So you want to PVP? Here are some tips!

Malcrof

It seems the forum is obsessed right now with PVP (which is odd, usually people are screaming about Story Mode) .. hitting 1k without a maxed roster is not as hard as it seems.

Here are some tips i have learned on my journey to the magical land of 1k++++

1. Choose you slice wisely. Pick a slice you know will have loads of players. More players = more points available.
2. Take some time and learn who the best of the best are. Check out leader-boards, both player and alliance, and write them down, or commit to memory, this will come in handy later.
3. Know your limits. Know which teams you are capable of beating, and with whom you can beat them with. Not losing is important, much more important then any defensive win can be.
4. Ups and downs. Climb early if you can, then when you get somewhere comfortable, stop. Do not shield. You got iso from the matches, some progression rewards.. now it is time to give some points back to the shard.
5. The big climb. Once you have taken some hits, and settled into a good spot where you are hovering (being left alone), it is time to climb. Go in with full health packs if possibe.. win as much as you can. When you hit your peak, toss up a shield, of if 800 or so was your goal, you are probably there.. do whatever you want.
6. Queuing up for a shield hop. This is where #2 comes in handy. Skip around and look for those names or alliances you wrote down in #2.. do this while shielded.. even if it shows them only worth 17 pts.. save it on a sub, move to the next sub and look again.. it is a good idea to line these up well in advance of when you want to hop.
A. The reason for doing this is simple.. if you can queue them up, they are not shielded.. So queue them up and wait, by the time it's your turn to hop, they will be shielded and done, and that 17pt one you queued, when you win, you will get 65+, and since they are now shielded, no worry about a retaliation.
7. Don't get greedy. I learned this the hard way. If you get 2 good 60+ point wins on a hop.. shield, unless that 3rd fight is a gimme.. I have tried to go too far on a hop and paid the price, didn't get my shield back up before i was beat down, i left myself exposed for too long. This can upset any climb or hop.
8. Scream Yippee when you get your reward!.


Feel free to add more tips if you have them. This is what works for me! No off-line communication needed. I had help in learning this, so figured it was time to pass it on.

TxMoose

I can usually do it pushing (big push from hovering level) at ~9-10 10 hrs left in the event. 3 hr shield. at about 7 hrs left, hop - 2 matches if you have a quick team. if you're there, you're done. if not, use a 3 hr shield at ~1hr out and do a quick hop (1 match). if still more is needed do a match with 4-5 minutes left at event end. when I can do that, I make it probably 2/3 to 3/4 of the time. if I really really want the cover i'll push earlier and use an extra 8 hr. gotta plan out the shield timing or you get stuck paying more hp than necessary.

udonomefoo

#1 seems to be a total crapshoot for me. I thought S5 would be the best, but hasn't been so far.

SnowcaTT

Spend some money, buy one of the best one (or two) 4*'s, then you can T25 every PVP from that point on.

Or spend the 500+ days on the game like I have. Either way.

nwman

If you q someone worth 65 or more points even without outside communication it's best to let them have 5 - 10 minutes to finish their jump before you hit them.

That way if they are in an alliance that hits back you generally avoid that problem.

Always q these up while shielded. I check a few times if I don't find good targets check back later. The big guns all shield hop often, so q them but don't hit right away and we all win.

udonomefoo

Do the math beforehand on shield timers to figure out when to hop. Don't be like me and have to use a 24 hr shield to cover the 2 hours until event end.

Malcrof

Finding your hovering spot seems to be the hardest part. that place where you aren't worth enough to get hit much, but have a good shot at your climb. Much of this depends on how much time is left in the event.

ragnarady

BTW, can you, guys, give me some advice? I want to move from PvE to PvP, but it demands to stop gimping roster level and I do not know which characters I should level first. So, I have near 600k of ISO and here is my list of (and X-Wolvie):

