Polarity's Guide on Going From 1* to 3* (Updated: 1/22/15)

mags1587

Here's the post about the update:

NorthernPolarity wrote:

Updated the 2* section with Daken / Hawkeye. New 3*s to be added in a future section.

Unknown

mags1587 wrote:

Here's the post about the update:

NorthernPolarity wrote:

Updated the 2* section with Daken / Hawkeye. New 3*s to be added in a future section.

Oh. I actually read that but I didn't recognize that the date of the event was changed along with this. I saw the date change today. Thanks for this.

Trisul

So I started from scratch on Steam just as a general experiment (to possibly write a detailed f2p beginner's guide) and I'm convinced that 1* --> 2* transition f2p players should almost never prioritize a 3* over building up and deepening their 2* pool, and this seems like the #1 mistake for beginner players. There is basically 1 time that a 3* is useful early, and that's literally at the very start of the game before you even build any 1* up.

Even if you get super lucky and get a 3* that's both top-tier, and essential for the next PvE, it will be a long time before you get a 3* to a usable level once you get your 2* guys going. You might place high in that particular PvE, but you still have a problem with slot scarcity and will have to either throw the guy away after the PvE for the new cover, or toss out solid 2* guys.

How did I kick-start my transition to 3*? With a few 3-cover targeted PvP and PvE wins that were in large part due to a deep 2* squad. Most 3* covers I won through random drops, heroic tokens, etc., have not been useful yet.

My mini-guide for new f2p players would be thus:
1. Max out Juggernaut (prefer him over IM35), cover-optimize Storm (5/3/5) & BW (2/5)
2. Keep playing the mix of PvP, PvE, prologue in that order of priority (PvP gives 2* covers).
3. Give Storm iso if you lose patience with the building process.
4. Consider all your 3*s expendable (don't feel bad about tossing them), except for the rotating essential if you can win one.
5. Aim to build a deep 2* roster first before attempting to save up covers for a top-tier 3*.

- Must-have 2*: OBW (PvE goddess), CStorm/MNMags combo, Ares, Thor in no particular order.
- Potential PvE carry 2*: Daken, Torch, Wolvie

Honestly all the 2* above are worth building over individual 3* covers. (Hawkeye and Cap are more borderline, where they aren't an essential part of the team.) Once your 2* guys are in place and iso-maxed, you can consistently win various placement and progression rewards.

Ain't no 2* --> 3* shortcuts without spending loads of real money.

NorthernPolarity

Trisul wrote:

So I started from scratch on Steam just as a general experiment (to possibly write a detailed f2p beginner's guide) and I'm convinced that 1* --> 2* transition f2p players should almost never prioritize a 3* over building up and deepening their 2* pool, and this seems like the #1 mistake for beginner players. There is basically 1 time that a 3* is useful early, and that's literally at the very start of the game before you even build any 1* up.

Even if you get super lucky and get a 3* that's both top-tier, and essential for the next PvE, it will be a long time before you get a 3* to a usable level once you get your 2* guys going. You might place high in that particular PvE, but you still have a problem with slot scarcity and will have to either throw the guy away after the PvE for the new cover, or toss out solid 2* guys.

How did I kick-start my transition to 3*? With a few 3-cover targeted PvP and PvE wins that were in large part due to a deep 2* squad. Most 3* covers I won through random drops, heroic tokens, etc., have not been useful yet.

My mini-guide for new f2p players would be thus:
1. Max out Juggernaut (prefer him over IM35), cover-optimize Storm (5/3/5) & BW (2/5)
2. Keep playing the mix of PvP, PvE, prologue in that order of priority (PvP gives 2* covers).
3. Give Storm iso if you lose patience with the building process.
4. Consider all your 3*s expendable (don't feel bad about tossing them), except for the rotating essential if you can win one.
5. Aim to build a deep 2* roster first before attempting to save up covers for a top-tier 3*.

- Must-have 2*: OBW (PvE goddess), CStorm/MNMags combo, Ares, Thor in no particular order.
- Potential PvE carry 2*: Daken, Torch, Wolvie

Honestly all the 2* above are worth building over individual 3* covers. (Hawkeye and Cap are more borderline, where they aren't an essential part of the team.) Once your 2* guys are in place and iso-maxed, you can consistently win various placement and progression rewards.

Ain't no 2* --> 3* shortcuts without spending loads of real money.

Thanks for the info! This guide was designed for the f2p player in mind, so I'm definitely going to incorporate these suggestions (and the previous page or 2 of posts) into it. I thought that I updated the guide earlier to reflect building a broader 2* roster, but reading it it seems like I recommend the maxing 2-3 2*s still. I should have sometime this weekend to update everything accordingly.

