PvE Frustrations

fudgecake

So I'm pretty close to flat out quitting due to how Heroic Venom played out for me. I decided to go hard to try and get #1 for the rewards. I did what I could to do 4 clears on each node as quickly as possible, and going into Rescue Mary Jane I was sitting at #1, but I wasn't able to to do my clears until a couple hours into it beginning due to IRL stuff.

So now here I am, waited til 2 hours left, beat all the nodes to 1 point... and I'm behind #1 by 2100... and I'm behind #1 in the whole event 1900.

Are the could hours I missed on my start what caused this? If so I really don't understand how this kind of system is okay. Why should I play at all if I can lose if this is the reason.

I only even thought of giving this PvE a real try because I heard they were trying to reduce the amount of playing on a schedule required.

Is there something I'm missing here or is this just how it is?

Mawtful

from memory, yes, this is how PvE is now.

amusingfoo1

It's gotten better and worse. It's generally better, if you aren't trying to compete for top-5 or better. But possibly worse, if you are going for the top.

Scores have gotten closer at the top. I had two nodes go sideways on me at the end of my grind in sub two, resulting in me only beating the top node once. That was enough to drop me from first to third. Not for the sub, for the overall. That's how close it is.

But on the plus side, since they made the last round of tweaks, dropping scaling a little and making the 2* essential a trivial node, my overall time playing PvE has gone down.

fmftint

To take first now you have to
Hit your 4x faster than everyone else.
Grind your 3x as close to the end as possible. 2 hours is too long for a end of sub grind

And don't forget to hit that node on the main map

wirius

Unless you can perfectly grind with perfect speed, don't shoot for #1. My advice is do progression if you're not in a PvE guild. It so much nicer and rewarding for the effort put in.

Huatimus

There are multiple reasons why you're losing out:
1) Late start
2) Slow clear at end (3x should take you less than 1hr 20mins)
3) Did you spend any AP/Dmg boost to clear faster
4) Did you grind trivial nodes ad infinitum

Sorry but your decision to go "hard" was probably not dedicated/hardcore enough, and thus you're not going to get #1.
And they have reduced the playing time because now you need 1 less grind at the end.

revskip

Huatimus wrote:

There are multiple reasons why you're losing out:
1) Late start
2) Slow clear at end (3x should take you less than 1hr 20mins)
3) Did you spend any AP/Dmg boost to clear faster
4) Did you grind trivial nodes ad infinitum

Sorry but your decision to go "hard" was probably not dedicated/hardcore enough, and thus you're not going to get #1.
And they have reduced the playing time because now you need 1 less grind at the end.

Yeah. Top 5 and above is really, really dependent on getting the initial 4 clears done as quickly as possible every day of the event. The final clears also need to be timed as close to the end as possible to maximize points particularly since they removed that one clear, scores are packed really close together at that point.

On the plus side top 10 is much easier and more forgiving of when you do your final clear and top 20/50 even more so. Check marks everywhere with a relatively quick initial 4 clears will get you top ten, at least in the vet brackets I've been playing in slice 5.

DarthDeVo

OK, here's my scenario. I was only shooting to be top 50 because I didn't have the 4* required character. I was in the 4th slice and every day got the first four grinds out of the way as soon as I could. I was usually positioned somewhere around mid-20 for the sub and about the same for overall, if not higher. I tried to play again about 12 hours later and my place was usually about the same place.

Then it got down to about an hour left with one play for each node. Suddenly for the sub I was above 100 and overall well above 50. I think I only finished one sub in the top 100 and I finished 52 overall.

I can understand dropping some after the initial 4 grinds and again after the 5th, but how was I dropping that many spots in the final hour or so? Where are all these people coming from with so many points at the end?

The only thing I can think of is that it was others who had all the required characters and grinded all 4 nodes right away then waited until the last hour and ground everything two more times back-to-back.

Wouldn't the point totals be pretty heavily diluted on the second play though? I was under the impression the best way to get the most amount of points was to grind as much as you could 4 times, wait about 11 or 12 hours and play a 5th time and then another 11 or 12 hours for the final play. Or is it better to do all 4 then play everything 2 times back-to-back with about an hour or so left?

Alsmir

If you want top 1, forget about rl. Let the MPQ become your life.

fmftint

@Darthdevo, a third of a sub points are in the final grind, you were splitting that up and you were missing the 4☆ essential (the second most valuable node)
Anyone with all essentials is going to cruise right past you

acescracked

Lots of very good suggestions and advice above.

Pve placement has always been about speed but even more so now. The goal is to get the maximum number of points.

