Extraordinary Chat

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if any of you guys in ll2 right now are online, please look at the series of messages ingame or on line if you are in the chat. asap.

as i said, you guys were wonderful and this is all on us. i'm sorry it turned out like this; i knew there'd be swapping but not to the extent that happened. hindsight and all that. please accept my apologies and i hope you see my messages in time.

DrNitroman

Operation: Deadpool vs MPQ PvE
a brief overview before the real debriefing

We didn't manage to grab top100 alliance.
We fought hard but in the end all the alliances swapped players like hell.

The contribution of Extraordinary was... extraordinary!
Seven players have swapped to LL2 for this PvE: Drainc, Ducon, Gredler, GuRoider, Heavyd, Kazap and I. All with very nice scores. congrats everybody

Thanks to you Imoko
No need to apologize, of course it's a bit disappointing but usually we don't swap between alliance as mercenaries so we didn't lose anything!
In contrary, I think we all agree that this operation was exciting and fun!

We will take the time later to analyze things more deeply. But we already learned a lot on the management of such synergy between alliances. We'll see how to handle that even better in the future!

DrNitroman

Operation Deadpool vs MPQ: the Debriefing

Warning: walls of text, I put some spoiler tags to keep this clear!

the proposal
A few days ago inder909 contacted us to propose that Extraordinary join Lock and Load family.

Their alliance group is currently composed of 3 alliances: Lock and Load (T25), Lock and Load2 (T100) and Lock and Load3

Group of alliances should allow to:
swap players between alliance so that a players can compete for an alliance reward when he has a good score in a given event
share informations about PvP, PvE, tactics etc... with more players
We agree to test this idea for the PvE Deadpool vs MPQ with a 4* cover reward

Operation Deadpool vs MPQ: the story

Gredler and I have installed Line (a chat app) to talk in a more convenient way with inder and the two commanders of Lock and Load2: Imoko (Britt on Line) and Jaka. LL2 was aiming at top100 alliance reward for this PvE and the plan was to send the best scorers of Extraordinary to LL2 to win this top 100. Just before the start of the event I told you all about this plan so that interested players know that they shouldn't start the event too late and noticed us if interested.

Kazap, Drainc and Ducon joined us on Line. During the event we shared tactics to clear nodes quickly and watch the scores within our two alliances. We understood that the competition between all alliances for top 100 would be very brutal.
The last day of the event (or a few hours before) we start to swap players. Actually there was 5 free spots so we didn't really exchange players between the 2 alliances, we just sent Extraordinary players to LL2. Gredler was the first to jump, allowing LL2 to break into T100. Excitment grew. In coordination with Jaka, I sent signal to jump for the others, go, go go! We wanted to be sure to have enough commanders left in Extraordinary so that everybody can go home so inder and gredler sent their 2nd account to Extraordinary (inder808 and grodler, respectively) and we made them commanders. I jumped too.
At this moment, we were 5 Extraordinary in LL2 our contribution to collective score was very good but we were still in bottom half of T100 (between ranks 80 and 60 I believe). The other alliances were pushing very hard too. Gredler and I began to send messages to heavyd and GuRoider to have them with us. Meanwhile Imoko was looking for a mercenary to increase our score. Finally GuRoider and Heavyd joined us and Imoko found a mercenary (again we didn't exchange players, they did kick some inactive players who wasn't playing for ages). We were close to rank 50 this time, very excited and proud because the contribution of Extraordinary to the collective score was very good.
Unfortunately, this wasn't enough. In the end we were slowly slipping out of top100 because all the other alliances were swapping players to increase their score. The competition for a new 4* character is crazy. Imoko looked for another mercenaries but in the end she understood that we would never make it. Thus, she noticed everyone before the end so that those who want to try their luck with another allaince can do so.

The ending is a bit sad, but the operation in itself was very exciting and we were all very glad to contribute. The truth is, we haven't many challenges in Extraordinary and we were woken by this one !

Next?
We all agree in LL2 and Extraordinary that this was a success, even without 4* reward! We had fun and it was nice working together. So what next? Primary goal of LL2 is top100 in PvE and they are currently restructurating.

We can repeat the same operation for the next PvE rewarding a 4* cover.
The competition will certainly be as much fierce so Extraordinary vets are warned!

We can now test how we could cooperate for normal PvE event
For those PvE, competition will be lower and T100 easier to reach. Of course such PvE reward 3* covers, so this would probably interest mostly our transitioning players and perhaps some vets who have still some missing 3* covers.
How to proceed? When you are interested in PvE alliance reward and plan to push in PvE, notice the group. We will keep communicating with LL2 commanders very regularly. If we see that your score could help LL2 we will try to swap you with a LL2 player (requires that the 2 swapped players are active and OK of course).

