The Gaunlet: Villains, Heroes, & Finale 20 - 23 Sep

Unknown

Levels are definitely going up. The fury node jumped from 177 to 197. Already beat it, was going to grind for team ups . I am getting to beat this fast to preempt scaling, but every mission after fury is deadly rated.

Unknown

What genius decided it was a good idea to require a Black Panther in order to earn a Black Panther? That really pisses me off, and mars what has otherwise been a mostly good event. But that right there? That is horse ****.

Unknown

Who are the required characters for the essential nodes in the finale? With the scaling, I'm not going to bother with this line if I don't have the characters to complete all the nodes.

Dragon_Nexus

I should have read the rules to this. I simply saw a new PvE and thought "Welp, better give that a day or two."

But I was bored tonight and gave it a start. Thank goodness, would have sucked to have waited too long just to find I wouldn't have enough time to make any headway.
This is a fun event so far. I raged a bit at the insane last node to the first area, Hood, Sentry and Daken...I hate nodes where *every* target is a priority. But I made it though.

Progression only rewards feels so nice. Now I just need to play until I run out of health packs, instead of having to leap on every two hours. Also gives me the feeling of getting somewhere instead of the normal Sisyphian grind. Nice rewards, too.

Spoit

Phantron wrote:

This event has the right idea but scaling is really ruining it. It's already bad enough when you find all your nodes are 30 levels higher because you have X Force who doesn't make up for that, but nodes seem to be also going up for reasons no one can understand. A gaunlet event can't have arbitary difficulty setting. You don't just get to look at someone's roster and say 'yep +30 levels on everything is fair for you', because it's not fair. It can be too hard or too easy. It seems like a pure 3* roster is likely the most successful because you have the right amount of firepower without excessive enemy levels.

I thought about this issue and the way they can solve it is that they should have a flat set of difficulty and have your roster scaled like Balance of Power. Not in the exact same way such that some 2* and 1* are overwhelmingly powerful, but say raise the 2* to level 130 and 1*s to level 110 (or whatever numbers that make them usable without being flat out better than 3*/4*), while leaving 3* and 4* alone. If some hero is supposed to be featured they can ge an additional level boost on top of the global boost.

If it weren't antithetical to their reward model, I'd have suggested making them all yellow nodes, with preset team comps. But that wouldn't eat up the s

Unknown

Spoit wrote:

Phantron wrote:

This event has the right idea but scaling is really ruining it. It's already bad enough when you find all your nodes are 30 levels higher because you have X Force who doesn't make up for that, but nodes seem to be also going up for reasons no one can understand. A gaunlet event can't have arbitary difficulty setting. You don't just get to look at someone's roster and say 'yep +30 levels on everything is fair for you', because it's not fair. It can be too hard or too easy. It seems like a pure 3* roster is likely the most successful because you have the right amount of firepower without excessive enemy levels.

I thought about this issue and the way they can solve it is that they should have a flat set of difficulty and have your roster scaled like Balance of Power. Not in the exact same way such that some 2* and 1* are overwhelmingly powerful, but say raise the 2* to level 130 and 1*s to level 110 (or whatever numbers that make them usable without being flat out better than 3*/4*), while leaving 3* and 4* alone. If some hero is supposed to be featured they can ge an additional level boost on top of the global boost.

If it weren't antithetical to their reward model, I'd have suggested making them all yellow nodes, with preset team comps. But that wouldn't eat up the s

Well you'd have to put some UI refinement but one easy way would be to get X attempts with the loaned guys per health pack spent, or use your own at your own risk. I think it'd be interesting if some of these nodes have additional roster restrictions (Avengers only, DA only, etc) but with the current insane scaling all that'd do is even more horrible deaths.

OnesOwnGrief

Made it up to Sim40 easy enough and then I saw the 6500 Headbutt. I'm gonna take a break from this while some characters heal I'll need for that nonsense.

mags1587

Note to devs: Thor really does not need to be fed AP by goons. Really, he doesn't. He does just fine without it.

reckless442

mags1587 wrote:

I am really enjoying this event, but seriously, the scaling has to go. Enemy levels already increase as you reach new missions, it makes zero sense to keep increasing them due to the fact that you're winning. Set enemy levels based on roster at the start of the event and then fix them at those levels. (Which, honestly, I assumed was what they did from Demiurge_Will's comments earlier in the thread.)

I just would really like to have an event where I can play and perhaps beat up on some goons without having to worry about my enemy levels going up just because I'm winning matches too quickly or not taking enough damage.

I'm choosing to believe there's either no community scaling or that it's a bug because in this kind of event community scaling would make less than zero sense.

What's infuriating is that levels seem to increase because you win, but they don't decrease when you lose or barely eke out a victory. My Sim 40 has a level 315 Juggs with 26k HP, whose red does over 8k damage. How do you stop that? Deny red and green, and MBW will stun you with blue or steal your AP with purple. Or IM35 will hit you with yellow and render your match damage meaningless.

