S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance Level: Event Rewards Preview *Updated

jobob

Have they said what the max CL will be for now (meaning until they increase max past lvl 100).

With several folks already above 80, and some above 90... I think it's odd that they are thrown in with lvl 32.

And since there are 7 CL spread from level 5-32... Seems like a lot more are needed to close the gap even to lvl 65 where a significant chunk of the player base is sitting.

What are we going to see throughout the rest of 2016? CL10? CL15? CL20?

DFiPL

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

Yeah, so now I'm seeing the CL7 rewards; as a casual PvE player, I can't say I'm unhappy with this change.

Seeing more of the picture now, it's definitely clear they're trying to steer cover progression into just playing, rather than just playing competitively. That's a good thing.

New releases are gonna be a nightmare but for just daily play, the progression iso is doubled, there's more covers available, and the CP is split up so if life interferes you can still pick some up. And unless I'm mistaken, there's a touch more iso in the nodes as well.

These are all good things. I completely get being annoyed if you play competitively, but I'm on board with this.

Consider this: will this mean that new release 4* will be available as a progression reward in the subsequent PVE? Put another way, will you NEED to grind placement in a new release to be able to get that 4* essential the next time out?

And with CP broken up from 25 lump sum to 5/5/15, having to wait partway through the next event to get that 4* essential isn't necessarily the end of the world. You'll still be getting (probably) 10 CP from that next event even if it's a sub or two before you have the 4* essential.

We_are_Venom

Well, I think this alleviates the outrage considerably.

One thing I wonder is how this affects sales. At the end of the day they need money to keep the lights on, and giving away stuff, especially stuff people chase with cash, seems risky.

Hopefully the updates don't equate to more going totally free or it could backfire on us all.

trat73

So will we see the same level of difficulty in matches no matter the CL selected? Meaning, if all you were after was the 25cp would jumping in CL1 be an easier path, or would it be the same difficulty from say CL7 with less reward?

MushroomGenius808

trat73 wrote:

So will we see the same level of difficulty in matches no matter the CL selected? Meaning, if all you were after was the 25cp would jumping in CL1 be an easier path, or would it be the same difficulty from say CL7 with less reward?

CL1 has a 5CP final progression with no CP awards prior to that.
CL2 is the same as CL1 in re: CP
CL3 has 12 total (2, 10)
CL4 has 17 total (2, 5, 10)
CL5, 6, 7 has 25 total (5, 5, 10)

DFiPL

trat73 wrote:

So will we see the same level of difficulty in matches no matter the CL selected? Meaning, if all you were after was the 25cp would jumping in CL1 be an easier path, or would it be the same difficulty from say CL7 with less reward?

It's been said repeatedly that the difference between CL's is in the rewards, not in the difficulty. It's not changing your MMR in PVP, and it's not going to affect your scaling in PVE.

You may be able to win a CL4 bracket with consistency, but you'll be sacrificing at least 15 CP for the chance to win those three 3* covers.

udonomefoo

Gotta love the instant forum overreaction, but to be fair, it was a mistake for them to not upload rewards for SCL 7.

DanBenZvi

Okay, the following is the progression reward structure for all levels so far (1-7 with 8-10 to be announced later):

Level One (No Requirement): Mystery Boost, 100 Iso-8, Mystery Boost, Health Pack, Standard Token, 100 Iso-8, cover, 100 Iso-8, Heroic Token, 100 Iso-8, Standard Token, 100 Iso-8, 50 HP, 140 Iso-8, 25 HP, 140 Iso-8, Standard Token, Event Token, 140 Iso-8, 5 CP
Summary: Mystery Boost (X2), 920 Iso-8, Health Pack (X1), Standard Token (X3), cover (X1), Heroic Token (X1), 75 HP, Event Token (X1), 5 CP

Level Two (Ranks 7+): Mystery Boost, 140 Iso-8, Mystery Boost, Health Pack, Standard Token, 140 Iso-8, cover, 140 Iso-8, Heroic Token, 140 Iso-8, Standard Token, 140 Iso-8, 50 HP, 200 Iso-8, 25 HP, 200 Iso-8, Standard Token, Event Token, 200 Iso-8, 5 CP
Summary: Mystery Boost (X2), 1300 Iso-8, Health Pack (X1), Standard Token (X3), cover (X1), Heroic Token (X1), 75 HP, Event Token (X1), 5 CP

Level Three (Ranks 10+): Mystery Boost, 250 Iso-8, Mystery Boost, Health Pack, Standard Token, 250 Iso-8, cover, 2 CP, Heroic Token, 250 Iso-8, Standard Token, 250 Iso-8, 50 HP, 250 Iso-8, 25 HP, 250 Iso-8, cover, Event Token, 250 Iso-8, 10 CP
Summary: Mystery Boost (X2), 1750 Iso-8, Health Pack (X1), Standard Token (X2), cover (X2), Heroic Token (X1), 75 HP, Event Token (X1), 12 CP

