Next Season Updates: Gems, Star-Lord & Champion Rewards

David [Hi-Fi] Moore

Hello, everyone.

The next Versus season is approaching and we wanted to provide a look at some updates arriving soon.

New Season Names:

With the next Versus season starting this Thursday, we are trying out a new simpler system of Season naming based on the 6 Infinity Gems. This upcoming Season 33 will instead be called the "Power Gem" Season.

The Seasons will cycle through all 6 gems (Power, Time, Reality, Soul, Mind, Space) and then loop back to Power.
*Note that this is just a naming change and there are no gameplay differences between the 6 Seasons.

Character Updates:

With the upcoming Power Gem Season, we will be updating the powers to Star-Lord (Legendary Outlaw). We've given his powers some more utility while keeping his Countdown tile-based kit, helping him be a better teammate to his fellow Guardians (or anyone else you'd like to pair him with!)

Here's a breakdown of his reworked powers:

Sleight of Hand - 10 AP
Turns 1-3 selected non-Countdown tiles into 3-turn Countdown tiles which deal damage to the target.
Upgrades include targeting Countdown tiles as well as dealing team damage when the Countdowns expire.

Everyone With Me - Passive
Whenever an enemy fires a power, place a Countdown tile that gains AP in a random color. While at least one of these tiles is on the board, friendly powers have their AP costs reduced.
Upgrades include more AP colors, More AP returned, and higher AP-cost reduction.
There can only be 4 of these friendly Countdown tiles at any one point.

Oldest Trick in the Book - 8 AP
Deals damage plus additional damage for every friendly Countdown tile.
Up to 6 Countdown Tiles.

Updates to 3-Star Champion Rewards:

Lastly, with the start of the Power Gem Season, we will be updating a few 3-Star Champion rewards to introduce some of the newer 4-Star characters that have been released since the start of the Champion feature. See below for the changes.

Captain Marvel (Modern) -> Peggy Carter (Captain America)
Iron Fist (Immortal Weapon) -> Kate Bishop (Hawkeye)
Luke Cage (Hero For Hire) -> Luke Cage (Power Man)
The Punisher (Dark Reign) -> The Punisher (MAX)
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) -> War Machine (James Rhodes)
Rocket & Groot (Most Wanted) -> Drax (The Destroyer)
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) -> Quake (Daisy Johnson)
Sentry (Dark Avengers) -> Moon Knight (Marc Spector)
Steve Rogers (Super Soldier) -> Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes)

TheRealJRad

I'm sure I know the answer, but does anything change for characters we've already leveled beyond the 4*progression?

Any idea when we could expect to see the details for Star-Lord?

The Herald

Glad to see the new 4*s being given Champion tracks, and Starlord looks awesome

Does this mean no plans for a 4* Iron Fist then? Or are they subject to future long term reshuffling?

an1979

Cowardly way to skip (not-so-future) XXX Season!


EDIT.
Well then XXXX one

The more X'es the better!

Moon Roach

an1979 wrote:

Cowardly way to skip XXX Season!

Been there, done that.

DFiPL

"David wrote:

Moore"]

Character Updates:

With the upcoming Power Gem Season, we will be updating the powers to Star-Lord (Legendary Outlaw). We've given his powers some more utility while keeping his Countdown tile-based kit, helping him be a better teammate to his fellow Guardians (or anyone else you'd like to pair him with!)

Here's a breakdown of his reworked powers:

Sleight of Hand - 10 AP
Turns 1-3 selected non-Countdown tiles into 3-turn Countdown tiles which deal damage to the target.
Upgrades include targeting Countdown tiles as well as dealing team damage when the Countdowns expire.

Everyone With Me - Passive
Whenever an enemy fires a power, place a Countdown tile that gains AP in a random color. While at least one of these tiles is on the board, friendly powers have their AP costs reduced.
Upgrades include more AP colors, More AP returned, and higher AP-cost reduction.
There can only be 4 of these friendly Countdown tiles at any one point.

Oldest Trick in the Book - 8 AP
Deals damage plus additional damage for every friendly Countdown tile.
Up to 6 Countdown Tiles.

