Whats it like to play at higher tiers?

MarvelMan

One thing I havent seen discussed above much, if at all, was how the top end play is quite slice dependent. In S4, you see a lot of bakers, coordination and therefore score inflation which trickles down (Reaganomics!) and makes progression easier. Im not sure about the other slices, but Ive heard its a lot lower though easier to place. So weigh what youre after, progression vs placement, and factor that in to picking a slice.

JamieMadrox

You can Check out my roster in my sig, but I have SS OML JG at 10 covers each and level 405, 405, and 395. I also have 5 championed 4* (HB, JG, TGT, XFDP, XFW) and 24 championed 3*. I am the high level player, but not the top end. This is what I know:

1) It's expensive. On average, high end players spend at least one Stark Salary per season on shield hopping and boosts. Some spend more. At my peak, before 5* came along, I was spending about 3k HP per event to shield hop and boost. That's about what you can expect to spend as a frontrunning 4* or 5* player.

2) It requires a lot of time. Initial climb to # when frontrunning can last an hour or more. If you're climbing late you can spend two to three times that before your first shield. Then you have to spend time finding targets for your hops. Then you have to hop and do it all over again. Overall you can easily spend 3-4 hours per day on MPQ and related tasks.

3) It's a lot of fun. There is a rush of adrenaline that comes with playing at the top of the leaderboards. Add in the social/alliance aspect of play and it becomes a team sport. Groups of people working together towards a common goal. I've shared massive success and crushing defeat while playing with some of the best people I've ever me. So far it's been fun regardless of the outcome.

4) Burnout is real. The pressure to achieve and maintain a certain level of play is real. It impacts your play and your real life. When you're doing well, the stress is like a catalyst pushing you to higher heights. When it all goes sideways, it's easy to lose focus of my last point which is...

5) It's just a game. In the grand scheme of things you're matching coloured tiles on an 8x8 board. There's no prizes for going beyond max progression. Placement rewards at the top levels of play are a joke (champions have made this better though). Nothing you achieve in the game will make a difference in the real world. It's mindless entertainment. So relax and have fun however you want.

I'll now entertain specific questions if anyone has any.

madsalad

Jamie Madrox wrote:

You can Check out my roster in my sig, but I have SS OML JG at 10 covers each and level 405, 405, and 395. I also have 5 championed 4* (HB, JG, TGT, XFDP, XFW) and 24 championed 3*. I am the high level player, but not the top end. This is what I know:

1) It's expensive. On average, high end players spend at least one Stark Salary per season on shield hopping and boosts. Some spend more. At my peak, before 5* came along, I was spending about 3k HP per event to shield hop and boost. That's about what you can expect to spend as a frontrunning 4* or 5* player.

lol wut? 3K PER EVENT???!!!1!!!

I'll stick to my 1 - 1.3K runs for now. I'm also in an alliance that is not AT ALL competitive. I've thought about jumping to another alliance where my usual runs will actually help me get better alliance rewards but I'm in an alliance with a few IRL friends.

TxMoose

madsalad wrote:

Jamie Madrox wrote:

You can Check out my roster in my sig, but I have SS OML JG at 10 covers each and level 405, 405, and 395. I also have 5 championed 4* (HB, JG, TGT, XFDP, XFW) and 24 championed 3*. I am the high level player, but not the top end. This is what I know:

1) It's expensive. On average, high end players spend at least one Stark Salary per season on shield hopping and boosts. Some spend more. At my peak, before 5* came along, I was spending about 3k HP per event to shield hop and boost. That's about what you can expect to spend as a frontrunning 4* or 5* player.

lol wut? 3K PER EVENT???!!!1!!!

I'll stick to my 1 - 1.3K runs for now. I'm also in an alliance that is not AT ALL competitive. I've thought about jumping to another alliance where my usual runs will actually help me get better alliance rewards but I'm in an alliance with a few IRL friends.

yes. the tip top guys do that. I'm happy to be a middle-ish player of a solid t15 alliance. spending anywhere from 225 to 450 hp per event (gross, not net). playing pve that is very sustainable - hp actually builds up and I've done the unthinkable - buy a daily deal every once in a while.

