PVE: Hearts of Darkness (2016-07-28 to 2016-07-31)

rainkingucd · July 2016

First event with Wave Missions since the new PVE format update. Here's the Loot Table for Wave Missions.

Event Summary

Hearts of Darkness
Length of Event: 3 days
Sub-Events? Yes
Alliance Rewards in Sub-Events? Yes
Number of Sub-Events: 3 Length of Sub-Events: 24 hours
Main Bracket Size: 1000 Sub Bracket Size: 1000
Unique Reward(s): ?
Other Notes:

There are Main nodes to open up the sub-events. These nodes are one time only nodes.

Event Details

Sub 1
- Three in the Hand (100)
  Shinobi, Shinobi, Shinobi
- Unholy Alliance
  - Unpleasant Surprises (200)
    Don, The Hood, Shinobi
  - Tracking the Source (130)
    Thug, Muscle, Thug
  - Tempting Fate (160)
    The Hood, Koran, Koran
  - Full House (446)
    - Wave 1: Kishu, Kishu, Shinobi
    - Wave 2: Teisatsu, Konran, Teisatsu, Teisatsu, Konran
    - Wave 3: Shinobi, Shinobi, Shinobi
    - Wave 4: Kishu, Konran, Kishu
  - Run From the Rider (280)
    The Hood, Hitman, Hitman
  - Hand in Hand (560)
    - Wave 1: Shinobi, Muscle, Shinobi, Hitman
    - Wave 2: Don, Thug, Kishu, Thug, Thug
  - Target-Rich Environment (370)
    The Hood, Konran, Don
  - Essential: Legendary (370)
    Kishu, Kishu, Muscle
  - Essential: Rare (476)
    - Wave 1: Don, Teisatsu, Teisatsu
    - Wave 2: Muscle, Don, Muscle
  - Essential: Uncommon (370)
    Teisatsu, Konran, Thug
Sub 2
- Interrogation (100)
  Thug, Muscle, Hitman
- Dark Design
  - Mountfort, IL (300)
    Shinobi, Teisatsu, Shinobi
  - H.A.M.M.E.R. Patrol (150)
    Soldier, Lieutenant, Soldier
  - Worst of Both Worlds (240)
    Pyro, Thug, Konran
  - Ninjas and Hired Guns (786)
    - Wave 1: Sniper, Pyro, Grenadier
    - Wave 2: Teisatsu, Kishu, Teisatsu
    - Wave 3: Soldier, Shinobi, Kishu, Shinobi, Commander
    - Wave 4: Muscle, Don, Thug
  - Spies and Swords (465)
    Lietenant, Spy, Kishu
  - Lost Souls (555)
    The Hood, Kishu, Hitman
  - The Unimaginable Power (1275)
    - Wave 1: The Hood, Shinobi, Grenadier
    - Wave 2: Soldier, Soldier, Assasin, Kishu, Shinobi, Thug, Hitman
    - Wave 3: THe Hood, Muscle, Don
  - Essential: Legendary (555)
    Muscle, Konran, Muscle
  - Essential: Rare (1428)
    - Wave 1: Don, Teisatsu, Teisatsu
    - Wave 2: Konran, Soldier, Soldier
    - Wave 3: Grenadier, Pyro, Lieutenant
    - Wave 4: Hitman, Assasin, Spy
  - Essential: Uncommon (555)
    Shinobi, Commander, Soldier
Sub 3
- Move or We Move You (100)
  Shinobi, Konran, Muscle
- Spirits of Vengenace
  - Ghosts of the Past (557)
    Commander, Sniper, Pyro
  - The Devil's Due (449)
    Bullseye, Kingpin, Elektra
  - Keep Moving (277)
    Soldier, Analyst, Analyst
  - Family Business (864)
    - Wave 1: Daken (Dark Avengers) Cyclops (Uncanny X-Men), Beast (Classic)
    - Wave 2: Deadpool (It's Me, Deadpool!), Colossus (Classic), Psylocke (Classic)
    - Wave 3: Magneto (Classic), Jean Grey (All-New X-Men), Storm (Classic)
  - The Hand's True Power (1010)
    Kishu, Shinobi, Konran
  - Back to the Beginning (847)
    Hitman, Don, Hitman
  - The Rider Awakens (1450)
    - Wave 1: Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius), Daken (Classic)
    - Wave 2: Sentry (Dark Avengers), Loki (Dark Reign), Magneto (Classic)
    - Wave 3: Mystique (Raven Darkholme), Bullseye (Classic) , Ares (Dark Avengers)
  - Essential: Legendary (883)
    Cyclops (Classic), Professor X (Charles Xavier), Jean Grey (All-New X-Men)
  - Essential: Rare (1776)
    - Wave 1: Teisatsu, Thug, Soldier
    - Wave 2: Shinobi, Lieutenant, Hitman
    - Wave 3: Don, Pyro, Konran
  - Essential: Uncommon (883)
    Venom (Dark Avengers), Ragnarok (Dark Avengers), Moonstone (Dark Avengers)

Powered Up

(Essential)