I actually made Star-Lord my first 4* champion in the hopes that he'd be the next 4* to get a rebalance. This way I can fiddle around with different builds.

Updates to 3-Star Champion Rewards:

Lastly, with the start of the Power Gem Season, we will be updating a few 3-Star Champion rewards to introduce some of the newer 4-Star characters that have been released since the start of the Champion feature. See below for the changes.

Captain Marvel (Modern) -> Peggy Carter (Captain America)

/looks at level 184 Captain Marvel (Modern)

My Thing was happy to have the cover, but had I known this was coming I would have waited to apply additional covers to her. Will she update so that I'll get Captain Peggy covers for 223 and 265, or do I need to completely rebuild Captain Marvel to get access to the Peggy covers?

Iron Fist (Immortal Weapon) -> Kate Bishop (Hawkeye)

Ambivalent here. If the new rewards update automatically, I'll be losing Hulkbuster covers, but She-Hawkeye's been on my want list for a bit and Iron Fist is close to 183.

Luke Cage (Hero For Hire) -> Luke Cage (Power Man)

189, already got the first Kingpin cover. So, like Marvel, will the rewards shift or would I have to rebuild Cage to get the Power Man covers?

The Punisher (Dark Reign) -> The Punisher (MAX)

Hadn't championed Punisher yet, so I know what I'll be getting there.

Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) -> War Machine (James Rhodes)

Aw, I was looking forward to Iceman covers. I can use Rhodey covers, too, but this is actually one where I hope existing champions are grandfathered.

Rocket & Groot (Most Wanted) -> Drax (The Destroyer)

An either-way outcome here. Either Star-Lord gets champion levels if my champion Groot is grandfathered, or I get some needed Drax covers.

Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) -> Quake (Daisy Johnson)

This is one where I'd hope for not-grandfathered, as Witch is 3 levels away from 183, which would be, like, my 9th for Professor X. Quake would be more useful to me.

Sentry (Dark Avengers) -> Moon Knight (Marc Spector)

Guess I gotta keep Sentry this time around after all.

Steve Rogers (Super Soldier) -> Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes)

Rogers is 189, and I just pulled my 5th from a Legendary token today, so this is another place where I wouldn't mind if he just switched to Bucky.

Kinda ambivalent overall. No real YAY or BOO reactions, but I'm curious to know if the rewards will update going forward, if anything will be done for characters who passed one or more of the cover tiers already (not saying that anything SHOULD be, only wondering if anything WILL be), or if a rebuild will be necessary to get the new covers.

ErikPeter

"David wrote:

Moore"]Hello, everyone.

WOOO. WOOO.

All looks great. I was 2 Switch covers away from ProfX Purple 3 (he's 5/2/5), so that's going to hurt, but whatever, everything's great. Great, great, great.

Weird they didn't make it an even 40 to 40 transition. Cyc, Rider, 4pool, Chulk, 4hor, XFW and X-23 still get covers from 2 characters. Still, nice spread there.

CaptainFreaky

Just one re-balance this season? I guess Boss Rush took too much time to work on another character (yes I know that was gratuitous).

Also, I know there's no $$ in 3* reworks - but seriously, when is 3* Spidey gonna get some love? I mean 5* Spidey is all well and good, but he's so rare to much of the player base who REALLY wants a Peter Parker/Spidey that actually plays like, well, Spidey.

mjh

"David wrote:

Moore"]Captain Marvel (Modern) -> Peggy Carter (Captain America)
Iron Fist (Immortal Weapon) -> Kate Bishop (Hawkeye)
Luke Cage (Hero For Hire) -> Luke Cage (Power Man)
The Punisher (Dark Reign) -> The Punisher (MAX)
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) -> War Machine (James Rhodes)
Rocket & Groot (Most Wanted) -> Drax (The Destroyer)
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) -> Quake (Daisy Johnson)
Sentry (Dark Avengers) -> Moon Knight (Marc Spector)
Steve Rogers (Super Soldier) -> Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes)

I can safely assume that if we already levelled a 3* past the cover reward, we will retroactively receive the new updated cover reward, right? Yes?

