Feature Info: S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance Levels *Updated

amusingfoo1

I'm rather concerned about how this will play out, especially in PvP. I was hoping that whatever Clearance Levels involved, it wouldn't affect bracketing. Why? Because the brackets can get mighty small at the top end, to the point that I was afraid of there being only one bracket in a given time slice.

Lumping 4*s and 5*s together should help with that top-end problem, although it'll hose the 4* people.

Still, I'm not at all sure this will work out well.

How many brackets are there, per slice, currently? Now divide that into... 7 pieces?

In PvE, you're going to end up with 1-2 brackets per slice, mostly, I think. So good-bye, bracket sniping (maybe that's good, maybe it's bad). It also means that, if you want to be competitive, you must join at the beginning. You'll give up too much time, otherwise. I definitely don't love that.

And yes, bracket watchers will have too many brackets to keep track of, but it probably won't matter, because most of them will flip no more than once. And does this also mean that it's impossible to tank your way back into a newbie bracket if you're at a high clearance level? Not sure if that's good or bad, if so, but it'll mess things up for some people. And what about release events? How do those separate out?

For PvP, you're probably looking at 1-2 per slice for the top several clearance levels. This one, I'm less sure about how it'll play out, except that I think that only the people who regularly win their bracket now will have any chance of being anywhere near the top in the new system. Hopefully I'm wrong about that.

Lots of questions.

Ducky

Can we get a list of what Shield Ranks allow entry into each Clearance Level?

killerkoala

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

The big scorers will still be visible across clearance levels, per the OP. Shouldn't affect scoring at all.

from what i read, there will be 7 clearance level over 5 end time, so there will be up to 35 open brackets per pve, so i think, u will only be able to see peeps in ur bracket (top 10 and ten within ur placement, since no scrolling brackets).

Dragon_Nexus

It's the difficulty that's going to be my big issue.
I mean, I'm trying to build up my 4* roster and such, but going to clearance level 7 and finding all the enemies are scaled to level 400 because, hey, "better rewards mean ya gogtta work harder!" is going to turn me right off.

I'm adopting a wait and see approach for sure. I'm optimistic for now though

I'd like to know about the quantity of prizes, too. Since clearance 5 and 6 drops 3* prizes, I assume one's trickier than the other but drops more. So maybe 5 drops two 3* prizes and 6 drops four...but thelevel cap for clearance 5 is level 200 whereas the level cap for clearance 6 is 275. That kinda thing.

Kinda hoping Clearance 7 will drop more than one 4* cover. I mean, I'm not expecting to get a half dozen, but nore than one certainly seems like a nice treat. Especially if it's the only guaranteed method of progression based 4* cover procurement. PvP just isn't as possible for me any more. I've been building my roster purely with legendaries for some time now.

Glad to hear my dream of a 4* cover in progression is finally getting realised. Also kinda hoping Clearance 7 still has some 3* covers in there too so I can continue improving my 3* champions.

GrumpySmurf1002

killerkoala wrote:

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

The big scorers will still be visible across clearance levels, per the OP. Shouldn't affect scoring at all.

from what i read, there will be 7 clearance level over 5 end time, so there will be up to 35 open brackets per pve, so i think, u will only be able to see peeps in ur bracket (top 10 and ten within ur placement, since no scrolling brackets).

It says specifically that you can see all people in your end time, with clearance levels having no effect on matchmaking. Whoever you can see today, you'll see when it goes live.

You'll only be bracketed with people in your clearance level.

stochasticism

What will placement rewards be like for new character release events? Will new characters only be available to certain clearance levels? Will higher clearance levels have chances for more covers?

stochasticism

All this and no sign of 4* PvP anywhere to be found.

mpqr7

I'm excited and hoping for the best. This looks like a fun change that likely took a lot of effort to develop.

wymtime

Here is a question. How will this effect alliance rewards. If we all select PVE, or PVP for 4* will we get a 3* for top 100 alliance?

If so what is the point of alliance rewards at this point in time?

Ducky

Regarding what ranks unlock which levels:



Source: https://d3publisher.helpshift.com/a/mar ... nce-levels

Dragon_Nexus

More ranks coming soon?
Well, I guess that would make things a bit nicer if the 4* clearance level is only the first one. Lower scaled enemies but for the easy ride you get one cover...but clearance 8 has 2 or 3 covers if you can tackle the harsher scaling. That kinda thing.