The only point I disagree with:
1. Juggs is definitely worth mentioning as superior to IM40, but I feel like most newbies are going to start reading this guide having already leveled their IM40 to say 30 or so, at which point I'm not sure if it's worth spending the extra iso on juggs when you could be transitioning instead.

Trisul

NorthernPolarity wrote:

The only point I disagree with:
1. Juggs is definitely worth mentioning as superior to IM40, but I feel like most newbies are going to start reading this guide having already leveled their IM40 to say 30 or so, at which point I'm not sure if it's worth spending the extra iso on juggs when you could be transitioning instead.

I thought this initially, but after having spent iso again on IM35, I really regret tossing Juggernaut covers. Even if IM35 is at level 30 or so, I still think it might be worth building him. The cookie-cutter IM35/Storm/BW just feels really, really slow. Jug green is by a landslide the best ability in the 1* class (maybe even to the point of invalidating the post-teamup Storm and running 1* Hawkeye instead with Jugs/BW). Plus, he has finishing power in his red to take down the Dakens/Yelenas/Venoms of the prologue very quickly, where with IM35 you might end up taking a ton of damage anyway through longer games.

Also, Jugs is surprisingly tough for PvP defense. I almost lost in a recent PvP with a full 2* team vs. an underleveled 2* Thor & maxed Jugs because of ridiculous cascading.

NorthernPolarity

Trisul wrote:

NorthernPolarity wrote:

The only point I disagree with:
1. Juggs is definitely worth mentioning as superior to IM40, but I feel like most newbies are going to start reading this guide having already leveled their IM40 to say 30 or so, at which point I'm not sure if it's worth spending the extra iso on juggs when you could be transitioning instead.

I thought this initially, but after having spent iso again on IM35, I really regret tossing Juggernaut covers. Even if IM35 is at level 30 or so, I still think it might be worth building him. The cookie-cutter IM35/Storm/BW just feels really, really slow. Jug green is by a landslide the best ability in the 1* class (maybe even to the point of invalidating the post-teamup Storm and running 1* Hawkeye instead with Jugs/BW). Plus, he has finishing power in his red to take down the Dakens/Yelenas/Venoms of the prologue very quickly, where with IM35 you might end up taking a ton of damage anyway through longer games.

Also, Jugs is surprisingly tough for PvP defense. I almost lost in a recent PvP with a full 2* team vs. an underleveled 2* Thor & maxed Jugs because of ridiculous cascading.

Yeah, i guess it should be a blurb about how if your im is 50 the. It might not be worth it. With juggs mstorm obw though, isnt 3/5/5 mstorm optimal? Greens going to be used for juggs anyways so might as well level up the abilities that mstorm will use in that team comp.

Unknown

So, I'm rebuilding Modern Black Widow cos I had her at 5/5 and level 40. I'll do a 2/5 build this time. Do you guys think I should level her? I mean she will shatter like a glass in defense but in offense as long as she is not hit by an AoE, I think she will be fine since probably someone else will tank all her colors.

yogi_

KevinMark wrote:

So, I'm rebuilding Modern Black Widow cos I had her at 5/5 and level 40. I'll do a 2/5 build this time. Do you guys think I should level her? I mean she will shatter like a glass in defense but in offense as long as she is not hit by an AoE, I think she will be fine since probably someone else will tank all her colors.

I thought about this recently as well and levelling her again - the downside is that it's a decent enough loss of ISO for that ranking, so I just don't know if it's worth it...

Also is 3/5 at all viable now (for M.Storm black) or just not worth it in which case you would just stick with 5/5?

Unknown

yogi_ wrote:

KevinMark wrote:

So, I'm rebuilding Modern Black Widow cos I had her at 5/5 and level 40. I'll do a 2/5 build this time. Do you guys think I should level her? I mean she will shatter like a glass in defense but in offense as long as she is not hit by an AoE, I think she will be fine since probably someone else will tank all her colors.

I thought about this recently as well and levelling her again - the downside is that it's a decent enough loss of ISO for that ranking, so I just don't know if it's worth it...

Also is 3/5 at all viable now (for M.Storm black) or just not worth it in which case you would just stick with 5/5?

Yeah, decent amount of Iso-8 loss but as long as I play the game I'm collecting Iso-8 all the time. I'm ok with that loss. I made the decision to not level my *** surpassing ** color match damage values anymore to avoid PvE and PvP scaling. For a while at least. I'll just buff up my lower level guys for a while. I'd say 3/5 is not worth it for getting black for MStorm. That is one more match in the worst case and 12 is already 4 matches. Too much.

yogi_

NorthernPolarity wrote:

Trisul wrote:

NorthernPolarity wrote:

The only point I disagree with:
1. Juggs is definitely worth mentioning as superior to IM40, but I feel like most newbies are going to start reading this guide having already leveled their IM40 to say 30 or so, at which point I'm not sure if it's worth spending the extra iso on juggs when you could be transitioning instead.

