advice on 4xwaves for deadpool daily

loroku

So I love the new mode, but the 3* is locked behind a tremendously difficult 4 wave node, which I have no idea how to beat. Unless you can kill things EXTREMELY quickly, the goons (or the matching characters) will just build up enough AP so that the final wave will come in and drop 5-6 powers in a row (including whales-whales-whales if you didn't stop them from getting pink, ever) and wipe you from full to dead before you can even go. So how do you beat it?

It seems like true healing characters are good, but if you're actually in the 2* to 3* transition, that means 2* Daken, 2* Wolvie, and no one else. It also seems like the levels are fixed - at least according to what's been said on the forums - so theoretically you could boost your characters up to a high level, but then you're just screwing yourself on PvE.

I tried bringing tough characters, but eventually anyone without true healing is just gonna die. I tried bringing high-damage characters, but they just get their butts kicked; it only takes one or two bad cascades to completely screw you, and since you're playing 4 matches long, the odds that this will happen are high. Maybe OBW is a good one to bring to steal as much as possible? I dunno; how did everyone else beat it (other than: having 166 characters)?

fmftint

I used OBW, Cap, BP. OBW kept enemy ap low, Cap was crowd control.

loroku

I guess what I'm asking is: what 2* characters are people using? (Other than OBW.)

morph3us

There's a good thread here with suggestions for survival nodes here:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=23869

It depends on your roster, obviously. There are lots of answers in 3* land. In 2* land, your options are a little more limited, but it's definitely still doable. What it boils down to is having several things:
(1) Having some capacity for replenishing your AP as you go
(2) Having some capacity for healing
(3) Having some sort of persistent way to alter the board in your favour.

For point (1), in 3* land, 3* Cap is an obvious answer. Otherwise, characters that shake up the board, and generate AP by tile destruction are handy (I favour Mororo for this, but I think I'm in the minority ).

For point (2), it doesn't have to be true healing (although true healing is handy). Anyone who buffs health is useful - Spider-Man, She-Hulk, OBW. Protect tiles work as a surrogate for healing too (Cage, Cap, Spider-Man, Falcon).

For point (3), it revolves around strike tiles and attack tiles, so Blade, Daken, Wolverine, BP, R&G etc.

(Point 4 is having a way to deal with goon CD tiles, but that's an optional extra).

I find the best way to beat survival nodes is to use the first wave to build up AP, and set up the board in my favour. As an example, my go-to team is currently 3* Cap, Rocket & Groot, and Mororo. So I gather enough red AP to get SSA going, and try and either have R&G's strike tiles set, or Mororo's Hailstorm set by the time the second wave rolls around. After that, it's just a matter of gathering momentum.

If you're limited to a 2* roster, I'd favour OBW, Daken, and Thor. Daken will set up your strike tiles (and has true heal), OBW will keep your characters from dying (and coincidentally deal with goon CD tiles), steal AP to replenish your stocks, and also double dip on the strike tiles, and you can use Thor to spend that AP you build up over waves.

Arimis_Thorn

I used a couple 3*s with OBW, but if I were going to go 2* only, I'd probably go with OBW, Cap and Ares.

OBW can steal AP and heal/delay enemy countdowns. Cap can stun and remove enemy tiles and is tank-ish, and Ares is good burst damage. Plus with OBW's heal, his Yellow is more sustainable even if the countdown tile gets matched out.

Arondite

For 2 Star only, I'd say the ideal combo is definitely OBW / Daken / Thor.

Use OBW with Daken's strike tiles to build AP and whittle down the enemy goons. Save every drop of yellow and green AP you can for non-goon waves. When a sniper rifle is about to go off, swap to Daken and let him take it. Between OBW's healing and his own Healing and Heat, he should shrug the damage off happily.

Once you have 28+ Green and 24+ Yellow, use Daken's blue to finish off the stragglers and begin a Character round. Pound them with Call the Storm twice, then use Thor's yellow to finish off the stragglers.

Rinse and repeat.

