A Season in the Life of a 4* Transitioner

xequalsy

Hey all! I'm here to share my experiences of being a 4* transitioner during this (short) season. Partly, it's because I'm interested in hearing how my efforts stack up compared to other people, and partly because I want to look back on how much progression I've made during the season.

So first things first, stuff about me - my roster is in my signature, but here it is again:
http://mpq.gamependium.com/rosters/Xequalsy/

I'm currently on day 278, though I quit for many months during the IMHB release onwards until the XFDP release. I've spent money twice on the game, both times to buy a Logan's Loonies for the purposes of roster slots. I would have been keeping up, but after quitting, there were so many 4*s and 3*s I needed to roster! Currently at 62 slots, with one rotating 2* essential slot. I think you can look at my roster history at the start of the season from the link, but basically I had no usable 4*s, with my most at 8 or so covers (I think they were Star Lord and IW even!). I have all the 3*s, and am only missing Professor X and Kingpin, though I have a Purple Kingpin cover waiting for a slot.

I'm not about to tell a miracle story or anything - I still am fairly far away from usable 4*s. Looking at where I am now, it's a little disheartening that my most covered 4* is IW (4/2/4), though even that's stretching it a little, since ideally I'd want a 3/5/5 build. My next two most covered, XFW and SL are bottom tier 4*s.

SL especially, since although I have 5/2/2, fairly close to an build of 5/3/5 or 5/5/3, I can't see myself using SL except in PvE, and I have better 3*s to play there. It's just not worth levelling SL, and seeing scaling go up if I level him above 166. XFW, I'm not too far away from 3/5/5, since I'm currently sitting at 1/5/4 (I updated my roster before hitting 1k in the SH PvP), but his black alone no longer justifies putting him on a team, and 1 green is fairly abysmal. I'd rather play my 3*s, which is worrying since in the next few months when 5*s become more common, and 4*s start getting higher buffs, I'm not sure how well a 3* team is going to do.

So, in this season (technically I started tracking my progress in the last off season event), my 4* covers I've gained were:

From reaching 1k PvP:

:nickfury: (Divine Champions)
(Identity Theft)
(Ice Breaker)
(Real McCoy)
(Eight is Enough) - I didn't need this cover
(Trial by Combat)

Misc places:

:jeangrey: (2k in SHIELD Sim)
2X (Placing top100 in his release PvE and getting the alliance cover too)

From lucky token pulls:

:nickfury: (Heroic Token)
(Identity Theft Token)
(Thick as Thieves Token)
(Eight is Enough Token)
(ISO-8 Brotherhood Token)

I've also earned 6 Legendary Tokens during the course of this Season, and I opened them:

:nickfury: (Meet R&G PvE)
(Venom Heroic PvE)
(IW DDQ)
(Simulator PvE)
(Thick as Thieves PvE)
(Season 7.5k reward)

So all in all, in this period of time, ~20 days (maybe even a bit less) from 18/09-05/09, I've earned 19 4* covers. It's barely enough to theoretically keep up with the release rate of new 4*s (i.e. 13 covers), but even then it's a bit of a special case during this season where there was only 1 new 4* released. I'm actually theoretically behind the usual release rate of 2 new 4*s a season. Looking at the way I've gotten these covers:

1) Placing 1k in PvP:
During this season, I've missed the 1k mark twice so far. Both were at the start of the season, where I had poor boosted characters. I think it was Luke Cage and She Hulk who were buffed that week especially that I was missing. At that time my She Hulk was 3/3/3, so not really usable, so I had to run with a squishy HT/Hood team. For both though, it is clear why I missed the 1k, I think.

In the BP PvP, my BP was very poor, with only 2 covers in black and which only went up to 3 after the 800 reward. Therefore, although my bad play might have contributed also, I wiped a ton trying to climb up to 800 for my first shield, even if I swapped around my characters - every single team was wiping over and over, HT/Hood, Cap/Hood, Blade/Daken etc... I didn't end up making 1k since I ran out of health packs and the shields to do it. I ended around 900 with only a 24 hour shield left.

