Thoughts on progression and the 5* meta --

FaustianDeal

Background:
Contest of Champions has the concept a a 'catalyst' - you need the appropriate pieces of multiple catalysts to 'rank up' a hero. This is depicted as being different than simply leveling a character, but I really only think of it as a special hurdle you need to clear to continue leveling a character. I'm wondering if something similar to the concept of catalysts could be helpful to preserve progression and prevent easy leap-frogging of certain tiers of play.

In a hypothetical model like this:
2* would have an activation event to level beyond 50
3* would have activation events at 60 and 100
4* would have activation events at 100 and 170
5* would have activation events at 255 and several other steps along the way.

These activation components or 'catalysts' would be winnable by an appropriately skilled roster. the catalysts required to activate the 2nd tier of 2* levels should be attainable with a 1* roster. Activating a 3* for leveling should require a component that can't be won with a 1* roster, and same on up the progression chain.

Concepts like these are already apparent in the game.
Deadpool daily is set up to require a character to have a cover in a character in order to compete for another cover when their turn comes in the rotation.
The 4* node in the daily rotation is also set up to require a reasonably developed copy of the featured 4* to be winnable.

The unlock components could be won in placement or progression prizes for PVE or PVP. They could also be awarded for winning the 3* and 4* nodes of DPD. If they were offered in PVP and PVE I would recommend segmenting the prizes so that novice brackets are only winning unlock components for 2-3* characters while the veteran brackets are winning unlock components for 3-5* characters. This also servers as a baby step down the path of trying to tailor the rewards so that the risk/return matches the level of competition you are facing. (I'm still floored that veteran/novice brackets for events still offer the exact same prizes with no variation in quantity or size of the prize pool.)

If we had tiered brackets for PVP this concept slots in nicely.

1* arena
team composition only allows:
- 1* heroes
- 'locked' (low level) 2* heroes (since they are level capped in a range where match damage is still in 1* range)

prizes include:
- 2* heroes for placement. (tiering similar to standard PVP but with 2*s)
- with 1* heroes for lower placement and progressions
- standard and heroic tokens are offered
- a 3* awarded for #1.
- prizes also include 2* unlock elements

2* arena
team composition only allows:
- 1* heroes
- unlocked 2* heroes
- locked 3* heroes

prizes include:
- 3* heroes for placement.
- standard and heroic tokens are offered. possibly a legendary for top progression.
- a 4* awarded for #1.
- prizes also include 3* unlock elements

3* arena
team composition only allows:
- 1* heroes
- unlocked 2* heroes
- unlocked 3* heroes
- locked 4* heroes
- locked 5* heroes (lower lock level)

prizes include:
- 4* heroes for placement. + Legendary token for #1
- heroic tokens are offered. + legendary for top progression.
- prizes also include 4* unlock elements

4* arena
team composition only allows:
- anything goes

prizes include:
- 4* heroes and legendary tokens (plural) for placement
- heroic tokens and legendary tokens in progression.
- prizes also include 5* unlock elements