The Gunslinger

I used Stormneto + MHawkeye, and got through it relatively unscathed.

I avoid using skills against goons, but with this combo I actually use Magneto's purple to get out Speed Shot and that takes out waves pretty easily, while also saving up blue for Wind Storm. When you get to a character round, use Wind Storm ad naseum. I had 30 blue stockpiled when the final wave came around and made quick work of it.

These three are so good together in PVE events it's ridiculous. I find that I rarely use other characters unless I have to.

thbrown81

Yeah, seems like Stormneto would be a no brainer here. Stockpile blue and use your third character (Wolvie or Thor) to take down the goons. You should be able to spam Windstorm on R4 without letting them get a shot off. If Stormneto can take down my XForce and 3*Thor in PVP, they can handle that last round.

GothicKratos

The Gunslinger wrote:

I used Stormneto + MHawkeye, and got through it relatively unscathed.

I avoid using skills against goons, but with this combo I actually use Magneto's purple to get out Speed Shot and that takes out waves pretty easily, while also saving up blue for Wind Storm. When you get to a character round, use Wind Storm ad naseum. I had 30 blue stockpiled when the final wave came around and made quick work of it.

These three are so ridiculously good together in PVE events it's ridiculous. I find that I rarely use other characters unless I have to.

I didn't even realize that you didn't need to use Black Panther for the Survival Node, so I used BP/Mags/Storm - no boosts, both maxed (2*s) - and made it through unscathed. Match damages my way through wave 1 and wave 2, used up my Polarity Shifts and match damage to down wave 3, and Wind Storm's the Hell out of wave 4.

NorthernPolarity

One thing to remember is that if you use an ability to kill the last enemy of a wave, you keep your turn and get to do something first on the next wave: the only time where the enemy starts the next wave and is able to use abilities is if you kill them with match damage (that isn't a match-5).

Based off of this information, one intuitive strategy is to kill off all but one of the goons on the wave before the hero wave, stockpile as much AP as you can (typically by nuking down 2 goons and killing the last goon as slowly as possible), and then burst down the heroes on the hero wave with your stockpiled AP so you don't have to deal with their abilities.

So just an example, say I'm running 4or, and the node progression is goon -> hero -> goon -> hero.
Wave 1: kill two goons quickly. Stunlock last goon, gather 30 red and blue AP, and kill off last goon with an ability.
Wave 2: 3x smite killing the 3 heroes.
Wave 3: Repeat wave 1's strategy
Wave 4: 3x smite killing the 3 heroes.

Of course, if you don't have 4or, then you can't just say "smite down the 3 heroes", but the strategy is the same with Ares / OBW / Daken or whatever. Just replace "Smite" with "30 AP onslaught, 2x sunder", so on and so forth.

MaskedMan

Another thing that works for waves is characters like Storm/Torch who put down large attack tiles. That damage really adds up in a 4 wave battle. Fill the screen with attack tiles as early as you can.

The way I beat it was to hold off the NPCs (don't kill them right away) while I collected as many extra APs as possible. I knew I was in trouble because my 3 * Thor was down to 250 HPs. I couldn't afford to allow the computer to make any more matches. So I collected 16 Red 20 yellow and 24 green AP while killing the last NPC. When the last wave appeared I went mid-evil on them LOL.

I was lucky to get that many APs without taking damage but then I took a lot more damage in the 1st 3 rounds than I should have so it evens out.

Just remember you don't HAVE to use a power immediately just because you can. If you can save a big punch for the next wave. Also if you really want that 3*? Use up those +20% match bonuses - again those add up to a LOT of points in a 4 wave game.

I love the new mode + ability to get lots of ISO and a 3* in less than a week and without having to deal with PvP elites. But I do see a lot of tears coming over that last fight from a lot of people (myself included) it is one tough fight. Doesn't take much bad luck to get stumped.