(new)

(Essential)

Progression awards:

100:

500: 100

1000: Rainbow Power Boost
1500:

2400: Rainbow Stockpile
3500: 140

4800:

6500: 140

8000:

10000: 140

12000:

14000: 250

16000: 25

18500: 250

21000:

24000: 500

27500: 25

32000:

37000: 1000

42000: 25

Placement rewards:

1-2:

+ rewards for 3-10
3-10:

, 1500

, 50

11-20:

, 1500

, 50

21-50:

, 1000

, 50

51-100:

, 1000

, 25

101-200:

, 500

, 25

201-300:

, 500

301-400:

, 250

401-500:

x 3, 250

501-600:

x 2, 250

601-800:

, 250

801-1000: 250

Alliance rewards:

1-2:

, 2500

, 100

3-10:

, 2500

, 50

11-25:

, 1500

, 50

26-50:

, 1000

, 50

51-100:

, 500

, 25

101-250: 500

, 25

251-500: 250

, 25

501-1000: 250

1001-10000: 140

Sub-Event Placement Rewards

1-2:

x2, 1000

, 100

, 2

3-10:

, 1000

, 100

, 1

11-50:

, 1000

, 50

51-100:

, 1000

101-200:

, 500

201-300:

, 250

301-400:

, 250

401-500:

x3, 250

5ß1-600:

x2, 250

601-800:

, 250

801-900: 140

901-1000: 70

Sub-Event Alliance Rewards

1-10:

, 250

11-50:

, 100

51-100:

, 100

101-250:

,70

251-1000:

x3, 70

1001-2000:

x2, 70

2001-5000:

, 70

5001-10000:

Previous runs

PVE: Hearts of Darkness (2016-05-12 to 2016-05-15)
PVE: Hearts of Darkness (2016-02-15 to 2016-02-18)
Heart of Darkness Nov 26 - Nov 29

DTStump · July 2016

EDIT: actually, having a look at previous runs of the event, 42k is a rather low target compared to 55k or even 59k. So the trend of low max prog targets seems to be confirmed.

EDITS for partial results:
Sub 1:
Total event score: 14347
Sub 1 score: 14247
Clears: 5 full clears, suboptimal, all essentials
Made top 50

Sub 2:
Total event score: 41255
Sub 2 score: 26808
Clears: 5 full clears, suboptimal, all essentials
Made top 50

Sub 3:
Less than 1000 points to go, so I just hit a few nodes and got the 25CP.
Still grinding: 57470 points put me at #35 overall with a little over one hour to go.

So for max progression I needed a little over 10 clears, or about 3.3 clears per day.

cozmo1682 · July 2016

DTStump wrote:

EDIT: actually, having a look at previous runs of the event, 42k is a rather low target compared to 55k or even 59k. So the trend of low max prog targets seems to be confirmed.

I think I like it - the 25 CP is great reward, plus the 2 cp in each sub. However, it does seem off that you need to be 10K past max progression to place in the top 200 if my TAT bracket is any indication of how these are going overall.

DTStump · July 2016

What in the seven seas... after hitting the Patch essential node (wave node), the 24h timer started... eh?

Quebbster · July 2016

DTStump wrote:

What in the seven seas... after hitting the Patch essential node (wave node), the 24h timer started... eh?

Wave nodes are supposed to start the timer after two plays per the announcement. Did it start after the first?

ZootSax · July 2016

Quebbster wrote:

DTStump wrote:

What in the seven seas... after hitting the Patch essential node (wave node), the 24h timer started... eh?

Wave nodes are supposed to start the timer after two plays per the announcement. Did it start after the first?

When I tried, the timer started after the second (at least for the Full House one--I'll try Patch's essential shortly) (Edit: Same was true for Patch).

As an FYI, the first two awards for the Full House wave node were the event token and 500

. It seems it might be only two clears for the top prizes in waves, but we shall see...

BigBZ32 · July 2016

Hmmm, so is it best to only do two of the waves then grind the rest later?

DTStump · July 2016

Quebbster wrote:

DTStump wrote:

What in the seven seas... after hitting the Patch essential node (wave node), the 24h timer started... eh?

Wave nodes are supposed to start the timer after two plays per the announcement. Did it start after the first?

Oh, I hadn't realized that. Thanks for the info! (Also forgot to mention it was after the 2nd hit

sorry)

LuciferianX · July 2016

This was going to be my question, so it's definitely more competitive in that one does a double clear before setting up their burn, although people who wanted to play at their own pace can meander through, while the hardcore will go 1, 2, hold and burn, am I correct in my understanding? I ask because it actively defines when I start the event. I despise the 11pm start time, but it's the only one that comes close to aligning with my schedule and needs. I need a 5am or a 10pm, but 7am and 11pm = fail.

Sorry. Minor /rant.

LuciferianX · July 2016

It counts as a wave clear for rewards, but you only clear a node when it says "Victory."