Level Four (Ranks 15+): Mystery Boost, 280 Iso-8, Mystery Boost, Health Pack, Standard Token, 280 Iso-8, cover, 2 CP, Heroic Token, 400 Iso-8, Standard Token, 5 CP, 50 HP, 400 Iso-8, 25 HP, 4000 Iso-8, cover, Event Token, 400 Iso-8, 10 CP
Summary: Mystery Boost (X2), 2160 Iso-8, Health Pack (X1), Standard Token (X2), cover (X2), Heroic Token (X1), 75 HP, Event Token (X1), 17 CP

Level Five (Ranks 20+): Mystery Boost, 400 Iso-8, Mystery Boost, Health Pack, Standard Token, 500 Iso-8, cover, 5 CP, Heroic Token, 500 Iso-8, Elite Token, 5 CP, 50 HP, 500 Iso-8, 25 HP, 500 Iso-8, cover, Event Token, 500 Iso-8, 15 CP
Summary: Mystery Boost (X2), 2900 Iso-8, Health Pack (X1), Standard Token (X1), Elite Token (X1) cover (X1), cover (X1), Heroic Token (X1), 75 HP, Event Token (X1), 25 CP

Level Six (Ranks 27+): 400 Iso-8, Mystery Boost, 400 Iso-8, Health Pack, Standard Token, 500 Iso-8, cover, 5 CP, Heroic Token, 500 Iso-8, Elite Token, 5 CP, 50 HP, 750 Iso-8, 50 HP, 750 Iso-8, cover, Event Token, 1000 Iso-8, 15 CP
Summary: Mystery Boost (X1), 4300 Iso-8, Health Pack (X1), Standard Token (X1), Elite Token (X1), cover (X2), Heroic Token (X1), 100 HP, Event Token (X1), 25 CP

Level Seven (Ranks 32+): 400 Iso-8, Mystery Boost, 400 Iso-8, Health Pack, 400 Iso-8, 600 Iso-8, cover, 5 CP, Heroic Token, 600 Iso-8, cover, 5 CP, 50 HP, 750 Iso-8, 50 HP, 1000 Iso-8, cover, Event Token, 1000 Iso-8, 15 CP
Summary: Mystery Boost (X1), 5150 Iso-8, Health Pack (X1), cover (X2), cover (X1), Heroic Token (X1), 100 HP, Event Token (X1), 25 CP

fmftint

What happens going forward? Anyone below CL6 has no way to earn a 4 essential, and at CL6 you need T1 to win it. Are they dropping 2/3/4 essentials, or are low clearance players just SOL

gamecat235

I think I might fall into the category that will feel a tad slighted here. I'm well into my 3* progression (22 3*'s champed / 32 3's rostered. The HP ftp struggle is real) at day 270-ish / rank 49. I regularly overachieve progression (by about 10-25%) and as a result am typically a t50 or t100 player depending on the competitiveness of the slice I end up in. Previously, that meant I got 2 or 3 3* essentials for the next event and if I was ultra competitive, I'd rarely achieve a t10 finish and manage a 4*. Now my dreams of getting those 4* rewards for that extra effort are gone. And for those weeks where I'm only t100 I only get the progression rewards (which now have 3's and a 4 if CL7, yay, but don't look to be essentials, erm). At least before I could grind like mad to get a shot at the essential 4* if the next event was something I needed/wanted. Now that essential 4* could remain out of reach until luck has her way with me. I've never been a t5 player, I don't have the time to grind 1pt nodes, and pretty much refuse to do so.

Does it satisfy the progression only people? To an extent, but if the progression rewards aren't essentials, then we end up making it take even longer to further progress unless the progression 3*/4* rewards are going to be essentials for the following event, then once you get on that cycle you can at least stay on it.

I like it from one perspective, but I think it will make it potentially more difficult for newer players to stay competitive as they build their rosters. Really, more time with the system and how it works will ultimately tell. I'm cautiously optimistic, but also still concerned.

DFiPL

gamecat235 wrote:

if I was ultra competitive, I'd rarely achieve a t10 finish and manage a 4*. Now my dreams of getting those 4* rewards for that extra effort are gone. And for those weeks where I'm only t100 I only get the progression rewards (which now have 3's and a 4 if CL7, yay, but don't look to be essentials, erm). At least before I could grind like mad to get a shot at the essential 4* if the next event was something I needed/wanted.

I'm going to encourage you to step back and take a deep breath here.

1) if you were getting "a" 4* for T10, good news: you aren't going to have to grind for T10 placement to get that reward, because it will likely be a progression reward in the next event. May not be the exact same cover, to be fair.

