Season X - Jan 9 - Feb 1

Unknown

Notable rewards:

Individual Progression

3000:
4000: heroic 10
7500: 100

Season alliance placement
1 - 100 :elektra:

Shield Simulator
2300:
2400:

Unknown

Another season where I won't be grinding past 1900 for Simulator.

Quebbster

j12601 wrote:

Another season where I won't be grinding past 1900 for Simulator.

I'm happy the cover I need is the 2300 point reward. I have managed to get 2300 points in the Simulator once. Once.

thanos8587

blade. sweet sweet blade.

loroku

mobile-friendly

j12601 wrote:

Notable rewards:

Individual Progression

3000: blade
4000: heroic 10
7500: 100

Season alliance placement
1 - 100 :elektra: elektra

Shield Simulator
2300: mystique
2400: hood

vudu3

Hooray! I need another black cover for my TU Blade.

hex706f726368

what's the cooldown period on shields in the simulator? i haven't joined yet, so i can't see.

GrumpySmurf1002

hex706f726368 wrote:

what's the cooldown period on shields in the simulator? i haven't joined yet, so i can't see.

Same as PvP, 8 hours for each.

Unknown

Someone explain "new" pvp to me - I keep getting kicked out of top 100, this is like the 3rd-4th time. It seems like folks are playing until the absolute end instead of shielding, and its hard to get into a 'guaranteed' top 100 spot pre-shield time. Are people just not shielding anymore? Should I not be shielding at the 3 hour mark? Should I play the last 3 hours instead of shielding?

Unknown

raisinbman wrote:

Someone explain "new" pvp to me - I keep getting kicked out of top 100, this is like the 3rd-4th time. It seems like folks are playing until the absolute end instead of shielding, and its hard to get into a 'guaranteed' top 100 spot pre-shield time. Are people just not shielding anymore? Should I not be shielding at the 3 hour mark? Should I play the last 3 hours instead of shielding?

Because of shield cooldowns, a lot of people aren't shielding at all, or are shielding differently, at least. A lot more people probably aren't shielding at all, and playing at the end. Personally, I had already stopped shielding when I didn't need the prize (though bracket times had a lot to do with that) and will probably continue that.

Unknown

Ben Grimm wrote:

raisinbman wrote:

Someone explain "new" pvp to me - I keep getting kicked out of top 100, this is like the 3rd-4th time. It seems like folks are playing until the absolute end instead of shielding, and its hard to get into a 'guaranteed' top 100 spot pre-shield time. Are people just not shielding anymore? Should I not be shielding at the 3 hour mark? Should I play the last 3 hours instead of shielding?

Because of shield cooldowns, a lot of people aren't shielding at all, or are shielding differently, at least. A lot more people probably aren't shielding at all, and playing at the end. Personally, I had already stopped shielding when I didn't need the prize (though bracket times had a lot to do with that) and will probably continue that.

Okay, instead of playing hours 6-3 I will try hours 3-0 instead. Hopefully I can get back to at least top 100. frustrating.

squirrel1120

The thing about shielding out 3+ hours ahead of time is that it is sorta a crapshoot to guess how high you need to be for that T100 placement. As the bracket moves up around you, T50 3 hours till end might very well fall out of T100 dependent on how everyone else plays, so there is that. Then, on top of that, when it comes down to the wire, if you are close to that cutoff point, everyone below you knows exactly how many points they need to triumph over your score.

Finishing T100 is the best one can hope for while in the transition, with everyone once in a while playing the exact same way might get you T50. Unfortunately its vital to strive for it.

If you know there is no way you can place T100, consider scoring as high as feasible, and then putting up a team easily beat to be knocked back down. The % of a 3* character on a standard token lottery ticket is higher than the 0% you get for a 2* cover reward. Also, getting beat up more than average will help keep your MMR lower.

Try playing the event end, but don't be afraid to throw that shield up once you run out of health packs and the attacks start coming in as fast as you can win matches.

Lastly, try starting 36 or 24 hours out from event end. Play up to ~300 in a sitting, on seed teams as much as possible. Then every time you do a run through pve nodes, and by doing 1-3 matches in pvp. The slow climb will keep you around mid-tier in the pack, and not being the biggest fish in the pond means less hooks through your lip. Likely you can do 3 matches at first, and then slow down as you come up so you aren't getting out ahead. Then once you are ready to finish the event, go bananas and hope for the best.

