of him pre-Steve.

Yeah he isnt all that useful until you have him at his max of 3/5/5 but even before he can still be a decent addition to the team.

 

[kojubat]

So, my current high-end keepers are Colossus, Punisher, and Psylocke. I am hoping to get another IM40 cover out of this event, so I can keep him as well, but I wouldn't mind dumping lCap, Hulk, or lThor if I really needed the space. I was actually very happy to get Daken (he saved my butt in one of the recent events where he was a progression reward, since I had a node I could not pass until I after I earned him). Bagman is actually the first on the chopping block, unless I should keep him around until I finish Story mode, and I can dump Venom, Jugg, and Hawkeye*. I really only started collecting their covers after weeks of selling them individually, just to see how long it would take to get them all. Stupid, I know now, due to the lack of return on the "investment", but it is what it is.

Bagman is the definition of a niche character. He is amazing against goons in PvE, but gets overshadowed by the general usefulness of OBW. He is horrible in PvP. I would say keep him around longer than the 1*s, but that's just me. Every so often he gets boosted for a Heroic PvE, and will be worth using against the goon nodes.

But, there's a reason he's used to demonstrate how bad other characters are perceived to be. Invisible Woman isn't called Baglady for nothing.

If you absolutely must dump a 3*, don't dump Hulk. He's the best tank in the game, and you get a free green cover every time they run his event. If the choice is then Steve or Thor, I guess I would lean Steve. Because even though he's one of my main go-to characters, he's not amazing until you have the ability to overwrite any tile. Thor can be a damage sponge even if his powers are undercovered.

But seriously, try to avoid getting rid of a 3* if you can help it. Somewhere down the line, you'll kick yourself for getting rid of that cover, especially as more and more characters come out and the individual odds for any given cover gets worse.

The only other thing I can thing of right now is what MMR is and how you affect it, that would be helpful. I read earlier here that the Simulator is where you go to lose your high ranking to be able to place in better brackets, but I am not sure how to do that.

MMR is the magical mathematics that determines which other players are at your same skill level. Nobody knows the exact formula, but the concept is that when you beat people with a higher MMR than you, your MMR gets higher. When you lose, it goes down. There are probably a number of other factors like overall roster and event importance that get entered into the variables. A number of tactics have come up to 'tank' your MMR (reduce it). The one that seems to work for me is to intentionally lose matches in events that don't mean anything to me. The seasonal SHIELD simulator is that place for me.

Once upon a time, the preferred method was to put up a scrub team for other people to beat on, but that doesn't seem to do anything any more. Also, things like Lightning Rounds don't seem to affect it in either direction, as that was another place people were trying to reduce due to the quick nature and relatively unimportant awards.

At this point in the game for you, it's not something to worry about, just to know it exists. If you run into a trio of 166s, it probably has more to do with that player's MMR instead of yours. The only thing that might affect your MMR is a reliance on boosts to take down teams outside your weight class. Don't do that.


And don't feel bad about dropping money into the game if you're enjoying it. You seem to have already figured out token purchases aren't really worth it, so using that HP on rosters was a smart idea and will let you keep some resources for the future.

 

[eldergamer]

You guys should run a seminar on how to dominate MPQ. Charge $1,000 a head. then turn a MLM/Pyramid scheme by having the attendees set up their own seminars. (For a fee)

In more gaming related news, I hope to get above top 100 in the Iron Man event, getting above 25 seems like a pipe dream.

 

[britton_draws]

But seriously, try to avoid getting rid of a 3* if you can help it. Somewhere down the line, you'll kick yourself for getting rid of that cover, especially as more and more characters come out and the individual odds for any given cover gets worse.

3* Cap Hulk and Thor are my three strongest characters basically. I stand by that they are some of the top tier characters available right now. Hulk is a massive tank with his green generation and board clearing makes him so great to have and he heals quickly between matches so that is a nice boost. Then Thor, he is my favorite character in the entire game. His yellow fuels his green and then his green just absolutely destroys, plus he has the 2nd highest health pool in the game. Steve is a master. Seriously I have gotten my team wiped out and all that is left is Steve and he wins. He is the master of the long game where you can consistently stun and damage your enemies while gaining that AP back and then staying protecting in the middle because of his blue and yellow defense tiles.

If you can avoid it, do not sell those guys off. You will be kicking yourself later like Koju said.

And yeah MMR is dumb hahah I agree that you shouldnt really worry about it much but just be aware of it for now.

And in regards to spending money, I put in a decent chunk in the beginning too myself. Hell, I even put a good chunk of my own money out of pocket to fund the Alliance's growth to 20 members. The amount of time I have put into this game is far greater than most console games I buy nowadays anyway, especially with my schedule now and so spending money on it to me seems moreso being fair in that I have enjoyed their game for free, sure I can dish out some cash for them.

 

[Marauder7]

In more gaming related news, I hope to get above top 100 in the Iron Man event, getting above 25 seems like a pipe dream.

I'm doing the MPQ 2 step right now. 23 points up and 67 points down and currently at #72 Heavy Metal Event but holding onto #5 in Doc Ock event.

