Roster Advice - Who to keep, who to toss

UNC_Samurai

About three months into the game, I've managed to build a sizeable roster. I'm in the beginning of transitioning from 2* to 3*, and I've got at least two new covers coming in the next couple of days. As I'm already up to 33 roster spots, and I don't forsee myself getting the 450HP necessary for another slot, I'm going to have to make a tough choice to cut somebody.

When Prodigal Son ends tomorrow, I'll win either an Electra or a Daredevil. My Day 90 supply drop (The Hulk's Green cover) hits about 40 hours after I post this.

Here's what I've got right now:

Maxed 2* characters: Ares, OBW, MiniDaken, Torch, MN Mags, Storm, Wolvie
Not quite maxed: Ms. Marvel (88), MiniThor (86), Downvote Hawkeye (79)

3* characters with some investment:
Spidey (91), 5/-/1; He sucks, but he's my highest-level 3* at the moment
LazyThor (81), 4/1/1
Falcon (68), 1/3/1; Not a great character, but I enjoy his combo-rific-ness
IM40 (66) -/1/3; He's not much more than a Tesla Coil right now, since he's vaulted
Classic Torch (63) -/3/-

The Level 55 Club: Blade, 2/1/1; Cap, 1/2/1; Capt. Fisty, 2/1/1; Mystique, 1/2/1; R+Groot, 1/2/1
The Level 53 Club: Gamora, 1/2/-; Sentry, -/2/1; Hood 1/-/2; Panther 2/1/-
I've snagged two covers, at least: Loki (43), 1/1/-; Deadpool (50), -/-/2
Just one cover: DocOc, Classic Mags, Psylocke, She-Hulk (All blue), Patch (Red)

My 4* doorstops - Invisible Woman at -/2/1, Fury at 1/-/- (Haven't dumped any ISO in them yet)

I'm leaning towards jettisoning She-Hulk when I get Hulk, but I have no clue what to do about Daredevil/Electra. Thoughts?

Unknown

I would drop

MiniTorch, Ms Marvel, IM40, Oct, She-Hulk. If you feel like it, even MiniThor. Hell, I wouldnt think twice to drop even Hawkeye**. I actually alredy dropped him (at 1~6 covers) more than once. I sold so many covers of this one, before and after the rework, that I could have 6 complete ones. Actually I have him at 3 or 4 covers right now, and will dump him for Elektra lol.

Lystrata

ShionSinX wrote:

I would drop

MiniTorch, Ms Marvel, IM40, Oct, She-Hulk. If you feel like it, even MiniThor. Hell, I wouldnt think twice to drop even Hawkeye**. I actually alredy dropped him (at 1~6 covers) more than once.

Don't drop Hawkeye. That's terrible advice. Paired with 2* Magneto/Storm, they are one of the best offensive teams in PvE that you can get, when your 3*s are used by the AI, or your just want to fast-crush goon nodes. (See my expanded posts on page 16 of the Prodigal Sun thread.)

Definitely keep LThor, once he has 5 green he's awesome.

Could probably get rid of Doc Oc. His only use atm (in my experience) is being an essential once or twice. I also got rid of my 2* Torch once I started building up my 3*, and never really noticed he was gone. (Though since you've got him maxed, that might not work for you.)

Unknown

I hv a 4 cover and 3 cover club. A total of 11 characters are in it! And that is just after getting Loki and sentry to 5 and 6 covers respectively. I'd keep an a, b, and maybe c team of 2stars and sell the rest. Also, she hulk and doc ock aren't good. I wouldn't feel bad selling them (sold a doc ock yesterday, would not feel bad if she hulk was gone from my roster).

Vhailorx

UNC-Samurai,

here is my basic advice

(1) Stop putting iso into anyone, especially three stars, with the following exceptions: 2*Thor, 2*Hawkeye. Stockpile as much iso as you can so that when you do eventually get a viable 3*, you can level them immediately.

(2) Stop opening tokens until you have HP for an extra roster slot. The expiring cover mechanic is the main way d3 forces players to spend money on roster slots early on. Avoid this pressure as much as possible by holding off on opening tokens. The only reasonable alternative is to buy HP for a nuch of roster slots. Otherwise you just end up trhowing away a lot of one-cover 3*s and never get anywhere in the transition.

(3) you have a decent selection of 3*, but are still a ways off from any of them being viable. If possible, focus on leveling a good main tank, and a good support character (check out polarity's guide to see which characters fit which roles).

(4) If you MUST sell anyone to make room for a good new character, sell the weaker vaulted 3* (IM40, maybe psylock etc as it will likely be a long while before they are back in tokens). Hulk is better than she-hulk. Not yet clear how good elektra will be. Also, sell off unused 1*s (juggs is worth keeping, but no 1*s are essential) and any 2* outside the core 7 (OBW, Thor, Ares, 2*Daken, cStorm, MnMags, mHawkeye).

