Is it worth level maxing 3*'s anymore?

JVReal

Everyone seems to be only looking at the short game.

Yes you get a LT with your first champ cover, and if that were it then yeah i see it not being worth the effort. But looking at the list of rewards, there are 5 LT's and 3-4* covers for EACH 3* character you start down the champion road. The iso investment is a startup for an LT, Iso, HP, CP & 4* cover train that runs itself.

100 covers are a lot to collect, and every one you throw out is one closer to the next LT in that reward list. For me, its worth it getting them started down that path, then when the extra covers drop, they sit in my queue for 5 seconds as i jump over, click Level, and move on.

grunzadin

My hope for 3* champs is that they'll collect covers much faster than 4* champs in the next few months and close the level gap quickly followed by a period of time where boosted 3* champs enjoy a level advantage over boosted 4*s. And then by the time 4* champs are reaching 370, viable 5*s will be much more common.

That's what I like to tell myself anyway.

MaxxPowerz

Yes. You earn up to 4 3* star covers in a PVE event. As we move closer to a 4 star dominated game those 3* covers should become more readily available to the point where it won't even make sense to play them against a field of 4* unless they are significantly championed.

D4Ni13

Jarvind wrote:

A few are probably worthwhile. I'm champing a few of the 3*'s that get a lot of use (Cage, Fist, Scarlet Witch, etc). By and large though, you're probably better off focusing on 4*'s if you have the good ones (Jean Grey, Iceman, Cyclops, Hulkpuncher, Red Hulk).

One thing to keep in mind is that 3*'s were somewhat stealth nerfed by the champion change. Cyclops used to do around 11k with his black when the required reds on the board. I have him champed at 169 and it now only does 8-9k. Presumably it creeps back up as he gets champ levels but it was irritating to realize that ultimately championing will basically just give him more health.

That's a bug, getting fixed only in R94.

babinro

This is a question a lot of us are having and I'm not convinced there's a right or wrong answer here. My recommendation depends on the following questions:

1) Can you easily hit 1300 prog in pvp? If yes, consider buffing 3*'s for the long term gain. Focus on any that give 4* covers you still need. Save about 50,000 ISO in case you get another useful 5* cover to level right away. If you answered no then refer to question 2


2) Are there characters that you have covered (or very nearly covered) that could be leveled and would make a notable difference on your pvp scores? (ie: HB, JG, Iceman, Rulk or Cyke). If yes then focus on them. Even at 11 or 12 covers you can start powering them up as it could easily take weeks/months of ISO farming to finish one of them. If you answered no then focus on your 3*'s first.

Linkster79

D4Ni13 wrote:

Jarvind wrote:

A few are probably worthwhile. I'm champing a few of the 3*'s that get a lot of use (Cage, Fist, Scarlet Witch, etc). By and large though, you're probably better off focusing on 4*'s if you have the good ones (Jean Grey, Iceman, Cyclops, Hulkpuncher, Red Hulk).

One thing to keep in mind is that 3*'s were somewhat stealth nerfed by the champion change. Cyclops used to do around 11k with his black when the required reds on the board. I have him champed at 169 and it now only does 8-9k. Presumably it creeps back up as he gets champ levels but it was irritating to realize that ultimately championing will basically just give him more health.

That's a bug, getting fixed only in R94.

As far as has been confirmed the only bug is with boosted characters. David Hi-Fi Moore has stated that he will get more information for us for Monday regarding if a overall power loss is a by product of the general balance adjustment or part of the bug that affects featured/boosted characters.

On topic. If you don't have 3 or 4 of the top tier 4* characters at or near max covers but have a few of the 3* character at or near max covered then focus on the 3* and champion them. Depending on your preferred game mode if you can get Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Cyclops then you could pretty much get to 1300 points most versus events and really work on those 4*'s. At the end of the day there isn't a right or wrong answer it all depends on your level and style of play. Personally I championed some 2*'s Thor, Daken, OBW, Magneto and Storm as I use those for easy story nodes and Deadpool Daily and am now working on 3*'s as and when I can.

mpqr7

My answer's probably similar to the others. First get some awesome characters for PVP. For me, I have a lv 360 oml and a lv 275 4hor. For you, it may be a different strong 5* or 4*, but basically something where you can win most matches easily and be threatening enough to be avoided during a 5-minute shield hop.

At that point, there's no rush for me to max out most of the rest of my fully covered 4*s. 4* covers come at such a trickle that in the 1-2 months it takes to max and champ the rest of my 3*s and 2*s, I'll probably only waste a few 4* covers that I could have championed.

I'm championing most of my 3s and 2s not because I use them but because I love the prizes and I hate to see their covers go to waste. For me, it's more relaxing and fulfilling to be able to put all new 3* and 2* rewards toward tokens, cp and hp. Due to championining, my hp flow has been net positive each week, even with shielding, so I no longer need to stress out about having enough for more roster slots.

