Creating Problems for Myself

OneLastGambit

I don't expect any advice from anyone (though I'm never adverse to it) this is just a heed of warning to other young players really. Being only day 118 I've not been playing for very long but have accumulated a fair amount of decent (though undercovered) 3 and 4* characters. What's my problem?

Roster space.

In the past I have advocated that you don't need to buy roster slots as a new player you just need to be tough with yourself about what you want to keep and what you need to keep and discard those you don't. My roster is full, I have sitting in my queue two 3* that I entend to roster (and discard) just for DDQ rotation this week, and also a shiny new surfer which my 25 CP (which I grinded like a madman for) awarded me, then after days and days of trying to beat Growth industry (I really wanted that Ant-Man being one of my fave avengers) and failing miserably I decided, while waiting for the PVE sub to finish , to have one last go with trusty Steve and beat it. Now my problem is I have no roster space in which I need to place 4 different characters - 2 of which I want to keep (though with my scaling how it is I'm really debating leaving Surfer on the cutting room floor).

My lesson is thus - if you are new and unwilling to pay for anything (like me) do not go for absolutely everything (like I do) because you will most definitely not get to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

*this also highlights just how easy it is to be put in a position where you will need to pay.

Unknown

My second (completely F2P account) is also facing this problem, albeit only having 16 slots and playing for 24 days.

I'm not sure if you've mentioned whether you play PVP, but in case you don't there's also hp to be earned there.

From what I've noticed so far, there will be a crunch-time after attaining most of the 2* when buying hp is more or less the only option you have if you want to be able to play competitively.

I can't say much for PVE nowadays since I hardly play it except to attain new toons, but over the course of 1 PVP, assuming you hit the 725 point progression and placed top 100, your personal rewards are that of 125hp per PVP. If your alliance placed top 250 in that pvp, you get another 50hp. So the total amount of hp per PVP (for a modest player) is that of 175hp. (This amount is accurate only if you have not purchased shields)

There are a total of 10 PVPs a season which means that you can earn 1,750hp from playing solely PVP. Assuming D3 releases 3 new toons every season (I think), the amount of roster slots you can buy is about 2 - 3 depending on the cost at your current state (I'm assuming 600 per slot, since you did not mention how much they cost currently.)

The amount of hp you can earn from PVE varies depending on the event, so you should go calculate yourself just how much is needed for more slots.

Long story short: If you want to play competitively as soon as possible, you need to play BOTH PVP and PVE consistently to be able to earn enough hp for buying roster slots.

OneLastGambit

Deadpooool wrote:

My second (completely F2P account) is also facing this problem, albeit only having 16 slots and playing for 24 days.

I'm not sure if you've mentioned whether you play PVP, but in case you don't there's also hp to be earned there.

From what I've noticed so far, there will be a crunch-time after attaining most of the 2* when buying hp is more or less the only option you have if you want to be able to play competitively.

I can't say much for PVE nowadays since I hardly play it except to attain new toons, but over the course of 1 PVP, assuming you hit the 725 point progression and placed top 100, your personal rewards are that of 125hp per PVP. If your alliance placed top 250 in that pvp, you get another 50hp. So the total amount of hp per PVP (for a modest player) is that of 175hp. (This amount is accurate only if you have not purchased shields)

There are a total of 10 PVPs a season which means that you can earn 1,750hp from playing solely PVP. Assuming D3 releases 3 new toons every season (I think), the amount of roster slots you can buy is about 2 - 3 depending on the cost at your current state (I'm assuming 600 per slot, since you did not mention how much they cost currently.)

The amount of hp you can earn from PVE varies depending on the event, so you should go calculate yourself just how much is needed for more slots.

Long story short: If you want to play competitively as soon as possible, you need to play BOTH PVP and PVE consistently to be able to earn enough hp for buying roster slots.

My roster slots are still 550hp so they're not outrageous yet, but playing PVP is not really viable yet as my 3* roster is still very undercovered (hulk, BP and LCap are my best with 9,9,7 covers), I have hit 800 points once recently but I think it was a combination of good slice, late start and spending that one day just on PVP (sacrificed a LT from PVE for it), on average I usually get about 500 points before my health packs run out. Since better rewards (token wise) are to be had from PVE at my level I tend to focus more on that though I will make a good run at a cover I need from PVP if I desperately need it (I really needed the Steve Rogers covers so that's the one which I finished 812 points for recently)

bobbyfish

When I was in 2* land I could barely manage to finish on 300 in a PVP, HP just wasn't there for shielding when slots were needed. I would recommend largely ignoring PVP (maybe grab the 300 pt token) and using PVE to get more HP/ISO to build your team up a bit. The tipping point does come where PVP becomes more useful, but maybe not quite yet.

Pessi

For me the google opinion rewards app is nice. It generated about 200 HP per month just for answering a quick survey. I tend to keep it saved up for when I really need to make a purchase. I rarely buy anything else on google play so its all free cash for MPQ. Add this to the progress rewards from PVE and PVP and it does trickle in nicely.