(127/229) ****Wolverine [5/4/2]
(127/166) Black Panther [5/4/4]
(127/166) Black Widow [5/3/5]
(127/166) Captain Marvel [3/5/5]
(127/166) Daken [5/5/3]
(127/166) Daredevil [4/4/5]
(127/166) Deadpool [4/4/5]
(127/166) Human Torch [4/4/5]
(127/166) Iron Fist [3/5/5]
(127/166) Iron Man [5/5/3]
(127/166) Magneto [4/4/5]
(127/166) Mystique [3/5/5]
(127/166) Psylocke [5/3/5]
(127/166) Ragnarok [5/5/3]
(127/166) Rocket&Groot [5/3/5]
(127/166) Sam Wilson [5/5/3]
(127/166) She-Hulk [3/5/5]
(127/166) Spider-Man [3/5/5]
(127/166) Steve Rogers [3/5/5]
(127/166) Storm [5/3/5]
(127/166) The Hood [5/5/3]
(127/166) The Hulk [5/3/5]
(127/166) Thor [3/5/5]
(127/166) Wolverine [5/3/5]
(125/153) Colossus [2/5/5]
(125/153) Doctor Doom [5/5/2]
(125/153) Sentry [5/5/2]
(115/140) The Punisher [5/4/2]
(110/166) Loki [4/5/4]
(110/153) Quicksilver [4/4/4]
(105/140) Scarlet Witch [4/5/2]
(105/127) Cyclops [3/4/3]
(105/117) Gamora [3/5/1]
(94/117) Blade [5/3/1]
(94/114) Beast [3/4/2]
(94/114) Doctor Octopus [3/3/3]
(94/114) Luke Cage [3/2/4]
(94/104) Squirrel Girl [1/5/2]
(89/89) Kamala Khan [3/2/2]
(89/89) Vision [3/2/2]
(68/68) Bullseye [3/1/1]

Malcrof

ragnarady wrote:

BTW, can you, guys, give me some advice? I want to move from PvE to PvP, but it demands to stop gimping roster level and I do not know which characters I should level first. So, I have near 600k of ISO and here is my list of (and X-Wolvie):

(127/229) ****Wolverine [5/4/2]
(127/166) Black Panther [5/4/4]
(127/166) Black Widow [5/3/5]
(127/166) Captain Marvel [3/5/5]
(127/166) Daken [5/5/3]
(127/166) Daredevil [4/4/5]
(127/166) Deadpool [4/4/5]
(127/166) Human Torch [4/4/5]
(127/166) Iron Fist [3/5/5]
(127/166) Iron Man [5/5/3]
(127/166) Magneto [4/4/5]
(127/166) Mystique [3/5/5]
(127/166) Psylocke [5/3/5]
(127/166) Ragnarok [5/5/3]
(127/166) Rocket&Groot [5/3/5]
(127/166) Sam Wilson [5/5/3]
(127/166) She-Hulk [3/5/5]
(127/166) Spider-Man [3/5/5]
(127/166) Steve Rogers [3/5/5]
(127/166) Storm [5/3/5]
(127/166) The Hood [5/5/3]
(127/166) The Hulk [5/3/5]
(127/166) Thor [3/5/5]
(127/166) Wolverine [5/3/5]
(125/153) Colossus [2/5/5]
(125/153) Doctor Doom [5/5/2]
(125/153) Sentry [5/5/2]
(115/140) The Punisher [5/4/2]
(110/166) Loki [4/5/4]
(110/153) Quicksilver [4/4/4]
(105/140) Scarlet Witch [4/5/2]
(105/127) Cyclops [3/4/3]
(105/117) Gamora [3/5/1]
(94/117) Blade [5/3/1]
(94/114) Beast [3/4/2]
(94/114) Doctor Octopus [3/3/3]
(94/114) Luke Cage [3/2/4]
(94/104) Squirrel Girl [1/5/2]
(89/89) Kamala Khan [3/2/2]
(89/89) Vision [3/2/2]
(68/68) Bullseye [3/1/1]

Look at the upcoming thread.. see which PVP's are coming up, and which boosted chars will be with them.. use that as a guide as you go. By leveling the weekly boosted or featured, you have a much much higher chance at winning covers you need, and better placement.

dr tinykittylove

Malcrof wrote:

ragnarady wrote:

BTW, can you, guys, give me some advice? I want to move from PvE to PvP, but it demands to stop gimping roster level and I do not know which characters I should level first. So, I have near 600k of ISO and here is my list of (and X-Wolvie):

Look at the upcoming thread.. see which PVP's are coming up, and which boosted chars will be with them.. use that as a guide as you go. By leveling the weekly boosted or featured, you have a much much higher chance at winning covers you need, and better placement.

I'll add as a note you really just need two boosted that work well with the featured, or just each other if your featured is weak. That keeps you from having to blow all your iso in one week and having no iso to level the next set of boosted characters.

Malcrof

dr tinykittylove wrote:

Malcrof wrote:

ragnarady wrote:

BTW, can you, guys, give me some advice? I want to move from PvE to PvP, but it demands to stop gimping roster level and I do not know which characters I should level first. So, I have near 600k of ISO and here is my list of (and X-Wolvie):

Look at the upcoming thread.. see which PVP's are coming up, and which boosted chars will be with them.. use that as a guide as you go. By leveling the weekly boosted or featured, you have a much much higher chance at winning covers you need, and better placement.