Lystrata

Vhailorx wrote:

UNC-Samurai,

here is my basic advice

*snip*

Also all good advice, except perhaps for Psylocke - she does tend to get featured as an essential with semi-regularity. If playing essentials is important to you, I'd keep her over Doc Oc, or She-Hulk.

Vhailorx

Lystrata wrote:

except perhaps for Psylocke - she does tend to get featured as an essential with semi-regularity. If playing essentials is important to you, I'd keep her over Doc Oc, or She-Hulk.

I agree with you about psylocke's value. she is fun to play and not a bad character at all. Whether or not she has been boosted in the past isn't very helpful, however, as there are many more 3* overall now, and Psylocke is in the vault. She won't be featured at least until she comes back (hopefully with a tweaked blue power). Perhaps I didn't make it clear that she is basically the last person to consider selling, rather than the first. But although I wouldn't sell her myself, I think that she is worth considering as a sell candidate for a roster squeezed player.

UNC_Samurai

Vhailorx wrote:

(2) Stop opening tokens until you have HP for an extra roster slot. The expiring cover mechanic is the main way d3 forces players to spend money on roster slots early on. Avoid this pressure as much as possible by holding off on opening tokens. The only reasonable alternative is to buy HP for a nuch of roster slots. Otherwise you just end up trhowing away a lot of one-cover 3*s and never get anywhere in the transition.

Yeah, I figured out after about a month of playing that the best bang-for-buck was with roster slots - I tried to save every 3* I won just in case it was required for certain PvE missions.

Holding tokens is something I didn't put 2 & 2 together on, until you mentioned it. Does that mean heroic tokens from expired events will sit in your inventory indefinitely?

(3) you have a decent selection of 3*, but are still a ways off from any of them being viable. If possible, focus on leveling a good main tank, and a good support character (check out polarity's guide to see which characters fit which roles).

I was shocked at how quickly I accumulated the LazyThors - I was still trying to get my first 2* up to 94 when I snagged two red Thor covers in rapid succession. He ended up being my principal tank for most of my 1* phase.

(4) If you MUST sell anyone to make room for a good new character, sell the weaker vaulted 3* (IM40, maybe psylock etc as it will likely be a long while before they are back in tokens). Hulk is better than she-hulk. Not yet clear how good elektra will be. Also, sell off unused 1*s (juggs is worth keeping, but no 1*s are essential) and any 2* outside the core 7 (OBW, Thor, Ares, 2*Daken, cStorm, MnMags, mHawkeye).

Is Wolverine not considered an essential 2*? He's been the bedrock of my PvE grinding for a long time, since yellow gives him survivability.

Quebbster

UNC_Samurai wrote:

Holding tokens is something I didn't put 2 & 2 together on, until you mentioned it. Does that mean heroic tokens from expired events will sit in your inventory indefinitely?

Yes, you can hang on to them as long as you want. When the event is rerun the pull odds might change for your old tokens, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

UNC_Samurai wrote:

Is Wolverine not considered an essential 2*? He's been the bedrock of my PvE grinding for a long time, since yellow gives him survivability.

Wolverine's problem is that he shares colors with Thor and Ares and doesn't have the HP or hitting power they do. He's more of a supporting hitter since his strike tiles means everyone hits harder. There's nothing wrong with hanging on to him though - he tends to be boosted in PvE a lot if nothing else.

wymtime

DO NOT SELL ANY 3* CHARACTERS!!!! Look at the recent Loki buff and Dare Devil Buff to see that you never know what will happen. Also a lot of people are saying get rid of She-Hulk don't. She is a very good character, her red does very good AOE damage for a red ability with great board shake up. Her blue is also very usefull in PVE at level 5. At high end PVP she will match very nicely with X-Force, Patch, Daken, BP. Hulk is a meat shield with a lot of health. She-Hulk has very good health and her main ability is much better than Hulks.

Don't sell 3* or 4* characters, you will only pay for it later. Dump 2* wolvie and mini torch. Also focus on getting up to 600 points in PVP as well as getting as much HP from PVE as you can. As a 2* you have an advantage and can get over 1000HP every other week in PVE to help with roster slots. It is very grindy but it is the best way to build your roster.

Good luck.

Vhailorx

I agree with wymtime that you should definitely avoid selling and 3* ir 4* if possible.

That being said, Wymtime, the reality is that some players will have a 3* cover expiring in their queue without money/hp to spend on a roster slot and no cuttable 1* or 2*s. It that circumstance, it is clearly better to sell a 3* than to let a different 3* expire. If that ever dies happen, selling shehulk before better 3* like black panther is the way to go.

UNC_Samurai

wymtime wrote:

Don't sell 3* or 4* characters, you will only pay for it later. Dump 2* wolvie and mini torch. Also focus on getting up to 600 points in PVP as well as getting as much HP from PVE as you can. As a 2* you have an advantage and can get over 1000HP every other week in PVE to help with roster slots. It is very grindy but it is the best way to build your roster.

I noticed a couple of threads elsewhere of people in the 2* stage complaining about the PvP matchup algorithm and how it's hard to find people to have a level playing field against. I'd echo that sentiment to a certain extent; I'm fraking lucky to end a PvP over 400, much less get to 600. How are people getting that high in the 2* stage?