Unknown

Methinks it's about priority for you then; here're a few tips:

1. You can get rid of your 1* except for Juggs. seriously. the rest are obsolete (unless you wanna be a good teammate and keep MBW for giving out as TU)

2. Drop the number of 2* in your roster. Right now the only ones I'm keeping are Storm, MNMags, OBW and Ares in my vet account. They're equally obsolete.

3. You can buy a new slot whenever a new toon is released and roster the essential 2* required. Sell of the essential require 2* after the PVE is finished and replace the empty slot with your shiny new 3*/4*!

4. Consider joining a top 100 PVP alliance if you aren't already in one. The speed at which you can advance your roster increases exponentially when you're part of one.

Good luck man.

OneLastGambit

Deadpooool wrote:

Methinks it's about priority for you then; here're a few tips:

1. You can get rid of your 1* except for Juggs. seriously. the rest are obsolete (unless you wanna be a good teammate and keep MBW for giving out as TU)

2. Drop the number of 2* in your roster. Right now the only ones I'm keeping are Storm, MNMags, OBW and Ares in my vet account. They're equally obsolete.

3. You can buy a new slot whenever a new toon is released and roster the essential 2* required. Sell of the essential require 2* after the PVE is finished and replace the empty slot with your shiny new 3*/4*!

4. Consider joining a top 100 PVP alliance if you aren't already in one. The speed at which you can advance your roster increases exponentially when you're part of one.

Good luck man.

With the exception of point 4 the rest I have already done a while ago. I'll look into the alliance one though. Have applied for a couple of top alliances before but they rejected me My poor PVP scores often stop alliances recruiting me, apart from the casual one I'm part of now.

OneLastGambit

Pessi wrote:

For me the google opinion rewards app is nice. It generated about 200 HP per month just for answering a quick survey. I tend to keep it saved up for when I really need to make a purchase. I rarely buy anything else on google play so its all free cash for MPQ. Add this to the progress rewards from PVE and PVP and it does trickle in nicely.

What is this?^^^^

Pessi

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.paidtasks&hl=en_GB

Unknown

Since there isn't a subscription package (there should be an optional, Premium package offered once a month) to play this game, I spend $20 a month for roster slots as a way to support the game and play other mobile games as a FTP guy. If you are forced to play for free (child, jobless, too smart) them's the breaks.

Problem solved.

Best advice.....
Only spend HP on roster slots, always be looking to find a better alliance, focus on a solid core of 2 star characters before leveling under-covered 3 stars , level evenly to avoid scaling issues (pve) and it's ALWAYS better to buy roster slots than to toss a 3 or 4 star cover... trust me. ONLY SPEND HP ON ROSTER SLOTS (did I mention that one already?) AND BUY THEM EVERYTIME YOU HAVE THE HP......they will fill up, I promise.

madsalad

HP priority:
Roster slots. No matter what level player you are.
Shields - only when you have enough roster slots to feel comfortable blowing some on shields.
Cover sales - The only covers I've ever purchased with HP have been during anniversaries or big events when the sale price went down to 50 HP.

The only money I've ever put into this game has been from that Google Survey Rewards app mentioned earlier. Been playing about 2 years.

Grind grind grind for that HP. You have 14 days after obtaining a cover to roster it. You should have plenty of time to get enought to gain enough HP for slots.

Good luck.

GrumpySmurf1002

OneLastGambit wrote:

With the exception of point 4 the rest I have already done a while ago. I'll look into the alliance one though. Have applied for a couple of top alliances before but they rejected me My poor PVP scores often stop alliances recruiting me, apart from the casual one I'm part of now.

Yeah, with average PvP season score for a top 100 now approaching 11000, a 500 per PvP is gonna have a hard time without finding a very generous group of heavy hitters. It exists, but they're kinda rare.

Before the rest of my post: I 100% understand that finances don't always allow someone to spend sometimes. If you can't, you can't. That said,

I made my first purchase around the time you did, about 4 months into the game. I put in $5 for the slot, thinking that would be it (ha!). I put in $20 a couple times after that, but my mindset has always been the same. The game is providing so many hours of entertainment. Comparing my steam hours to my spend, I'm at $0.043 per hour. Hardly seems like a big deal.

Yeah, it's kinda cruddy you can be bottle necked into spending in this game, but if you're playing a game that much for that long, and you enjoy it, isn't it worth $20?

Unknown

Yeah, was in a similar spot to yourself for a while, and had to make some hard cuts.

If you got a team of fully covered 2*s, I've seen people recommend "Don't open tokens unless you got a roster spot ready." I'm kinda doing that right now with just Legendary tokens (I can't keep up with how many new 4* releases there are, man) and I get kinda scared every time I see a 4* cover in a Heroic. Usually means I have to boot out my rotating essential spot for a bit.