PvP?
Many try to push regularly to 1000 in PvP and wonder if we could cooperate for T100 PvP too. Currently nothing is planned because it's hard to compete in both PvE and PvP T100... but stay tuned.

What have we learned?
Feel free to add your thoughts, here's some:

A bit of challenge is fun
Most of us enjoy the low pressure environment of Extraordinary but challenge is fun too. Maybe we should look for challenges more often.

Inter-alliance cooperation can help us earning rewards
Top 100 PvP seems out of reach for Extraordinary: We would need an average of 1k per player for a PvP top 100 (but it could strongly vary depending on the PvP) and an average 10k per player for T100 season. I think we could collectively reach top100 PvE, but it's hard to have 20 players motivated at the same time when the reward is a 3* cover that some already have. Cooperation is a way to reward players depending on their goals.

Communication is the key
To cooperate efficiently, commanders of each alliance need to communicate and each commander should be able to contact his team mates easily. Line has proven to be a very convenient way for communication. Of course we can keep using ingame chat but I think we should also use more this forum thread. We're not all in same timezones and when we can't discuss live, a post in the forum will stay more visible.
For PvP there are some battle chats that players use to share info, find better targets and finally cooperate to reach 1000 or 1300 (Inder knows better than me).
Line can be a way to share tactics and characters build with more players. But we can start by sharing info through chat and forum. Transitioning players need info on how to earn 3* covers and vets for 4*. I will start a topic to gather our info for alliance players

In summary: Let's discuss more within Extraordinary and a few supplementary commanders would be helpful to coordinate among timezones!

DrNitroman

Extraordinary Toolbox
[latest update:2015-08-30]

Here I will edit this post in the future to gather our tactics, fav build etc...
You can post your thoughts and I'll add the here
Let me know if you have questions or suggestions

PvE Events

Probably the safest way to get 3* covers for a transitioning player with 2* roster. It's more time-consuming than PvP though.
Basics

Sometimes new 4* characters are rewarded in PvE (and the frequency might increase), competition is often more intense in this case. In PvE there are rewards for ranking and for progression (amount of points cumulated in the event) Fighting nodes in main screen opens sub-event screen that generally lasts 24h or 48 ant that have its own ranking and progression reward Each time you beat a node, you earn event points, then the value of the node is decreased (-16% I believe) and a 8h counter starts: it's the time for the node to refresh, to come back progressively to its initial point value. 8h-counter and 16% points decrease stack each time you beat a node meaning that if you beat a node 6 times in a row, the node value will be 1 point. There is three 'essential nodes' that require to have a particular character (a 2*, a 3* and a 4*). While it's obviously better to have those three characters, you can still reach the highest progression reward without them

Optimizing points

To optimize your points you should try to fight nodes when they have max value. The optimal scenario is to beat each node once (a run) then wait 8h before doing another run. When the end of the sub is close you should do as many runs as you can: the (in)famous grinding!

It's better to do a run a bit early than to let your nodes at max value a long time
When you can't do a complete run, start by the essential nodes, they have the better value / difficulty ratio
Optimizing rank

If you do a perfect grind as below you have a good chance at a high ranking You can also wait the last day of the event to enter a new bracket with less competition. This require to watch forum or chat to know how are the brackets. Doing so you will score less.

PvP Events

Unlike in PvE, in PvP you can lose points when you are attacked by other players. Progression can be frustrating but it's the better way to earn 3* and 4* covers
Basics

You have to compose a team of 2 character + the featured character. If you don't have the featured character you can use a loaner version You can

skip a team if you don't want to fight it, just use the purple button. Since the 5th skip a row it costs HP. Skip cost is reseted after a fight
Below a score of 800 you can be attacked by players who are in the same range of score. Above 800 all players can attack you.
When a player attack you and win you lose points. If ever he lose you'll gain point (defensive win).
The other players see the last team you have used in the PvP (it's your defense team)
When you attack, the amount of points that you can earn depend on the difference between your two scores. Same score: 38 points, then if your opponent has a higher score you'll earn more points, up to 75 pts.
The attacked player has then the opportunity to retaliate against your team, if he does so he will appear in a red node (and you can retaliate in your turn)
As a rule of thumb, try to avoid fighting opponents worth less than 38 pts, the retaliation would cost you too many points.
Progression

Weaker is your team higher are the odds to be attacked by everyone else. Therefore the progression in PvP is very difficult with a 2* roster. With a 2* roster you can aim at 300 points to earn the token, it's a good start. With a stronger team you will able to reach higher reward: HP, tokens, 3* cover at 800 and maybe 4* cover at 1000 and 1300!