2) We don't know yet if they're essentials, because Gauntlet was the event preceding instead of a "normal" PVE. Venom was the top reward for finishing the gauntlet, and the placement rewards foreshadow the next event's essential normally. Venom is also the progression reward in DvMPQ! So that suggests at first blush that the progression covers will be essential characters.

3) the 4* cover, for the moment at least, is at around the 60% point total for progression. Subject to change, as anything is, but if the next event is something you need or want, it doesn't, at this point, look as if it's going to be terribly onerous for you to get it, with or without the essential in the event.

Take a deep breath. I think, once you've had an event or two to fiddle with this, you're going to find that the placement rewards may not be what you'd grown accustomed to, but that you're seeing the sort of roster growth you used to grind T10 placement for without having to actually grind T10 placement.

And if you continue to grind T10 placement, you'll see more growth still.

wymtime

So after calming down over seeing the reward structure this is my impression of this wave of clearance levels.
Clearance levels are here to help new players feel like they are progressing and gives them the chance to compete for rewards. Right now a new player strong 2* player has to compete in PVE and PVP against everyone and they can't get the prizes they need to progress. Clearance levels will allow much lower level players compete and place and get rewards for where they are at in the game.

For upper level players this first wave is basically giving us more ISO to level our 4* and 5* characters with the added 4* progression cover. I don't know how much of an increase in ISO this really means for players and I don't know what levels 8,9,10 will include. I feel as a player how can I get more 5* and is there really going to be enough ISO to let me level my roster according to where I am at are the big questions I have.

On another note how are new character releases going to work since you have dropped the rewards in PVE to be top 5 instead of top 10. In new releases it was top 100 got a cover. Will this be the same or different with clearance levels?

DanBenZvi

wymtime wrote:

On another note how are new character releases going to work since you have dropped the rewards in PVE to be top 5 instead of top 10. In new releases it was top 100 got a cover. Will this be the same or different with clearance levels?

Given the progression rewards layout for CL 7 (and the unknown progression layout for 8-10), I'd be very surprised if a new character didn't end up being a progression reward in the following PVE for the appropriate CLs.

Pylgrim

fmftint wrote:

What happens going forward? Anyone below CL6 has no way to earn a 4 essential, and at CL6 you need T1 to win it. Are they dropping 2/3/4 essentials, or are low clearance players just SOL

I don't see the problem. Take 1000 theoretical day-1 players put together in a PVE bracket under the old system. None of them will be able to play any essentials. However, at the end by virtue of placement, 1 of those 1000 players will have three 4*s covers, 4 will have two, 5 will have 1, 100 will have at least a 3* cover and 300 will have at least a 2* cover. A number of them will have an additional 4* or even a 5* from their 25 CP progression reward. Barring some players being unable/unwilling to play, the next PVE will see exactly the same previous top 10 achieving top 10 again by being able to play every essential node and the top 100 and top 300 will likely be very similar and so will be the next PVE. The old "the rich get richer" scenario.

Removing 4*s and lowering the amount of 3*s from the lower SCL's rewards creates an equal-er field in which (barring very lucky pulls) no novice player will be able to play those essentials until they have naturally progressed their roster (and subsequently, rank) to the point where they can access higher SCL.

Gorca

Well my rewards just got a huge downgrade.

At SHIELD rank 51 (1 champ at 4* and 32 at 3*) I am now getting 8 less CP per event and I'll have to place in the top 10 just to earn 3* covers, with no hope of 4* covers. Rewards for coming in less than that are 2* cover, and are all but useless as most of my 2* are at max champion level.

As I was currently trying to grind 4* covers to get another in to champ range (I have a couple of low level 4* sitting at 12/13 covers) this is a big step down for me.

Big thumbs down.

Pylgrim

Gorca wrote:

Well my rewards just got a huge downgrade.

At SHIELD rank 51 (1 champ at 4* and 32 at 3*) I am now getting 8 less CP per event and I'll have to place in the top 10 just to earn 3* covers, with no hope of 4* covers. Rewards for coming in less than that are 2* cover, and are all but useless as most of my 2* are at max champion level.

As I was currently trying to grind 4* covers to get another in to champ range (I have a couple of low level 4* sitting at 12/13 covers) this is a big step down for me.

Big thumbs down.

Uh? Rank 51 places you at SCL 7. You should be getting slightly better rewards now than you used to.

gamecat235

DFiPL wrote:

I'm going to encourage you to step back and take a deep breath here.

1) if you were getting "a" 4* for T10, good news: you aren't going to have to grind for T10 placement to get that reward, because it will likely be a progression reward in the next event. May not be the exact same cover, to be fair.

2) We don't know yet if they're essentials, because Gauntlet was the event preceding instead of a "normal" PVE. Venom was the top reward for finishing the gauntlet, and the placement rewards foreshadow the next event's essential normally. Venom is also the progression reward in DvMPQ! So that suggests at first blush that the progression covers will be essential characters.

