PVE: Hearts of Darkness (2016-02-15 to 2016-02-18)

TxMoose

Monged4life wrote:

The older PvE events always seem to have a harder 3* node than the 4* one, that was probably as when they were designed 4*s weren't as prevalent as they are now. That design certainly didn't carry on with the new events.

the kp node in dq vs mpq sub 2 with carnage was the single hardest node on the board, even at only level 160 was worse than 240 ares/daken/whoever the third was. never wiped the ares node. I did on the carnage though. I know dp v mpq is in a separate class like simulator and not like unstable iso, or brotherhood.

Monged4life

TxMoose wrote:

Monged4life wrote:

The older PvE events always seem to have a harder 3* node than the 4* one, that was probably as when they were designed 4*s weren't as prevalent as they are now. That design certainly didn't carry on with the new events.

the kp node in dq vs mpq sub 2 with carnage was the single hardest node on the board, even at only level 160 was worse than 240 ares/daken/whoever the third was. never wiped the ares node. I did on the carnage though. I know dp v mpq is in a separate class like simulator and not like unstable iso, or brotherhood.

Well the enemies for those are changed every run, so I'd count that as a new Event, supporting my theory!

Tatercat

The Gwen node is definitely the harder one in the 3rd sub this time around. Even the "The Rider Awakens" node isn't so bad, as GR just shows up in the first node and doesn't return, so his Penance Stare is negligible at best.

And to echo the sentiments of fmftint and BlackBoltRocks, WOW on the winfinite combo. I had only recently leveled up my Prof X as I finally had the covers (now 3/1/3) and had the DDQ to get ready for, so I never tried the Charlie's Angels until now. That combo is insane. I know two of them are boosted right now, and won't always be that good, but WOW. I may have to grind on iso to champion GSBW now.

madok

Tatercat wrote:

The Gwen node is definitely the harder one in the 3rd sub this time around. Even the "The Rider Awakens" node isn't so bad, as GR just shows up in the first node and doesn't return, so his Penance Stare is negligible at best.

And to echo the sentiments of fmftint and BlackBoltRocks, WOW on the winfinite combo. I had only recently leveled up my Prof X as I finally had the covers (now 3/1/3) and had the DDQ to get ready for, so I never tried the Charlie's Angels until now. That combo is insane. I know two of them are boosted right now, and won't always be that good, but WOW. I may have to grind on iso to champion GSBW now.

My ProfX has the same # of covers and we are just scraping the bottom of the barrel with our winfinite and it is still crazy good. I can only imagine what having 5 covers has to be like.

Ruinate

BlackBoltRocks wrote:

fmftint wrote:

:blackwidow: essential
featured
Hello winfinite, welcome back

I used those two together for the first time ever. Utter madness; i had enough purpink AP to use Deceptive Tactics immediately followed by Reality Crush. And all that green AP meant i could use Hex Bolt immediately followed by Sniper Rifle

You said it was your first time so here's a tip. Keep it simple and only use Deceptive Tactics and Sniper Rifle. By Reality Crushing, you missed out on 2-3 ProfX Head procs and a ton green/pink AP for another Snipe. Don't use your AP, recycle it instead. Reality Crush has a huge damage penalty because of the 5 turn stun, but you don't need to stun when AI doesn't even get a turn. Hex Bolt only for emergencies or when you're 1-3 pink AP short of Deceptive Tactics. Emergencies should be rare with this team comp. 99% of the time I use Hex Bolt, I'm just being a stubborn jerk who refuses to give AI a turn.

Also, memorize the reticle.

If you did what you did because your characters are not ideally specced yet, then I apologize and please disregard =D

Dragon_Nexus

Wow so they just...didn't bother toning that last survival node down at all after last time, huh?

I managed to beat it last tie because Bullseye was boosted so his strike tiles were awesome, but I only bothered doing it once.

I can't even beat it once now. So I'm not even going to waste my time on it. Jeez, at least put some minions in there for respite.

elusive

Dragon_Nexus wrote:

Wow so they just...didn't bother toning that last survival node down at all after last time, huh?

I managed to beat it last tie because Bullseye was boosted so his strike tiles were awesome, but I only bothered doing it once.

I can't even beat it once now. So I'm not even going to waste my time on it. Jeez, at least put some minions in there for respite.

Are you talking about The Rider Awakens node? Because my best team can barely limp its way to the final round, where Mystique decides to use the Shapeshift + Masterstroke combo in one turn to murder anyone left. I gave up on it.