In the SW PvP, again, my SW was something like 2/0/1, so I used the loaner instead. On my attempt to hop from 850s, I reached 900 only to come out the second fight to see -150 or so. My mistake for attempting a 2 hop with my team I guess (I was using Cap/Hood), but it was extremely frustrating to see. I think I could have potentially gotten the 1k here, but I started hopping too late to recover from the hit.

I think 1k is definitely achievable for people with solid 3* rosters aiming to get hold of 4*s. I did most of mine with 3/8/3 shields, in a busy slice so the points are there. Some I even managed the 1k on just a 3 hour shield, but I had to shield out to the end to preserve my season score for my alliance. In weeks where you have strong boosted characters, I think 1.3k isn't too far out of reach either. I didn't really try for the legendary tokens in the week where I had Cyke/Marvel both boosted since I wanted to save HP. I was winning fights on offence lightning fast, and wasn't being hit that much on defence and definitely could see a maxed 3* roster hitting the 1300 mark occasionally with some luck.

2) Heroic Token Pulls:
In this season, I've opened 79 Heroic/Event tokens. Out of that, I pulled 5 4*s (I just pulled another one and got KP Black, but I'm not counting that for now). So 5/79. So I've been slightly luckier than the odds might predict, but it doesn't seem too far out of the probability to get 5. As for the amount of tokens I earned, I think that sounds about right for most active 3* players looking to transition. I earn all 3 tokens from PvP that are available, I hit max progression in most PvEs. In each sub, I usually end top 50 at best, so I earn 1 token per sub. Would appreciate data from others here to compare to.

3) Legendary Tokens:
I think Legendary Tokens HAVE been a godsend for my progression. Without them, I would have gotten around 12 4* covers, barely enough to cover 1 character. However, I'm not sure how realistic it is for me to keep spending the effort and time to grind PvEs for them.

PvE Legendary Tokens - I've found them fairly easy to get, I clear 3 times a day and hit the last progression comfortably. However, I'm now a little burnt out of PvE, and am hardly playing the ISO-8 Brotherhood. It is amazing however, to get the little extra ISO, HP, token and the guaranteed 4* since they extended the progression. Props to the devs there, it's really helped me! However, for people who play a little less, or like PvE a little less than I do, it doesn't help everybody.

DDQ - Out of the 4 so far:
XFW, my 172 1/4/3 eventually took Cyclops down, though I had to invest a lot of iso to level him from 70.
NF, I was extremely lucky and got several of his covers back to back, but in the end my 2/2/1 level capped NF just couldn't do it.
IW, my 3/1/4 level 120 IW did it on my second try, this was my favourite 4* DDQ fight
IMHB, I tried once with my 0/0/1 IMHB, but obviously failed

My major concern with 4* DDQ is, I feel that I should probably be the target audience for the 4* DDQ fights. My 3* roster is at the point where I can hit 1k PvPs, but they just rotate around so slowly that I'm covering my 4*s extremely slowly. Out of the 4 fights so far, I think it is fair enough that I lost two and won two. HOWEVER, looking ahead, I don't see many of my other 4*s at their current stage standing much of a chance. Maybe my 5/2/1 Thor, and then maybe my 5/2/2 Star Lord. From there, my next best shot is XFDP with 4/1/0 and there is a steep cliff after that. Sure, with my current rate, I'll have them a little more covered next month, and the month after that, but it's a little bit daunting that there will be no possible 4* DDQs for me in the near future. Most importantly, they have to be the right covers as well. A 0/5/5 IW would have struggled a ton against QS for example, and I don't think other people with less than 4 or 3 in Purple for SL for example will have a good time either when his turn comes around.

I think they have to be tweaked slightly, whether that is simply removing the enemy TU, or lowering their levels slightly to 250 say, it might make a huge difference in the accessibility.

