Character Rankings May 2015 Edition: The Results!

Unknown

The hood that high is ****. As a guy with a fully upgraded hood I can tell you he is a pain in the **** to fight fully upgraded but generally not that great as a teammate. I suspect the votes come from guys who have lost to a team with a 166 hood on it.

Without a doubt, operationally, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Kamala Kahn and Cyclops are the most overpowered players.

Thor is certainly up there given the breadth of his powers and his strength but arguably call the storm is the really overpowered move but at least it takes lots of AP.

3 star magneto is definitely up there. Between his yellow shutting the game down and his blue doing massive damage he is a real hoss. Ive been upgrading mine but expecting a nerf after he was overbalanced.

Captain america is a HAM but given he is a 3 and a half star character what do you expect? That being said his yellow power is devastating but often useless as it is so high in ap.

I'm surprised to see patch so high. As a guy with a fully upgraded patch he is OK but given his berserker rage helps the opponent team and can turn the match into a horse race I dont consider him a prime offensive weapon. Like the hood he is a pain in the **** to fight much more than he is an overpowered asset.

Finally noting 2 star black widow. Even post nerf she is unusually overpowered for a 2 star. If you saw fit to nerf magneto then ypu should nerf 2 star storm's blue power and re nerf black widow ( same powers, more ap ).

jimstarooney

tuscan panty raider wrote:

The hood that high is ****. As a guy with a fully upgraded hood I can tell you he is a pain in the **** to fight fully upgraded but generally not that great as a teammate. I suspect the votes come from guys who have lost to a team with a 166 hood on it.
I have had a full hood for ages along with most top tier 3 stars.believe me he is right up there with em.what hood loses in raw power (although he has got a great, if expensive raw power move) he maked up for in his ability to shut opponents power moves down
Without a doubt, operationally, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Kamala Kahn and Cyclops are the most overpowered players.
Not overpowered but great character design

Thor is certainly up there given the breadth of his powers and his strength but arguably call the storm is the really overpowered move but at least it takes lots of AP.

3 star magneto is definitely up there. Between his yellow shutting the game down and his blue doing massive damage he is a real hoss. Ive been upgrading mine but expecting a nerf after he was overbalanced.
Cmags will never have another nerf while there are more powerful 3 stars,hes almost but not quite top tier

Captain america is a HAM but given he is a 3 and a half star character what do you expect? That being said his yellow power is devastating but often useless as it is so high in ap.

I'm surprised to see patch so high. As a guy with a fully upgraded patch he is OK but given his berserker rage helps the opponent team and can turn the match into a horse race I dont consider him a prime offensive weapon. Like the hood he is a pain in the **** to fight much more than he is an overpowered asset.
Patches green causes opponents to panic and his red if he is last man standing can one shot you

Finally noting 2 star black widow. Even post nerf she is unusually overpowered for a 2 star. If you saw fit to nerf magneto then ypu should nerf 2 star storm's blue power and re nerf black widow ( same powers, more ap ).

Unknown

tuscan panty raider wrote:

The hood that high is ****. As a guy with a fully upgraded hood I can tell you he is a pain in the **** to fight fully upgraded but generally not that great as a teammate. I suspect the votes come from guys who have lost to a team with a 166 hood on it.

Without a doubt, operationally, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Kamala Kahn and Cyclops are the most overpowered players.

Thor is certainly up there given the breadth of his powers and his strength but arguably call the storm is the really overpowered move but at least it takes lots of AP.

3 star magneto is definitely up there. Between his yellow shutting the game down and his blue doing massive damage he is a real hoss. Ive been upgrading mine but expecting a nerf after he was overbalanced.

Captain america is a HAM but given he is a 3 and a half star character what do you expect? That being said his yellow power is devastating but often useless as it is so high in ap.

I'm surprised to see patch so high. As a guy with a fully upgraded patch he is OK but given his berserker rage helps the opponent team and can turn the match into a horse race I dont consider him a prime offensive weapon. Like the hood he is a pain in the **** to fight much more than he is an overpowered asset.

