Iso, Champion Characters, and Tokens

GrimSkald

This may be better off in Tips and Guides, but I've seen enough people talk about it here that I wanted to post this here. We can discuss it.

Here's the underlying point I want to make - before you do anything long term in this game (promote a character, level a character, spend Hero Points, open a token,) you should have a good conversation with yourself as to whether you should do this now, or possibly wait until later. This is particularly relevant when opening tokens, as the covers you get from the tokens expire, but the tokens don't. Remember this game is much more of a marathon than a sprint, and you may be able to get more value from a cover later down the line. First off, I'm going to go over the tangible beneifts of promoting a character to a Champion

- You will be able to respec a character at any time (definitely of great value if you weren't able to get the ideal covers for the character, otherwise still quite useful.)
- You will be able to increase the character's level at a rate of one level per cover
- You will get a token for the first level (Legendary for 3* or 4*, Heroic for 2*,) after that you will essentially get Iso-8 that recoups the Iso you would get for selling the covers, plus a few other benefits such as HP, Command Points, and covers.

The cost of promoting a character is whatever Iso it takes to max level it, a fairly modest one time cost in Iso, and of course the loss of Iso from that first cover. You recoup the iso costs for not selling the covers after that (eventually you recoup the up-front cost, but that's really long term,) so there is no continous cost to promoting a character.

That up front cost is not insignificant, particularly if you don't already have that character level-maxxed. You should really consider what the promotion gets you - a single token, a incremental increase in the character's power, and the ability to respec. If that is worth the Iso you'll be spending, you should do that. If not, balance it against the fact that the token will expire in two weeks. Be sure to keep in mind that you will get another token for that character sooner or later, and one level makes a really small difference in the character's power.

I'm going to use myself as an example. Here's my roster:

http://mpq.gamependium.com/rosters/GrimSkald/

You can see I have a number of 3*s at 166 - I haven't promoted them yet. At this point, I'm sitting on covers for pretty much all of them - there hasn't been any tangible benefit for promoting them. I will promote them all, sooner or later, but I don't see any big deal to letting one cover expire, particularly for a character I don't use that often. When the Champion system was introduced I spent Iso on levels for exactly 1 3* - Human Torch as I had a lot of them. I regret that a little, to be honest - I'd have much rather have spent the 40K-odd Iso on Red Hulk or Cyclops. It turned out well, as he helped me get through the Heroic: Juggernaut event, but I don't know if the eight additional levels made any real difference - that is probably the point where it starts having some effect.

Another thing - I am not opening Legendary Tokens at this time. The benefit to opening Legendary Tokens is to get more covers for my 4 max level 4*s, more covers for my lower level 4*s, and 5* covers. The drawback to opening them now is if I draw either Red Hulk or Cyclops I will probably not be able to level them to 270 before that cover expires. Getting additional covers for my Champions and/or lower level 4*s is outweighed by the future benefit of having more levels for more top-tier 4*s. 5* covers are similarl of limited value right now - I don't have the Iso for them either.

My plans for the future are to get Cyclops and Red Hulk to 240 before opening Legendary Tokens (Cyclops will become cover maxxed by the end of tomorrow.) After that, I'll probably open them until I get one of the two, then level that one to 270. Then I'll open more and see what that gets me. If I don't end up with either, I'll probably start leveling more 4*s to join them - Kingpin and 4Pool are at the top of my list. Eventually I'll get around to leveling my remaining 3*s - Psylocke first since she's so close, then down to my 153 tier, then down to my 139 tier, etc.

Hopefully this helps people. Champions really made me excited about opening tokens again, I really like the system, but you should resist the urge to promote everyone.

mpqr7

I open LTs immediately because I won't progress in the game unless I get more 5*s. Sure, eventually my jeanbuster will be at 270, but it's not nearly as powerful as hot 5*s. So I may have some 4*s go to waste because I can't champion them in time, but I'm okay with that. They'll all get there eventually.

Magic

mpqr7 wrote:

I open LTs immediately because I won't progress in the game unless I get more 5*s. Sure, eventually my jeanbuster will be at 270, but it's not nearly as powerful as hot 5*s. So I may have some 4*s go to waste because I can't champion them in time, but I'm okay with that. They'll all get there eventually.