3) the 4* cover, for the moment at least, is at around the 60% point total for progression. Subject to change, as anything is, but if the next event is something you need or want, it doesn't, at this point, look as if it's going to be terribly onerous for you to get it, with or without the essential in the event.

Take a deep breath. I think, once you've had an event or two to fiddle with this, you're going to find that the placement rewards may not be what you'd grown accustomed to, but that you're seeing the sort of roster growth you used to grind T10 placement for without having to actually grind T10 placement.

And if you continue to grind T10 placement, you'll see more growth still.

Absolutely. I agree 100% that we will know way more by the end of DvMPQ, I am just concerned about the ability to obtain essentials in a timely manner to compete. It's what allowed me to progress as quickly as I did (that and finding a competitive alliance that accepted me for being new but willing to climb and throw myself into the game).

That said, thanks for being the voice of reason.

DFiPL

gamecat235 wrote:

DFiPL wrote:

I'm going to encourage you to step back and take a deep breath here.

1) if you were getting "a" 4* for T10, good news: you aren't going to have to grind for T10 placement to get that reward, because it will likely be a progression reward in the next event. May not be the exact same cover, to be fair.

2) We don't know yet if they're essentials, because Gauntlet was the event preceding instead of a "normal" PVE. Venom was the top reward for finishing the gauntlet, and the placement rewards foreshadow the next event's essential normally. Venom is also the progression reward in DvMPQ! So that suggests at first blush that the progression covers will be essential characters.

3) the 4* cover, for the moment at least, is at around the 60% point total for progression. Subject to change, as anything is, but if the next event is something you need or want, it doesn't, at this point, look as if it's going to be terribly onerous for you to get it, with or without the essential in the event.

Take a deep breath. I think, once you've had an event or two to fiddle with this, you're going to find that the placement rewards may not be what you'd grown accustomed to, but that you're seeing the sort of roster growth you used to grind T10 placement for without having to actually grind T10 placement.

And if you continue to grind T10 placement, you'll see more growth still.

Absolutely. I agree 100% that we will know way more by the end of DvMPQ, I am just concerned about the ability to obtain essentials in a timely manner to compete. It's what allowed me to progress as quickly as I did (that and finding a competitive alliance that accepted me for being new but willing to climb and throw myself into the game).

That said, thanks for being the voice of reason.

No problem.

I mean, I can absolutely see there being growing pains in the near term if 4* covers are going from top 10 to top 5, but allow me to share from my own experience:

For time and sleep (mmm sleep) reasons, my PVE finishes are seldom much higher than top 50. The exception in the past has been when I skip a Heroic or something and oh look n00b bracket. I'm typically in the 51-100 or 101-200 finishes. By my count, there are either 35 or 36 4* (ignoring DD and HtD). I have 31 of them, and that's been without finishing top 20 more than once or maybe twice in the last year-plus. My alliance doesn't finish top 100 (or better) so I don't get covers that way, and I don't PVP much, so I don't get covers that way. That means that an awful lot of my 4* are low-cover, to be sure, and that's why I'm so delighted to see 4* start showing up in progression rewards. But I'm still able to play the 4* essentials in all but the barest handful of events.

If you're in a competitive alliance and you play regularly for placement, you won't have had any trouble hitting progression; given that, you're going to be reaching the progression mark for that 4* cover with relative ease whether or not you have that character rostered already. Will there be some events where your overall score is a bit lower as a result? Yeah, but that'd be just as true if you ground for T10 and finished 12th and didn't have the cover at all. In the Brave New World (that hath such covers in it!) you'll still be able to get a cover and hit that essential eventually, benefiting your personal score, alliance score, and CP total. The old way, if you missed the placement you needed, you were out of luck entirely unless RNGesus smiled on you.

As long as you continue to pull your weight to the best of your ability, I have no doubt that your alliance will understand if there are growing pains while everybody adjusts to the New Normal.

oBrokeno

I have only been playing for 41 days. Just finishing up my 2 stars. Starting to grow my 3 stars to progress in the game. But being at cl 5 I am now limited greatly by these changes. I get progression finished every event since I started playing. Event before gauntlet made top 100 got 2 3 star covers. I don't have a chance to win events but I always get good amount for my time put in. Now I can hope to get less for the same amount of time and work. Making my trip to 3 star land even farther.

How is this designed to help me grow? I am just hitting cl5 so I am on the low end of that bracket. Not likely to be a top placer. Can some one explain to me how this helps me? I am new to the game may be missing something I guess. But seems like shite!

Coltron9018

Not sure what happened but I chose the highest scl possible and for some reason now all I can get are level 1 rewards. Anyone else have this issue?