But early on, yeah, you're going to have to choose if you want to keep your 4 Patch covers or your new one Black Panther cover.

"Sit on tokens until you can afford a new roster slot" is kinda annoying to do, but the safest way to go about it.

You should be in decent place to rank high in PVE, at least, and only go into PVP at the end of events to hope for a good bracket, or go into them only hoping to get the tokens and MAYBE the HP targets above them.

Joining a top 100 PVP alliance ain't going to work for you... but you can try to join a higher PVE alliance, or a more casual but still organized one. You can get bits of more HP here and there from them.

OneLastGambit

The game decided my roster slot crisis wasn't bad enough and threw me another 4* character that I don't already have.

It sounds stupid to complain about getting too much but I guess this is how money is made. I'm only 100hp short of a roster slot anyway and I've already decided that 3* spidey is toast along with GSBW (1 cover) so hopefully that will solve it.

EDIT: Before anyone says "Stop opening legendary tokens," Carnage popped out of an event token

BlackSheep101

While finishing high in PVP may not be possible, when I was in your position my main goal was to hit 400 for the HP in each event. Then DDQ came around and I've gotten 250 HP from taco tokens probably 8 or 10 times.

OneLastGambit

BlackSheep101 wrote:

While finishing high in PVP may not be possible, when I was in your position my main goal was to hit 400 for the HP in each event. Then DDQ came around and I've gotten 250 HP from taco tokens probably 8 or 10 times.

For PVP (unless I really need the covers) I will push until my selected team are dead then stop. Usually its at the 400 mark or so, sometimes less. Sometimes (like with the recent Steve Rogers event) I push a lot further without shielding.

Pylgrim

I did not have this problem when I started and did my transition (I started around month after launch). Swapping away 1* and 2* characters as my 3*s started making them obsolete kept me ahead and eventually I was able to get enough HP from playing to get enough for a roster slot in time for a new character release. The difference is that back then there were 20 3*s and 2 4*s, so it was relatively easy to catch up. Now, a newcomer has a chance of randomly opening the 40 3*s and 20+ 4*s from the moment he or she joins. OP's advice is key: Don't actively pursue new rewards at that stage of the game. However, you may still open them randomly from tokens.

Opening a 4* is the most tragic thing for beginners. They will be characters that will languish at 1 cover for months and months, uselessly taking space in their rosters... however, getting 4* is so difficult and unreliable that it's almost criminal to trash them: at 63 available 4* covers, getting exactly the same cover that you trashed would theoretically take opening 1500 heroic tokens, 72 legendary tokens or waiting up to around 5 months for the rotation of that cover as the 1k progression reward in PVP. On the other hand, 3*s are so plentiful nowadays that trashing them is not so terrible, though it still will hurt your chances of performing well if an event where that character is featured or essential comes around before you can acquire more of those covers.

I believe is time for roster slots to have another reduction to the cost increase. It is well known that roster slots are the main source of income for the developers and that's fine. But the ever-increasing cover pool means that future "generations" will also have diminishing returns from their roster slot purchases (either bought with money or with in-game acquired currency).

udonomefoo

Deadpooool wrote:

...buy a new slot whenever a new toon is released...

I didn't know you were one of those people who calls them toons!!

THIS JUST IN: udonomefoo is looking for a new alliance!

Malcrof

udonomefoo wrote:

Deadpooool wrote:

...buy a new slot whenever a new toon is released...

I didn't know you were one of those people who calls them toons!!

THIS JUST IN: udonomefoo is looking for a new alliance!

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=17370



please keep thread on topic, whatever the topic actually is.... i am sure it isn't random people looking for an alliance

udonomefoo

Malcrof wrote:

udonomefoo wrote:

Deadpooool wrote:

...buy a new slot whenever a new toon is released...

I didn't know you were one of those people who calls them toons!!

THIS JUST IN: udonomefoo is looking for a new alliance!

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=17370



please keep thread on topic, whatever the topic actually is.... i am sure it isn't random people looking for an alliance

The joke was that we are in the same alliance and I'm leaving because he calls them toons. It's either a weak joke, a poorly constructed one or your sense of humor is malfunctioning.

Malcrof

udonomefoo wrote:

Malcrof wrote:

udonomefoo wrote:

Deadpooool wrote:

...buy a new slot whenever a new toon is released...

I didn't know you were one of those people who calls them toons!!

THIS JUST IN: udonomefoo is looking for a new alliance!

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=17370



please keep thread on topic, whatever the topic actually is.... i am sure it isn't random people looking for an alliance

The joke was that we are in the same alliance and I'm leaving because he calls them toons. It's either a weak joke, a poorly constructed one or your sense of humor is malfunctioning.

lets go with option d, all of the above.. still not sure what this thread is about... so my joke was missed, while i completely missed yours..

i could always go back and edit things to make us both seem even more insane