How many shields do you use?

bdksni1

This is my 2nd season fighting against the pvp sharks and i'm still learning how to effectively hop. After trying some strategies mentioned here at the forum -some more successfull than others- figured out there's much more into it than just fighting and shielding. My point is there are "dead" and "feeding frenzy" timeframes along the entire event, the cooldowns, the mmr, brackets, slices, and so on..
Due to this i decided to report my experience from last events:
Usually my A-team is LCap + Hood or Loki (all maxed and well spec'd)and featured.
Normally join Slice 1-2, i regulate by GMT time -europe-
The way i climb is
joining between the 48hr and 36hr mark, reach +600 and 3hr shield.
Refill healthpacks, bump to 650-680 and shield for 24hrs
Rest and real life lol
Push to 725-750 and 8hr shield
If needed i make a final hop to get to 800 with a 3hr shield.
Do one last match at the last few minutes of the event.
Usually this nets me about 800-900pts at the cost of 600hp
The thing is that i can't do this consistently because of the facts mentioned above. And on top of that lately me and my alliance mates have been noticing some cascading tendency for the enemy team when doing final pushes.. Coincidence or not? You decide.
Anyway i think it would be nice to have some reports about your glorious -or frustating- climbs hoping we can all make a better use of that precious, hard earned HP.

JamieMadrox

As many as I feel is necessary.

Infrared

The time slice you choose can indirectly affect your score in a big way, as well as how many shields you need. Members from top level alliances will often join the same slice and coordinate for better scores. If you happen to be in that slice, you will benefit because there will be more high point targets to attack. Even if you don't ever get matched up against one of those top players, you will certainly get matched against others who did. When scores overall are higher, you can climb higher before putting up your first shield. However, though your score will be higher, your ranking may be lower if you get put into the same bracket as as a bunch of top scorers. The best case scenario is if you get a high scoring time slice, but an easy bracket within that slice. Alliances don't pick the same slice every time, so it's mainly luck unless you have insider info.

Another factor that affects the scores in a time slice is the percentage of players who are cooperative, versus the percentage who are snipers. This is somewhat related to my first point, since top alliances play cooperatively (amongst themselves at least). By cooperative play, I mean trying not to hit others while they are unshielded. When you hit an unshielded target, they lose roughly the same amount of points that you gain, and they are then worth less points the next time someone else hits them. But when you hit a shielded target, you gain points and nobody loses anything. New points are added into your time slice that did not exist before. Multiply that by all the other players who are cooperative, and you get a lot more points in the system, meaning a lot more juicy targets to help you reach the progression rewards.

When you are still climbing at the low score range, nobody is shielded so the above doesn't apply then. But once you reach a score worth shielding at, then there are several things you could do:

• Hit your oldest targets first. Maybe by the time you get to your later targets, they will have shielded.
• Check your leader board to see who is shielded. Not always applicable, but very convenient if you happen to queue up someone who is visible on your leader board.
• When someone hits you, wait a good while before hitting back. That retaliation node is not going anywhere. They will be worth more when they have finished climbing and are shielded. And if you lost less than 25 points when they hit you, it means they are kind of doing you a favour because you will definitely get back more than what you lost when you retaliate.
• When you are shield hopping, always queue your targets well in advance. Don't queue right before you attack.

And yes, timing is important. The final 3 hours are especially hectic because everyone who is trying to save HP by using only one shield will be out hitting each other, and many of the high scorers will already be shielded till the end.

bdksni1 wrote:

And on top of that lately me and my alliance mates have been noticing some cascading tendency for the enemy team when doing final pushes.. Coincidence or not? You decide.

The devs have said that cascades are all totally random, except for the first few levels in the prologue where red tiles fall more often to let you use Iron Man's power.

morph3us

Try this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=25186

We're all reporting our experiences at trying to reach 1000 points in PvP using a 3* team, which is what you seem to be doing.

bdksni1

And i thought Sir Jamie "The Legend" Madrox didn't need to use shields..
Thanks for the feedback. Indeed my goal is the 1000pt mark but i just can't see it happenning anytime soon. Further discussion will be done on the right topic -btw thanks for the useful link.

Edited to give the correct nick, but the Sir is a keeper. Don't worry i'll put a good word for you next time i meet her majesty to speed things up

dkffiv

I usually use a single 3 hour shield for 1k+ in events for older characters. If I need top 5 for a specific older character cover I usually end up using a 3 and an 8. For brand new character releases I may use up to 2x 3, 2x 8, 1x 24.

