Stupid scaling continues

Unknown

So, Scotland Yard...again.
Pre 'update', part VI was a nightmare for a transition roster like mine. Now? Bloody hell.
First attempt at it, all 220 goons, took in buffed Mohawk, HB and max Cap, all downed with five turns. Five.
And tomorrow, the levels will increase to 250. I mean, what's the point of this insanity?

It isn't like I don't have a decent team, I do. They can take down quite a bit, but when they're killed before even matching a single special move, it all seems pointless. But that was my go, now I have to wait for node refresh and they will be stronger whereas I...won't.

I just want a dev to come out and say that this is what they are sticking with so I know it will not improve, and the gameplay dies, allowing me to kick this awful habit and go and read some books instead. I live in hope someone in D3 actually reads the hate their update in March still brings and changes it.

Any communication would be helpful. Don't even care now if they are sticking with pitiful PvP and PvE as they have made it. I just want information that helps me make an informed decision about staying or leaving.

COME ON.

dkffiv

Twombley wrote:

So, Scotland Yard...again.
Pre 'update', part VI was a nightmare for a transition roster like mine. Now? Bloody hell.
First attempt at it, all 220 goons, took in buffed Mohawk, HB and max Cap, all downed with five turns. Five.
And tomorrow, the levels will increase to 250. I mean, what's the point of this insanity?

It isn't like I don't have a decent team, I do. They can take down quite a bit, but when they're killed before even matching a single special move, it all seems pointless. But that was my go, now I have to wait for node refresh and they will be stronger whereas I...won't.

I just want a dev to come out and say that this is what they are sticking with so I know it will not improve, and the gameplay dies, allowing me to kick this awful habit and go and read some books instead. I live in hope someone in D3 actually reads the hate their update in March still brings and changes it.

Any communication would be helpful. Don't even care now if they are sticking with pitiful PvP and PvE as they have made it. I just want information that helps me make an informed decision about staying or leaving.

COME ON.

That node is honestly cake compared to almost every other one. The Bullseye 2x Muscle, Yelena 2x Muscle and a variety of other ones were much more dangerous.

HB isn't very good on goon nodes - you'd be better off with Loki, Falcon or OBW. Sub optimal subs could be 1* Hawkeye, Cyclops, Kamala Khan, GSBW, Elektra or maybe Groot. Need to maximize color coverage on board shakes and CD removal, once you get Cap rolling it should be in the bag.

Unknown

Agreed, and shaking the team around would help, my roster just isn't strong enough across the board. It's the levels, one goon hit punches 5k health off me, so most can't take a second hit. I guess tile placement really worked against me, but I still hate this new gameplay.

So frustrated. I was really progressing until the update hit, and it's put me so far back.

dkffiv

Twombley wrote:

Agreed, and shaking the team around would help, my roster just isn't strong enough across the board. It's the levels, one goon hit punches 5k health off me, so most can't take a second hit. I guess tile placement really worked against me, but I still hate this new gameplay.

So frustrated. I was really progressing until the update hit, and it's put me so far back.

Unless you were using the characters that were nerfed heavily, PvE hasn't changed all that much other than enemies having more life (which isn't the case in this goon node). Its really important to have good color coverage so you are less likely to get screwed by a bad board. Look at your colors and figure out what you're missing:

Mohawk:
is excellent for board shake and AP generation, try not to use it if Cap tiles are down. Try to use it with 2 or 3 turns left on CD tiles so you have time to make a match or two to lineup a match to destroy
is mediocre, mild board shake. Might consider bringing a better one
damage only, works against certain targeted removal (like MMags purple). May consider not using it at all depending on your team.

CapAm:
+ are both excellent removal if you can get the AP going.
can be used as a very expensive tile remover if you can lineup a 4 match with it, consider finding a better one.

Color wise you're missing which there are tons of excellent removal/control/shakeup ones like MMags, GSBW, Loki, OBW and 1* Hawkeye. Kamala's can be used as an accelerator for Mohawk, Cyclops and Thor can both use to accelerate either CapAm or Mohawk. Other than Xforce there aren't many abilities to help you shake up the board so Mohawk's damage may be the best thing you got.