Starsaber

CaptainFreaky wrote:

Just one re-balance this season? I guess Boss Rush took too much time to work on another character (yes I know that was gratuitous).

Also, I know there's no $$ in 3* reworks - but seriously, when is 3* Spidey gonna get some love? I mean 5* Spidey is all well and good, but he's so rare to much of the player base who REALLY wants a Peter Parker/Spidey that actually plays like, well, Spidey.

Well, the last two seasons have been half as long as regular ones and each had 1 rebalance, so it works out about right. And I'd rather they take the time to do them right rather than just rushing them out.

veny

Star Lord look nice... much better than current version it seems (at least for me but lets wait for numbers).
Champion changes are also cool, but there are many 3*s that are giving same 4* covers (f.e. 4* Wolverine given by 3* Wolverine and Colossus)

snlf25

Can I request a one time deleveling of my Carol and my Switch back down to 182?

drayviper32

Looks like Star Lord would be awesome against goons.

Phaentom

So, the 3* rewards currently give 4* covers at level 183, 223 and 265.
Currently of the 9 you're going to change, all of them are past 183, with 5 past 223 and 1 at 265.
Will, we be rewarded the new covers if we are past those levels??

Jathro

Still no 3s that give Nova, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, Wasp, or Gwenpool (though Gwenpool is understandable). But some that give multiple (She-Hulk and Hulk giving Cho, and Daken and Rags giving X-23).

Anything else I'm missing?

fnedude

So Spider-Woman gets a pass?

Too bad (not like I could use this, about 85% of my 3*s are past 183 by now...)

But it's at least a Plus to moving 4*'s up for others....

Punisher5784

Any reason we couldn't have the even 40 3* - 40 4*?

She Hulk: Spiderwoman
Hood: Gwenpool
Vision: Wasp
KK: Nova
Colossus: Spidergwen

Some of these areca stretch but some were obvious changes. Overall it's nice to see changes were made to champion rewards.

Pylgrim

Phaentom wrote:

So, the 3* rewards currently give 4* covers at level 183, 223 and 265.
Currently of the 9 you're going to change, all of them are past 183, with 5 past 223 and 1 at 265.
Will, we be rewarded the new covers if we are past those levels??

mjh wrote:

"David wrote:

Moore"]Captain Marvel (Modern) -> Peggy Carter (Captain America)
Iron Fist (Immortal Weapon) -> Kate Bishop (Hawkeye)
Luke Cage (Hero For Hire) -> Luke Cage (Power Man)
The Punisher (Dark Reign) -> The Punisher (MAX)
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) -> War Machine (James Rhodes)
Rocket & Groot (Most Wanted) -> Drax (The Destroyer)
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) -> Quake (Daisy Johnson)
Sentry (Dark Avengers) -> Moon Knight (Marc Spector)
Steve Rogers (Super Soldier) -> Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes)

I can safely assume that if we already levelled a 3* past the cover reward, we will retroactively receive the new updated cover reward, right? Yes?

*sigh* Why? You already got a 4* from them. There is asking for what's fair and there's being greedy. Sometimes I imagine the devs hesitating when releasing necessary changes like this one knowing that there will always be a subset of people that will get angry and demand unwarranted compensation.

Jathro wrote:

Still no 3s that give Nova, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, Wasp, or Gwenpool (though Gwenpool is understandable). But some that give multiple (She-Hulk and Hulk giving Cho, and Daken and Rags giving X-23).

Anything else I'm missing?

It is a bit puzzling why they didn't do it now, but the wording makes it seem as though they will keep making these changes in the future, likely to incorporate newer characters. Perhaps they have self-imposed themselves a limit of how many to change every time.

Vhailorx

"David wrote:

Moore"]
Lastly, with the start of the Power Gem Season, we will be updating a few 3-Star Champion rewards to introduce some of the newer 4-Star characters that have been released since the start of the Champion feature. See below for the changes.