The problem is that I don't experience any sense of accomplishment when I win after two or three tries at a node and my victory only comes because, that match, I got the lucky cascade before the other side managed to get off one last AOE or TU attack. After every two matches, win or lose, I need to take a break of 1.5 hours to let health packs regenerate, so I can't play when I want to play. And the strategic approach to these nodes that I might have employed by using someone like pre-nerf C.Mags or C.Storm to gain control of the board is now non-existent. Even more absurd, the scaling system they created in response to those characters remains in effect. This could have been a great PVE, but now it just feels like some sadistic test by the Devs to see what we'll be willing to accept as long as it's something "new."

reckless442

mags1587 wrote:

Note to devs: Thor really does not need to be fed AP by goons. Really, he doesn't. He does just fine without it.

Wait til you get to Fury being fed purple by two goons. I had him hitting me with Escape plan for 3800 every 2 to 3 turns (and that was not counting the strike tiles that they created).

Unknown

reckless442 wrote:

mags1587 wrote:

I am really enjoying this event, but seriously, the scaling has to go. Enemy levels already increase as you reach new missions, it makes zero sense to keep increasing them due to the fact that you're winning. Set enemy levels based on roster at the start of the event and then fix them at those levels. (Which, honestly, I assumed was what they did from Demiurge_Will's comments earlier in the thread.)

I just would really like to have an event where I can play and perhaps beat up on some goons without having to worry about my enemy levels going up just because I'm winning matches too quickly or not taking enough damage.

I'm choosing to believe there's either no community scaling or that it's a bug because in this kind of event community scaling would make less than zero sense.

What's infuriating is that levels seem to increase because you win, but they don't decrease when you lose or barely eke out a victory. My Sim 40 has a level 315 Juggs with 26k HP, whose red does over 8k damage. How do you stop that? Deny red and green, and MBW will stun you with blue or steal your AP with purple. Or IM35 will hit you with yellow and render your match damage meaningless.

The problem is that I don't experience any sense of accomplishment when I win after two or three tries at a node and my victory only comes because, that match, I got the lucky cascade before the other side managed to get off one last AOE or TU attack. After every two matches, win or lose, I need to take a break of 1.5 hours to let health packs regenerate, so I can't play when I want to play. And the strategic approach to these nodes that I might have employed by using someone like pre-nerf C.Mags or C.Storm to gain control of the board is now non-existent. Even more absurd, the scaling system they created in response to those characters remains in effect. This could have been a great PVE, but now it just feels like some sadistic test by the Devs to see what we'll be willing to accept as long as it's something "new."

Wait, do you not have X Force at a high level? Because Juggernaut is level 395 for me with Headbutt doing 9975 damage. It's true I couldn't have won that fight without X Force, but -80 levels to all 3 characters is still a pretty big drop in difficulty. The only way I can beat those guys is hoping for lucky cascade such that a cycle of Magnetized Particle -> Surgical Strike -> X Force turns out to be AP positive. Well, these moves are AP positive in theory, but there's no guaranteed you're going to get the AP you need to chain the next move since cascades are random. I fired off 10 moves in one turn to kill Juggernaut before he can do an Unstoppable Crash, which is likely to end the game if it performs anything like a normal Unstoppable Crash.

reckless442

Phantron wrote:

reckless442 wrote:

mags1587 wrote:

I am really enjoying this event, but seriously, the scaling has to go. Enemy levels already increase as you reach new missions, it makes zero sense to keep increasing them due to the fact that you're winning. Set enemy levels based on roster at the start of the event and then fix them at those levels. (Which, honestly, I assumed was what they did from Demiurge_Will's comments earlier in the thread.)

I just would really like to have an event where I can play and perhaps beat up on some goons without having to worry about my enemy levels going up just because I'm winning matches too quickly or not taking enough damage.

I'm choosing to believe there's either no community scaling or that it's a bug because in this kind of event community scaling would make less than zero sense.

What's infuriating is that levels seem to increase because you win, but they don't decrease when you lose or barely eke out a victory. My Sim 40 has a level 315 Juggs with 26k HP, whose red does over 8k damage. How do you stop that? Deny red and green, and MBW will stun you with blue or steal your AP with purple. Or IM35 will hit you with yellow and render your match damage meaningless.

The problem is that I don't experience any sense of accomplishment when I win after two or three tries at a node and my victory only comes because, that match, I got the lucky cascade before the other side managed to get off one last AOE or TU attack. After every two matches, win or lose, I need to take a break of 1.5 hours to let health packs regenerate, so I can't play when I want to play. And the strategic approach to these nodes that I might have employed by using someone like pre-nerf C.Mags or C.Storm to gain control of the board is now non-existent. Even more absurd, the scaling system they created in response to those characters remains in effect. This could have been a great PVE, but now it just feels like some sadistic test by the Devs to see what we'll be willing to accept as long as it's something "new."