I'll add as a note you really just need two boosted that work well with the featured, or just each other if your featured is weak. That keeps you from having to blow all your iso in one week and having no iso to level the next set of boosted characters.

Also, for hitting the 1k mark, a lvl 140 boosted char is usually enough, work on bringing the core to 140, so you don't lose scaling in Story Mode when iso farming.

Chipster22

1. Choose you slice wisely. Pick a slice you know will have loads of players. More players = more points available.

Is this always slices 1 and 4?

Unknown

Malcrof wrote:

Finding your hovering spot seems to be the hardest part. that place where you aren't worth enough to get hit much, but have a good shot at your climb. Much of this depends on how much time is left in the event.

That depends on who is in your bracket really. Some events, I get slashed repeatedly by heavy 4* rosters for less than 20 points. Should I not be using my B4CON_M4GIC account anymore?

Square

Malcrof wrote:

6. Queuing up for a shield hop. This is where #2 comes in handy. Skip around and look for those names or alliances you wrote down in #2.. do this while shielded.. even if it shows them only worth 17 pts.. save it on a sub, move to the next sub and look again.. it is a good idea to line these up well in advance of when you want to hop.
A. The reason for doing this is simple.. if you can queue them up, they are not shielded.. So queue them up and wait, by the time it's your turn to hop, they will be shielded and done, and that 17pt one you queued, when you win, you will get 65+, and since they are now shielded, no worry about a retaliation.

This is a big key. Queue big fish and wait. Don't hit them immediately (more than once, at least; accidents happen), or you'll get a terrible reputation. Big alliances have three to five (or more) groups, meaning: hit the ones on top, and you'll be marked by that group as people to punch down. Everyone wants to climb, but it's far better to queue and wait, to not destroy higher people's jumps. Retaliation isn't your worry when hitting people for large points. Their retal nets them next to nothing. The reputation as a sniping jerk is the problem, and a long term one as you continue to play the game. People remember when they are hit multiple times while climbing, and it's not a good reputation to have. One sniping group has established themselves as delusional on the forum by fronting that their sniping fights "oppression." How joining late and trying to yank down players who play harder and provide points to all in their shard is a form of fighting oppression is beyond me. Needless to say, that group have the rep they've earned.

Respect the people in your shard. Play as peacefully as possible, especially over 800. Under 800, it's pretty much fair game, but over 800, you ought to have some decorum and cooperation to get that 1300 progression.

dr tinykittylove

aesthetocyst wrote:

Sure, here's my take. Bypass those that aren't fully covered until they are covered. Get a core of the top characters to 150+, max a couple tanks (like CMags and LThor), then start leveling larger groups while using that core to place better in PvP and farm sim, LRs, and PvE.

Mostly I agree, except the part about maxing. Getting a character to 166 burns iso very fast, and that's a very valuable resource for the op who has everyone at 127 or lower. 150+ on the best team of the week is enough - if you have them covered, you won't be using your 166s much.

I may be biased - I have no 166s and simply levelled the buffed characters week by week, and have not had any trouble hitting 1k normally, or 1.3k when there's something shiny there and I have time to kill.

For my climbing/hopping purposes, I've used characters such as Colossus, Mystique, Psylocke, GSBW, Squirrel Girl and Quicksilver without running into real difficulty.

throvolos

Chipster22 wrote:

1. Choose you slice wisely. Pick a slice you know will have loads of players. More players = more points available.

Is this always slices 1 and 4?

How do you do this? I've been playing PvP for months and have never been given an option to choose a slice.

What do you mean by slice, and how do you choose it?

Unknown

Stupid question. Is PVP broken up into newb/vet brackets? I find that the over all totals on my brackets are way lower than the 1000 progression market, and that's even being in first slice. I got to 400 in Teenage Riot and that put me top 10.

I then of course got obliterated overnight, because I didn't shield, and Im only going for the 400 prog 25hp rewards currently.

Pongie

Square wrote:

Malcrof wrote:

6. Queuing up for a shield hop. This is where #2 comes in handy. Skip around and look for those names or alliances you wrote down in #2.. do this while shielded.. even if it shows them only worth 17 pts.. save it on a sub, move to the next sub and look again.. it is a good idea to line these up well in advance of when you want to hop.
A. The reason for doing this is simple.. if you can queue them up, they are not shielded.. So queue them up and wait, by the time it's your turn to hop, they will be shielded and done, and that 17pt one you queued, when you win, you will get 65+, and since they are now shielded, no worry about a retaliation.