So to conclude, thanks to everyone who read through all of that! As I said at the start, I welcome your experiences and data, as well as your thoughts on some of the stuff I mentioned.

QUICK EDIT:
Some stuff I forgot to talk about -

Taco Vaults - I've been opening as I go. To be honest, it's mostly a source of ISO for me, as well as maybe getting some of the 3* covers I still need. The vault is just too large, and the number of 4*s too low for there to be an appreciable difference. One obvious thing to do is to stockpile, but personally I like using them for extra health packs and getting the iso to help level some of my 3*s and 4*s.

Also, an optimistic look to the future, I'm looking forward to see what the anniversary brings me as a 4* transitioner!

Unknown

I've always wanted to ask this: but what constitutes to a person being a "transitioner" and when have you successfully "transitioned"?

I have 1 cover of silver surfer now. Does that make me a 5* transitioner?

xequalsy

Deadpooool wrote:

I've always wanted to ask this: but what constitutes to a person being a "transitioner" and when have you successfully "transitioned"?

I have 1 cover of silver surfer now. Does that make me a 5* transitioner?

Personally, I feel I am now a 4* transitioner because I've stopped needing most of the 3* rewards in events, and now strive for and am able to obtain some of the 4* rewards. It's a bit harder to define a similar thing for 5*s, since they are so rare, and so far there is only the 1 5* released. I guess the answer to your question from my point of view is whether you've now stopped needing most of the 1k PvP rewards, and whether you are now aiming for legendary tokens with the goal of hopefully getting surfers from them. I think other people define it a bit differently too.

I think to have completed the 4* transition, what you actually need is to either have completed 2 characters you'll use every PvP - e.g. the Jean Greys, the IMHBs, Iceman OR a fair amount of mid tier and low tier 4*s, that you use when they are boosted. I think it's at that stage and only then, because at that point it's nice to cover more 4*s, as you only increase the depth of your roster, but you no longer need 4* covers in order to move up to the next stage of play.

How would you define them?

Lemminkäinen

Deadpooool wrote:

I've always wanted to ask this: but what constitutes to a person being a "transitioner" and when have you successfully "transitioned"?

Once the previous level starts getting stale in that most of the covers you're getting are stuff that you've already maxed.

I have 1 cover of silver surfer now. Does that make me a 5* transitioner?

I think that that would be a very, very silly definition and would make "4* transitioners" after playing for a month or so when they randomly get their first four-star.

jimstarooney

Am i a transitioner?i have 553 fury 544 goddess star lord on 12 elektra on 11 and most others around 7

mohio

jimstarooney wrote:

Am i a transitioner?i have 553 fury 544 goddess star lord on 12 elektra on 11 and most others around 7

I've got max covered xfw, 4hor, fury all on 240, imhb 3/5/4 at 200, kingpin 4/3/5 at 200, max covered star lord and IW (under leveled of course). I could keep going. Anyway, I still feel like a transitioner because I don't have a 4* team I can use any time. Xfdp/thing, jean/carnage, jeanbuster, etc. Sadly xfw/4hor just doesn't cut it anymore (and neither do fury, star lord or IW).

Vhailorx

I am a little bit further along in my transition that OP, and I don't track my tokens/pulls quite as closely, but I think results were somewhat similar. I would guess that 19 4* covers in 17 days is more than a little above average across all players, but may be typical for vets.

As a brief description of my roster: I have all 40 3*s fully covered, and leveled to 120+ (only 2 need a respec). I have 2 fully covered 4*s with optimal builds (see and imhb) plus another 6 4*s at 9+ covers. I don't have any of the newer 4*s (from Thing on) usable yet. Aside from a few xfw covers purchased in early 2015, I haven't bought any covers.

