How stupid is it to spend HP on character abilities?

20three

Just wondering. First off, I will never, ever spend actual money on this game. Maybe one day I will buy a mini pack of ISO as a small thanks for the developers, but right now, I just don't see it happening. Aside from that, here's my situation. I currently have 3 free and open roster spots that I use in order to "harvest" 3 star characters like Vision, Gamora, and Mystique who I have no interest in using in order to use them to get the extra 2000 iso and token during DDQ when it's there time to shine. I also currently have 825 HP points. Roster slots currently cost 650 for me. I really want another Wolverine Patch or Classic Magneto to run the Loki team I'm using (they currently have 10/11 covers). So is there actually some reasonableness to purchasing covers or should I just save for the roster slots I may need in the future?

Unknown

Because of DDQ, I am not sure I would spend money on 3* covers since you will get them at some point anyway. I would save them for your roster slots.

Square

It's not stupid, and it's healthy to spend money on a game you spend hours playing. If you play it for 100 hours, buying $20 of something seems the grown up thing to do: that cost 20 cents an hour of fun.

That said, never buy ISO. Only buy HP. You will get 13,200 ISO in game way before you get 2900 HP.

Also, at this point, you probably are better not to buy a cover for a 3*. They will come within a month or two, either through DDQ or through play. Roster slots are a much better investment. I would only buy a cover if it was a 4* that you're ready to level up. I've only bought two: a Daken one year ago, when 3*'s were much harder to get (remember the original vault?); and the final XF black, back when XF black ran the game. Since then, 3*s are much easier to get, and I see no reason to buy unless you're desperate to play NOW and have money to burn.

And again, if you like the game, you should buy HP. How much? Depends how much you like it and how much you play.

20three

Sure, but unfortunately the characters I need are not looking good for DDQ. I already have Wolverine maxed at yellow and that's his for this month. Magneto was today, so it will be a full cycle before I get one of his, and knowing my luck, it will probably be red which I have maxed out. I'm kind of looking at this from the short term point of view. The way I see it is if I get these characters now, I'll have a better chance at getting the 800 points in PvP that I'm currently single digits short from before getting obliterated. The only problem is, it's a lot of hp. I could get 12 heroic tokens for that (which would mostly be 2*s, but still) and also a lot of shields. It's a tough call.

Unknown

Go ask any Jean Grey that's currently more than 10 covers

HAHAHA THE UPVOTE COMMENT

Buret0

It depends on if you have the money.

There's plenty of great video games that I've played in the past that I got more than 200 hours out of for $50.
There's other games that I've liked and only gotten 20 hours for $70.

There was a time when I had a lot more time than money. These days, my time is worth a lot more. So I spend a bit of money on a couple of characters that will make a difference. I've got a 5/3/5 Jean Gray, 5/3/5 4Pool, a 5/3/5 Carnage, and a 5/3/5 PX that I bought some specific covers on. During their PvP events I bought a 40 pack for 4Pool and Jean Grey. With Carnage I won first place in his (redo) event and got four covers, bought 3, and earned or found the rest. I won/opened my first 6 PX covers before deciding to top up Master Plan (2 covers) and PC (3 covers). I earned the 3 Blind Spot covers.

I'm the baby whale. I don't want to buy the ISO to level them all, so I don't have anyone at 270. I certainly don't have every character at max level, because once I've collected everything, what's the point of earning new rewards?

wymtime

I have been FTP for close to 600 days and have every 3* max covered. I have spent HP on 3* and 4*. The biggest thing you have to do as a FTP player is make some sacrifices on who is on your roster, and you have to learn how to play PVE for HP and learn how to play PVP for covers and HP.
I personally play PVE a lot less than I used to but I would would make sure I was top 50 every sub, and hit all PVP progressions for HP.

If you are going to spend HP on a 3* character you want to make sure it is a game changing ability for you. For 3* IF purple, SW blue, KK purple or green, Hood Blue. When you get these powers to 5 they make those characters really strong.
Patch is good for true heal, but he is really not top tier. Cmags would be the better long term investment.