1. Hood, I don't think he's that high due to ignorance, he is that *important*, just not that *strong*. You want him not to use, but incase you go against one.

2. The only two players that IMO need to be adjusted are IF and PX, so I'd avoid the word 'overpowered'. Luke Cage tanks and does great damage with yellow, but black takes ALOT of black to be good (an amount that other character can outright kill with), and he has ZERO board shake-up or generation, he doens't change a single tile. Cyclops is strong and should arguably be higher, but 'overpowered' doesn't quite work for him with the current health levels, lack of AoE, and requirements to reach his dmg outputs.

3. With 3hor, its less about CtS and more the AP generation, he feeds himself better than anyone, red feeds yellow that feeds green, all the while - they all do damage - comparing his yellow to say Cyclops, at lvl 166 it hits as hard as most people strongest attack AND it feeds his green. But he takes a lot of AP to get 'going' like CapA, while not reaping the benefits of the AP coming right back to him. He's only scary when paired with a second character who has colors you have to deny, stopping yellow/green is fine, but throwing in say black is expotentially difficult, otherwise he folds from a few attacks and never does anything.

4. CMags doesn't need a nerf. He got nerfed to his current form and was IMO the best nerf job to date, he was different but still strong. His Blue is one of my favorite moves, he does good board shake up and if you don't have a yellow user, he has a good output for it. However he's not hard to shut down and kill, and is out dmged and outboard shaken at this point, he just has a great combonation of it all.

5. Most folks ignore his yellow. Get more reds ROAR.

6. Patch has true healing. Patch is the Hulkbomber. Patch can be on a team with Sentry and not need health packs. Patch can climb you to 600ish without needing health packs. Patch can tank for those whom need it. His only REAL weakness is health, he didn't get a cost of living raise when everyone else did.
- Unreall

Unknown

So I had some time at work and decided to do my own mining based on the data.

I erased all values less than 30 as 'noise'. I'm sure I could drill down a bit further. doing that caused a "re-alignment" closer to what the 4*s are saying...

1. Prof X
2. 3hor
3. IF
4. Hood
5. Luke Cage
6. CMags
7. Patch
8. Steve Rogers
9. Cyclops
10. Blade
11. Fhor
12. Laken
13. Fury
14. BP
15. XForce
16. IMHB
17. Loki
18. OBW
19. KK
20. Doom
21. Kingpin
22. Deadpool
23. Hulk
24. RnG
25. Ares

Other notes.
Top 25 have only one more board shake up power than the next '25', however the control and size of the board shake-up is larger in the top 25, noticably larger (the only person from the Next 25 who can compete really is GSBW).

Black is the most popular color of the top 25. Red runs the next tier.

Out of the near 25 passives, the majority (like 14 or 15) are in the top 25. Falcon is 27. The remaining passives belong to Lazy characters, spiderman & QS *yawn* and Bullseye.

I havne't tried analyzing dmg from powers or dmg per AP, but on its surface it looks like to be top tier is centered around Passives and either large or controllable Shake-Ups. The first person without either of those is Captain America @ 8 and then FemThor at 11...and you can argue shake-up with CapA (its just wasteful). the other item I haven't thrown numbers at but can see.

AP Generation 'run tings mon'. Of the top 25 only 11 don't directly impact generating extra AP, and of those 4 of them still generate AP through shake-up (CMags, Laken, XForce, RnG), meaning only 7 of the top 25 don't positively affect AP generation.
- Unreall

Unknown

Ebolamonkey84 wrote:

Split the votes by roster strength and posted them on the last of my reserved posts.

Looks like past the 2* level, people are generally in consensus with ranks. Seems to be the noise that's causing more of the rank distortion.

2* generally overrate 2*, underrating 3* and 4* (due to covers?)
4* clump 1* and 2* together. Some mid to low-level 3* are clumped closer together probably because they're just not used at high level.