In fact, once I finish champing all my 3s and 2s, any time one of my 2s hits lv 144, I'll open up a new roster slot and then start all over with it, getting it fully covered, maxed and championed again for more cp, hp and tokens. Then I'll delete my fully championed version of that 2* to save up more roster slots for the next time I do it with the next 2*.

I won't have to do that for 3*s for 4*s, because those will probably never get fully max championed.

Anyway in a few months, I'll have all those 3*s and 2*s championed, and then I'll start saving up iso to max more and more 4*s. But most of those 4*s won't be particularly useful other than providing me champion prizes.

And any time I get a great 5* cover, I take a break from all this championing to level them up, as those 5*s are immediately useful for me in pvp.

Tryke

Some raw numbers for those interested:

3

Iso requirements for leveling:
40-166: 119,919
40-120: 22,875
120-166: 97,044

Champion net benefits:
7500 champion fee
100 covers*500 = 50,000
Total cost = 57,500
Prizes
: 57,500 net iso is 0.
: 1,000
: 50
4 covers: 3
: 2
: 5

Decide whether you want to spend the initial iso to max a 3* to get the other benefits from champion levels or to save the iso for someone else.

rkd80

Hmm, what is the benefit exactly of starting 2* all over again? The 96k or so it takes to fully level a 2* is not worth the ISO even after you sell the fully champed 2*.

kalex716

mpqr7 wrote:

My answer's probably similar to the others. First get some awesome characters for PVP. For me, I have a lv 360 oml and a lv 275 4hor. For you, it may be a different strong 5* or 4*, but basically something where you can win most matches easily and be threatening enough to be avoided during a 5-minute shield hop.

At that point, there's no rush for me to max out most of the rest of my fully covered 4*s. 4* covers come at such a trickle that in the 1-2 months it takes to max and champ the rest of my 3*s and 2*s, I'll probably only waste a few 4* covers that I could have championed.

I'm championing most of my 3s and 2s not because I use them but because I love the prizes and I hate to see their covers go to waste. For me, it's more relaxing and fulfilling to be able to put all new 3* and 2* rewards toward tokens, cp and hp. Due to championining, my hp flow has been net positive each week, even with shielding, so I no longer need to stress out about having enough for more roster slots.

In fact, once I finish champing all my 3s and 2s, any time one of my 2s hits lv 144, I'll open up a new roster slot and then start all over with it, getting it fully covered, maxed and championed again for more cp, hp and tokens. Then I'll delete my fully championed version of that 2* to save up more roster slots for the next time I do it with the next 2*.

I won't have to do that for 3*s for 4*s, because those will probably never get fully max championed.

Anyway in a few months, I'll have all those 3*s and 2*s championed, and then I'll start saving up iso to max more and more 4*s. But most of those 4*s won't be particularly useful other than providing me champion prizes.

And any time I get a great 5* cover, I take a break from all this championing to level them up, as those 5*s are immediately useful for me in pvp.

I would say this is good advice, but it only works if you are lucky with pulling 5 stars. Those that are not, can't skip the 4 star tier, and have to work towards top 5 4 star characters to have a consistent chance of progressing.

Hendross

In my humble opinion; I would level "good" 3* characters that are already "close" maybe <50k iso to finish. They'll recoup the investment realatively quickly, yield some 4* covers, and may help in future events, specifically PvE featured.

For the 3*s I have soft capped at 120, I have NOT leveled/championed, since 100k iso is better spent elsewhere.

mpqr7

aesthetocyst wrote:

rkd80 wrote:

Hmm, what is the benefit exactly of starting 2* all over again? The 96k or so it takes to fully level a 2* is not worth the ISO even after you sell the fully champed 2*.

69,524.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=37337&hilit=+stopping&p=463032#p463032

No, not an "iso-positive" endeavor, but worthwhile considering how quickly they can be max-champed, and the side benefits, above and beyond the same iso amount selling off covers would generate, received for doing so.

Yes, re-champ the 2*s for the hp, cp and tokens, plus the thrill that no 2* cover goes to waste. If you just want more ISO, then don't.

kalex716 wrote:

I would say this is good advice, but it only works if you are lucky with pulling 5 stars. Those that are not, can't skip the 4 star tier, and have to work towards top 5 4 star characters to have a consistent chance of progressing.

In my case yes, it's a strong 5* and a strong 4*. But it could easily be two strong 4*s as well. Once you have two good players though, you don't need to go crazy maxing out all your other 4*s immediately. If you have championined jg and hb, you'll never randomly decide to put a championed iw there instead, even if she's boosted to lv 350.