This is a big key. Queue big fish and wait. Don't hit them immediately (more than once, at least; accidents happen), or you'll get a terrible reputation. Big alliances have three to five (or more) groups, meaning: hit the ones on top, and you'll be marked by that group as people to punch down. Everyone wants to climb, but it's far better to queue and wait, to not destroy higher people's jumps. Retaliation isn't your worry when hitting people for large points. Their retal nets them next to nothing. The reputation as a sniping jerk is the problem, and a long term one as you continue to play the game. People remember when they are hit multiple times while climbing, and it's not a good reputation to have. One sniping group has established themselves as delusional on the forum by fronting that their sniping fights "oppression." How joining late and trying to yank down players who play harder and provide points to all in their shard is a form of fighting oppression is beyond me. Needless to say, that group have the rep they've earned.

Respect the people in your shard. Play as peacefully as possible, especially over 800. Under 800, it's pretty much fair game, but over 800, you ought to have some decorum and cooperation to get that 1300 progression.

I'm most likely guilty of hitting those high point nodes immediately... long time PVE player that's just starting to dab into a bit of PVP. Never knew about these top alliances having a black list. I normally just climb as quick as I can (normally getting to 600-800) before I run out of health packs and let it sit (I cannot afford HP on shields with the constant 4* releases. Every HP is saved for roster spots). I normally get attacked back down to 400-500 range. This is enough for me to normally make my next push to 800-1000. Most of the time I don't even bother with 1000 unless I really want the cover (missing that colour). I'm still focused on using my ISO to level my 3* to 166 (at at rate of 1 per week) so 4* land is still a fiar bit away. I guess when I'm ready to transition to 4* and tackle PVP more seriously, it will probably be a different sort of rules by then.

ragnarady

Well, that's a lot of useful info! Thanks for sharing, everyone!

Square

Pongie wrote:

I'm most likely guilty of hitting those high point nodes immediately... long time PVE player that's just starting to dab into a bit of PVP. Never knew about these top alliances having a black list. I normally just climb as quick as I can (normally getting to 600-800) before I run out of health packs and let it sit (I cannot afford HP on shields with the constant 4* releases. Every HP is saved for roster spots). I normally get attacked back down to 400-500 range. This is enough for me to normally make my next push to 800-1000. Most of the time I don't even bother with 1000 unless I really want the cover (missing that colour). I'm still focused on using my ISO to level my 3* to 166 (at at rate of 1 per week) so 4* land is still a fiar bit away. I guess when I'm ready to transition to 4* and tackle PVP more seriously, it will probably be a different sort of rules by then.

If it happens every once in a while, it's not something people will notice, but there a lot of players who take pride in sniping at big players. As in, they wait till they see some un# in their top ten, then they jump to hit them. They seem to ignore that high scorers send points down, and furthermore, there isn't much advantage to deliberate sniping except to look like a ****. You're probably far from that zone now. The bad guys usually have a solid 4* roster.

As many will say, join an alliance, and slowly, you'll get a feel for the way to do it. Personally, I never hit a single person over 800 who isn't already shielded, at least not on purpose.

PVP is way better for collecting covers. PVE is winnable for low level players because of scaling, but once you are competitive in PVP, you will be getting about 10 3* covers a week (one through progression, one through top 100, one through alliance top 100). Roughly one year ago, I was dipping my toe in the PVP waters, and it was nerve-wracking, and strange to spend my HP on shields. A year later, I have only one 3* cover I want (Scarlet Witch blue), and a solid roster of 4*'s.

Get into PVP, it'll double the speed of your climb.

TxMoose

regarding pvp etiquette and shields: when i make my big push (usually from 600s to 900s - at about 9-10 hours from event end), frankly, i don't have time to shield check. i do try and pay attn. to alliances and if i come across one of the big boys i'll save for a hop later (as long as i can reasonably beat them), especially if they aren't worth enough points then. but, when hopping, those are usually all on nodes that i saved from earlier and by the time i hop, its been at least an hour or more since i lined them up - if they're still unshielded, then I'm not the only one hitting them and its not a snipe. if you can find an x, villain, crew, njustice, best (usually - that didn't work this time), or even lumberjack or immortal rage (that worked this time) - most of them will usually be high points at the end.