Input request: What makes a character worth leveling?

The Bob The

"Do I level Doctor Octopus?" "Should I bring up Cap before Kamala?" You see these questions all the time on the forums and elsewhere.

I'm working on a project dealing with the priority of leveling different characters, and I could use some community input. We're all aware of what the top-tier characters are, but there are also characters that have less obvious benefits to leveling; for example, I always struggle more in heroic Lightning Rounds because my Daredevil, Gamora, and Punisher are still at 120. Getting details like this laid out in one place would provide a clearer resource for those wondering who to bring up after the obvious choices.

I have two questions:

1. Which characters are required for specific events? By this I don't mean the rotating PVP/PVE essentials, which eventually include everyone, but rather things like the hero/villain characters who are always required for LRs.

2. What are other characters with reasonably objective benefits to leveling? Some criteria I'm considering include star level, tier in forum rankings, respec benefit (chars like Kamala without an agreed-upon best build), tier of covers awarded at champ level, and whether they award LTs.

Surely there is more I could consider. The point is to identify - based on as "objective" criteria as possible - the benefits of prioritizing certain characters over others.

Got suggestions? Post 'em below, and I'll see what I can come up with!

Ludaa

Work on collecting/maxing/champing top 5 characters for each tier. If you have none that fit that bill, then save iso. Only spend on mediocre characters when absolutely nothing good is on the horizon and you're dying of boredom. Looking at your gamependium, you should prioritize maxing HB, Jean, Thora, then save iso like Scrooge McDuck. HB/Jean/XFDP should be in your team for all events right now. If you must level anyone else, throw 5-10 levels at the featured characters. If you somehow just play the characters because you like them, then by all means level whoever you want, but this game does not reward those that play that way.

Right now, it's OML, top 4's, or bust!

The Bob The

I've been unclear. What I'm asking is what are the broad traits that make a character worth leveling. Specifically, I'm looking to know which characters are always required for certain events (like LRs).

aa25

One criteria I have is if the character is flexible or not. Since at champ level you can switch between the builds easily. If the character is very flexible to counter many troublesome situations or helpful in many different teams in different ways, I tend to level them up just for that.

Edit:
Just want to clarify my point after reread OP again. What I am trying to say is that the characters that have different best build depending on the situation tend to received my attention. For examples,

She hulk (553 for special-tile stealer or 355 for no special-tile. A fine print of her blue I read is that the amount of the tile improvement scaled with her level. When she is buff, it can be deadly even for Daken's strike tiles.)

3*Thor (The only Yellow->Green tile changers. I am not there yet, but I want to try pairing him with other Solid green users with Purple->Green tiles changer and see how much Green I ended up with.)

dr tinykittylove

Bagman first and always... you are not a true mpq player unless you have him champed. Every other character can be whaled. A bagman is the only one you have to work for.

snlf25

My thing is, will the new character push one of the current top 3 characters out of the top 3 with their awesomeness? Because that is what the game has completely devolved into, you have to go with your best 3 guys at all times once you get deep into the 4* transition because the scaling is designed to ruin you. Sucks but it is what it is.

jimstarooney

Off the top of my head...
Both deadpools are essential
3*because if u are in 3*land and u are tryin to take out a hard team those whales u have saved will certainly help (and u dont want yr deadpool to die 1st)
4* because oml/xfdp is a thing!great climbing team,the 4/5*version of hulkbombing (kinda)
Patch/loki i often used for climbing,took out quite a few 4 star teams with those.
Any ap generator (fist/cyc/switch etc)
And personally because i am mainly a pvp player i would get those 5 stars up as soon as i have a cover of each.

TheWerebison

The most useful traits seem to be:

Accelerated AP generation: abilities that increase how quickly you can get the specific AP you are looking for, whether through creating more of a certain color of tiles, stealing from your opponent, or just flat out using one AP to gain another, like HB's black or the new improved IM40. Quickly setting you up to use more powerful abilities.

Overwrite abilities: Cap is the forerunner in this category, of course. An ability that gets rid of enemy special tiles, especially the rare people that can easily get rid of countdown or invisibility tiles.

AOE: Everyone loves abilities that hit all enemies.

Stun: Obvious.

Match 5 capability: Generally only used with Prof X.

I'd say those are the main ones. Creating your own special tiles is useful, but with how easy it is for them to be matched away or otherwise destroyed, it's not as useful as these others, IMO. It helps if you use a person who creates special tiles AND has one or more of the better traits listed above.


edit: I forgot Board Shakeup. Unreliable, as it's all purely random, but it can create amazing cascades for you, and sometimes it's just handy in case you're trying to prevent the enemy from making a certain match.