Unknown

Unreallystic wrote:

1. Hood, I don't think he's that high due to ignorance, he is that *important*, just not that *strong*. You want him not to use, but incase you go against one.

2. The only two players that IMO need to be adjusted are IF and PX, so I'd avoid the word 'overpowered'. Luke Cage tanks and does great damage with yellow, but black takes ALOT of black to be good (an amount that other character can outright kill with), and he has ZERO board shake-up or generation, he doens't change a single tile. Cyclops is strong and should arguably be higher, but 'overpowered' doesn't quite work for him with the current health levels, lack of AoE, and requirements to reach his dmg outputs.

3. With 3hor, its less about CtS and more the AP generation, he feeds himself better than anyone, red feeds yellow that feeds green, all the while - they all do damage - comparing his yellow to say Cyclops, at lvl 166 it hits as hard as most people strongest attack AND it feeds his green. But he takes a lot of AP to get 'going' like CapA, while not reaping the benefits of the AP coming right back to him. He's only scary when paired with a second character who has colors you have to deny, stopping yellow/green is fine, but throwing in say black is expotentially difficult, otherwise he folds from a few attacks and never does anything.

4. CMags doesn't need a nerf. He got nerfed to his current form and was IMO the best nerf job to date, he was different but still strong. His Blue is one of my favorite moves, he does good board shake up and if you don't have a yellow user, he has a good output for it. However he's not hard to shut down and kill, and is out dmged and outboard shaken at this point, he just has a great combonation of it all.

5. Most folks ignore his yellow. Get more reds ROAR.

6. Patch has true healing. Patch is the Hulkbomber. Patch can be on a team with Sentry and not need health packs. Patch can climb you to 600ish without needing health packs. Patch can tank for those whom need it. His only REAL weakness is health, he didn't get a cost of living raise when everyone else did.
- Unreall

Regarding Hood, you're right. His best use is in case you run into some other nutburger with one. To me keeping a guy around in case you run into another one doesn't make a top character, just a specialized one.

For thor, his AP self feeding certainly makes him more deadly. He's got it all.

For Magneto, I hope doesn't get nerfed I just expect that he will since I've spent a bunch of ISO on him. My upgraded XF got nerfed, and I had a 140 Ragnarok which I actually sold, since they destroyed him as a character ( after they improved loki and doom with their 3rd power ). Much like I know when I invest in KAhn / Cage / Fist I'll end up getting owned.

Unknown

With Hood, you are 'sort of' still missing some of it. Yes its rare that you see him *these days*, but make no bones about it, he's still the best support character. His only real flaw is that he seems to tank a lot for the top tiers, he almost always tanks yellow *for me*, he tanks blue it seems no matter what, and while I can cover his black with someone else, I often have him on teams where he ends up tanking black too, so he's WIDE open to damage and doens't have a large health pool. Feels like he gets purple also, but I digress. Hood is very much the best 'multiplier'...well I guess second - behind PX, he steals AP every turn and gives it to you, EVERY turn, he pairs well with EVERYBODY, he has a nuke, he has a mid-dmg attack, and he plays REAL nice with Loki, I feel criminal in the current event with a boosted CMags/Loki/Hood, every match-4 is instantly triggered by Hood black. I go MATCHES without seeing any actual attacks. The only thing that hurts Hood at this point is simply the insane AP generation a multitude of characters now have, coupled with the sheer volume of non-AP-dependent passives that have been added to the game (like Blade or Loki)

I don't expect a CMag nerf he falls into the range I think the devs want, he's strong without being broken, has no infinite loops, etc. We all knew XF was going to get hit with the nerf bat. Have solace knowing that (1) he got you more than you spent on him before the nerf and (2) his black and yellow are just as scary. with that sad, Iron Fist will get nerfed....but I have a feeling it will be more 'adjustment' than nerf. Luke Cage and KK fall into that CMag territory - strong but not borked. Think of it this way...how often do you fight either KK or Cage when not buffed? It happens, but not enough to even be an after thought.
- Unreall

Kenyzdor

Can't wait for the rest of the write up on the characters from EbolaMonkey. As a beginner player it will be really useful. Thank you for putting the rankings down and all the write ups. We newbies need it badly.