Captain Marvel (Modern) -> Peggy Carter (Captain America)
Iron Fist (Immortal Weapon) -> Kate Bishop (Hawkeye)
Luke Cage (Hero For Hire) -> Luke Cage (Power Man)
The Punisher (Dark Reign) -> The Punisher (MAX)
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) -> War Machine (James Rhodes)
Rocket & Groot (Most Wanted) -> Drax (The Destroyer)
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) -> Quake (Daisy Johnson)
Sentry (Dark Avengers) -> Moon Knight (Marc Spector)
Steve Rogers (Super Soldier) -> Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes)

Hmm, the only ones that matter for me are:
--sentry (would much rather have that rulk cover)
--Punisher (already sold the elektra cover rather than selling 7 3*pun covers I got in quick succession. Haven't used him once since then though, kinda wish I had stalled at 182)
--Lazy Cap (Happy to take WS instead of flaptain)

The star-lord rework looks like an improvement. He desperately needed his yellow to be passive! Not sure if he will be top tier, but he will certainly be interesting against goons of nothing else.

The gem seasons thing is just stupid. Why switch from a simple numbering system that would be fine forever to a cyclical system that becomes useless for reference in just a few a months. If I tell someone that my first ever season was IV, and I earned my first season 10-pack in Season V, they know exactly what that means. But if I tell someone I started during the "Power Season" that reference is only useful until March 2017 when the next power season rolls around. (not that it makes a huge difference, I just don't see any advantage to the new system).

Thanks for this update hifi! But please pass along to demi that we are still interested in hearing some dev commentary on Boss Rush and Anniversary 3 in general. That stuff was kind of a big deal.

DFiPL

Vhailorx wrote:

"David wrote:

Moore"]
Lastly, with the start of the Power Gem Season, we will be updating a few 3-Star Champion rewards to introduce some of the newer 4-Star characters that have been released since the start of the Champion feature. See below for the changes.

Captain Marvel (Modern) -> Peggy Carter (Captain America)
Iron Fist (Immortal Weapon) -> Kate Bishop (Hawkeye)
Luke Cage (Hero For Hire) -> Luke Cage (Power Man)
The Punisher (Dark Reign) -> The Punisher (MAX)
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) -> War Machine (James Rhodes)
Rocket & Groot (Most Wanted) -> Drax (The Destroyer)
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) -> Quake (Daisy Johnson)
Sentry (Dark Avengers) -> Moon Knight (Marc Spector)
Steve Rogers (Super Soldier) -> Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes)

Hmm, the only ones that matter for me are:
--sentry (would much rather have that rulk cover)
--Punisher (already sold the elektra cover rather than selling 7 3*pun covers I got in quick succession. Haven't used him once since then though, kinda wish I had stalled at 182)
--Lazy Cap (Happy to take WS instead of flaptain)

The star-lord rework looks like an improvement. He desperately needed his yellow to be passive! Not sure if he will be top tier, but he will certainly be interesting against goons of nothing else.

The gem seasons thing is just stupid. Why switch from a simple numbering system that would be fine forever to a cyclical system that becomes useless for reference in just a few a months. If I tell someone that my first ever season was IV, and I earned my first season 10-pack in Season V, they know exactly what that means. But if I tell someone I started during the "Power Season" that reference is only useful until March 2017 when the next power season rolls around.

Thanks for this update hifi! But please pass along to demi that we are still interested in hearing some dev commentary on Boss Rush and Anniversary 3 in general. That stuff was kind of a big deal.

Power Gem Season I, Power Gem Season II...you'll still be able to use it as a point of reference. Just won't be able to napkin math your way back as easily to a specific month/year.

Moon Roach

I've had a little while to think about this while "working", and I don't really see the point of the renaming. It's not like we're running out of Roman numerals, and it's another 18 months until Avengers: Infinity War is out.

Unless it's foreshadowing the release of Thanos, or Adam Warlock?

Now, if each season had thematically linked (somehow) 3* events, and they stayed the same as each season is repeated, that could be interesting. Of course, then they'd have to have 7-event seasons, and only 2 4* releases per cycle. But I could live with having fewer 4* releases and more frequent season rewards.