time to first 3* for me

loroku

I've posted about this in other threads so here's my own real-life example. After nearly 6 months of play, I finally got my first fully-covered 3* character on day 168: 3* Thor. Now, he's not optimally covered - he's 5/4/4, so really I still have 2 covers to go - and I don't have enough ISO to max him - which I wouldn't do anyway because I actually want to enjoy PvE - but that's how long it took me. Nearly 6 months.

However, this is not an accurate representation of how long it actually takes; for one, I started back when you could get cover rewards from subs, so my first big PvE was worth 4 covers - which you cannot do anymore. Also, I got stupid lucky on draws; I probably got at least 4 or 5 covers from draws alone, including 2 in the last week or two. Most of my 3* draws have been 3* Thor or Sentry, so that's another reason he's abnormally high. That means I earned about 5 covers for him in the last 6 months outside of one event. And of course, since I've started playing, they've introduced over 20 new characters (I think - I'd have to count it up again), easily doubling the size of the 3* roster, so anyone starting now would actually take closer to a year to get 5-6 covers for him from rewards alone (unless you're one of those players who already has an amazing roster, but that's not really the point).

Of course, the Deadpool Dailies should help with that now: and they're actually better than extra cover rewards because anyone can do them, as opposed to only the top 1-5%. Given the current stock of 3* characters, over the course of one year Thor's 3 covers should be offered at least three times. Meaning: over the course of a year, it should be reasonable to max a given 3* character with a little luck even starting now - IF they never introduced another 3*. Of course, as they continue to introduce more 3* characters that will change, so that eventually (another 6 months or so) it will only be about twice a year that a character is featured, as they continue to constantly push the goalpost backwards. So technically, someone starting today still should take longer than a year to fully cover a single given 3*, absent some amazing luck on draws.

So again: it's pretty reasonable to assume that without investment and given a moderately high amount of play time, it will still take someone over a year to fully cover a character. Only by putting real money in or getting extremely high placement in the continually fewer and farther between events that feature any given character will you go faster than that.

Square

Alright, first off, once you get your first maxed 3*, the covers will come in twice as fast. Screw PVE, that's the 2* route. Make PVP your goal. Set a minimum of 600 points, and get into an alliance with 600 minimums. Then, get to 800, and realise that you can do it, and get into a better alliance. You will be shocked how fast you transition once you get your foot in the door. You just start getting 3* covers, then get more, then more, and soon you're selling more than you get since you have those covers already. My current frustration is that I have to sell two out of three 3* covers that I get these days, since I have too many covered characters. That's where the ISO drought complaints come in.

It definitely won't take a year to cover a character. I'm on day 274, and have nineteen 3 & 4* characters fully covered. I've never bought a ten-pack, and have only bought two covers (one XF and one Laken).

Just keep at it and you will see that once your foot is in the door, the pace drastically changes. I won four Gamorra covers today, and sold them all, because I already had her cover maxed, despite being a 'new' character.

loroku

Thanks for the advice and encouragement! I do have one quibble:

Square wrote:

It definitely won't take a year to cover a character. I'm on day 274

It won't take you a year if you are already on day 274, yes. But if you started today, it will take at least a year, maybe longer.