Leugenesmiff

I don't think 3*Torch gets enough love. His red is cheap but a lot of damage, and his green can quickly kill the other team, especially in PVE.

Unknown

Leugenesmiff wrote:

I don't think 3*Torch gets enough love. His red is cheap but a lot of damage, and his green can quickly kill the other team, especially in PVE.

After playing with torch in pve lately. I have to say I agree. He's been doing a lot of work for me in this pve. And i'm saying that having an Lcap at almost 166 paired with him. He's done so much with just his green. My main damage dealer in this event.

Unknown

Leugenesmiff wrote:

I don't think 3*Torch gets enough love. His red is cheap but a lot of damage, and his green can quickly kill the other team, especially in PVE.

Torch is a relic from another time. He's outclassed, not part of the Meta, and has 2/3 bad abilities.

Notes I would add to your writeups: 1*Hawkeye can combo w/ 2* bullseye, but otherwise he's completely invalidated by 1*Storm(as well as many, many otthers)

Vhailorx

raisinbman wrote:

Leugenesmiff wrote:

I don't think 3*Torch gets enough love. His red is cheap but a lot of damage, and his green can quickly kill the other team, especially in PVE.

Torch is a relic from another time. He's outclassed, not part of the Meta, and has 2/3 bad abilities.

Notes I would add to your writeups: 1*Hawkeye can combo w/ 2* bullseye, but otherwise he's completely invalidated by 1*Storm(as well as many, many otthers)

I think that's a bit too harsh on torch. He got an awful lot from the health boost. he's not top tier and he has been outclassed by some recent releases (like Cyclops) but his red is good, and his green is also very powerful. The black isn't great (would be useable if it didn't have the ap loss, but there are better blacks). But he is great high damage character to throw into a team.

jimstarooney

Leugenesmiff wrote:

I don't think 3*Torch gets enough love. His red is cheap but a lot of damage, and his green can quickly kill the other team, especially in PVE.

Torch is probably the biggest benefactor of the health buffs

Unknown

Vhailorx wrote:

raisinbman wrote:

Leugenesmiff wrote:

I don't think 3*Torch gets enough love. His red is cheap but a lot of damage, and his green can quickly kill the other team, especially in PVE.

Torch is a relic from another time. He's outclassed, not part of the Meta, and has 2/3 bad abilities.

Notes I would add to your writeups: 1*Hawkeye can combo w/ 2* bullseye, but otherwise he's completely invalidated by 1*Storm(as well as many, many otthers)

I think that's a bit too harsh on torch. He got an awful lot from the health boost. he's not top tier and he has been outclassed by some recent releases (like Cyclops) but his red is good, and his green is also very powerful. The black isn't great (would be useable if it didn't have the ap loss, but there are better blacks). But he is great high damage character to throw into a team.

Exactly, he's outclassed by Cyclops and 80% other 3*.

You can't call him a a high damage character, that's anyone in MPQ, but especially the top characters.

He is a relic and suffers from old (and bad) design principles. On top of that, he isn't gonna outshine any 4* anytime soon.

His red is good. His other two abilities aren't. He needs a rework. He won't be receiving ISO from me until he does.

Unknown

Torch is even more conditional than Blade. I don't think he needs a rework and I don't think he's top tier. Not everyone can be top tier, but Torch serves his niche alright.

Vhailorx

raisinbman wrote:

Vhailorx wrote:

raisinbman wrote:

Leugenesmiff wrote:

I don't think 3*Torch gets enough love. His red is cheap but a lot of damage, and his green can quickly kill the other team, especially in PVE.

Torch is a relic from another time. He's outclassed, not part of the Meta, and has 2/3 bad abilities.