PeterGibbons316

If I had to say one thing I would say compatibility. Probably the 3 most commonly used 3* characters are IF, SWitch, and IM40 - why? Because they are all very compatible with many characters.

What makes characters worth leveling always depends on your roster because outside of DDQ4 there are no 1 on 1 battles in MPQ. The characters you already have maxed/leveled will determine which ones you put ISO into going forward.

This begs the question: well, what makes teams good/worth leveling? Depends on your goals. High level PvP teams need speed, PvE grinding teams need sustainability, and characters that can deal with CD tiles for goon nodes. There are a ton of things to consider, but I think a lot of good guides have already been written on the subject.

Jack0fAllGames

In no particular order

LR heroes:
Gamora
Cap
IM40
Punisher
Daredevil

LR villains:
Doom
Mystique
Ragnarok
Loki
Cmag

Vhailorx

I would say there are a few questions to ask about each character before deciding to level them:

(1) Should I level anyone at all. this is a meta-game question that mostly relates to scaling and matchmaking. If you have a roster full of 94s, and 1 fully covered 3* (even a very good one), it's probably not a great idea to level that 3*. Wait until you have a few more 3*s ready to push beyond 2* levels and won't be totally dependent upon the one character.

(2) Having decided to level somebody, Is this character a no-doubt best-in-tier performer (e.g. OBW/Ares in 2* land, Iron Fist/Cyclops in 3* land, Iceman/Cyclops in 4* land, OML in 5* land). If so, level them as soon as you have the iso.

(3) Even if the character isn't best-in-tier, are they likely to be useful for my specific roster? Assume you have someone like Patch as a mainstay 3* on your team, and then you get several Doom covers in quick succession, so your doom is now 4/3/4. On his own, Doom may not be quite good enough to get priority. But he plays really well with Patch (rainbow colors, and his traps block patch's enemy strike tiles), so he has extra value to your specific roster.

(4) Is there some other, meta-game reason to level this character? Some characters are mediocre on their own, but offer excellent champion rewards (e.g. Beast and Quicksilver offer JG and Iceman respectively). Other characters may be featured in a PVP even that offers a particularly important reward (e.g. if Hot Shot is the current PVP and has a 1k cover reward that you really really need (say a 5th Iceman blue that would be your 13th cover), then it might be worth having a level 300 Human Torch just to make sure you get that cover. (note, I wouldn't spend hundreds of thousands of iso on something in this category, but 20-50k might be reasonable depending on your overall situation)

Anyway, that's my general process for evaluating when to level specific characters, but given that I have a thread asking which 4* I should level next over in the roster-building forum, I am clearly not averse to seeking outside advice.

carrion_pigeons

Leveling 3*s and 5* are the main reasons to spend Iso. People talk about leveling 4*s but unless it's one of a small-ish handful of top tier ones, there isn't actually much strategic value to doing that. Most 4*s are fine to leave at 160-180 or something and then never touch again.

As far as 3*s go, Kamala and Iron Fist are the best, followed closely by Cyclops and Luke Cage. The others are worth leveling for the LTs you get for championing, as convenient.

5*s are worth leveling once they won't grossly affect your scaling (which is to say, after you have a stable of championed 3*s).

Eventually, way, waaay down the line, you may have a reliable roster for both PvE and PvP, and then you can start leveling 4*s if you want.

Born2DieNPvP

If we're basing our objective off of LRs as a base and extended usefulness beyond that I vote for Doom. He seems to be boosted a lot even when it's not his LR and if you underestimate him he will wreck you. His health scales top tier (in 3*) and his sneaky Summon Demons can quickly ruin your day. In PvE he's great to pair with LThor or Thing or Patch for Rainbow coverage while having that 3rd spot open for a clutch killer.

Jathro

TheWerebison wrote:

The most useful traits seem to be:

Accelerated AP generation: abilities that increase how quickly you can get the specific AP you are looking for, whether through creating more of a certain color of tiles, stealing from your opponent, or just flat out using one AP to gain another, like HB's black or the new improved IM40. Quickly setting you up to use more powerful abilities.

Overwrite abilities: Cap is the forerunner in this category, of course. An ability that gets rid of enemy special tiles, especially the rare people that can easily get rid of countdown or invisibility tiles.

AOE: Everyone loves abilities that hit all enemies.

Stun: Obvious.

Match 5 capability: Generally only used with Prof X.

I'd say those are the main ones. Creating your own special tiles is useful, but with how easy it is for them to be matched away or otherwise destroyed, it's not as useful as these others, IMO. It helps if you use a person who creates special tiles AND has one or more of the better traits listed above.


edit: I forgot Board Shakeup. Unreliable, as it's all purely random, but it can create amazing cascades for you, and sometimes it's just handy in case you're trying to prevent the enemy from making a certain match.