Unknown

Not sure if this was a change or just me getting the 1-in-8 chance, but four playthroughs of the Elektra try-out node got me all four prizes. Like I said, though, it's a 1/8 chance, so it may just have been luck.

thanos8587

squirrel1120 wrote:

The thing about shielding out 3+ hours ahead of time is that it is sorta a crapshoot to guess how high you need to be for that T100 placement. As the bracket moves up around you, T50 3 hours till end might very well fall out of T100 dependent on how everyone else plays, so there is that. Then, on top of that, when it comes down to the wire, if you are close to that cutoff point, everyone below you knows exactly how many points they need to triumph over your score.

Finishing T100 is the best one can hope for while in the transition, with everyone once in a while playing the exact same way might get you T50. Unfortunately its vital to strive for it.

If you know there is no way you can place T100, consider scoring as high as feasible, and then putting up a team easily beat to be knocked back down. The % of a 3* character on a standard token lottery ticket is higher than the 0% you get for a 2* cover reward. Also, getting beat up more than average will help keep your MMR lower.

Try playing the event end, but don't be afraid to throw that shield up once you run out of health packs and the attacks start coming in as fast as you can win matches.

Lastly, try starting 36 or 24 hours out from event end. Play up to ~300 in a sitting, on seed teams as much as possible. Then every time you do a run through pve nodes, and by doing 1-3 matches in pvp. The slow climb will keep you around mid-tier in the pack, and not being the biggest fish in the pond means less hooks through your lip. Likely you can do 3 matches at first, and then slow down as you come up so you aren't getting out ahead. Then once you are ready to finish the event, go bananas and hope for the best.

im in the 2-3 transition now and last season i did just that, letting myself drop into the 301-400 bracket to pick up three standards since i wasnt going to get top 100. actually hit a few golds that way. the downside was losing overall season score and i ended up under 100 points shy of season 10 pack. at the season start (season nine was only my second full season) i didnt think i would get much over the 3000 progression rocket and groot so i had no idea i would get that close. i think now im just always going to try to max score and if i miss top 100 at least its more iso. just a warning for anyone in reaching 2* cap land.

Unknown

squirrel1120 wrote:

The thing about shielding out 3+ hours ahead of time is that it is sorta a crapshoot to guess how high you need to be for that T100 placement. As the bracket moves up around you, T50 3 hours till end might very well fall out of T100 dependent on how everyone else plays, so there is that. Then, on top of that, when it comes down to the wire, if you are close to that cutoff point, everyone below you knows exactly how many points they need to triumph over your score.

Finishing T100 is the best one can hope for while in the transition, with everyone once in a while playing the exact same way might get you T50. Unfortunately its vital to strive for it.

If you know there is no way you can place T100, consider scoring as high as feasible, and then putting up a team easily beat to be knocked back down. The % of a 3* character on a standard token lottery ticket is higher than the 0% you get for a 2* cover reward. Also, getting beat up more than average will help keep your MMR lower.

Try playing the event end, but don't be afraid to throw that shield up once you run out of health packs and the attacks start coming in as fast as you can win matches.

Lastly, try starting 36 or 24 hours out from event end. Play up to ~300 in a sitting, on seed teams as much as possible. Then every time you do a run through pve nodes, and by doing 1-3 matches in pvp. The slow climb will keep you around mid-tier in the pack, and not being the biggest fish in the pond means less hooks through your lip. Likely you can do 3 matches at first, and then slow down as you come up so you aren't getting out ahead. Then once you are ready to finish the event, go bananas and hope for the best.

I shield to prevent my score from going down. The chance of me getting defensive wins on normal events is laughable.

And its not a crapshoot to guess what I need for T100 placement: 600 points. Can I always get there? No. Is that always correct? No. But those are more bracket/event determined than anything else.

There's also the krutacking 166 wall that shows up at random times because others are shielded.

I'd rather not purposely lose MMR, I'd be letting down my guild then.

In my experience, starting an event too early(24-36 hours) makes me run into the 166 wall incredibly early. I also find that people tend to be shielded/I run out of opponents if I am not playing during "primary" times.

squirrel1120

raisinbman wrote:

I shield to prevent my score from going down. The chance of me getting defensive wins on normal events is laughable.