Notes I would add to your writeups: 1*Hawkeye can combo w/ 2* bullseye, but otherwise he's completely invalidated by 1*Storm(as well as many, many otthers)

I think that's a bit too harsh on torch. He got an awful lot from the health boost. he's not top tier and he has been outclassed by some recent releases (like Cyclops) but his red is good, and his green is also very powerful. The black isn't great (would be useable if it didn't have the ap loss, but there are better blacks). But he is great high damage character to throw into a team.

Exactly, he's outclassed by Cyclops and 80% other 3*.

You can't call him a a high damage character, that's anyone in MPQ, but especially the top characters.

He is a relic and suffers from old (and bad) design principles. On top of that, he isn't gonna outshine any 4* anytime soon.

His red is good. His other two abilities aren't. He needs a rework. He won't be receiving ISO from me until he does.

Wrong raisin. His green is good. It's main drawback is that it's a competitive color. But a cheap to cast countdown tile that can tick out over 2k of damage a turn is quite good. It's his black that, as you said, doesn't mesh with the modern design principles and is a relic.

And as daibar says, not everyone can be top tier. Torch's black could use a rework, but it's very low priority,

Pwuz_

Vhailorx wrote:

Wrong raisin. His green is good. It's main drawback is that it's a competitive color. But a cheap to cast countdown tile that can tick out over 2k of damage a turn is quite good. It's his black that, as you said, doesn't mesh with the modern design principles and is a relic.

And as daibar says, not everyone can be top tier. Torch's black could use a rework, but it's very low priority,

While I agree Torch is a bit underrated, I don't think that you can count his green as cheap to cast for that 2k damage when you have to save up before you cast it for more than forgettable damage. The problem is the AI does not know to wait and will even recast it if it has enough AP again.

This could be fixed if 1 of a few things were implemented from a coding standpoint.

#1. Add an additional menu for the player to adjust when their AI cast an ability on defense. Perhaps with a toggle to recast certain abilities till all the AP has been used (like for Luke Cage's Black). This could potentially open the door to some interesting changes in the Metagame. A Pandora's Box if you will.

#2. Hard code the AI to use their abilities more like they are intended. This too does have the additional problem that fighting against an AI team (especially in the Gauntlet over-leveled) becomes even more difficult.

Vhailorx

Pwuz,

I happily agree that torch's green isn't well used in defense. But that's true of many powers. Lazy cap's while power set is **** on defense, but people still agree that his red and blue are good powers.

And I would get your hopes up for ai tweaks. Demiurge seems to use "cheap" tactics (like feeder goons) that are quick and easy to do, instead of tweaking the ai.

Unknown

Vhailorx wrote:

Wrong raisin. His green is good. It's main drawback is that it's a competitive color. But a cheap to cast countdown tile that can tick out over 2k of damage a turn is quite good. It's his black that, as you said, doesn't mesh with the modern design principles and is a relic.

And as daibar says, not everyone can be top tier. Torch's black could use a rework, but it's very low priority,

While I agree Torch is a bit underrated, I don't think that you can count his green as cheap to cast for that 2k damage when you have to save up before you cast it for more than forgettable damage. The problem is the AI does not know to wait and will even recast it if it has enough AP again.

This could be fixed if 1 of a few things were implemented from a coding standpoint.

#1. Add an additional menu for the player to adjust when their AI cast an ability on defense. Perhaps with a toggle to recast certain abilities till all the AP has been used (like for Luke Cage's Black). This could potentially open the door to some interesting changes in the Metagame. A Pandora's Box if you will.

#2. Hard code the AI to use their abilities more like they are intended. This too does have the additional problem that fighting against an AI team (especially in the Gauntlet over-leveled) becomes even more difficult.[/quote]

See what I mean?

But I'd also add that tying his damage to a countdown is sloppy. Just make it like Blade's purple or something.

I'm happy when torch green happens because it means I'm not getting hit by other things and it's draining my opponent's mana.

Vhailorx

raisin,

You are happy when the Ai uses flame jet improperly. But it's pretty awesome when you use it well. Or when the Ai uses it after a big green cascade. It's very annoying.