Yeesh, dread to think how the scaling will be in clearance 10, assuming that's the 5* rank.

revskip

wymtime wrote:

udonomefoo wrote:

A bracket full of all 4* players fighting over 4* prizes? Sounds like this was designed by a super villain.



(I'm excited to try it out though)

Think about all the poor souls going for 1000 points in the 3* event. There will be no big people driving up the scores and it will become a bloodbath at 600 points.
In the 4* bracket that is where people will probably play nicely and still coordinate. 4* bracket will still have 2-3k point scorers and 3* brackets will struggle to get to 800.

I am really glad I have OML on my side

I doubt it. What will happen is the highly organized PVP alliance families will tier their players and still coordinate. They will simply split their 3* guys into sub-alliances and they will be on Line coordinating at their clearance level while the bigger rosters are split off into their own group. More work for coordinators of the bigger families but I'm sure they will have a pretty good plan set up early on. They need those 3* players to occasionally fill up the ranks when big players quit. If they aren't hitting top rewards they won't be ready to jump up.

GritsNGravy

Won't effect PVP matchmaking... Huge bummer. What's the point then? Someone with an almost maxed 5* I'll still be getting matched with champed 5*s... Hard to even break 1K these days, and this doesn't sound like it will help. Bummer it seemed like it was going to.

David [Hi-Fi] Moore

*Added preview images from the new FAQ entry.

JHawkInc

DuckyV wrote:

Regarding what ranks unlock which levels:



Source: https://d3publisher.helpshift.com/a/mar ... nce-levels

Thanks for sharing, they've since been added to the main page, but it helps explain things a little bit. It says the "target goals" for ranks 5-7 are 3*, and that first image in the FAQ shows 4* Thor for ranks 5 and 6, which means while focusing on 3* you can still get 4*s to broaden your roster. One of them is probably close to the current setup, and it'll be nice to see which (mostly in regards to how the higher ranks get better! )

A question for the devs: Will these ranks have any influence over required Essential characters? I ask because Civil War didn't give out War Machine, and a lot of my alliance is having to drop/add 4*s each event in order to keep up with Essential nodes. They're going to be mostly in the Clearance 5-6 area going forward, and it'd be nice for them to be able to avoid rostering and selling 4*s each event in order to compete for progression. (also, I'm going to be set for clearance 7 at the start, and think it would be fun if the 2* node became another 3*/4* node going forward, to make use of all these 3*/4* characters I have instead of having to continually make sure I've got space for a lower-star character) I realize this might not be part of it at launch, but it would be a cool change going forward, I think.

hodayathink

"David wrote:

Moore"]

Preview Images:

Looking at this, I'm guessing this is showing the top placement prize for the event, so level 4 and below tops out at 3* covers, and above it starts getting into 4* covers in terms of top placement.

And this is pure conjecture, but I'm guessing that level 5 will basically end up with rewards similar to what we're seeing now, whereas levels 6 and 7 (and beyond) are where you'll see increased ISO/CP/HP and maybe 4* progression.

killerkoala

"David wrote:

Moore"]*Added preview images from the new FAQ entry.

from the screenshots, i guess u can't see full progression/event prize ranking. it'll be hard to make a good decision without know how many covers u get each ranking or how progression prizes are. it just states where spread is for the threshold for getting 1 cover, i guess.

Merrick

Thanks for the update. Can we please get further info on clearance level rewards. From the pictures, it is impossible to see the difference between level 5 & level 6.

hodayathink

killerkoala wrote:

"David wrote:

Moore"]*Added preview images from the new FAQ entry.

from the screenshots, i guess u can't see full progression/event prize ranking. it'll be hard to make a good decision without know how many covers u get each ranking. it just states where spread is for the threshold for getting 1 cover, i guess.

I don't think so. Given that there's a enter button there, that means you have to hit it before your choice is locked in, so more than likely if you choose your level and hit preview rewards, it will show you the rewards for that level.

fmftint

How will clearance work on new releases? choosing a high clearance will place you in a bracket with players of the same clearance, but presumably all clearance levels will be working for the same release