The wat the game looks now - i share exactly this sentiment. I open all tokens. Doubles go to champions or for iso to bring others closer to championing. And meanwhile i hope for 2 or 3 OML to start playing a different game

TxMoose

I'm completely ok with being a hoarder. I've hoarded multiple times over my time playing and am doing so again now. the only problem with that is the "classic legendary" and the "latest legendary" will soon rotate OML out of the what will eventually be a nice big pile of LTs by the time I get ready to pull them again. the one pull that can drastically change my game right now is OML yellow (currently at 2/-/2) and he's only in my LT pile for a limited time. and I won't be ready to pull LTs by the time the next 5* hits.

so.....

do I blow my LT pile before the next one hits in hopes of that yellow. or do I just plod along and in 6 months or so start pulling LTs with whoever is there, meaning the only chance at OML yellow or adding another SS blue (all he really NEEDS to be ready to level) is the 20 cp tokens, which take forever to save up for.

my current plan is to complete some 3*s that I'm interested in completing - there's quite a few. since the champ system I've finished torch, hood, loki, and gamora (I'm a weird one that likes playing her). I have 3 covers waiting for deadpool and a gsbw event is coming up. i'll likely do those 2 as well and my others on my wish list are: blade (PS rewards), marvel, doom, grocket, patch, bulleye, shulk, and storm. if I do all of those it will be a couple of months of grinding iso. in the meantime I went apekitty with hp before the hpnerfhammer hit (just 1 purchase, but ended up wasting some with subsequent LT pulls until I started hoarding) and I have the following 4*s complete: iceman at 131, Cyclops at 70 (ouch), thing at 145, 4thor at 180, kp at 180. those are ones I'd like to get close enough (220-240 range) before I start pulling tokens. also, the following are nearly complete and completely usable as-is (cover-wise): rulk at 168, xf at 172, xpool at 145, carnage at 145. those in the 200s would be great too. that doesn't mention other finished 4*s like fury and antman, but those can wait just fine - the ones I mentioned are all good (or have their uses). my first goal for the 4*s is ice, cyke, and rulk to a usable state, but was going to wait until I finished some 3*s first. however, with the next 5* screwing up OML in my LT pile, I'm at a loss as to what would be best.

curse you OML yellow and classic LTs that can only be gotten through CP!

sry for the long post, but my situation kinda highlights what snow posted in the OP. and the issue with LTs when the next 5* hits.

antreas1911

Tx we are in exactly the same boat. My OML is 2-0-1
OML haunts my thoughts day and night.
To redeem or not to redeem the LT's?

And the real and only question that i would like to be answered now is this.
When the next 5* enters the odds and pushes OML in classic LTs. I'd like an exact date.

I really really hope we still have a month or more ahead to farm as much iso as we can.

madok

antreas1911 wrote:

T
And the real and only question that i would like to be answered now is this.
When the next 5* enters the odds and pushes OML in classic LTs. I'd like an exact date.

Sadly, they will probably tell us AFTER they make the change the way things have been lately.

GrimSkald

My OML is 1-1-1 - nice to have every cover, to be sure, but not exactly usable in PVP. Since Pheonix came out in early November and Spider man came out in mid-January, we probably have at least a month until the next 5* comes out - probably a month and a half at the very least. Frankly, they are releasing these faster than I expected, I was hoping for 4-6 months before the 4rth 5*. We'll see.

This is kind of what i meant by balancing the timing. When it was announced that Silver Surfer was being phased out of the hoarded LTs, I decided to open the 9 I had on the off-chance I got any. My SS is 1-2-1 - a few more covers and I start bringing him up. Unfortunately, I didn't, and I pulled a Red Hulk cover that I'm fairly sure will have to get sold for Iso. If OML was phased out, I'd do the same thing even if I wasn't ready to open LTs.