Also Gamora is really good when she is 166 and the top player on the board, Vision with IF is nasty, and if you have not had Masterstroke wreck your day then you have not seen the true power of mystique. I would probably say the worst 3* are Quicksilver and Doc Ock. And Dock Ock is awesome with Carnage, and Quicksilver shines with Profesor X and IF. What that means is all 3* can be good with the right team. The Puzzle Quest is to find out how to use them.

rawfsu

Spend your HP on roster slots, roster slots, and more roster slots. It's the most limited and important resource in the game. Your 3* covers will come in time. Remember, roster slots prices increase as you get deeper in the game. As the new characters continue to fly in, you'll probably regret spending that HP on a cover.

DFiPL

I won't speak for others, but to me, quantity of HP spent matters. I effectively "bought" a Kamala Khan yellow with a 75 HP shield yesterday, but got 50 HP of that back along with the cover. 25 HP for a cover? If I could straight up buy covers for that little, every character I have in need of a respec would probably have had one already.

1250 HP or 2500 HP? Not even once. My roster costs are up to 800 per. I don't see a single cover as being worth 1.5-3x the cost of a roster spot.

GMadMan040

Money spent on a game is a personal matter. If you enjoy the game and can afford to do so, spend the money! If your budget doesn't allow for it, or you have some kind of code that prevents you from ethically investing in the game, then don't.

In terms of the quality of the move, your mileage will vary entirely based on what you are looking for. I'm on day 162 myself. I was mired in 2* land and the transition was not happening at a speed that I wanted it to. So I busted out and bought the covers I needed for a number of upper and top tier characters. By covering 8 characters optimally, it opened the floodgates for getting more 3* and 4* covers and I will not need to make another investment. I spent more than I would for almost any game than I have ever played. But I play MPQ every single day. It was totally worth it to me, as it made me MUCH more competitive and really made the game a lot more fun. How long it stays that way is anybody's guess, but the $$$/Hour Played ratio is really completely reasonable for both my budget and my ethical stance on FTP purchases.

There is something to be said about being intelligent with these purchases. Covering up Quicksilver would be a waste of resources. But if you're gonna drop your money to cover Cage, IF, BP, Loki, Thor, etc. it is a total game changer. Just always be aware of the risks, things might get nerfed, new characters may show up that curb a lot of the power of a particular character, etc.

The general advice is that if you are limited on how much exactly you can spend that roster spots are clearly the way to go. This is great advice and roster slots should be everyone's priority. If you can spend more though, there is no right or wrong choice, it's just about what you want and what you think it will be worth to you.

Dragon_Nexus

20three wrote:

Maybe one day I will buy a mini pack of ISO as a small thanks for the developers, but right now, I just don't see it happening.

You're doing it wrong. ISO is freely available, HP is where it's at.
Buy a little HP now and then to expand your roster and such

Malcrof

barrok wrote:

Because of DDQ, I am not sure I would spend money on 3* covers since you will get them at some point anyway. I would save them for your roster slots.

Have to disagree a little here.. i had some hoarded HP and after getting BP Black #4 from DDQ, i did not feel like waiting another 120 days, so i bought his 5th black and immediately maxed him.

Some covers are worth buying.

I also have almost 80 roster slots. HP are easy enough to come by.

Punisher5784

Depends on the character and the cover. Buying Steve Roger's 5th Red cover is a good deal that helps you tremendously.

Der_Lex

Punisher5784 wrote:

Depends on the character and the cover. Buying Steve Roger's 5th Red cover is a good deal that helps you tremendously.

Yeah, this. The only covers I ever spent HP on were my 5th purple for Fist and the 5th red for HB and those have more than paid themselves back since.

As for the OP, I think you're better off being patient and saving your HP. Patch and cmags are both good, but neither are game changers that are likely to carry you much higher than they do now during non-boosted weeks.

PeterGibbons316

20three wrote:

Just wondering. First off, I will never, ever spend actual money on this game.

...

So is there actually some reasonableness to purchasing covers?