PeterGibbons316

The one time I hit 2k I used all 3 shields every 8 hours for nearly 2 days. So 75+150+300=525, 5 or 6 times puts you close to or above 3k.

And that's what it takes with a 4* roster. A 5* roster can get away with fewer hops, but there are a lot of guys hitting 2k regularly spending quite a bit to get there. I used to think co-operative play was a bit shady, but now that I realize what some people are spending to add points to the slice and help everyone hit progression I am incredibly grateful.

JamieMadrox

PeterGibbons316 wrote:

The one time I hit 2k I used all 3 shields every 8 hours for nearly 2 days. So 75+150+300=525, 5 or 6 times puts you close to or above 3k.

And that's what it takes with a 4* roster. A 5* roster can get away with fewer hops, but there are a lot of guys hitting 2k regularly spending quite a bit to get there. I used to think co-operative play was a bit shady, but now that I realize what some people are spending to add points to the slice and help everyone hit progression I am incredibly grateful.

Depending on slice and who you're playing with a 4* roster can hit 3k+ with that level of shield hopping.

Malcrof

Jamie Madrox wrote:

PeterGibbons316 wrote:

The one time I hit 2k I used all 3 shields every 8 hours for nearly 2 days. So 75+150+300=525, 5 or 6 times puts you close to or above 3k.

And that's what it takes with a 4* roster. A 5* roster can get away with fewer hops, but there are a lot of guys hitting 2k regularly spending quite a bit to get there. I used to think co-operative play was a bit shady, but now that I realize what some people are spending to add points to the slice and help everyone hit progression I am incredibly grateful.

Depending on slice and who you're playing with a 4* roster can hit 3k+ with that level of shield hopping.

Before i had any usable 5*s, i was breaking 2k with Jeanbuster easily, every event. 2k per event, all season, costs me on average 8k Hero points per season, or more if i try REALLLY hard and still fail to get #1, personal record for an event is 2680, finished #4 lol.

Yah, it can feel like work, but for now, it is still fun for me, but i am sure i cannot sustain this forever.

JVReal

I'll tell you when I get there next year... but at that time, current high play will no longer be considered high level play.

I feel like Little Orphan Annie... tomorrow is always a day away...

madok

JVReal wrote:

I feel like Little Orphan Annie... tomorrow is always a day away...

That isn't always bad. For example, if you are going to die the day after tomorrow, Huzzah!!

GrumpySmurf1002

PeterGibbons316 wrote:

The one time I hit 2k I used all 3 shields every 8 hours for nearly 2 days. So 75+150+300=525, 5 or 6 times puts you close to or above 3k.

And that's what it takes with a 4* roster.

A 4* roster that starts early enough can get to 1100-1200 (sometimes higher) first shield. That's 4-5 hops to 2k.

With RHulk-Thing boosted, IIRC I first shielded at 1450 and 3-hopped over 2k. I've done 2k a few times and it's never cost more than 900HP.

I mean there are variables like slice and timing, but even then a 4* player shouldn't need 18 shields to get there.

Jarvind

PeterGibbons316 wrote:

The one time I hit 2k I used all 3 shields every 8 hours for nearly 2 days.

What the buttsauce? Do you have to shield after every match, or what? That's madness.

Malcrof

Jarvind wrote:

PeterGibbons316 wrote:

The one time I hit 2k I used all 3 shields every 8 hours for nearly 2 days.

What the buttsauce? Do you have to shield after every match, or what? That's madness.

No, that is not normal.. not at all.. most who hit 2k regularly don't start the main climb until about a day and a half left, farm iso and let people join for the first little bit.

JamieMadrox

Malcrof wrote:

Jarvind wrote:

PeterGibbons316 wrote:

The one time I hit 2k I used all 3 shields every 8 hours for nearly 2 days.