I'm not opening them now, though, as they'll still be there after I level Red Hulk and Cyke. I'm just as likely to draw a 5* down the line as now, and unless I draw a lot more 5*s than I am likely to, it probably still won't change where my Iso goes...

mpqr7

I feel for those of you who have OMLs without yellow. Those OMLs are basically completely useless and die within a few turns. Plus they ruin your pvp scaling. I had a black-red only OML and almost had to drop out of my alliance because I went from scoring 1100+ to 800.

But hopefully you'll get your yellow soon enough! I just have one yellow, and now I can get to 1500+ without needing ccs. Your time will come!!!

padei_panda

mpqr7 wrote:

I feel for those of you who have OMLs without yellow. Those OMLs are basically completely useless and die within a few turns. Plus they ruin your pvp scaling. I had a black-red only OML and almost had to drop out of my alliance because I went from scoring 1100+ to 800.

But hopefully you'll get your yellow soon enough! I just have one yellow, and now I can get to 1500+ without needing ccs. Your time will come!!!

What covers and what level is your OML? Mine is 2/1/0 and have not used him at all...
I'm still a 3-4* transistor so afraid to use him and screw up my scaling.
But if I get a red cover, I might reconsider using him. Thoughts?

Pongie

antreas1911 wrote:

Tx we are in exactly the same boat. My OML is 2-0-1
OML haunts my thoughts day and night.

I'll join in with 1/0/3

Quebbster

My OML is 1/1/0 - technically useable I suppose but not very exciting without his red. Silver Surfer is 0/0/4, so I was quite happy to see him moved to the old tokens. Phoenix is the closest to being useable at 2/0/2, but she needs some purple...
I haven't opened any legendaries since Spider-man was added and I plan to stockpile a while longer, ideally until I get at least Xpool up to level 270. At the very least I'll wait until the next fivestar is announced, if I decide I'd rather have OML at that point I'll just open all the legendaries then...
Fortunately my CP pile is growing and I may decide to spend it all on classic legendary tokens after OML moves there...

Boommike

GrimSkald wrote:

This may be better off in Tips and Guides, but I've seen enough people talk about it here that I wanted to post this here. We can discuss it.

[Snip]

Hopefully this helps people. Champions really made me excited about opening tokens again, I really like the system, but you should resist the urge to promote everyone.

I almost wish I had taken a break from the game when Championing hit and then saw this post before I opened the game again. The hype and build up of the feature here on the forums was almost tangible and when it went live, I went crazy. I was a kid at fat camp that broke into the cafeteria in the middle of the night. I had hoarded for so long that I binged. Hard. I had over a million ISO and within minutes I was down to 100k. My rewards queue was as long as a list of wrong answers to the "Does this make me look fat?" question.

Now time has passed (has it been weeks or days? My iso starved brain can't keep track of time as well) and I find this post. I'm still slightly feeling the afterglow of my recent binge. *SMACK* Hit harder than XForce by the nerf bat, this post hits right in the gut. Why couldn't I have shown some restraint? Are 3* covers that rare to me that I couldn't possibly just sell them and wait for the next? I felt what it was like to drive on the autobahn and now I'm forced to sit in rush hour traffic.

At least, if anything, this has been a learning lesson. My mentality has to change. It's hard to remember a time since I wasn't awash in ISO. And so I need to adapt my mindset. And remember it's not a sprint.

Thanks GrimSkald. It hurt, the realization. But it was certainly for the better.

mpqr7

Currently my oml is lv 360. 3/1/3. I love it.

I have some fully leveled 4*s with covers waiting, but I probably won't champ them yet. I did the math, and the ISO required to champ a single 4* will let me champ three of my 3*s. Plus we receive 3* tokens much more often, for example a burst of around 4 or so every pvp (1-2 for top 100/top 50, 1 from alliance, 1 for 800 points the next pvp).

Both 3*s and 4*s are basically useless to me, so it doesn't matter which I champion first, as I still won't be using them either way, just champing them for the prizes. My IW won't scare anyone, and I'll never use XFW, since that will prevent me from using OML. But they'll all get champ'ed in a few months, once I've champ'ed all my remaining 3*s and then 2*s.