To add to the list, Strike Tile generators. All the more reason Hulkbuster continues to be the measuring stick - AP acceleration from two abilities while providing beneficial tiles in the process of powering up his nuke... it's hard to beat.

morph3us

Jack0fAllGames wrote:

In no particular order

LR heroes:
Gamora
Cap
IM40
Punisher
Daredevil

LR villains:
Doom
Mystique
Ragnarok
Loki
Cmag

Also of note, Demi do rotate LR essential characters every now and then, so that list may change.

rollx

aesthetocyst wrote:

Dear Bob,

Excellent question!

First I got to say this question is ultimately driven by the scarcity of iso. If we were flooded with purple rocks, players would level them all. But as soon as a players dips a toe into the 2* tier, they are immediately unable to level all characters to new caps whenever a cover is applied ... unless they have awful pull luck.

Prior to champing, leveling for me was always a balance between who I could level. I've never had much problem getting covers far faster than I could level them. Saving iso for some character I don't have has never been much of an option. I just prioritized based on my own experience and reports from others. I often just tossed a level or two at whoever I was running that day. If I'm using them, they must be worth it. Prior to champing, I didn't even roster anyone I wouldn't bother to level, just grabbed essentials as needed and ejected after.

Champing changed things. I had horded tokens for 6wks, and iso and covers for 2wks, waiting for R91 ... now I needed an organized approach to optimized the use of my iso horde, covers and tokens to get as many champs as possible as quickly as possible, to squeeze the most I could from that horde. Continuing on by gut feel was not going to cut it anymore. So I expanded my roster sheet, adding an analytical section, the centerpiece of which is the formula below:

Leveling_Priority = Champ_Rewards_Value^2 • SQRT(#_Covers_Queued) / (Days_Until_Covers_Expire)^1.66 / (Iso_To_Max + Iso_To_Champ)^0.5 • 10000 • (1+(Days_to_DDQ+5)^-1) • Iso_To_Cap / Iso_To_Max • Character_Value

1. Champ_Rewards_Value is a subjective evaluation of that characters champ rewards, on a 1-10 scale. Primarily the covers they drop, as the rewards are otherwise identical for all members of a given tier. Obviously, 5*s outrank 4*s outrank 3*s outrank 2*s, and that arbitrary number is adjusted for 3*s and 2*s based on their covers drops.
2. #_Covers_Queued is the number of covers for the character that I have any hope of using. Have to default to 0.5 to avoid generating a useless goose egg.
3. Days_Until_Covers_Expire is just that, how much time until the first one expires. If no covers are on hand, this defaults to 14 days, the time I would always have if a cover popped at the moment.
4. Iso_To_Cap is the iso to reach the current level cap.
5. Iso_To_Max is iso required to max the character.
6. Iso_To_Champ is the champing fee.
7. Days_to_DDQ is the days until the character is awarded in DDQ again. #8s only at this point. Need to make a 4* version, to weight based on Crash of Titans, but that cycle is not yet established....
8. Character_Value is a subjective 1-10 rank of the character's worth. You could use Ebola's rankings for this.

Granted, this approach takes a different approach than does the OP. It doesn't answer whether or not to level a character, but rather advises on which to level next. A subtle difference but one to keep in mind. The OP's take could be summed up in #8, with a touch of #1 ... all the rest is about using the resources on hand, and known resources coming up, as efficiently as possible. In my setup it is biased towards making as many champs as possible, as quickly as possible, but it could be rebalanced towards emphasizing character "worth".

This approach was VERY helpful in navigating the early days of champing. Really helped me minimize "wasted" covers. In fact i was able to use every 3* cover for every character I had rostered, without buying iso. Of course, that situation was helped by having all my 3s at 140+, and a third of them already maxed. But regardless of where a player's roster is at—more advanced or just starting out—I think it would help make the best of the what the player is working with.

^ You forgot to ask for donations. That'll be tree fiddy.

Calnexin

I'm not sure you can apply a general formula for this game. There's no ranking system for capability here, because they're all useful in different contexts. Layer on that the color compatibility creates synergies that are way more useful in teams than as individuals. A support character can't take out enemies like a nuke, or absorb damage like a tank, but they're still integral to gameplay.

Eg - my favorite team to quickly clear lower PvE is Vision/IF/Blade. Vision match blue pair with IF strike stomps the weenies quick. That team encounters difficulty against higher-level opponents because that stomp isn't quite as drastic to their health bar. It's still viable, but not nearly as much as replacing Vision with Cyclops, who can create the red necessary for Blade to amp up his tiles, or a green generator who can enable IF to put up attack tiles or purple generators to get Blade's strikes out faster.