Phillipes

It depends on time shard. I mostly use 1 x 8 shield and I score 1000. But sometimes, I use all 3 shield when I´m desperately trying to reach 1000, but it still can´t be done. When there are targets worth 3 - 5 points, when I´m only at 800 I know that will be a problem.

Unknown

Most PVPs, I won't use any, because there are relatively few covers I still need, I rarely go much beyond 725 points, and I almost never shield when I don't need the cover. When I do need them, nowadays, I'll most commonly do something like a 3-8-3, if I'm trying to seriously push (top 25 or need the 900), or a 3 hour at the end if I just need top 100. I usually am willing to spend ~300 HP per cover I actually need, though that's flexible, and DDQ may actually devalue that a bit.

I might do more if I need the 4* at 1000, but, due to the shield cooldown changes, I can really only do that on the PVPs that end on Sundays, and I usually don't like to go to that much trouble just for one cover, even if it's a 4*.

GrumpySmurf1002

I've been settling in at 225HP per PvP. Initial climb, shield, hop, shield, done. I've had considerably less success on my initial climbs this season than past (in other words, the 270 twins are finding me faster), so I might go back to 3-8-3 to boost scores a little bit, but even that will probably only be if I really need the covers, which is getting less often by the day.

JamieMadrox

bdksni1 wrote:

And i thought Sir Jamie "Almighty" Madrox didn't need to use shields..
Thanks for the feedback. Indeed my goal is the 1000pt mark but i just can't see it happenning anytime soon. Further discussion will be done on the right topic -btw thanks for the useful link.

It's Jamie "The Legend" Madrox and I am not a knight.

Yet.

Breakking

Jamie Madrox wrote:

As many as I feel is necessary.

The Legend has given the correct answer. This topic should've already been closed

SnowcaTT

dkffiv wrote:

I usually use a single 3 hour shield for 1k+ in events for older characters. If I need top 5 for a specific older character cover I usually end up using a 3 and an 8. For brand new character releases I may use up to 2x 3, 2x 8, 1x 24.

Are you doing that with a 270 X-force/Thor? I don't know how else you hit 1k even in old events.

I have never shielded twice, and have only used an 8 hour shield on two occasions (when I would be busy when my event ended). Almost always shield once, somewhere between 600 and 800, and it gets me T100. Slow and steady, keeps me playing.

babinro

Before I joined a top 10 alliance my answer would have been 0 to 1.
This would net me a typical score ranging from 900-1100 (during the 1300 progression reward days).

Since I've joined top 10 alliance I'm required to hit a 900 minimum and progression has changed. Things are riskier now and I find myself using 1 to 2 shields per event with my score ranging between 950 -1050.

Only once since the shield change have I used 3 shields and that turned out to be overkill as I was playing things super safe to get an absolute must have 1000 prog cover.

My tactics revolve around relatively late joins (read 90 minutes left, to 3 hours left, to sometimes 6 hours left) and primarily rushing with XF/Thor and ISO boosts.

The amount of time I give myself largely depends on the featured character. Someone like Groot you can start with 90 minutes left cause he's a non-threat defensively and yours will just soak up damage and never die.

The Punisher on the other hand drains health and health packs quickly in my experience. I gave him a much wider birth (6hrs) and wound up using more than one shield so I could regen health packs. I'd do the same if Daken or Iron Fist were featured as well.

Success on the late push depends on speed, matches you choose (take battles that feel less likely to counter attack even if fewer points), and a general instinct on when to shield vs when to fight through a hit. That last one is tough to call and choosing to do one more match can easily drop you 70 points or more in retaliations.

My success with late joins (particularly under 2-3 hour ones) is probably coming to an end. Not necessarily because of the nerfs (since that impacts all players) but because of the level boost change. I fully expect to be taking on a LOT more damage all while having to inflict more to higher hp targets. Unless I'm willing to spend a bunch of hp on health packs I'll be better off joining with at least 6 hours remaining if not more.

Spiritclaw

I use a shield every month or two, only if I feel it is likely to score me a cover I particularly want.

Unknown

I play in a mostly chill top 100 Alliance. We hit 102 sometimes and that's cool, and we hit top 50 sometimes. That puts me in the 0-1 shield per event camp. Sometimes I will use 2 if I want the placement award for top 5, or the points for season score. I hit 725 an event for the HP, and then sometimes go for 1000 or go for top 25.

It's more of a grinder mentality. I lose points sometimes and that's cool, just have to get them back. Having 270 XF doesn't hurt.