What the buttsauce? Do you have to shield after every match, or what? That's madness.

No, that is not normal.. not at all.. most who hit 2k regularly don't start the main climb until about a day and a half left, farm iso and let people join for the first little bit.

Again, this is all slice/roster/target availability dependant.

KingDreadnaught

Jamie Madrox wrote:

Malcrof wrote:

Jarvind wrote:

PeterGibbons316 wrote:

The one time I hit 2k I used all 3 shields every 8 hours for nearly 2 days.

What the buttsauce? Do you have to shield after every match, or what? That's madness.

No, that is not normal.. not at all.. most who hit 2k regularly don't start the main climb until about a day and a half left, farm iso and let people join for the first little bit.

Again, this is all slice/roster/target availability dependant.

I'm only here because I see Jamie Madrox's post...

tanis3303

About to hit the button on Rulk today, which will make him my 12th maxed/champed 4*. All my 3*s are maxed/champed, so I always have a strong feature character for PvP. 6 covers on Surfer, 5 on OML (4/0/1...translation: Worthless) and 5 on Phoenix, but I haven't leveled them, and don't plan to any time soon because I find the 5* tier of play boring and am in no hurry to get there...if all I wanted to do was match tiles to win my matches, I'd go play Candy Crush...I like throwing powers around and finding cool interactions between characters, so I'm gonna stay in 4* land as long as the MMR algorithm allows me to.

Anyway, for me PvP works like this: I join at an arbitrary time, whenever is most convenient for me to throw up a couple hundred points. Always slice 5, I found a great group to collude with in that slice and I see no reason to go elsewhere. If I have the boosted 4*s for the week, I'll use them along with the feature...Antman week was a blast, since it was also Heroes for Hire week. Huge attack tile and huge shield tile you say? Yea......I'll just take those, every turn. Thanks! My matches are vs. a mixture of champed, unboosted 3 & 4*s until about 500 or so, then usually some boosted 4*s from there up, but I can usually skip around and find boosted 3* teams with un-champed 4*s for the same points. Depending on whether I have the boosted 4* or not (if not its either JeanBuster or Cyke/Jean) my float point is either 8-900 (boosted) or 650 or so (non-boosted 4* weeks). I very rarely see any 5*s over level 330, but the OML teams certainly see me. 95% of the hits I do take are from OML/Iron Fist teams, sometimes for as little as 15 points, because apparently having OML means nothing is a challenge, ever.

Once I commit to the climb, I can usually reach 1,000 without any shields pretty reliably. A quick post to the Line group to say "climbing to shield, please hold or avoid me for a bit" is all it takes to keep attacks to a minimum. After 1,000, the baking and caking begins, which has become my favorite part of the game. To everyone that has issues with this practice or complains that it's too much work, it really isn't. If your issue is on the ethics of the practice, *shrug*...agree to disagree I guess, but I really can't see how it hurts anyone. It's a lot of fun, its a different kind of rush while playing, and I plan to keep doing it until they finally stomp it out. I've met some great people in the Line room, and banding together with them to help everyone hit the 1,300 progression is a blast. Its also fun to see what you can get away with when you bake a cupcake...my team is always lvl 15 Bagman, lvl 50 1* Storm and the featured loaner character. It amuses me greatly to know that people are scoring 70+ points by beating up Bagman. I ride the cake wave to 1,300 and then begin baking my own every 3/8 hours until the end of the event. Depending on when I start and when I get to my first shield, this costs me anywhere between 300-550+ HP, which for all progression rewards and a t25 or even occasional t10 placement is a steal. My final score is usually in the 1450-1600 range for each PvP.