No. There might be a few exceptions, but really the HP should be spent on roster slots, and if you already have all the 3* characters on your roster then your HP is still better spent on shields to earn the covers that you really want rather than purchasing them.

slidecage

i would never buy covers they will come soon enough, I almost got 5 kahn yellows just to get healing faster now i have 8

Unknown

20three wrote:

Just wondering. First off, I will never, ever spend actual money on this game. Maybe one day I will buy a mini pack of ISO as a small thanks for the developers, but right now, I just don't see it happening. Aside from that, here's my situation. I currently have 3 free and open roster spots that I use in order to "harvest" 3 star characters like Vision, Gamora, and Mystique who I have no interest in using in order to use them to get the extra 2000 iso and token during DDQ when it's there time to shine. I also currently have 825 HP points. Roster slots currently cost 650 for me. I really want another Wolverine Patch or Classic Magneto to run the Loki team I'm using (they currently have 10/11 covers). So is there actually some reasonableness to purchasing covers or should I just save for the roster slots I may need in the future?

If you really want it, can't wait for it to come from DDQ or you think it will improve your overall experience playing...then go for it! Everyone's situation is different so the answers will vary.

I was SO tempted to buy the final i needed for classic magneto since not only is he my favorite character, but I've been missing it for MONTHS.
I decided to wait it out as I didn't invest enough iso in him to really benefit from the cover increase.

I think at this point in my roster development I'd only spend HP on a 4 star that I love and not need/want.

GrimSkald

We've had a lot of opinions here - this is how I do it. With DPDQ out there you will be able to max cover any 3*. Theoretically, if you can hit 1000 on a regular basis, you can max every 4*. The key factor here is time. How long will it take you? For 3*s DPDQ + PVP + Cover Packs will give you a certain flow of covers, but it will probably take at least 1-3 months depending on the level you play - a particular build may elude you for longer. PVP (and the occassional cover pack) will get you 4*s, but that's much slower - I'd estimate at least 6-12 months unless you can score 1st place on a regular basis. If you can, my hat's off to you - you play the game much more than I.

We'll start with the assumption you have the HP. The question you need to ask yourself is will spending those HP now give you a tangible benefit for the length of time it takes you to get those covers from the above sources? If the answer is yes, do it. If the answer is no, don't.

I'll give you an example from myself. I had lucked into a good HB build, but my IF was 5/2/5. Purple is by far IF's best power, and it makes him a great companion for HB (among others.) I spent the HP on two purple covers - a 4/4/5 build let me max him out. Yes, 5 purple is better than 4, I decided it was good enough and it would be easier to get a single purple cover down the line. Sure enough, I did get that last purple ... from either a token or DPDQ, I can't recall. I've gotten one purple cover since then, so it was definitely the right call - it has been two months and I've gotten a lot of use out of him since then. Sure, if IF purple was the easiest level of the following PVP I would have been kicking myself, but they hadn't run one all that long ago so I assumed that was unlikely.

TxMoose

i'll give another example that made sense for me. 5 months ago I was 4 months into the game, completely into ** land trying to start my *** transition and came to the realization that ares/obw was not going to get me to t100 in pvp. ddq had just started but I really wanted to add pvp t100 covers to the flow so I chose to add 3 covers each to thor and loki. that was the best team at the time that I could get to usable status and with the right use, get me t100 every time. I went from never finishing t100 to never missing t100 and looking back I'd do it again. I also later added a 5th red to cap for the EOTS that started during ultron and that cover single handedly allowed me to earn another imhb, along with making pve much easier. now I find myself in a similar place in *** land (8 maxed, 8 at 140) and the game where I am now, here, is much different than where I was when I purchased before. taking a **** from 2/2/2 to 3/3/3 helps but isn't a game changer unless you get key abilities to 5. I probably won't cover purchase again unless I'm closer to finishing a ****.

obviously if you don't have the disposable income to do it, don't. no game is worth getting into a bind over. but if you can afford it and it pushes you across a desired threshold (like it did for me going to pvp t100), I think it makes perfect sense. it greatly sped my *** transition probably by at least a couple of months and also allowed me to go pve casual much sooner and that was welcomed because I was probably close to burning out. pve, pvp, ddq, and LRs is a lot to keep up with and taking pve out of the equation when you want to really helps.