I thought this initially, but after having spent iso again on IM35, I really regret tossing Juggernaut covers. Even if IM35 is at level 30 or so, I still think it might be worth building him. The cookie-cutter IM35/Storm/BW just feels really, really slow. Jug green is by a landslide the best ability in the 1* class (maybe even to the point of invalidating the post-teamup Storm and running 1* Hawkeye instead with Jugs/BW). Plus, he has finishing power in his red to take down the Dakens/Yelenas/Venoms of the prologue very quickly, where with IM35 you might end up taking a ton of damage anyway through longer games.

Also, Jugs is surprisingly tough for PvP defense. I almost lost in a recent PvP with a full 2* team vs. an underleveled 2* Thor & maxed Jugs because of ridiculous cascading.

Yeah, i guess it should be a blurb about how if your im is 50 the. It might not be worth it. With juggs mstorm obw though, isnt 3/5/5 mstorm optimal? Greens going to be used for juggs anyways so might as well level up the abilities that mstorm will use in that team comp.

Are you both talking about BW 1* or 2*?

loroku

They're talking about Black Widow 1*. She's the one with only 2 powers.

I agree that BW 1* is a tough call. It's a shame her purple power gets much, much worse when you level it up, because a 2/5 BW maxes out at level 25. And yeah: "shatters like glass" is a great way to put it. Her stun is amazing and the stealing is awesome, but she can't make it past a 2 pyro or 2 grenadier board with any consistency unless your other characters are over-leveled. Really, the main solution is to just hope you can get a 2* BW (OBW) as quickly as possible to replace her.

Iron Man 1* vs. Juggernaut: I have to say, I know Juggs is pretty amazing and his HP is insane, but a fully covered IM is nothing to sneeze at. His red is a single-target murder machine and his yellow is actually his best ability: 4 defense tiles can take match damage down to one easily. Yeah it might take longer, but you won't necessarily take more damage. As for what most players will have: to be fair, I think the same number of covers for each of these guys is handed out over the course of the prologue (maybe even more Juggs), you just get Juggs slightly later.

Thanks for continuing to evolve and update this guide!

Accident-eLe

Thanks for this guide super helpful

over_clocked

cMags needs an update; and I'm surprised Punisher hasn't made it to top transition characters despite amazing synergy with oBW and half the other 2*s.

yogi_

While on the topic of making a new MBW, does anyone ever think she, Juggs and Venom will get third abilities?

wafflefries

Just personal opinion, but with everything else they could and should be working on, I don't think the devs will be spending any time re-working any 1 characters.

CrookedKnight

1* is the best place for two-power characters, because you don't have to worry about their builds. Makes things friendlier for the people just starting out.

Trisul

loroku wrote:

Iron Man 1* vs. Juggernaut: I have to say, I know Juggs is pretty amazing and his HP is insane, but a fully covered IM is nothing to sneeze at. His red is a single-target murder machine and his yellow is actually his best ability: 4 defense tiles can take match damage down to one easily. Yeah it might take longer, but you won't necessarily take more damage. As for what most players will have: to be fair, I think the same number of covers for each of these guys is handed out over the course of the prologue (maybe even more Juggs), you just get Juggs slightly later.

Low AP cost skills are incredibly valuable, doubly so on a board shakeup skill like Jugg green.

What ends up happening with IM35 is that often times you gobble up all red/yellow on the board and then have to wait for more colors to drop before enabling an ability. Juggs only needs 2 green matches to immediately make an impact. If the board remains favorable, eat as many desired colors as you can, and if it runs out, shake it up with the possibility of ridiculous cascades.

Headbutting prologue Dakens to oblivion is faster and easier than waiting for IM35 Repulsor Blasts. And also more satisfying.

NorthernPolarity

locked wrote:

cMags needs an update; and I'm surprised Punisher hasn't made it to top transition characters despite amazing synergy with oBW and half the other 2*s.

I don't have Punisher as a top tier character because he falls off so much as you get more into 3* land: I think top tier should be reserved for the guys that are good both during the transition and after.

NorthernPolarity

Incorporated a lot of the comments (mostly by Trisul) to the guide:
1. Juggs description modified to be superior to IM35
2. Added some more stuff in 2* transition introduction about how roster depth is more important now.
3. Added the new 3*s (Colossus, Beast, Doc Ock) to the list.
4. Updated C. Mags accordingly.

NorthernPolarity

Updated the 3* composition section: managing it is too hard since there's so many compositions out there, so I'm just going to list the top tier ones in PvP / PvE from now on.