# of covers or usefulness

smkspy

Just started 4 star champing phase of my personal progression. Currently have Hulkbuster, Fury, and Iceman champed.

When I was champing 3 stars, I generally followed the idea that maxed characters with multiple covers waiting in the RQ took priority then came general gameplay usefulness. It's why Mostorm was my first champed 3, yet I did sell off plenty of 3s during the trek to 40 like Sentry, Psylocke, and Rags as they were the very last unchamped 3s. It was easy to sell off those covers since I knew 3s would come around on a regular basis.

Champing 4 stars is a bit different though. Since covers aren't dependable, when I pull that 14 or 15th cover for a maxed four, kinda feel like they need to be champed even if I have better 4 stars at 10-12 covers that I could level up and prepare for champing instead. This leads to my current predicament.

Right now I have two Mr Fantastic covers sitting in my RQ and eventually a third coming when my 181 Black Panther hits 183. Only have him at level 100, and I know he is the 4 star version of Psylocke or Rags...yet because pulling covers is rare, there is a feeling like I should champ him despite the fact that he kinda stinks.

Meanwhile, I also have a single Antman in my RQ that I could apply if I champ him instead...but again, it's like why champ him when I could just level up my 12 cover Cyclops or 10 cover Jean Grey.

While the plan is to champ all 4 stars like I did with 3s, the strategy doesn't quit feel the same.

So how is everyone approaching their 4 star champing strategy. Did you champ the whichever characters because of pulled extra covers or did you just sell them focusing instead on developing top tier 4s?

Tromb2ch2

I champed as soon as I got enough covers. That's why my first 3 in order were venom, flaptain, devil dinosaur. I highly recommend not doing that lol. I'm now at the stage of if it is good I'll champ it, the cost is just too high to champ just because.

Uthgarprime

I just champion them as I get covers, cause it could be 6 months or more before you see a cover for a given Character. My first champion was Elektra, Kingpin and Starlord. If they are not boosted your boosted 3*s will be about the same level. Of course my enjoyment comes from championing and not wasting covers. I will never be a top tier PvP guy so I just shoot for progression in PVE and what I can get in PvP. I don't regret Championing Elektra at all, I have gotten 5 covers for her since then and the rewards are worth it to me.

zodiac339

I have 13 covers on Flaptain and Venom both. Leaving them at their current level (170) and selling additional covers is an intentional (teeth-clenching) choice, but I already have Cyclops and XF Wolverine to cover their colors. Iceman is close to the same situation (Champed Teen Jean a few months ago), but I may make an exception due to just how much power he has. Ghost Rider is at 13, and has a color combo I haven't Champed for a 4 , as is Thing, but it's hard to prioritize either of them. Really, first priority to me is making sure all Rares (even Ragnarok) are Champed before Legendaries. Their covers come easier, especially when farming 2 Champions, so you get the benefits more readily than from Legendaries. Then start with Legendaries that require minimal support to utilize their power. Cyclops, Hulkbuster, Teen Jean, Red Hulk, and Iceman are all pretty high priority.
A support like Mr. Fantastic, while I don't hate him, just isn't quite strong enough on his own to make him an ISO-8 priority. Ant Man does pack a punch, but I'd hold off on making him a Champion since you have a in Fury. Hopefully, it won't take too long to get the Cyclops and Teen Jean covers you need.

Wolarsen

I understand the feeling, as I hate to sell covers.

But I would focus first on top characters (your cyclops); a champed Mr.Fantastic would grant you a LegToken and little more, while a functional cyclops will help you greatly in gameplay.

If you can, try to keep all characters (will eventually have use for Clash of Titans and Essential nodes), but make a list of your awful characters (Mr.Fantastic, Elektra, Venom...) and once those have 13 covers keep tem slightly above 100 and sell additional covers right away.

Tromb2ch2

Wolarsen wrote:

If you can, try to keep all characters (will eventually have use for Clash of Titans and Essential nodes), but make a list of your awful characters (Mr.Fantastic, Elektra, Venom...) and once those have 13 covers keep tem slightly above 100 and sell additional covers right away.