Wait, do you not have X Force at a high level? Because Juggernaut is level 395 for me with Headbutt doing 9975 damage. It's true I couldn't have won that fight without X Force, but -80 levels to all 3 characters is still a pretty big drop in difficulty. The only way I can beat those guys is hoping for lucky cascade such that a cycle of Magnetized Particle -> Surgical Strike -> X Force turns out to be AP positive. Well, these moves are AP positive in theory, but there's no guaranteed you're going to get the AP you need to chain the next move since cascades are random. I fired off 10 moves in one turn to kill Juggernaut before he can do an Unstoppable Crash, which is likely to end the game if it performs anything like a normal Unstoppable Crash.

My X-Force is just 166. (My highest character is Fury at 190.) My X-Force was 355 at the time of the nerf and is now just 454, so he is not that helpful in this PVP.

mags1587

reckless442 wrote:

mags1587 wrote:

Note to devs: Thor really does not need to be fed AP by goons. Really, he doesn't. He does just fine without it.

Wait til you get to Fury being fed purple by two goons. I had him hitting me with Escape plan for 3800 every 2 to 3 turns (and that was not counting the strike tiles that they created).

Sounds lovely. Not sure what I'm looking forward to more, that or the Juggs-IM-Widow node you mentioned. (I'm at 38 right now.)

emaker27

My fear is that Dev will look at the numbers and draw the conclusion that it:
1. Didn't make enough money
2. People played less
3. Some other 'business negative'

Instead of knowing that it decreases the burnout factor. So you've sacrificed money now, to continue to make it in the future.

I was and still am a little burned out, but this PvE gives me back some control on how I play. Of course, the game will revert back to normal in a couple days and continue to wear out people....

reckless442

mags1587 wrote:

reckless442 wrote:

mags1587 wrote:

Note to devs: Thor really does not need to be fed AP by goons. Really, he doesn't. He does just fine without it.

Wait til you get to Fury being fed purple by two goons. I had him hitting me with Escape plan for 3800 every 2 to 3 turns (and that was not counting the strike tiles that they created).

Sounds lovely. Not sure what I'm looking forward to more, that or the Juggs-IM-Widow node you mentioned. (I'm at 38 right now.)

Then you survived Fury + goons. That was Sim 35.

Unknown

How exactly does the algorithm for the personal scaling work? My 2 best guys are 165 Lthor and Patch and I am looking at a 199 Punisher/200 Sentry/200 Storm Node.
Still better than goons feeding Sentry AP though.

The gauntlet is an instance where the Healthpack regeneration is a real hindrance. It has no purpose because it's not competitive but I'll have to wait hours before retrying a Node.

Houtro

Simulation 34 is just death! cStorm & Punny 188 + Sentry 189 it's a bit to much for any of my teams... As a matter of fact I don't care about the covers, I really dont like to lose. On top of it 3 times in a row...
Go explode in the sun and come back....

Seasick Pirate

reckless442 wrote:

mags1587 wrote:

Note to devs: Thor really does not need to be fed AP by goons. Really, he doesn't. He does just fine without it.

Wait til you get to Fury being fed purple by two goons. I had him hitting me with Escape plan for 3800 every 2 to 3 turns (and that was not counting the strike tiles that they created).

Does anyone have tips for Sim 35? This keeps happening and I can't figure out how to prevent it.
Psylocke cover is not worth the stress trying to complete Finale but I would like to do one more node for a Heroic token.

mags1587

Seasick Pirate wrote:

reckless442 wrote:

mags1587 wrote:

Note to devs: Thor really does not need to be fed AP by goons. Really, he doesn't. He does just fine without it.

Wait til you get to Fury being fed purple by two goons. I had him hitting me with Escape plan for 3800 every 2 to 3 turns (and that was not counting the strike tiles that they created).

Does anyone have tips for Sim 35? This keeps happening and I can't figure out how to prevent it.
Psylocke cover is not worth the stress trying to complete Finale but I would like to do one more node for a Heroic token.

Now that reckless442 has reminded me what nodes I have actually already got through ( ), I remember that I brought Hulk to that node and let him tank and generate green for lazyThor. Alternately, Cap or cStorm (you may need to boost blue) and stun Fury as soon as possible. Cap's stun has gotten me through quite a few problem nodes.

Unknown

Seasick Pirate wrote:

reckless442 wrote:

mags1587 wrote:

Note to devs: Thor really does not need to be fed AP by goons. Really, he doesn't. He does just fine without it.

Wait til you get to Fury being fed purple by two goons. I had him hitting me with Escape plan for 3800 every 2 to 3 turns (and that was not counting the strike tiles that they created).

Does anyone have tips for Sim 35? This keeps happening and I can't figure out how to prevent it.
Psylocke cover is not worth the stress trying to complete Finale but I would like to do one more node for a Heroic token.

Patch plus OBW. use boosts if you must but its unnecessary. Got only hit by 1 Escape Plan because I hit a triple match to down him. Realistically you'll probably lose a guy if you don't use boosts. As suggested hulk might be decent to put in front to tank an Escape Plan.

I've thought about it a bit and I feel they should get rid of Healthpacks in Gauntlet. It just doesn't work when you need to play through deadly Nodes. If you need to retry the Node 20 times until you get a lucky cascade. so be it. No harm done since you aren't competing with other players.