For now, I will continue to collect the 4* covers I need to train my heroes and then sell the repeats, even for 4*s I could champion. It just takes so long to raise up ~350,000 ISO for a single 4*! At 20K ISO per day, that's a full 2-3 weeks! For one single character! That you'll probably only receive a new cover for once every few months!

BlackSheep101

Quebbster wrote:

Fortunately my CP pile is growing and I may decide to spend it all on classic legendary tokens after OML moves there...

OML is already in classic tokens...

Pongie

I think I have come to the same conclusion too now. A bit late since I already championed most, if not all of my 3*s at 166. It would be much more beneficial to my game play to get iceman/Cylcops/Jean to a more useable level, with each needing about 300-350k to max and champion. I don't have any of their covers expiring (all sold recently to max and champion imhb), but I do have several of my 3*s at 120/140. Maxing these to champions will only give me legendary tokens that are fast becoming more dupes than useful pulls. I may just finish off the few that are direct paths of my 2*s waiting at level 98 (torch, daken, rag, storm and ironman). Though these require between 70-100k each to level and champion. So basically a decision between 3-4 of these or one of the top tier 4*. The other option is to take the top tier 4*s up evenly instead of maxing one at a time.

Oldboy

OP makes good points. It really depends on where you are in the game and one has/had to think about where to put the iso in the near future.

For me, i soft capped most of my 3*/4* characters at 145 because of scaling and because i didnt have enough iso to max them yet. I levelled my 3* evenly even Beast and QS cos they all become useful in PvE at some point in time. So i had to figure out which tier i wanted to champ first. My 4* would take too long and i only have XFW, Iw, Elektra and Carnage maxed covered. Not exactly an all star cast of 4*... If i pushed them to 270 to champ them i would push my scaling to levels my lvl 145 3* couldnt handle. So i decided to push my 3* to 166 to champ them. Levelling and Champing them would do a couple of things for me (bearing in mind my main gameplay is in PVE)
1) raise my 3* to levels that could handle scaling when i start levelling my 4*
2) get me LT which i can use to cover my other 4* or champ the ones i have later on
3) future 3* covers (Champions) will recoup me the iso i spend now
4) "allow" me to champ my 2* so that i can use the 3* covers that i get from them
5) it's just plain easier to get 3* covers now compared to 4*
6) i use mainly 3* in pve

The 3* i champ first would depend on how often i used them, their utility, and when they become available as placement rewards in PVE. At lvl 145, i need 50807 to level to 166 and another 7500 to champ my 3*. Since i can get around 50k in less than a week, it allows me to champ 1 a week, sometimes 2. It'll take some time before i can move on to levelling my 4* but this game is a marathon, not a sprint

xtwilightxangelx

I hope that I can ask my question here without drama...I have been playing for several months and have some characters promoted. Recently, I reached the max level for my two star ms. marvel. I have seen other two star characters during pvp matches that are beyond that point. How do you do that?
Please be kind with your responses.
Thanks,
Melanie

Mawtful

xtwilightxangelx wrote:

I hope that I can ask my question here without drama...I have been playing for several months and have some characters promoted. Recently, I reached the max level for my two star ms. marvel. I have seen other two star characters during pvp matches that are beyond that point. How do you do that?
Please be kind with your responses.
Thanks,
Melanie

You're a little way off course - I'm sure someone would have preferred if you'd asked this in a different sub-forum, but no-one reads those, so at least you'll get an answer here.

Every week there is a selection characters who get a level boost for that week. If I'm correct (let's be honest, there's a 50/50 chance here at best), that list includes four 4* characters, four 3*'s, two 2*'s, and one 1*. That boost scales differently according to that character's star-rating. I believe it's something like: 4*'s get a boost of 80 levels, 3*'s get a boost of 76 levels, 2*'s get a boost of 68 levels. This means that a max level champion 2* (lv 144) will be boosted up to level 212 if they are one of the featured characters of the week. Of course, that boost is applied whether that character is fully championed or only has one cover, so you might very well see a wide range of levels.

xtwilightxangelx

I feel like an idiot. I seriously overlooked the level boosts. I just kept seeing higher characters and wondered how that happened. I was able to come to that conclusion before you posted this response. Thank you for your time.
Duh! On my part!