ZootSax · July 2016

Because they haven't published the wave node awards, yet, to my knowledge, they appear to be:
1st clear: event token
2nd clear: 500 iso
3rd clear: standard token
4th clear: 250 iso
5th clear: (I forget, but will update later when I fire up MPQ again)

I'm not playing optimally, so it won't help me if you're in my bracket, but I'm curious: what is the best strategy for timing the loaner node at the start? Still one clear and grind or would it be different?

Finally, the randomly boosted team of Cap Falcon (2/4/3 for mine), Rocket&Groot and Quicksilver has been surprisingly effective. Blue matches fuel/boost Rocket's tiles while also setting up QS's nuke. The one thing I like with the random boosted characters is finding new/odd teams.

hesjingixen · July 2016

Does anyone know when Teiatsu's started turning to smoke even if killed while stunned? Cuz I know that used to be a thing.

DFiPL · July 2016

That bug's been present for at least a couple of weeks.

I am enjoying event tokens dropping with the first clear of a wave node.

sambrookjm · July 2016

DFiPL wrote:

That bug's been present for at least a couple of weeks.

I am enjoying event tokens dropping with the first clear of a wave node.

I just figured it was D3 saying "You know, these ninja guys are too easy. How about we make it so Turn To Smoke triggers, no matter what happens!"

3-star Iron Man, Kamala Khan, and Cap for tile overwriting. Of course, I used that team before for Cap's stun, but now it's pretty much required. Especially in wave fights.

LuciferianX · July 2016

A few thoughts here for those who are following along.

* Opening node is 1 round then starts the clock
* Wave Nodes have been reduced from a silly number to a more reasonable 5
* 2 Wave Node clears start the clock to 24h
* 4 Normal Node clears start the clock to 24h
* My current roster is struggling with 4 270s, and those all combined took me ~2 - 2.5 hours
* See my plea last year for "pick my hour slice" or "divide this into 2 hours or even 4, but stop with the 11pm"

Battle Notes

* Turn to Smoke does trigger regardless of the status of the opponent; having Mind Over Matter or a similar tile wipe/control ability can be beneficial (Ant Man, Moonstone, Quake (single color target removal), Rocket & Groot depending on the cluster and play style, etc.)

* Kishu will aggressively deploy caltrops; caltrops + 600 point strike tiles will cut through almost any defense, so the challenge is the maintenance of an aggressive attack profile to down them, coupled with having AP when you need, and survival ability. It's not easy.

* As always, The Hood should be your first priority in any fight, unless you have very strong passives, like Marc Spector + Danny Rand + Falcap or a similar team (I... don't).

* Even unbuffed, a 2 star Black Widow can solve a lot of problems if you can get her blue reliably, i.e., Black Widow + Quake + IM 40.

carrion_pigeons · July 2016

Liking Falcon/Daken/IF for Hood nodes. He's pretty much completely ignorable then.

BigBZ32 · July 2016

ZootSax wrote:

Finally, the randomly boosted team of Cap Falcon (2/4/3 for mine), Rocket&Groot and Quicksilver has been surprisingly effective. Blue matches fuel/boost Rocket's tiles while also setting up QS's nuke. The one thing I like with the random boosted characters is finding new/odd teams.

I been using FalCap with PHX and SWitch and he's been really effective in this event. Mine is 3/5/5 boosted to lvl219 from lvl140. I been mainly using him to accelerate SWitch CD to get lots of

for PHX, but it's been fun. If I have 5

then I will use his red which is nice because even at lvl219 it hits hard with

out there and no limit cap. I used to think he's trash, but boosted I think I found a use for him. Might actually champ him.

Sluggo · July 2016

I'm pretty happy they changed the wave node timer to start recharging after only two clears. They're massive time eaters and not much fun, so I consider that a solid QOL improvement.

Kishida · July 2016

I'm still playing with a primarily 2* roster, but I have to say that the wave nodes in this are comically... dare I say fun?... using Daken/Patch/Moonstone.

sambrookjm · July 2016

Kishida wrote:

I'm still playing with a primarily 2* roster, but I have to say that the wave nodes in this are comically... dare I say fun?... using Daken/Patch/Moonstone.

You could say it's fun...right up until the Muscle's Threaten ability goes off, creating strike tiles and causing an uber-cascade, doing 10K points of damage and taking out your Patch, anyway.

Kishida · July 2016

sambrookjm wrote:

Kishida wrote:

I'm still playing with a primarily 2* roster, but I have to say that the wave nodes in this are comically... dare I say fun?... using Daken/Patch/Moonstone.

You could say it's fun...right up until the Muscle's Threaten ability goes off, creating strike tiles and causing an uber-cascade, doing 10K points of damage and taking out your Patch, anyway.

I've avoided any truly nasty cascades so far. Besides, Daken and Patch can both regenerate moderate damage. If it works according to plan, Daken converts green to strike tiles; that green feeds Patch. If you can stockpile black, use Moonstone to convert the purple enemy strike tiles from Patch's green and/or muscle strike tiles back to you, and you're laying waste to goons left and right. It's worked for me so far.

PVE: Hearts of Darkness (2016-07-28 to 2016-07-31)

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