And its not a crapshoot to guess what I need for T100 placement: 600 points. Can I always get there? No. Is that always correct? No. But those are more bracket/event determined than anything else.

There's also the krutacking 166 wall that shows up at random times because others are shielded.

I'd rather not purposely lose MMR, I'd be letting down my guild then.

In my experience, starting an event too early(24-36 hours) makes me run into the 166 wall incredibly early. I also find that people tend to be shielded/I run out of opponents if I am not playing during "primary" times.

I wouldn't have written this if it hadn't worked for me personally. If it doesn't fit your personal play style, that's fine. I certainly didn't have an alliance to cosnider for most of the transition.

However, 'losing mmr' won't hurt your alliances rating at all. Manipulation of your mmr will change where you hit walls to some extent, as well as make the earliest part of your climb much easier. The mmr rating is entirely separate from the issue of completely under representing a score in relation to the alliance. There is something to be said for climbing to 3-400 early, putting up a tank team off a saved seed match, getting beat down, and then climbing back up to your natural stopping point again. Thus you can still drop your mmr to make some things easier without hurting your alliances score at all.

Unknown

squirrel1120 wrote:

raisinbman wrote:

I shield to prevent my score from going down. The chance of me getting defensive wins on normal events is laughable.

And its not a crapshoot to guess what I need for T100 placement: 600 points. Can I always get there? No. Is that always correct? No. But those are more bracket/event determined than anything else.

There's also the krutacking 166 wall that shows up at random times because others are shielded.

I'd rather not purposely lose MMR, I'd be letting down my guild then.

In my experience, starting an event too early(24-36 hours) makes me run into the 166 wall incredibly early. I also find that people tend to be shielded/I run out of opponents if I am not playing during "primary" times.

I wouldn't have written this if it hadn't worked for me personally. If it doesn't fit your personal play style, that's fine. I certainly didn't have an alliance to cosnider for most of the transition.

However, 'losing mmr' won't hurt your alliances rating at all. Manipulation of your mmr will change where you hit walls to some extent, as well as make the earliest part of your climb much easier. The mmr rating is entirely separate from the issue of completely under representing a score in relation to the alliance. There is something to be said for climbing to 3-400 early, putting up a tank team off a saved seed match, getting beat down, and then climbing back up to your natural stopping point again. Thus you can still drop your mmr to make some things easier without hurting your alliances score at all.

I dunno. I got hit by the Lollipop update bug and missed out on 2-3 PVP events so my MMR should've been sh*t yet I still hit that 166 wall. It just seems like that 166 wall comes no matter what either at or before 600 points.

And really, Ben's advice worked out so this conversation could just be moot. I guess I just needed to adapt to the "new" PVP.

squirrel1120

Well... I can't speak on missing events. I haven't missed one since I started playing entirely. On vacation I played spare nodes a few times for a T300 finish.

On hitting the wall of 166's tho... that's one of those changes they've made you won't get away from. You will still hit the wall, and it'd be in about the same place no matter how much your MMR is tanked, because I'm pretty sure its fairly hardcoded into the MMR calculations now. I stopped doing any tanking a while back, because fighting 25 fights for 12 points each takes a long while, and it doesn't matter too much if they are all very easy. I'd rather pick 30+ point matches and do it in 10, because the time is just shorter. As a 2* player though, with a.wolvie and tinydaken for instance, you can cruize through all those 25 matches without healthpacks. Then at 300ish, more normal matches... and finally the wall right around 550 or where ever its been sitting. There's like 100 pts difference between the 166 wall and the 270 wall right now, which for a 3* player isn't as insurmountable as the 166 wall is to 2* toons. Usually I'm short on time, so I skip the tanking as I'd rather harder matches worth more point so I can do 1-3 after a pve clear on remaining h.packs.

Anyway, i hope Ben's advice works out for ya. He's been around a long while and knows his stuff.

Spoit

Yeah, I'm 90% that skipping events does kitty all for managing your MMR/scaling. I've barely touched pve since enemy of the state, and my scaling is off the charts, and I skipped the first 2 season events, and my MMR actually seems higher than it was during the off season events (though that was kind of hard to judge with CA screwing it up)

GrumpySmurf1002

That awkward moment when you realize the season ends on Super Bowl Sunday.

squirrel1120

Doh! Good thing I don't mind playing during a game. Heh.