TxMoose

mpqr7 wrote:

In my case yes, it's a strong 5* and a strong 4*. But it could easily be two strong 4*s as well. Once you have two good players though, you don't need to go crazy maxing out all your other 4*s immediately. If you have championined jg and hb, you'll never randomly decide to put a championed iw there instead, even if she's boosted to lv 350.

but I might play a boosted rulk or iceman over jean and a boosted cyke over hb. IW, no. Elektra, no. SL/MFer/TLH, no. 4thor, kp, xp, thing - boosted might get looks over hb/jean. and personally I'd rather throw away as few 4* covers as possible, so I'm waiting to open LTs until I get some others maxed, or until the next 5* is about to hit - then will be my 3rd LT gorge from a hoarded pile.

SnowcaTT

Eventually the 266 champions will be skipped and the non-championed 140's will be hit, so they'll be important in PVP eventually. PVE those champs will help as well.

Biggest reason to max in my opinion - one of the easiest ISO buys of a legendary token.

JVReal

Tryke wrote:

Some raw numbers for those interested:

3

Iso requirements for leveling:
40-166: 119,919
40-120: 22,875
120-166: 97,044

Champion net benefits:
7500 champion fee
100 covers*500 = 50,000
Total cost = 57,500
Prizes
: 57,500 net iso is 0.
: 1,000
: 50
4 covers: 3
: 2
: 5

Decide whether you want to spend the initial iso to max a 3* to get the other benefits from champion levels or to save the iso for someone else.

Thank you for the list, the only thing I have objection to is displaying the 100 covers as a cost of 50K iso. It's not an expense, you didn't buy the covers, and you are getting the equivalent iso from the champion feature as you are from straight out selling them, so you are still positive in that outcome 50K Iso. You are simply putting it in a forced Iso savings account that is paying you interest (HP, tokens, CP, covers) as well as principal (the iso you would have gotten from selling the covers straight out).

As an investment, investing in a 3* champion is a great way to go. It just may look more daunting if you haven't had them leveled very far to begin with.

Tryke

JVReal wrote:

Thank you for the list, the only thing I have objection to is displaying the 100 covers as a cost of 50K iso. It's not an expense, you didn't buy the covers, and you are getting the equivalent iso from the champion feature as you are from straight out selling them, so you are still positive in that outcome 50K Iso. You are simply putting it in a forced Iso savings account that is paying you interest (HP, tokens, CP, covers) as well as principal (the iso you would have gotten from selling the covers straight out).

As an investment, investing in a 3* champion is a great way to go. It just may look more daunting if you haven't had them leveled very far to begin with.

It's an opportunity cost (economics term). You are losing the ability to sell the covers for 500 iso a piece. That is a real opportunity cost. The benefits you get from champion definitely outweighs this cost, but it is really there.

Dayv

The other benefit that's harder to calculate is the ISO equivalent each additional level on those characters is worth. Prior to championing each upper end 3* level was ~2500 ISO spent, but all the accounting being done for champions treats those new levels as free.

MPQ_Daywalker

aesthetocyst wrote:

SnowcaTT wrote:

Eventually the 266 champions will be skipped and the non-championed 140's will be hit, so they'll be important in PVP eventually. PVE those champs will help as well.

Biggest reason to max in my opinion - one of the easiest ISO buys of legendary token.

....and 4 more to follow from each championed 3*.

Plus 50 Command Points over time, which buys 2 more Latest Legendary Tokens, or 2.5 Classic Legendary Tokens.

I'm all about the long-term in this game, so I am planning on championing all of my 3*s. After I champion Iron Fist today (with his DDQ cover) I'll be up to 26 championed 3*s. It will take a while for my low tier 3*s (Doc Ock, Quicksilver, Psylocke, etc.), but I'll get there eventually. I feel like it will definitely be worth it in the long run, unless they change the game considerably. 3*s are always helpful as the essentials in PvE or the main boosted characters in PvP; until that changes, having any/all of those characters maxed can't hurt.

Others who are farther along in the 4* transition than I am definitely have more difficult decisions to make with their ISO. For me, when my best-covered 4*s are Nick Fury (5/2/5) and Thoress (3/2/3) I know I'm a long way from usable 4*s anyway, so I might as well play the long game. Champed/maxed 3*s are fun to play with and mix around on teams, so I'm definitely enjoying the game from that perspective. Really looking forward to the next Gauntlet run.

mpqr7

Also, don't forget respec'ing. This can be immensely useful before each match. Do two characters share the same color power, but one is clearly better than the other? In that case, take the worse power down to 3 so that you can boost that character's other powers to 5.

Another example is that I used to leave the "flood the board with a certain color" powers to 3, so that the attack powers were stronger. But on the 3* characters, their attacks are kind of weak, so now I actually prefer to increase the ap gathering powers to 5. Respec'ing is great!