Reaching 1000

Determine what is the break point above which the attacks are too frequent The stronger your team the less frequent the attacks, so try to field buffed characters, a 290/240/240 team for instance ;) If your break point is around 800, you should be able to climb just below 800, wait for your healthpacks to resplenish then try to 'run' from 800 to 100 in on play session. If your break point is below 800, reaching 1000 might require shield hopping

Shield hopping

An expensive method that allows to reach high scores. Basically, when you reach a score when the attacks are too frequent, you raise a shield. Then proceed in 3 steps (1) while shielded, choose your targets in your nodes, (2) break shield and do 1 to 3 fights very quickly (3) raise a new shield before anyone has the time to attack you. If you want to master this tactic, it's better to join a chat room to discuss with vet shield-hopper and share informations

Managing roster

Tokens can be hoarded indefinitely. If you don't have roster space for a new character and not enough HP to buy a new one, it could be better to avoid opening tokens. This way you won't have to sell a cover because you lack space
Don't spread your ISO. A lvl 94 2* character is as strong as a lvl 110 3* char. A lvl 166 3* character is as strong as a lvl 229 4* char. (in terms of match damages) Therefore when you begin the game it's wiser to start focussing on your 2* team and spend iso to level them to 94. This 2* team should allow you to earn 3* covers. When you'll have a 3* charac with 11 or more covers it should be worth to invest iso and your next objective will be to gather three 3* character at lvl 166. 3* transition complete! ;)
Spread your ISO! Once you have a few maxed 3* character, it could be interesting to spread iso on many characters. Leveling from 0 to 100 cost few iso (around 17k I believe) and having numerous characters at 110 or above will afford you to take advantage fom the buffs of the week.

Basic gameplay tips

Healthpacks resplenish! If you have less than 10 healthpacks, you will earn an healthpack every 30 minutes.
Team-Ups (TU): if you have less than 20, you can ask the alliance to resplenish your stock, don't hesitate!
order of priority. In roster selection screen before a fight, character in the center will be the primary character, then the character at the left will be secondary and the character at the right will be tertiary.
selecting opponent. During a fight you can select the enemy character you want to hit, just click (tap) on him to move the opponent team
goons powers. When you select a goon (minions that are non playable character) by clicking / tapping, the countdowns tiles he owns will briefly blink. Goons don't move tile but they generate AP each turn!
Playing Lightning Rounds at the very start will allow you some easy fights against seed teams to earn some iso and tokens
Playing Deadpool Daily Quest regularly is a good way to improve your roster. Nodes 1 to 3 reward 1 token and iso and when possible, nodes 4 & 5 to earn a 3*cover. DDQ: a good habit! ;)

DrNitroman

Extraordinary news

We have officially joined the Lock and Load family!
The alliance grouping is composed of Lock and Load (T25, PvP & PvE), Lock and Load2 (T100, PvE), Lock and Load3... and Extraordinary.
Such a group allows inter-alliance synergies: a player can move to a competitive alliance when he want to contribute more and he can move to a less competitive alliance when he need to slow down a bit. Let's keep the game fun
Beyond this, a group it's more friends to chat with, share advices on the game. You can have a look at LL forum and if you want to use Line, you can join us in the collective chat room.

Currently, gonzo is fighting in LL2 for the end of Juggernaut Heroic PvE. Good luck , for the alliance reward!

Next PvE Enemy of the State will start soon, rewarding Cyclops covers and black cover as Alliance reward. Cyclops is a very strong character, I'm sure some of us will be interested! If you plan to push in this PvE and would like to have a chance at the alliance reward, notice the group and keep grinding: better scores will have the opportunity to swap.

DrNitroman

Piermarco, if ever you read this, could you contact me please?


Edit (Sat 22 Aug): Piermarco, as you were inactive since a long time and I couldn't contact you I have kicked you out of the alliance. Nonetheless, if ever you want to come back, please contact me, I'm sure we will find room for you! Farewell

MDHVIFG

Hi all!

Long time listener, first time caller here. I've been playing the game for a couple hundred days now and am looking to finally join an active alliance. My user ID in the game is MDHVIFG. I've got a pretty strong roster for the 2-3* transition (7 3*s leveled over 100 and about 40 more 3 and 4*s coming up the ranks quickly), and I never miss a day of playing.

I'm not especially chatty in-game or on the forum (I registered on the forum just now so I could ask to join extraordinary), but a friendly dude who wants to help out and be a member of an alliance like yours.

I hope this post doesn't constitute spam. I tried applying directly to the alliance in-game but was unable.

Best,
MDHVIFG