I like reading a ranking as much as the next guy, but from experience it all depends on team strategy. A power that seems like a real loser can save the day if used to empower something else.

Except TAHulk. He occupies his own dimension of suck.

The Bob The

All fine points, which I've integrated. Understand, what I'm interested in this for is as a utility for when you've gotten past the obvious choices in terms of 1) overall quality, and 2) your particular playstyle (I know at least two people who SWEAR by - no, not "at" - Chulk, and they didn't need a list of recommendations to know they wanted to champ him). What I'm getting at is who to level once you've gotten those clear choices out of the way. I give the example of lightning rounds because I am weekly reminded that I'm at a disadvantage there due to having some underleveled essentials; the current Hulk PVE is another example because its final sub always has Punisher essentials, and my puny Frank makes it more of a chore. So these are the things I'm trying to calculate - think of it not as a "Who Should I Level" list so much as a "Okay, Who Else Do I Need?" roundup.

The Bob The

Looking back, it might have been more helpful to start with a list of where characters are essential. Even if you can use a loaner for the node, having your own at better levels will be an asset. So: A List!

Regularly required characters and their events (a work in progress - correct/revise as necessary):

Lightning Rounds
Heroes

Gamora Cap (3*) IM40 Punisher (3*) Daredevil

Villains

Doom Mystique Ragnarok Loki Cmag

Regular PVE Essentials
Unstable Iso-8: ???
The Hunt: ???
The Hulk: Punisher (3*)
Thick as Thieves: ???
Iso-8 Brotherhood: ???
Prodigal Sun: ???
Meet Rocket & Groot: ???
Enemy of the State: Wolverine (2*)
Deadpool vs MPQ: Deadpool (3*)
Growth Industry: ???
Hearts of Darkness: ???
Amadeus' Inferno: Chulk (4*)
Venom Bomb: ???
Webbed Wonder: ???
Civil War:
NOTE: Heroics, Simulator, and The Gauntlet, as well as the non-Civil War Boss PVEs (Ultron and Galactus) to date, either have no story or are based on restricted rosters, so they have not been included.

Regular Essentials for Special PVPs
Earth's Mightiest: Hulkbuster, Fury, Flaptain (4*), Thor (4*), Beast, Black Panther, GSBW, LCap (3*), CMarv, Falcon, Hulk, IM40, Kamala, Luke Cage, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Shulk, Spider-man (3*), Thor (3*), Vision, Cap (2*), Ms. Marvel (2*), Hawkeye (2*), Thor (2*), Wolverine (2*), Black Widow (1*), Hawkeye (1*), IM35
Nefarious Foes: Kingpin, Carnage, Bullseye (3*), Daken (3*), Doom, Doc Ock, Hood, Loki, CMags (3*), Mystique, Ragnarok, Sentry, Ares, Bullseye (2*), Daken (2*), Moonstone, Juggs, Venom (1*), Yelena
Women of Marvel: Elektra, Invisible Woman, Jean Grey (4*), Quake, Spider-Gwen, Thor (4*), GSBW, CMarv, Gamora, Kamala, Mystique, Psylocke, Shulk, Scarlet Witch, Squirrel Girl, MoStorm (3*), OBW, Moonstone, CStorm (2*), Ms. Marvel (2*), MBW, Yelena, MStorm (1*)
Children of the Atom: Colossus, Beast, CMags, Psylocke, MoStorm, CStorm, MStorm, Cyclops (4*), Cyclops (3*), Jean Grey (4*), Iceman, Wolverine (2*), Deadpool (3*)
Black Vortex: Drax, Iceman, Jean Grey (4*), Nova, Star Lord, X-23, Beast, CMarv, Gamora, Rocket & Groot, MoStorm (3*)
PVP Matchmaking: Deadpool (3*), Deadpool (4*), Phoenix (5*), Cyclops (4*), Elektra, Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Black Panther, Daredevil, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Hawkeye (2*), Wolverine (2*), Black Widow (1*), Storm (1*)
Naughty or Nice: Kingpin, Rulk, Doom, Hood, CMags (3*), Bullseye (2*), Moonstone, Venom (1*), Cyclops (4*), Mr. Fantastic, Daredevil, Luke Cage, LCap (3*), Ms. Marvel (2*), Hawkeye (2*), Spider-man (1*)
NOTE: Balance of Power and Combined Arms are special PVPs without regular requirements, so they are not included. "Class of 20XX" PVPs are also not included - will these ever be re-run? I guess Class of 2016 predictions would make sense, since it hasn't happened yet. So, like, do that and stuff.

The Bob The

Thanks! I think Cho has a node in Amadeus' Inferno, and Howard has one in Webbed Wonder too.