PvE for me is incredibly frustrating and boring. My scaling is off the charts, forcing me to use either Winfinite (Which has been nerfed. If I want it to work I'm using Jean/Charlie/Widow, which is 100% slower and less reliable than the Switch variety) or something like Hulkbuster/Fist or M40/Thora...any other team I try is decimated by the overscaled enemies, and therefore a waste of time and health packs. I play the events to the point of getting the CP and immediately stop. I do this not because its enjoyable, but because its one of my only avenues of game progression. New character releases I usually shoot for t10, but I think I'm gonna back off of that in the future, as my 4* roster is pretty beefy as is, and it would take me years to gather the ISO to level the characters I already have, so new ones just don't excite me very much.

So that's where I'm at in my MPQ career...After maxing Rulk, I'll be going full hoard mode on both ISO and CP, as opening tokens has a very high chance of giving me a 4* that I already have 13/13 on covers, but won't have the ISO to level for 7 years, and as stated, I'm in no hurry to get to 5* land. The upcoming MMR test/changes may well be a tipping point and cause me to stop playing or at the very least scale back immensely. I'm fairly sure it will see my decently covered, but un-leveled 5*s and force me into the 5* game, and that might just be a deal breaker for me. Time will tell...

MarvelMan

tanis3303 wrote:

So that's where I'm at in my MPQ career...After maxing Rulk, I'll be going full hoard mode on both ISO and CP, as opening tokens has a very high chance of giving me a 4* that I already have 13/13 on covers, but won't have the ISO to level for 7 years, and as stated, I'm in no hurry to get to 5* land. The upcoming MMR test/changes may well be a tipping point and cause me to stop playing or at the very least scale back immensely. I'm fairly sure it will see my decently covered, but un-leveled 5*s and force me into the 5* game, and that might just be a deal breaker for me. Time will tell...

This is so much for where I am. Ive saved 341 cp as Im iso starved and it just feels ****. I missed the Rulk and IceIceBaby releases so I have a long way to go on them, but once Im done with them (and I have no good way of getting there aside from individual covers with cp)....it could be over. Especially if my 1/1/1 SS, 2/1/4 OML, 0/0/0 Spid, 0/0/1 GG, 0/1/0 Ph drag me into 5*, or even really fully 4*, land in the new mmr.

rkd80

Very cool to see some of my fellow S5 bakers and climbers here.

I retired form the game about 12 months ago and returned about 5 months ago. I missed the whole 4* influx, had myself a champed Thora and a lvl 261 xforce - so it was a rough introduction to a game where I was once top of the heap and now bottom of the barrel. Spent $150 and bought a ton of roster slots and began to chase 1300 aggressively to become competitive.

It took me about about 5 months to get there.

Have maxed/champed: Thor4, xf wolverine, rulk, iceman and HB. Current project is JG.
Also maxed a few 3* and covered those that were missing (did not even have a fully functional IF when I came back).

Opened 86 LTs so far and got 5 total 5* covers across OML, SS and Phoenix. Completely useless you say? Yes it is.

The game is a mixture of fun/frustration/anger and boredom. Depending on what I am doing.

Fun: Definitely fun to see how far I can push in PvP before first shield and this is where the progression is most visible. Using Cyke, Iceman and Rulk have enabled me to hit 1300 for the first time before shield and some lucky cupcake catches.

Frustration: Frustrating at my pull rate and the RNG in general. Not a fan of how the end game is governed by luck. Frustrating that I have a fully covered Chulk, but still way behind on XFool or X23. ****?

Anger: Angry that players with a far more shallow roster than I simply had the right luck and can do more than I in pvp because of their stupid lvl 360 OML, hope he drowns.

Boredom: The iso shortage just slows progression down to a grind. I want to play and utilize all the various 4*, but I cant. Iso is such a precious resource that we are forced to grind out everything. I play PVE just for Iso. I play LRs just for iso. I yoyo in SSim just for iso. I dont want to do that anymore, it is boring and repetitive. Worst part? Wont get any better! THere is no end in sight. Iso shortages are the one thing that may drive me away from the game again.