Also don't be afraid to use extra covers to get them at the ideal (or at least your ideal) set up.

Kjempen

The strategy that I feel is working for me, is to prioritize only (what I call) effective 4*s. If the 13th (or 14th or...) cover comes of an ineffective 4*, I just respec or sell. If I have effective 4* near max covered I take them to level 200+,and begin focusing all iso on the best one.

EDIT: By effective I mean wins matches fast, then comes niche use,... 'Just because' comes last.

metallion

1) If they're good I champ them. Of my 9 champs so far those that fulfill this include HB, Jean, Cyclops, Kingpin, XDP and 4hor. Rhulk and Iceman are not far behind as they are currently as far as their covers allow.
2) I hoard ISO first, and once I feel I have enough I check which of the unchamped 4*s I get the most covers of from LTs. Currently Sam fulfills this, he's one of 4*s that I've drawn the most, and at the rate I'm getting those IW and Elektra covers I'm strongly tempted to champ them too. Once I get those damned 3 Venom yellow covers he's likely going up too.

XFW and Dino are probably the exceptions to the 2 rules I follow. XFW was just after SHIELD levels and I had a whole bunch of ISO I had no idea who to throw into, so I maxed XFW to use with XDP. Dino was just because I had 7 covers in the queue and it kinda seemed a waste to throw those potential champ levels away.

SummerGlau

4 Star World Problems
funny thing about Psylocke...didn't know how "Terrible" she was until I came here (although her Blue Power Sucks)
manyof my Earrly Promotions were just favorite chracters (Psylocke,Captain Marvel and Thor)
I would Certainly Champion Ant-Man if I could and I know PvP experiences Iceman is a Beast but "Teen Jean" ( I like that name) is awesome on defensive teams because players match 5 a lot more than the AI whereas Loki is useful on both offense and defense because the AI makes match 4's to the exclusion of more useful double match 3's

Jabrony_Geoff

Kjempen wrote:

The strategy that I feel is working for me, is to prioritize only (what I call) effective 4*s. If the 13th (or 14th or...) cover comes of an ineffective 4*, I just respec or sell. If I have effective 4* near max covered I take them to level 200+,and begin focusing all iso on the best one.

EDIT: By effective I mean wins matches fast, then comes niche use,... 'Just because' comes last.

Do you include QUAKE in this effectiveness?

Fightmastermpq

I had a really good post on this subject not too long ago, but basically it's important to recognize that you will probably never champ every 4* because they are released faster than you can earn enough ISO to champ them. So the worst 4* characters should remain fully covered and unchamped on your roster. Having the covers to champ rewards/levels don't turn a bad character good fast enough to justify championing them over waiting for a better character to get covered.

edit: This is the thread I was talking about.

xidragonxi

I'd focus on the top tier characters (Jean, Hulkbuster, Cyclops, Iceman, Punisher, Deadpool, Peggy, Rhulk etc.) but once you've got several of them done, then go where the covers take you.

Another thing to consider is trying to make sure you have a championed 4* during each of the boost-cycle weeks. So if you look at the upcoming list of boosts and you can champion one of those 4*s, that might be worth it. If you're stuck in a week without a championed 4*, you're going to have a rough time in PVP.

Specifically regarding Mr. Fantastic, he's probably in line for a re-tuning along the lines of Cho, Starlord and Invisible Woman. So championing him might be a good investment. Personally I don't think he's that bad right now, but I've been avoiding championing him myself so don't listen to me.

smkspy

Lots of good advice and things to think about. I'm gonna sit on Mr F covers and hoard iso with the intention of champing, someone, but see how I feel if I get enough by their covers expiration .

Probably will just invest in Cyclops though as his 13th cover is also coming from 3clops relatively soon.

The firm 4 star transition is interesting, if not extremely frustrating. I've got a little over half 4 stars that are use able with 10 or more covers and the other half languishing between 1-5 covers. But when I do hit a character streak in pulling, I'll suddenly get a ton of covers in one short burst.