Platzy

Yeah, that happened to me, too, when I used SWitch, GSBW and Cage.
I then switched to LCap, Hood (to keep enemy AP in check) and the new and improved IM40 and with a bit of tactical play completely dominated the node.
Timing IM's recharges that they go off when Cap's shields are out let me effectively juggle with ~50 red and blue AP each, taking out one guy per wave and keeping the others perma-stunned once I got that going.
However, I still feel no desire to grind that node after I got the token (which yielded a measly 2* Cap )

Jam_Adams

The Rider Awakens is tinykitty, guys

who thought this was a good idea

DanBenZvi

And "The Rider Awakens" reminds me that I never found out how this PvE ended the first time around because of this very node...

Inarius

man, that rider awakens node was quite a trip. Thank god the new update for came in so I could use the deadly combo-wombo

else I would've prob went with or

Bowgentle

I didn't play HoD last time so I expected the worst, like GR showing up in the final wave of the survival node and killing everyone with his stare.

He's in the first wave, so he's much tamer than he could be.

The rest is standard wave procedure, just make sure you always end on a skill and prevent the enemies from gaining AP.
Like, forever.

Not going to mention how Switch / Rulk trivializes the whole PVE, because I realize not everybody has a useable Rulk.

Quebbster

DanBenZvi wrote:

And "The Rider Awakens" reminds me that I never found out how this PvE ended the first time around because of this very node...

Same here. This time my roster is a bit stronger and I have managed to clear it twice with the X-force twins and Grocket. You don't really mind taking hits when it triggers X-enforcer for massive damage and then you can heal up again...
On the other hand, I just wiped on the easy survival node thanks to Jean and Storm coming in and blasting my whole team to smithereens... Going to use something a little tougher next time.

SnagglePuss

Annoying, wiped twice on that last node. Finally did it and realised the points are even lower than expected. Forgot that each attempt, even though i got a stage further each time, counts as a succesful attempt so i now have 24hrs to wait for full points....
That LT and then tanking is going to be a little close

Sluggo

I finally beat The Rider Awakens today after wiping about a dozen times. I'm practically at the 54k progression reward, so I won't even bother throwing any more health packs at it, but I'll ramble on a bit (spoilered because Giant Block of Text) in hopes it might help someone else (and maybe improve on it).

First up, my enemies scaled to the 190-198 range. I used a 255 OML, a boosted 265 GSBW, and a 170 Thor. I imagine there are a lot of good options to swap in for OML, like a decent leveled SWitch (which, alas, I don't have), but my roster is limited, so that's what I went with.

On the first wave (GR/Ock/Daken), I always went for Ghost Rider first, which itself took some time before I could get some AP rolling in. Problem #1 for me is that because I'm relying so heavily on building up green for Thor and GSBW, I'm also adding attack tiles for their Daken. Which is why I typically targeted Daken second in that wave, saving Doc Ock for last. Ock is just annoying, with his swap moves taking forever. All told, out of a dozen tries, I probably wiped on this first wave 2 or 3 times, either from unlucky enemy cascades or AP starvation.

The second wave (Sentry/Loki/Mags), I kind of played it by ear. Loki has the lowest AP of the three, so if I had enough AP to drop him in one shot and avoid 4-match shenanigans, I'd do it. Otherwise, I'd try to chisel down Mags bit by bit before he could start getting his special moves off. I probably wiped on this wave 2 or 3 times as well.

The truly evil part of this node is the transition from the second to third wave (Mystique/Bullseye/Ares). They generally have so much AP saved up from colors not used by the second group, they fire off a flurry of abilities and typically killed whichever hero I had exposed, sometimes two.

I had one really nice attempt where my whole team was above 80% health at the start of the third wave. I used GSBW to make a purpink match to finish off Sentry and fill her bar, and then boom -- Ares hits with Onslaught, Mystique fires off Shapeshift and Masterstroke, and GSBW is dead before she can make another move. Really frustrating.

On the fight where I finally won, I used a special ability to kill off Sentry, and had enough green AP to kill Mystique before she could get off a single move. Even then, Ares and Bullseye still decimated the hell out of my team, where I barely limped home with only my Thor standing with 2k health when he finally finished off Bullseye.

I'd be curious to hear if people are having better luck with other 3* combos. I thought about mixing in Deadpool -- his low-cost red is great for chopping down high HP enemies fast -- but the one time I tried him, I didn't even clear the first wave. Anyone having better luck?

My reward for a dozen wipes: a 2* Cap Marvel (one of the few 2*s I don't have champed.) Yay.

pabasa130

Just my 2 cents on dealing with The Rider Awakens:

Scarlet Witch (boosted, so she typically tanks everything), 3* Cap and Hood. Helps keep enemy AP low, and enough stuns to block use of painful abilities. This is my grinding team, and typically I just need to heal SW. Hood shouldn't be losing health since he only covers black (which is cheap enough to cast from secondary cascades).

It's very slow, but it's very safe. Switch in KK instead of SW if you want even more sustainability.

ClydeFrog76

That node can GGF.