I spend about 600 HP per PvP event and that is too much. While I love the baking subculture, it is too time consuming. Basically cannot play w/out LINE. I have no idea how TxMoose is able to ride the cupcake wave by simply guessing - I found that to be astonishing. Placement has gotten too hard and is dominated by 5*, so I think ill just hit my 1300 and call it a day soon.

I also stopped opening all LTs and CPs. Full hoard mode. Why? Makes the game a lot more enjoyable, the stress of not getting a 5* drove me crazy, now it is gone.

TxMoose

rkd80 wrote:

I have no idea how TxMoose is able to ride the cupcake wave by simply guessing - I found that to be astonishing.

stop, you're making me blush... anyway. took me about 6-8 weeks to develop my 'routine' once I was fielding full 4* teams.

I make my push and then immediately cycle queues to see if any 70something pt teams show up, or a 60something name that I recognize (if I see one towards the end of my push, i'll take another match on another node before I hit them). if they're there with a full team, i'll cycle for a while seeing if the cake team shows up (sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, I suspect sometimes they bake but just don't show up in my queue) - if you spend enough time in a slice, you know the names out there. the way I have things scheduled, I can usually find 1 to 2 pretty quickly after I shield. they're always on the same schedule because they found something that works for them too, so as long as you're consistent, it should usually work. If I can't find anything worth cycling for, I do something else - work or pve or LR. then come back and cycle to see what's there. takes only 20 seconds or so to see what's out there. go do something else for a while. come back and check. within an hour (sometimes within a few minutes) i'll have 3 lined up. and by 1 hr after my first shield, I'm usually out of other players' queues and any hits that might happen from my climb have come in. then I hop (if I queue someone in my bracket i'll check the leaderboard for shields, otherwise I'm firing blind, but such is life).

then go searching all over again. rinse/repeat several hours later. but it really doesn't take that long, even if it sounds like a grueling chore. its not near as bad as the pve grind at sub end (I hate that, but do it now for the iso and eventual cp), and the hops themselves are only a few minutes long (3-5 maybe). I spend much more time cycling queues than hopping, but its still not that bad....usually. every once in a while my schedule will get jacked up and then its a crapshoot on finding stuff. hope this helps others - it does help to be in the 900-1200 range to find those 70something point matches. I never find those climbing when I'm in the 700s or 800s, but do occasionally once I've crossed 1K during my push.

if any non Line user have specific questions feel free to pm me. its all finding that routine that 1) works for you and 2) lines up with the big boys' routines. once I figured some of that out, things became much easier and I started spending much less skip iso.

rkd80

I figured as much Moose, just do us a favor and give it a few minutes before you hit That way we shield and you get your points and everyone wins.

TxMoose

rkd80 wrote:

I figured as much Moose, just do us a favor and give it a few minutes before you hit That way we shield and you get your points and everyone wins.

man, I hate that I have that rep (see p.s.). I know there have been times when I check the leaderboard. shielded. go. re-shield. cycle...hey there they are again. re-check the leaderboard, they broke same time - then I have to send a message via the forum. other times its just a stale queue - those r nice.

the biggest problem is that second 3 hr that's like 6-7 hours after my last hop. then its just firing blind unless its in-bracket. I'd hope people didn't bake and then try to hop again in an hr. gotta give time for people to eat first.

just know that I do NOT intentionally snipe. and when I discover I hit someone unshielded, I usually try and message them. I fully admit I just ride the coattails of the big dogs and I do what I can to let everyone keep their pts.

another problem time is my push to first shield from my floating point. I'm a bit of a bull in a china closet there and I'm just grabbing pts as fast as I can. i never hit a live queued cake immediately, but if i get a 4* team worth pts, i do take it unless i recognize the name and can find another decent match from someone i don't recognize. sometimes the points dry up and i take the match (full team) as a last one. i figure if someone's hopping, they at least have a chance to get their hop done by the time i slog through their full team.

ps, I swear I read a post just now, here on this thread about me having a sniper's rep - that's what I responded to, but its not there now. I'm either going nuts or someone edited/deleted it quickly. anyway, it is what it is.