Unknown

If you want straight 2*s there are plenty of teams that synergize well. Lack of Magneto (Marvel Now!) puts Storm on the bench for me, but OBW/Thor/Hawkeye works well together, as does Daken/Ares/OBW. For long Survival matches, Jonny Storm is pretty good. Get his Green tile out and keep OBW stealing that Green AP from the goons.

In 3* land, tons of options exist for long survival battles, but the best is probably Captain America. He's got everything you want on a long battle. AP refunds, Shield Tiles, high damage output, and you can even use his Yellow shields eventually. You can run 2* cap at a much much lower rate of damage and protect, but he's still good against goon nodes, which this is 50%.

Also, pet peeve, it's Medieval not Mid-Evil. It wasn't an evil time period.

jpKNOCKOUT

blade was key for me. I built up as many strike tiles as I could, dropped his purple and started one-hitting all of the enemies - cruised right to the end. Cap helped as well - especially his stunning.

edit: just saw your post on 2*'s only. I'm no help!

h4n1s

I know this might not be the answer you seek for as you mentioned without OBW... But I am still going to give it to you, because i did not lose a single hitpoint and I used only 2* characters:

OBW + Daken + Thor

Focus on collecting blue and green. Blue for her anti-gravity device and for the finishing round for Daken. Green for strike tiles and Call the storm to finish the last waves.

Or

Focus on collecting blue and yellow. Blue - same as above. Yellow for thunderstrike, cascade and Call the storm as finisher.

Both strategies are fairly straight forward and effective, you just need to watch those countdowns from enemies.

IamTheDanger

For me, in the Survival Nodes, I like Falcon and Steve Rogers. They both deal with goon CD tiles, then recycle every 3 turns to do it to another CD tile. Cap does a good bit of damage too, and Falcon yellow Inspiration gives a boost to the protect tiles I get from Rogers' blue and yellow. I really don't bother with Falcon's purple until I'm on my last wave. By then I should have enough Ap to use it twice. So I only use it to cover the board and limit the number of tiles goons have access to. For my 3rd character, if I get to choose, I would use Big Thor to cover green. Save up enough Ap to drop 2 Call the Storms. If I have enough yellow saved as well and use it afterward to get some more green, I can use CotS a 3rd time. (assuming I using it generates enough green Ap). Or my 3rd would be Human Torch who covers green and black. With enough green Ap, Torch's green ability is very powerful at high levels and delivers damage every turn.

Unknown

Interesting how many different ways people are coming up with beating these waves

It's funny they've actually made 2* cap useful again. I feel bad for everyone who sold him once they got Steve Rogers; I'm sure there are a lot of people in the same boat. He's going to be the most desired 2* char after OBW now, just for these. Board Control + Stun makes these nodes easy. To the AI: "How can you cascade, if you can't even move? "

Also, I'm really glad I didn't dump my MStorm. Kept her even after her multiple nerfs.

loroku

Thanks, folks. Stormneto is definitely my go-to for most challenges, but they are SO squishy and it takes SO long to get them running it's just not a good option when you're facing 4 waves in a row. The issue is that the goons - which everyone says to "leave alive until you're stocked up" - stockpile MASSIVE amounts of AP, which characters then come in and use repeatedly until you're dead, so that strategy just doesn't really work in my opinion. Or you're faced with the normal goon problem of not getting to their countdowns in time, which can often do more damage than powers!

I did end up beating the node yesterday by the skin of my teeth (one match away from dead), and yes: OBW was 100% the key. Her blue is super-essential both to keep goon countdowns from going off and to give you back precious HP from when the AI gets its inevitable cascade and blows you up. Her pink is great too for keeping their AP count low, although it's much slower and makes her not play well with 2* Mags. I put her with Ares and Daken, and I've kept her level low so Daken can tank black and pink for her (although that might be a bad idea).