On this map the enemy CD tiles are green, blue and yellow so someone with a yellow accelerator is more valuable than a strong black (green and blue are already covered). Know your enemy, some fights its fine to not bring a green user but against Ares + Jugg you're going to have to deny your enemy so you better bring along a user.

Vinmarc43

After playing this nightmare for 519 days now, I can tell you, THEY AIN'T LISTENING TO YALL, and they probably don't CARE as well about the f... scaling.

Unknown

dkffiv wrote:

Twombley wrote:

Agreed, and shaking the team around would help, my roster just isn't strong enough across the board. It's the levels, one goon hit punches 5k health off me, so most can't take a second hit. I guess tile placement really worked against me, but I still hate this new gameplay.

So frustrated. I was really progressing until the update hit, and it's put me so far back.

Unless you were using the characters that were nerfed heavily, PvE hasn't changed all that much other than enemies having more life (which isn't the case in this goon node). Its really important to have good color coverage so you are less likely to get screwed by a bad board. Look at your colors and figure out what you're missing:

Mohawk:
...
Color wise you're missing which there are tons of excellent removal/control/shakeup ones like ... Loki, OBW
...

Sorry for the hack-job editing, but I just had to respond to these specific parts of your post... and say thanks.

So, I lost 4 teams to the PvE Scotland Yard goon node in the past 12 or so hours, and I finally did it with a severely under-leveled Loki (3-cover), a severely under-leveled MoSt (2-cover), and my OBW with shy of 2000hp.

Bear in mind, it was a bit slow, and I had virtually no damage abilities, but wow, does it matter who you take in vs. who you are fighting. I'm pleasantly surprised, but a bit humbled by how little I still know about true strategy in this game...

Cheers!

DBC

TheOncomingStorm

3 points about scaling.

1. Scaling is broken. Overscaling in full effect. It was bad before, now it's worse.

2. Scaling is worse for veterans. Another feature that severely punishes players that play and develop their characters (I.e. don't game the system).

3. The issue concerns primarily veterans. It is not a priority to be fixed.

Taganov

Level 307 Ares, Bulleseye and feeder goon last night. Scaling is stupid out of control.

Unknown

I can't recall an event i had to play so little to hold #1, even accounting for an uninteresting new character released. It seems like instead of grinding something 6 versus 4 times it's now like 2 versus 1 and that's okay by me. Or I could've been in an unusually weak bracket, but I've never seen anything that approachs this in terms of bracket strength (or lack there of) before. It seems like just doing 1 clear every 8 hours and nothing else would probably get you top 20 sometimes.

TheOncomingStorm

Phantron wrote:

I can't recall an event i had to play so little to hold #1, even accounting for an uninteresting new character released. It seems like instead of grinding something 6 versus 4 times it's now like 2 versus 1 and that's okay by me. Or I could've been in an unusually weak bracket, but I've never seen anything that approachs this in terms of bracket strength (or lack there of) before. It seems like just doing 1 clear every 8 hours and nothing else would probably get you top 20 sometimes.

I think it's more a of a product of fatigue. So many event, so many characters. This particular event has worse scaling than it typically has (and it was bad to begin with). It almost seems to the Ultron event affected scaling; however, I doubt that is the case due to that kind of event typically does not affect scaling.

All I know is that they keep weakening 4*'s, but the scaling for those players seems pre-nerf (re-balance) high. If there was an adjustment to scaling it was minimal.

The worse part is how long it takes to grind down nodes with the scaling. Unless you want to invest 2-4 hours, players are not going to grind all the way down any way.

Ultimate Irony: They change refresh timers from 3 to 8 hours so players could play fewer times. However, (1) they have not adjust scaling for those that do not game the system with their character levels, (2) they "balanced" the fastest and most powerful characters, and (3) the health buffs to many of the characters have all led to much longer PVP matches and longer PVE clears. They just do not seem to be able to get out of their own way. Players want to play less; (all the way back to True Healing) they have said they want players to play less; however, every change that would reduce playing time is met by worse changes that making playing time even longer. Personally, I do not get it. Their words say one thing, but almost every time their actions say something totally different.

