Why the 4* "Transition" is impossible

The Viceroy Returns

Mercurywolf wrote:

As it was shown, certain 4 star covers are being given out for championing 3* characters. In the video, you can see a Falcap reward for Championing 3* Captain America at Lvl 265. Hypothetically, you could get at least some of the 4*s you need by championing the requisite 3*s. How many covers you'll get is up for speculation, but my theory is that you will get 1 of each color if you fully champion the correct 3*, but we'll have to wait and see.

One can only hope, like how there's supposedly a Hulkbuster in the IM40 rewards.
But you'll still need to have a max level IM40, one of the worst 3 star characters there is, so arguably a "waste" of ISO for many. For example, out of my roster of 3 stars, almost 20 are maxed, all cover maxed, and he is only Level 100 by choice. Frankly, he's terrible and was power-creeped out of usefulness well over a year & a half ago. Just compare his Red power to anyone else's (Cyclops & Human Torch in particular). Not even gonna start on the other two.
Also, you will need to get IM40 covers to get it, so the Hulklbuster cover you need will still be random acquisition. The random pull just got shifted to somewhere else, even if it is a slightly more common tier. But still random and at the whim of the reward structure.

Don't get me wrong, this could be a very cool feature, and I've got several 3 star candidates, I'm just wondering if now is the right time for something like this.

There are easily other features they could have added that would have helped the entire player base.
For example, I would have spent my dev time on a Hearthstone Dust type of feature. If not familiar with it, you convert any unwanted covers into a common currency (Dust) that can then be used to buy ANY specific cover you want, rarity tiers converting/costing at different values.
Most freemium games that are RNG-heavy have something like this, especially digital CCG's. How this game still doesn't, when it is screaming for it, boggles my mind.

XandorXerxes

Please also keep in mind that this thread is (in my mind, at least) directed towards people who are just starting the 4* transition. If you already have a fully-covered top-tier 4* then your transition will seem quick, because once you get a fully-covered top-tier 4* you can hit the 1000 PvP reward a lot easier (and the 1300 at all, really). What about someone who's just "completing" a sufficient 3* transition, and is looking to start the 4* transition? The situation for that person is grim, as that person doesn't have any fully covered 4*s (or anyone with just bottom-mid tier ones).

This problem is what caused vaulting in the first place.

The Viceroy Returns

XandorXerxes wrote:

Please also keep in mind that this thread is (in my mind, at least) directed towards people who are just starting the 4* transition. If you already have a fully-covered top-tier 4* then your transition will seem quick, because once you get a fully-covered top-tier 4* you can hit the 1000 PvP reward a lot easier (and the 1300 at all, really). What about someone who's just "completing" a sufficient 3* transition, and is looking to start the 4* transition? The situation for that person is grim, as that person doesn't have any fully covered 4*s (or anyone with just bottom-mid tier ones).

This problem is what caused vaulting in the first place.

Didn't mean to derail the thread.
I 100% agree with your premise. For players just starting the 4 star progression, it's pretty brutal with no clear & obvious way to do it.
A roster with only a smattering of maxed 3 stars can only hit 1K in PVP with massive HC spending for shields, and even then it's not a guarantee, as they will get destroyed when they hit 850 or so points. And when the PVP rewards are for covers of desirable 4 star characters? Let the feeding frenzy begin.
And forget 4 Star DDQ. The featured must have at least 7-9 covers, be decently leveled, and have a crapton of luck.

If it wasn't for my OML luck, I'd be with the toiling masses as well, as I have no top tier 4 star close to max covers, let alone max level.
My closest is a 2 5 1 Hulkbuster, just teasing me at the brink of usability. The 2 in Red just doesn't pack enough punch, even though he has 5 Black.
And leveling up the few high covered 4 stars I do have will wreck my PVE scaling, the one place I can guarantee myself at least 1 4 star from the Legendary Token in progression.

So my transition has almost exclusively been from Legendary Tokens in PVE, and with the CP addition they few I manage to get from the PVE node fights (and occasional alliance spend).
It's slow going to say the least.

SnowcaTT

XandorXerxes wrote:

Please also keep in mind that this thread is (in my mind, at least) directed towards people who are just starting the 4* transition. If you already have a fully-covered top-tier 4* then your transition will seem quick, because once you get a fully-covered top-tier 4* you can hit the 1000 PvP reward a lot easier (and the 1300 at all, really). What about someone who's just "completing" a sufficient 3* transition, and is looking to start the 4* transition? The situation for that person is grim, as that person doesn't have any fully covered 4*s (or anyone with just bottom-mid tier ones).

This problem is what caused vaulting in the first place.

Really it's more that there are so many 4*'s out there, with so few chances to get specific ones, that everyone is falling pretty far behind on the new ones.

I'm fully covered JeanBuster. 1K easy every time! And I have less than six covers of the newest seven 4*'s, since the time between cover rewards is growing faster and faster.

tdglory49

Disclaimers: I can only vouch for myself, and I have no idea how championing will affect my progress

Since around the addition of 4* DDQs and Legendaries, I started transitioning to 4* and started tracking each 4 or 5* I get. Since October 2nd, I've gotten 143 total 4/5* covers (including duplicates). With new characters, I'm missing 12 less covers overall than I was before. That includes 3 I bought with extra HP for DDQs, which did lead to more covers. In any case, I'm slightly ahead.

A couple notes:
- I've had roughly average luck with tokens (good in PVE, bad in PVP and Heroic). Weirdly, I've gotten almost 20% 5*s from my Legendaries.
- I'm really only transitioning cover-wise into 4* land. Apart from getting the 4*s to ~160 for their DDQ, I'm still dumping Iso primarily into my 3*s. (half maxed, half at 140)
- The reason is that I primarily use my 3*s for PVP. The good and/or boosted ones can almost always hit 1000 in one go, then shield to the end. I did need to switch to climbing about 6 hrs out because the 3hr span got overrun by zombies. Not as HP efficient, but much less stressful.
- PVP is my main method of getting 4*s. I normally only get the Legendary from PVE, no placement rewards. The one exception is new character releases where I get T100, as well as the alliance cover.
- A good alliance is fairly important, especially since mine is usually T100 in both PVP and PVE. I'm not getting that many covers, but it helps supplement the ISO/HP.

Given all that, I think the transition moves quick enough, at least for a semi-serious F2P player like me. The number of characters does mean that, barring luck, you won't have a max-covered 4* for a while, but rather have most go from 1-3 covers to 4-6 to 8+, so progress is less visible. It is there, though.