Jarvind

I feel you. I hate wasting covers. However, my personal recommendation (which will echo some of the above) would be to focus specifically on getting these guys champed first (in no particular order):

Iceman
Peggy Carter
Thor
Jean Grey
Hulkbuster
Nova
Quake
Red Hulk
Cyclops
Punisher

Once you have those locked and loaded, it becomes more feasible to champ second-stringers to avoid wasting covers. I'm at 19 champs and I'm still tossing out weaker characters in favor of getting the better ones champed first - I've discarded 2 Elektra covers recently and will be tossing another one soon when Daredevil hits 183. It's hard to bite the bullet, but the ISO cost for each one changes the strategy. With 3*s, you can just make a rush for ISO to avoid chucking a cover, but when it's 3 weeks or more of farming to level the character, you have to be a bit more judicious about it.

Obviously, it's a game, so if you're just a die-hard Elektra fan and really want her champed, then have at it. I get enjoyment out of being efficient and min-maxing everything, but if that's not fun for you, then do whatever is.

Smudge

As others have said, it starts boiling down to personal preference once you have a couple good ones champed. I have 6, in this order:

Thor
Fury
XFW
Hulkbuster
Ant-Man
Star-Lord

Something I haven't seen mentioned: It also matters what gameplay mode you prefer. My roster dominates PvE nodes, and it's middling-average for PvP depending on who is boosted. If you're a "hard casual" like me where I play PvE nodes 4x a few hours after the sub opens and then play them to green checks 1.5-4 hours before the sub closes, literally any boosted 4* can do it if you know how to play them right. I only occasionally dabble into the lion's den of PvP for 2k in sim and the CP at 575, sometimes just skip the events completely like I did for Strange.

Every character is has merits in PvE, but not as great in PvP. Star-Lord and Ant-Man *wreck* PvE now, but they're still seen as middle tier for PvP at best. Something to consider, anyway.

After you have a couple of those top tier 4*s champed, the overall strength of the next one starts to matter a little less. I have no regrets about the order I champed mine, and I'll actually consider champing Elektra and IW (now) since they're cover-maxed.

smkspy

Good to know Ant Man is a pve beast. He was one of my first 4 stars (also my first.max.cover 4 star) as I started play a month or two before his release, so might champ him. I couldn't even get pass the 3rd node in growth industry the first two times it ran...how far I've come in 500 days lol.

But yeah, mostly a pve player and only rarely dabble in pvp, but would like some 4s that will make pvp a better experience.

Currently eyeing
12 cover Cyclops
10 cover teen jean
10 cover miles
10 cover xfd
11 cover rhulk
12 cover thing

as my main objections while bringing other s up to crash readiness.

Jarvind

smkspy wrote:

would like some 4s that will make pvp a better experience.

Currently eyeing
12 cover Cyclops
10 cover teen jean
10 cover miles
10 cover xfd
11 cover rhulk
12 cover thing

Red Hulk and Cyclops are the biggest PVP contenders on that list, followed closely by Jean. The others are only viable when boosted. XPool is a great character, but won't be a deterrent to any PVP-savvy player; his red is expensive and his purple isn't terribly difficult to avoid, so your attacker can just burn him first or throw out a stun to avoid his passive, and he'll likely do nothing.

SummerGlau

Jarvind wrote:

smkspy wrote:

would like some 4s that will make pvp a better experience.

Currently eyeing
12 cover Cyclops
10 cover teen jean
10 cover miles
10 cover xfd
11 cover rhulk
12 cover thing

Red Hulk and Cyclops are the biggest PVP contenders on that list, followed closely by Jean. The others are only viable when boosted. XPool is a great character, but won't be a deterrent to any PVP-savvy player; his red is expensive and his purple isn't terribly difficult to avoid, so your attacker can just burn him first or throw out a stun to avoid his passive, and he'll likely do nothing.

which is why XPool and Peggy Carter make a great combo, concentrate on one the other makes you pay for it in some way