Unknown

TheOncomingStorm wrote:

Phantron wrote:

I can't recall an event i had to play so little to hold #1, even accounting for an uninteresting new character released. It seems like instead of grinding something 6 versus 4 times it's now like 2 versus 1 and that's okay by me. Or I could've been in an unusually weak bracket, but I've never seen anything that approachs this in terms of bracket strength (or lack there of) before. It seems like just doing 1 clear every 8 hours and nothing else would probably get you top 20 sometimes.

I think it's more a of a product of fatigue. So many event, so many characters. This particular event has worse scaling than it typically has (and it was bad to begin with). It almost seems to the Ultron event affected scaling; however, I doubt that is the case due to that kind of event typically does not affect scaling.

All I know is that they keep weakening 4*'s, but the scaling for those players seems pre-nerf (re-balance) high. If there was an adjustment to scaling it was minimal.

The worse part is how long it takes to grind down nodes with the scaling. Unless you want to invest 2-4 hours, players are not going to grind all the way down any way.

Ultimate Irony: They change refresh timers from 3 to 8 hours so players could play fewer times. However, (1) they have not adjust scaling for those that do not game the system with their character levels, (2) they "balanced" the fastest and most powerful characters, and (3) the health buffs to many of the characters have all led to much longer PVP matches and longer PVE clears. They just do not seem to be able to get out of their own way. Players want to play less; (all the way back to True Healing) they have said they want players to play less; however, every change that would reduce playing time is met by worse changes that making playing time even longer. Personally, I do not get it. Their words say one thing, but almost every time their actions say something totally different.

I don't think fatigue matters because unless there's some kind of massive quiting that I'm not aware of most activity in MPQ PvE can simply be explained by scaling. There are always guys piling up crazy scores in PvE just because they can the same way people still pile up crazy scores in PvP for the same reason, and compared to that it doesn't even cost you much, if any money, to do that in PvE. No matter how awesome the prize is, Simulator Hard has always stopped people cold. Prodigal Sun's scaling also slows people down just fine even when it's used on a 4* new character release. Right now the activity I see is comparable to Simulator Hard, which is more than I expected.

I'm absolutely playing a lot less in this event compared to anything I can remember recently and still holding #1. It seems like people are capitulating much earlier than normal. I was on my second pass before the #3 guy waved the white flag, though to be fair, I was down to 1 health pack after the second pass, so the white flag could've easily happened in the other direction. Yes each of the game is taking considerably longer, but when you only have to play each node twice instead of 6 times, it's still a lot less to play overall. There has been plenty of infuriating wipeouts so far but it looks like everyone else is getting them too.

ZootSax

Phantron wrote:

I'm absolutely playing a lot less in this event compared to anything I can remember recently and still holding #1. It seems like people are capitulating much earlier than normal. I was on my second pass before the #3 guy waved the white flag, though to be fair, I was down to 1 health pack after the second pass, so the white flag could've easily happened in the other direction. Yes each of the game is taking considerably longer, but when you only have to play each node twice instead of 6 times, it's still a lot less to play overall. There has been plenty of infuriating wipeouts so far but it looks like everyone else is getting them too.

I've had a similar experience much further down the standings. I knew I would have a lot of real life commitments this weekend, so I was just hoping to hit the 25HP progression and get whatever pitiful award that earned me in placement, yet somehow I am just barely outside the Top 100 with under 24 hours to go. That's with basically zero grinding and not necessarily even completing every node...and not having Storm for the 3* essentials. This is basically the polar opposite of every new character release I've ever seen except, maybe, Elektra.

lokiagentofhotness

yeah i'm not sure what happened with my bracket either. the first night i got ready for my 3hr grind down...then noticed no-one in the top 10 was really trying so i stopped. been doing clears as and when i can, but still remain the the top 10. i could have put more effort for 1/2, but don't need the blue tgt, so i don't particularly want to.

maybe it's because the character's so bad.