I earned 1k in 6/7 events (i didn't need the last xfw cover, so I didn't bother). I hoarded all of my tokens from the last half of season 18 waiting for the 4* pull rate increase. That was about 30 event/heroic tokens from season 18, and another 30 from season 19. I also opened 2x 10packs (season 18 and 19). From all of those tokens, I remember pulling 3 usable 4*s (though it's possible I have forgotten another lucky pull).

I have also earned 9 legendary tokens so far, but have held in to all of them waiting for the second 5* release, and another two from pve events (gauntlet and ice man release).

All told that will be 20 or so 4*s (or better) during the season whenever I open my legendaries. Not really keeping up with the releases, but definitely making progress towards a functional 4* bench.

Unknown

Just wanted to say I found your post super helpful. I'm a solid 3 star player- all my 3s are around 140 and well covered and I can't quite make the jump to 4* land- I have a handful of single 4* covers but I can't quite hit 1k in PVP - I'm stalling around 800.

I think your advice is really good and I'll be giving it a shot next season. Thanks- it's really helpful to hear people who are at the next stage talk about how they got there.

Ding

Your problem is that you think you're a 4* transitioner, but in reality with do many of your 3* undercovered, you aren't imo. In the modern mpq, you need to have a more rounded roster and without a hb/kg, you're still a 3* transitioner if you can't successfully field a team of fully covered 3*.

Also, just curious why you would think that you're the target audience for the dpd4*?
I thought I was the target audience with most of my 4* having around 9 covers or so.

Ps. I don't really think I'm the target audience, just don't understand why people get it into their heads that they are.

BlackSheep101

Probably because of the way the 3* DDQ track works. Just having one cover of the featured 3* is enough to give you a chance. It's clearly not the case with the 4* node, but I can understand expecting it to be similar.

xequalsy

KK Bundy wrote:

Your problem is that you think you're a 4* transitioner, but in reality with do many of your 3* undercovered, you aren't imo. In the modern mpq, you need to have a more rounded roster and without a hb/kg, you're still a 3* transitioner if you can't successfully field a team of fully covered 3*.

Also, just curious why you would think that you're the target audience for the dpd4*?
I thought I was the target audience with most of my 4* having around 9 covers or so.

Ps. I don't really think I'm the target audience, just don't understand why people get it into their heads that they are.

When do you think people are transitioned from the 3* realm then? Just asking, since I can fairly successfully field 3* teams in every PvP to reach my goal of 1k. I admit I don't have some of the more high tier 3*s well covered - e.g. IF, Luke Cage, SW, CMags, but as I found out this season, it's not really too much of an issue except in the rare times of their feature PvPs. And I'm starting to think BP is a special exception, simply because of his strong aoe black that can often fire and drain away your health packs and is tough to climb against.

Yes, I agree that breadth is important, especially so you have choice between the weekly boosted characters to make things easier, but I think your definition is a bit rigid. Unless you define success by being able to reach 1.3k with some consistency, hitting the 1k mark is possible with even just one solid boosted character. In addition, if I'm not a 4* transitioner, what is the main difference in the covers a so called "4* transitioner" is earning that I'm not? Surely not a T1 prize (not counting joining at the end and hoping for a fresh bracket, since I can very well do the same)? I'm hitting the 1k mark almost all the time, but even people with fistbusters don't necessarily always hit the 1k. I've gotten the 7.5k legendary token in the season progression and the 4* cover available at 2k in the SHIELD Sim.

Regarding being the "target audience" for DDQ, it's a bit badly phrased I guess, sorry. I obviously don't expect to be able to beat the node every week, or to be able to beat it with my 1-5 covered 4*s. But, for people who do have that amount of covers, I'm saying that currently with the rate the 1k reward rotates (only slowing down as they add more 4*s), as well as being supplemented by earning legendary tokens from other sources, it's fairly out of sight to progress enough to be able to beat it. What do you think about my point that the way it is currently designed, if you are missing key covers you are SOL, even if you have say 10/13 covers? Would someone with 10/13 covers in a 4* not be the "target audience" (if one exists) to be able to beat that node?