*** Luke Cage (Hero For Hire) ***

notamutant

XandorXerxes wrote:

Wanted to follow up on the 5/5/3 vs 5/3/5 discussion. I've had Cage at 5/5/3 because of how covers fell, but I just got my 4th black. Cage has been my go-to guy for PvP because I can usually get to 700 or so without using a health pack. On the flip side, at 5/3/5 he'd end matches closer to 1000 faster, which is always needed. I assume at 5/3/5 though (or 5/4/4 since that's where I'll be until PDP) I'll be taking a lot more damage from regular matches. Am I wrong? I believe it's 79/70/61 for damage, and I'd go from blocking 268 to 141. That's an extra 96/69/42 damage per match-3 (5/4/4 would be an extra 54/28/0 damage per match-3) and more per match-4+. I can't imagine that's nearly as effective for climbing, as I can see that adding up pretty quick. If you averaged 25 match-3s a round you're taking 1750 damage per round more - which is an extra healthkit every 5-8 rounds. Averaging 40 PvP points / round, going from 100 to 700 would take you 15 rounds so that's an extra 2-3 kits.

Wouldn't Cage better be served as a 5/5/3 for climbing then switching to someone like Cyclops at higher levels? Or do those 2-3 kits not really matter in the long run?

All about time management, and realizing that as the game progresses more into 4 and 5 star land, using health packs will become unavoidable after almost every match. Start the PvP around 18 hours before it ends, climb to 500-600 about, sit until all your guys are up to full health and full health packs. If you get attacked while sitting around 600, then push up again to 600ish but try to not use health packs. Then around 11 or so hours to go, climb up to 850-900, use an 8 hour shield and all the health packs you need along the way, one hop from 850 to 940ish, then 3 hour shield and hop again at the end, or use another 8 hour shield if you want to play it safe for an extra hop.

Unknown

Starting on my second Luke Cage and I already have 4 covers for him. My current Luke is at 553 I want a 355. I love using this character and I like all his abilities black red and yellow. Is there any logical reason why I shouldn't have two Lukes?

stochasticism

Two Luke's is a great idea, though I'm of the opinion that your dupe should be 535 to maximize offense.

Unknown

Hmmm, I really haven't thought of that but it sounds like a great idea. I'll give it a try, he's a solid character you are right two Lukes is a good Idea

TxMoose

stochasticism wrote:

Two Luke's is a great idea, though I'm of the opinion that your dupe should be 535 to maximize offense.

personally, I think the main luke should be 5/3/5 and the dupe 5/5/3, but I've given up on all dupes except loki and hood.

Unknown

dupes arent worth it...its not that serious for the iso investment.

do 535...the more and more I play it, the mor Cage black defines him more than yellow, its jut too goo dmg.
-unreall

Orion

Sounds like the respec feature of Champion gives you the best of both worlds here.

Make him 5/3/5 for your climb, then switch him to 5/5/3 for the final fight and let defensive Cage be defensive.

Phaserhawk

Orion wrote:

Sounds like the respec feature of Champion gives you the best of both worlds here.

Make him 5/3/5 for your climb, then switch him to 5/5/3 for the final fight and let defensive Cage be defensive.

I'm thinking there will need to be a poll update. Possible a PvE vs. PvP build with PvP having both a climbing build and defensive build.

Example Jean Grey. PvE I would have her 5/3/5 as well as PvP climing, but defensively I would probably go 5/5/3 as that blue could be nasty. The 2 guys I see benefiting most out of the respect feature are Star Lord and Ant-Man as they have such teammate needed builds, it will be nice to adjust them as needed. May see more use.

simonsez

Orion wrote:

Sounds like the respec feature of Champion gives you the best of both worlds here.

Make him 5/3/5 for your climb

If you're climbing, don't you want the build that makes your team take less damage?

Quebbster

simonsez wrote:

Orion wrote:

Sounds like the respec feature of Champion gives you the best of both worlds here.

Make him 5/3/5 for your climb

If you're climbing, don't you want the build that makes your team take less damage?

A 5/3/5 Cage makes sure you don't take much damage by ending the fight fast...

simonsez

Quebbster wrote:

A 5/3/5 Cage makes sure you don't take much damage by ending the fight fast...

I get what you're saying, but an extra 3k damage for 13 AP doesn't scream "speed!" to me...

PuceMoose

I am very fond of my 3/5/5 Luke Cage - the extra defense helps against multiple strike/attack spawning goons (symbiotes, Ultron bots, etc.), and the stun on black has saved my bacon many times. Yellow isn't great at 3 covers, but it still does around 4,000 damage, and is a nice "oh hey, somehow I managed to get 13 yellow - might as well throw a punch." skill without being the main focus.

TheHood

Best team for Cage, without Iron Fist?

Unknown

I believe he is one of those characters you can put on any team.

Nick441234

I tend to play him with Cyclops and Doom. A few powers overlap but its a team I do great damage with so why change?

djvkool

Now he's even better after becoming a champion.

I built my Luke as a protector (4/5/4), now that he's a champion, when he's boosted I simply change to 5/3/5 and he becomes the ultimate killing machine

Quebbster

OJSP wrote:

Also, the more common combination of Luke Cage, Magneto and Kamala Khan is still really annoying to play against. They're not bad offensively, but on defense, the AI would be more likely to use Coercive Field than Righteous Uppercut. With 4 reasonably cheap powers between Cage and Magneto, KK would heal the team quite frequently.

I've used Cage, Kamala and She-Hulk to great effect in Earth's Mightiest. Cage and Kamala cooperate to make sure you take next to no damage, She-Hulk makes sure the opponent can't fire any powers... Only overlap is green, but it's not the end of the world if you use Embiggened Bash instead of Furious Charge.
In general, Cage and She-Hulk are a great denial duo.

Unknown

Best non fist teams, IMO are going to be healers...KK or Patch or Laken (who tanks black). He gives you the time to do Patch/Loki for instance, and his protect magnifies the effect of healing.
-Unreall

Dormammu

I recently set my Luke Cage to 3 5 5 despite the fact that every time I look at him in someone else's roster they have his yellow set to 5 (usually at the cost of his red). While his yellow certainly packs a nice chunk of damage, I found I only got it off about once per battle. Previously I had his red at 3, but raising it from 3 to 5 raised the protect tile from 150ish to 270ish (can't remember the specific amounts). I found this mitigated almost all the 3-match damage I was receiving. And again, though even though his yellow is a sizable hit, I was getting better performance out of his black - and faster when paired with a black battery like IF or Doom.

Am I crazy? Or does anyone else like the 3/5/5 build?

Quebbster

Dormammu wrote:

I recently set my Luke Cage to 3 5 5 despite the fact that every time I look at him in someone else's roster they have his yellow set to 5 (usually at the cost of his red). While his yellow certainly packs a nice chunk of damage, I found I only got it off about once per battle. Previously I had his red at 3, but raising it from 3 to 5 raised the protect tile from 150ish to 270ish (can't remember the specific amounts). I found this mitigated almost all the 3-match damage I was receiving. And again, though even though his yellow is a sizable hit, I was getting better performance out of his black - and faster when paired with a black battery like IF or Doom.

Am I crazy? Or does anyone else like the 3/5/5 build?

There's really no bad build for Luke, he has Three very solid Powers. I Think people in general value offense over defense though as ending the match sooner also means you take less damage.
There's definitely nothing wrong with a 3/5/5 build though so if it works for you just keep it that way.