puppychow

I wasn't around my computer (steam player here) when the event started. when I got back, the pool was in the high 700s. I decided to wait for the next bracket, and. . . 2 subs later still in the old bracket, at high 900s. But since my alliance minimum is half the points of leading scorer, and I wasn't going to meet the minimum if I had waited til the 4th sub, I threw in towel and started in the old bracket on the 3rd sub. Broke 20k points on the third sub, and after 1st clear of 4th sub, I'm already within top 150. Second round of clear put me in 110s. So either people decided to take it easy, or simply not playing due to scaling issues. Personally, it's great because I skipped 2 subs and I will still come out with a red vision cover. Less work, same reward. Works for me!

Post event update: Made 75th place and got my Vision red cover. Not bad for grinding on 2 out of 4 days.

Der_Lex

Guess either you guys are lucky or I am unlucky, because my bracket has a lot more grinding than the previous couple of PvE's.

It doesn't help that with the **** new reward system the difference between 11th place and 50th place is neglegible. 500 ISO is what I'll spend on boosts to keep up with the crazy scaling. Getting top 20 is utterly irrelevant now.

Dragon_Nexus

I *love* this sub event because the higher scoring nodes are all minions. Unless you get a **** board, I get awesome results with Patch and OBW and a character who doesn't tank blue, purple or black. I usually use Thor.

Once you get some serious strike tiles down, OBW becomes a powerhouse. You'll maybe match for 1000 and then do another 1000 on top with Espionage. It's my go-to team for minion nodes. You can also slow down countdown timers and steal more blue and yellow to fuel OBW and Thor.

Again, nuless you're unlucky with the board (and a sniper rifle can kill a character outright, meaning it's best to quit and take the health his than require a health pack), it should be smooth sailing.

TxMoose

as posted elsewhere my scaling is bonkers too here after ultron. recently got my 104steve to 3/5/1 and once I did that, top end goon only nodes became very trivial. 104steve, 104Cyclops (1/4/3) and 94mnmags (3/5/5) routinely took down 320 goons but man, it takes some time getting though the health. it would be much better with him at 5 blue too but without his 5th red, not sure I could survive a level 200 team - it makes that much difference. unfortunately the ares and hood nodes are outta whack too and those I have no answer for once they hit 200+. no idea how some are grinding the last 2 nodes away here on the last sub, but they are.

Unknown

Can someone just hang a sign on my PvE nodes that says, "No 2*s allowed?"

Seriously, and I can't believe I'm saying this again. If my 94s had trouble and ultimately died facing "easy" level [x] enemies, I'm not likely to fair much better facing level [x1/3] "easy" enemies.

My health at level's end is an indicator of scaling? Uhm, yeah. I DIED. Repeatedly.

To summarize, I don't appreciate dying multiple times, coming back after my characters have healed, and seeing levels almost double in the interim. Seriously.

I'm not sure who "scaling" is supposed to benefit, but it is NOT helping this level 94 2* player, and it doesn't appear to be helping the vets either...

DBC

Various38

I would swear that CMag and Hood at level anything is the most unholy alliance ever. I can't even put a dent in either one's health and got my butt handed to me in multiple ways. This scaling is beyond real, and hence that's why I've pretty much given up on anything in this game except for the progression rewards in PVE. PVP isn't that much better for my transitioning team either. In PVP I got all level 146 and above rosters to deal with from start. All health pack killers. I guess that's how they keep you from playing so much. Anyone who is enjoying the game, please enjoy because I still like playing it, but I'm not on the grind anymore.

puppychow

That boss node historically goes on steroid as far as scaling is concerned. My scaling went to 393---for a roster w/ the highest guy (xf) at 181. Gee, that's only 217% of my character level.

dr tinykittylove

puppychow wrote:

That boss node historically goes on steroid as far as scaling is concerned. My scaling went to 393---for a roster w/ the highest guy (xf) at 181. Gee, that's only 217% of my character level.

Mine went to 395. My highest guy (xf) is 155. Clearly you are doing something wrong and the ai is giving you a softball enemy.