 

[britton_draws]

Was able to snag the seed teams for the upcoming Daken PvP.

Looks like I have a red Psylocke coming as a Daily reward in like 6 days and so I will have a 2/5/4 Psylocke and of course the lowest tier rewards blue which I have maxed. I would love to score really high in the Daken one though and end with a 3/5/5 Psylocke then and be able to slowly respec her later to 5/3/5

 

[downsouthtigger]

1* Tokens: Why not open them?

I did change the way I redeem tokens now, as when I did them as I collected them, I would get crap almost all the time. Now I open in batches of at least 5, and today I waited for 10. Seemed like I faired better, tho that may have all been an illusion.

I'll adress the latter first, yes if you open them in batches say at least 10, it will appear that you are having great luck since 1 in 10 should be at least a 2* token, maybe a 3*.

Now 1* tokens why not open them? Just starting out you have limited roster space. Sure most 1* tokens will get you a crap 1* but lets say you get a 4* X-force Wolverine, it happens, Ive had it happen! Whoo now you're rocking a 4*! Open some more tokens 3*s, punisher, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Etc etc. OK you def want those 3*s. Uh oh, you have x roster space and now only have a useable level 30 IM 35. Now you're trying to go through story mode, the level 40 Maggia are kicking your ass, dont even think about the Ragnarok node in story. Ok screw this lets try PvP. You've got a 4* X-force at level 70, surely he can beat a level 40 IM35/m Storm/ M widow team. Oh wtf, all you have is the x-force yellow cover.... And now widow has stunned you and IM35 let off his blue and you're X-force is dead.

Usability is the main issue with keeping a 1 cover 3*. You're gonna get hit with tons of 1*s true enough, but what about 2*s? Just due to the amount of 3*s in the game theres no way in hell of building a competitive 3* team directly from 1*s. The 3*s that get hoarded will eventually have to be sold in order to create a real useable team of 1 or 2*s.

Lets talk about useability for a minute. I think this is a great topic.

1* max out at level 50. Honestly at around 30 they get useable, mainly when you have the full 13 power set. WIll they beat a hulk, no, but they can beat out a 1 cover 3* any day. The only 2 you're really looking at is IM35 & M Storm though.

2* max at level 94, get a Thor/Ares/C Storm/ Original Black widow to level 94 stat! Dont worry about 3*s at all, focus on these characters. At level 70 ish they should be decent enough, but will shine at max level. Oh and BTW yes Ares can kill a hulk in 1 blow if you save up enough green!

Now 3*s, this is why I want to talk about useability. Max level is 166. DId you realize that to be effective you have to have a 3* at a minimum of level 100? Compare that with a max level 2* which caps at 94. So while you sell off all those 2* covers to keep that 3*, that was a wasted opportunity to build a great character at the expense of well I might get x sometimes down the road. Having a 3* at 166 is great some of us have those, but if you look at a majority of our rosters we have most of our 3*s at around 150. That last 16 levels just doesnt add too much of a return for the ISO you have to drop.

But all this comes from experience, we've all been there. If you ask any of us, we'd tell you that if we could go back we'd play it this way rather than how we did. Hell I wish I had half this knowledge back when I started almost a year ago!

In case you're sitting there going pswah, whatever man, your roster kicks ass what do you know?

This is my secondary steam account. Notice that bottom row. Dr. Doom, Hood, Hulk, Punisher, Patch. All of those guys are super useful, I mean I have most of them over level 100 on my main account. But because Im choosing to hold onto 1 cover 3*s, I cant play competitively. Its gonna hurt but Im probably going to sell off doom & hood, I already sold off ragnarok. Sad part about it is, that 2 cover daredevil, actually is useful to me. I try not to redeem tokens on that account anymore because its just really hard to give up a 3* you know is good. Also its really weird to be hoping for a 2* Hawkeye when you redeem tokens.

 

[sidlon]

17min to end of subevent.

 

[britton_draws]

[quote name="sidlon" post="12123104" timestamp="1411832558"]17min to end of subevent.[/quote]
Looks like I woke up 17 minutes late. Are there any more so events now and if so when do those end? Looks like I will be Brolying a PvE to test out the outcome haha

 

[eldergamer]

17min to end of subevent.

I placed in the 30s. Good enough for one token. Not sure about the Daken tournament. My Psylocke is already 5/2/5. Just need one more blue, which I can probably get from the progression rewards in this Doc Doom event.

 

[downsouthtigger]

Looks like I woke up 17 minutes late. Are there any more so events now and if so when do those end? Looks like I will be Brolying a PvE to test out the outcome haha

Can you Broly an event? I mean Ive missed sub events before and it didnt turn out so well for me. I think it was either a hood or magneto rerun event.

This is Doc Ock! Get your ass in gear so we get his covers! There's another event that ends in about 2 days. Since Ive already started the main event I went ahead and unlocked the sub. Will probably start that tomorrow or so. Started the last sub last night in the wee hours of the morning, was at #2 & stopped. Woke up to being in #30, with 17 min left.... Did some nodes, game says Im ranked #15, while the pending reward thing says Im #13. Game be trolling, why couldnt I be in the top #10 yo?