Someone mentioned sniper rifle - makes me wonder if they waves are all the same for everyone? For day 1 - Black Panther Yellow - I had a Thug, Hitman, and someone else that made green and blue, followed by Daredevil, Beast, She-Hulk, then Muscle, Don, and Repair Bot followed by Deadpool, Dr. Doom, and Hood. Is that the same for everyone? Beast + She-Hulk was rough given that they are both healers and BOTH fed large amounts of green and yellow (their healing colors) from the previous wave (not to mention they can both use blue, too). The Muscle was a crazy dangerous guy because his 400+ strike tiles would still be there for the next set of characters, and of course if ANY of them matched 14+ pink before wave 4, you were just dead because of Deadpool. Fortunately Dr. Doom tended to waste pink immediately if they had between 10 and 13, which seriously saves you.

Also in response to those suggesting Thor instead of Ares, I like Ares because he's so much faster and does more damage in the long run. He's also just as tanky and his AOE is also weaker but faster. The only downside is that you're giving them lots of green, but at least yesterday that didn't matter after wave 2.

In fact, the weakest link in the Ares / Daken / OBW lineup is Daken. He's there to tank pink and black (at least for me - I think he'd tank only black if OBW was maxed) and heal himself, and he gets strike tiles out from time to time. But his only power competes with OBW's blue which means it cannot be used - hers is just too important. I sort of need another blue/black/pink user to cover OBW... But I don't think there is one in 2* land (I think it's just Doom and Mystique, actually).

Also, thanks for the advice whoever mentioned 4* Thor - but yeah if I had 4* Thor I wouldn't be posting this thread.

h4n1s

loroku wrote:

In fact, the weakest link in the Ares / Daken / OBW lineup is Daken. He's there to tank pink and black (at least for me - I think he'd tank only black if OBW was maxed) and heal himself, and he gets strike tiles out from time to time. But his only power competes with OBW's blue which means it cannot be used - hers is just too important. I sort of need another blue/black/pink user to cover OBW... But I don't think there is one in 2* land (I think it's just Doom and Mystique, actually).

In fact if you watch for the CD tiles and sometime match them rather then Anti-gr. device them, you often end up with 15 blue AP in your pocket, and with that you in one turn down one or more enemies left with dakens blue.

alaeth

If you don't have OBW, you're going to have a rough time of it.

Even with two 166 toons, she is still my first choice for a survival node.

General ideas:
* goon waves - don't waste a single ability if you can help it. Avoid damage though, so if a CD tile is at 1, use OBW blue on it.
* Get as many strike/protect tiles out as fast as possible (Daken/Wolfie, or Cap)
* save your big damage abilities, and if possible, kill the *last* goon of wave 3 with an ability (or match 5) - this will leave you with the advantage to spam EVERYTHING as soon as Deadpool and the others show up in the last wave.

If you still can't beat it, try boosts:
* + damage boosts are far more valuable than starting AP
* ask your alliance for team-ups specifically to beat the survival node (there are certain ones that are far better, anything that does board shake, leaves strike, defense, or attack behind, or heals will help the most.

Unknown

loroku wrote:

Thanks, folks. Stormneto is definitely my go-to for most challenges, but they are SO squishy and it takes SO long to get them running it's just not a good option when you're facing 4 waves in a row. The issue is that the goons - which everyone says to "leave alive until you're stocked up" - stockpile MASSIVE amounts of AP, which characters then come in and use repeatedly until you're dead, so that strategy just doesn't really work in my opinion. Or you're faced with the normal goon problem of not getting to their countdowns in time, which can often do more damage than powers!

If you use an ability to kill them you get to keep your turn.

I did it with purely 2* OBW Storm Thor despite having 4Thor and XF roster just for fun. It is so easy to just stockpile AP then down the last goon with Thor's Red (his weakest) then triple Windstorm the actual enemies and repeat for the next 2 waves. Thor is better than Ares since his yellow and fuels Storm's green, which you keep to fire at 30AP repeatedly fueling all the Windstorms you'd ever need.

Unknown

I actually used GSBW and kept her lvl 5 green maxed and waiting for that last wave. I also had 5 +20 power boosts attached. When that last wave came in I did a quick 5k+ damage too all opponents and then just whittled them down from there.