Unknown

20three wrote:

Just wondering. First off, I will never, ever spend actual money on this game. Maybe one day I will buy a mini pack of ISO as a small thanks for the developers, but right now, I just don't see it happening. Aside from that, here's my situation. I currently have 3 free and open roster spots that I use in order to "harvest" 3 star characters like Vision, Gamora, and Mystique who I have no interest in using in order to use them to get the extra 2000 iso and token during DDQ when it's there time to shine. I also currently have 825 HP points. Roster slots currently cost 650 for me. I really want another Wolverine Patch or Classic Magneto to run the Loki team I'm using (they currently have 10/11 covers). So is there actually some reasonableness to purchasing covers or should I just save for the roster slots I may need in the future?

I'm not opposed to F2P, but you should not say you will never, ever pay money on the game. It sounds kind of insulting to the game, that the game sucks enough for you to do that. If you really like the game, paying $1 is not much but shows your support.

I know almost everyone downloads movies for free, but if you really like a movie, spend a few dollars to stream it or w/e to show some support, you won't see sequels if you don't show support! Similarly, you won't see new content in a game w/o showing your support. Don't assume someone else will do it for you, if everyone thinks like this, no one will pay and you won't have any new content/movie/whatever.

If you are going to spend money, I would never buy ISO, they are easy to get, buy HP instead, but if you really planning on getting the most out of your money, wait for a sale, there should be one soon... at least on Black Friday / Cyber Monday around that time.

sc0ville

sagapo wrote:

20three wrote:

Just wondering. First off, I will never, ever spend actual money on this game. Maybe one day I will buy a mini pack of ISO as a small thanks for the developers, but right now, I just don't see it happening. Aside from that, here's my situation. I currently have 3 free and open roster spots that I use in order to "harvest" 3 star characters like Vision, Gamora, and Mystique who I have no interest in using in order to use them to get the extra 2000 iso and token during DDQ when it's there time to shine. I also currently have 825 HP points. Roster slots currently cost 650 for me. I really want another Wolverine Patch or Classic Magneto to run the Loki team I'm using (they currently have 10/11 covers). So is there actually some reasonableness to purchasing covers or should I just save for the roster slots I may need in the future?

I'm not opposed to F2P, but you should not say you will never, ever pay money on the game. It sounds kind of insulting to the game, that the game sucks enough for you to do that. If you really like the game, paying $1 is not much but shows your support.

I know almost everyone downloads movies for free, but if you really like a movie, spend a few dollars to stream it or w/e to show some support, you won't see sequels if you don't show support! Similarly, you won't see new content in a game w/o showing your support. Don't assume someone else will do it for you, if everyone thinks like this, no one will pay and you won't have any new content/movie/whatever.

If you are going to spend money, I would never buy ISO, they are easy to get, buy HP instead, but if you really planning on getting the most out of your money, wait for a sale, there should be one soon... at least on Black Friday / Cyber Monday around that time.

Agreed.

I've made a couple of purchases of HP throughout my 2 years of playing this game, but I've been playing it for two years. To me, anything that could provide that much entertainment with such a minimal investment well earned some loyalty and payment on my part.

That being said, I was VERY annoyed with the nerfs to X-Force and GT back in the day, (particularly since one of my payments was for a 5th black XF cover, which was game changing back in the day.) D3 has demonstrated to me that they've learned from that mistake, and they've been much more cautious in their game development and subsequent changes. They've earned a lot of forgiveness from me.

I'll echo what a lot of people here have said. Purchase HP, not ISO. Use HP on roster slots first, make sure you're covered in that regard before all others.

After that, there are still some pretty crucial 5th covers, that I could easily say are worth purchasing. PX Blue #5, HB Black #5 being two primary ones for PVE and PVP respectively.

I wouldn't use HP on 3* covers though, not unless you have more money than time (Which is the case for a lot of people, and I can completely understand that). For 3*s I would say, SW blue #5, and Iron Fist purples (all of them) are worth spending HP on.