Vhailorx

Getting 600 with a 2 star roster isn't easy and requires a shield or two, but I can generally do it if I have the time.

Climb to 380 or so with your best sustainable team (I use 2* daken and my half built patch for this, but anything will do). Then you have to switch to a better defensive team to minimize attacks over four hundred (that mean obw and ares).

Wait for your health packs to recharge, and then rush asap from 380 to 500 or so. Shield there and queue up 3 winnable matches. Wait at least a half hour when shielded. Then win all 3 of those matches as fast as possible and shield again. You should be at or around 600. You will likely get at least one defensive win, so even shielding at 590 is ok.


And that's it. Make sure your last shield will run through the end of the event. This plan will be even more expensive after the stupid shield cooldowns go into effect, but it will work for the rest of the season if you can afford it.

UNC_Samurai

So I managed to make Top 50, and I dumped DocOc to make room for Electra.

Now I've got a Hulk cover, and 6 1/2 days to either win another 150 HP or pick a character to dump.

squirrel1120

A single hulk green cover isn't worth dropping any other single covered 3* for. Perhaps the argument could be made that hulk is better than she-hulk, but it depends on a lot of things, like event format, and who you have to pair folks with. I think in this situation, its lose/lose. I also strongly disagree with any advice given in the direction of dropping your 2* characters. Over-emphasis on 3* characters will slow your progress down. Keeping a single cover for one over a mostly covered/ mostly leveled 2* is the wrong direction. You have a LONG way to go using those characters, so don't **** yourself by removing those options. If I had to do my entire MPQ roster build over again knowing what I do now, I'd have little problem dropping 1* characters once my 2*'s eclipsed them, but I wouldn't even considering prioritizing a 3* over a 2* until I had 3*'s that eclipsed those 2's.

Its unlikely you'll be able to save every 3* that you win, but with some good planning and a lot of effort, you can likely get kinda close. I'd skip on using shields to secure additional covers unless its a vital character. Even then, its likely the competition for that particular character is going to make that unlikely.

Read through the forums that help you plan. The thread on daily resupply is invaluable so you'll know how far out it'll be until you need that extra HP for a slot for a freebie. The thread on best team compositions is great to help you put together pairing that might not seem so obvious. "character x is getting decently covered... I wonder who I have that might pair well with them". I think I had to delete 4 3* covers during my rosters development, not counting IW who I nuked at least 4 covers for (strange luck that was). Now at 257 days played, I finally managed a small HP stockpile after the character release flurry of recent months... and half of what I have is only because I didn't place well enough in the one event that rewarded 4thor. The advice on not opening tokens is good as well. Save every single one until you actually get to a point where you have EXTRA HP for a space and no one obvious to drop into it. It seems to take forever, but it does happen. (this includes 10-packs. resist the temptation!) Then when you start opening tokens, STOP the second you get a character you want but havent saved yet. It'll grow your roster in spurts, and theres always a good chance that you'll get another card you have for a saved character already as well.

The only real shame about your roster is the spot for IM40. Most regard him a character where that color should not go above 1 or 2 cards tops. I have an x/x/1 IM40, and man is he keen to pair up with a properly spec'd and decently leveled Lcap. Take the time to read the IM40 topic in the characters forum. You may want to consider simply selling future covers for him until you get a yellow, and then trade that one card into your roster after selling the current incarnation. It's toted as that much of a difference.

wymtime

UNC_Samurai wrote:

wymtime wrote:

Don't sell 3* or 4* characters, you will only pay for it later. Dump 2* wolvie and mini torch. Also focus on getting up to 600 points in PVP as well as getting as much HP from PVE as you can. As a 2* you have an advantage and can get over 1000HP every other week in PVE to help with roster slots. It is very grindy but it is the best way to build your roster.

I noticed a couple of threads elsewhere of people in the 2* stage complaining about the PvP matchup algorithm and how it's hard to find people to have a level playing field against. I'd echo that sentiment to a certain extent; I'm fraking lucky to end a PvP over 400, much less get to 600. How are people getting that high in the 2* stage?

It really depends on time slices. A couple thing you can think about is ther is a lag befor you are seen by bigger opponents. So if at 400 points you are getting attacked by 3* then climb to 399 and wait till you have full health packs. Then make a push for as many points as you can. Hopefully with 5 health packs and 3 solid opponents lined up you can get over 500 points. You might need to skip some people and you will need to boost ap but pushing the limit is part of the game. Once you are out of health packs shield. Then line up 2-3 people and break shield with 7 min or less available in the PVP. I have been 3* for a while but my wife has transition over the past 3-4 months. I would jump on her account and help her in this way. The biggest thing 2* players do not do is boost AP to win against bigger opponents because they worry about MMR and going through health packs.
I hope this helps it got my wife to be able to get a couple maxed 3* and scoring in the high 700's and sometimes 800's with a single shield.