You maximise points by first getting the timer to start as fast as possible. You want to get the timer started first on nodes with the most points. Hit that first easy node once to get the essentials available. Hit the essential worth most points 4 times in a row to get that timer started. Then the next essential and so on. Then hit every node once until you get to the last one. Hit the last node 4 times to get the timer started and work your way backwards.

On final clear, you maximise points by waiting as long as you can before you start. This is where t1 vs t10 is decided! Obviously, if you don't hit every node 3 times then you have no shot at t1. However, if you start too soon and don't let the nodes cook more than your competition then you won't get t1 either. It is a tough balancing act but if you want t1 that's what it takes. Venom heroic I took 1st starting 1 hour before sub end. Though last sub with carnage started hour 20 mins before sub end. Oh and order of clear matters. Now start with lowest point node, hitting each specific node 3 times in a row progressing from lowest to highest being last.

The other key is using damage boosts on easier nodes and AP boosts on the harder nodes. You want first you have to boost a little. Again, it's all about speed to get 1st and it can be p2w if the competition is tough.

Did I scare you away from trying for 1st? Hah, ya expect being 1st out of 1000 players should be simple?! Well, if you want to dial it back a bit don't boost and start final grinds a little earlier you should get t10 following my advise above. T10 is still very good and you don't have to be perfect.

Btw, someone mentioned to remember to hit that main node...very important.

Have fun!

JVReal

I didn't intend to go hard so I started the event about 8 hours late, and missed a couple nodes being ground to 1 on sub 2.

By the time I realized I could have T10'd it, I couldn't get those points back.

Missed T10 by 350 points.

GrumpySmurf1002

fudgecake wrote:

I only even thought of giving this PvE a real try because I heard they were trying to reduce the amount of playing on a schedule required.

Is there something I'm missing here or is this just how it is?

They did reduce playing on a schedule, in that there's two less times per day that you have to. They didn't eliminate it, and they never will (it seems).

So yes, the hours you missed the beginning cost you points, and inevitably placement. That's the PvE system. New hours, new scaling, same ol' frustrations w/ brackets and placement.

TxMoose

take a break, tank a couple, then get t1 a couple events in a row even if you're suboptimal in a noob bracket. or coast to a t10.

Calnexin

That doesn't seem right. Competing for top spot is a matter of inches, not miles. If you 4x cleared and then ground to 1, the points difference between you and the leader should be double digits. 2100 is ~ 2 clears of the highest node in the final sub. There's no way someone ground a 1-point node a thousand times.

Well, maybe. I'd be curious to know far the elite go to get top rank. Maybe worth a poll.

firethorne

fudgecake wrote:

due to IRL stuff.

Well, there's your problem. The developers have made design decisions where having a real life, having real connections and relationships outside of the game, will be severely detrimental to your ability to progress beyond a certain point.

Fightmastermpq

Calnexin wrote:

That doesn't seem right. Competing for top spot is a matter of inches, not miles. If you 4x cleared and then ground to 1, the points difference between you and the leader should be double digits. 2100 is ~ 2 clears of the highest node in the final sub. There's no way someone ground a 1-point node a thousand times.

Well, maybe. I'd be curious to know far the elite go to get top rank. Maybe worth a poll.

It's all about speed. If you can do your 4x and 3x both 30 minutes quicker you get a full hour of additional pt refresh. Doesn't sound like much but 1/24th of every node times 3 clears can add up. If all the nodes in the sub are worth 10k, being 1 hour slower means you miss the top spot by 1250 points.

mpqr7

The best way to score high generally is to not play for a while (or play very little), and tank your way into a n00b bracket. Then play like crazy. If you're lucky, you might get top 100 that way!!!

broll

It's still better overall IMO. I intended to try and place high in Venom:Heroic. I did my first clears right away and pretty optimimally, but then my brother had to put down one of his dogs rather unexpectedly. So I ended up spending time consoling him. I never did more than 4 clears on anything in the first sub and didn't start the second sub until like 12 hours late. Despite this I still placed 12th. I had to grind the final sub pretty hard. I ended up missing t10 by like 2000, which I know was a timing issue with when I started the final sub grind, but in the end I'm OK with that. 12th is pretty good for how much I missed out of sub 1.

broll

mpqr7 wrote:

The best way to score high generally is to not play for a while (or play very little), and tank your way into a n00b bracket. Then play like crazy. If you're lucky, you might get top 100 that way!!!

I was doing this for a while. You don't have to stop playing, just switch your mode. If you want to drop to noob brackets in pve do almost nothing but pvp for a few weeks or vice versa. However, I find that with the new changes the noob vs vet bracket difference isn't nearly as stark and I don't bother trying to get back to noob anymore.

TxMoose

to tank you have to enter pve events and place low. enter and play one match or if you're in a comptetitive bracket you can play more but finish 950ish. 2 events usually do the trick.