placement in pve

jredd

exactly what does it take to get top placement in pve now? back in the 'clear every 8 hours' days i could hit top 10 if i really tried. ever since the switch to the current system i don't even sniff the top 50. even finishing every node in the event until it is check marked doesn't even get a top 100 finish.

are guys grinding 1 point nodes all day to score top placement?

ClydeFrog76

Of course they are. It's mind-boggling.

I've got every node in MR&G to a tick so far for the XP, just need to do a few in the final sub. Still only going to make top 200.

They're playing "optimally" and grinding to nothing. Us normal people don't stand a chance.

Dormammu

It's more about timing. Clear to 4 at the very start, hitting biggest point nodes first (usually required character nodes). Then wait until a few hours before end and clear again. Then do final clear right before the end. Some nodes you can hit for a seventh time if points are there.

Phumade

timing has to be near perfect. In Rocket groot you needed to be sub 70 min clears to be competitive with the top pve players.

I'm not going to say you need x 5*/ 4* cause I've seen a decent amount of variability between rosters. But you need to be lighting fast.

Tromb2ch2

Ever since cl 8 was introduced I've been spending less time to finish higher. Maybe 3 hours a day (yeah I know that's a good chunk of time but it has been worse).

Lopan15

After scraping for top 25 finishes I switched from slice 2 to slice 1. Using the same almost optimal play i have now finished top 10 in 2 straight events. Still requires fast run to 4 clears per node then a grind at sub end down to 1 pt nodes followed by another quick run of the next sub. I would definitely have had to grind 1 point nodes to get into the top 5 but that one extra cover isn't worth it. The only drawback is I have to get up at 5 a.m. to do my final sub grinds which is only an hour earlier than I usually get up so not a huge issue.

DFiPL

jredd wrote:

exactly what does it take to get top placement in pve now? back in the 'clear every 8 hours' days i could hit top 10 if i really tried. ever since the switch to the current system i don't even sniff the top 50. even finishing every node in the event until it is check marked doesn't even get a top 100 finish.

are guys grinding 1 point nodes all day to score top placement?

Depends on slice, depends on bracket, depends on Clearance Level.

I dropped down to CL7 for Meet Rocket & Groot to give myself a shot at a top 10 finish for the Kate Bishop cover(s). First sub I x4'ed everything, might have green-checked a couple, but don't think I green-checked EVERY node.

Sub 2, I greenchecked everything, ground to 1, but with Star-Lord boosted, the time I allotted for my grind-down was probably too much, honestly. I ended up needing around 90 minutes or so instead of the two hours I budgeted. so I dropped down a bit at the end of the sub, finished whatever the tier below top 10 is for sub placement. Top 20? Top 50? Whichever it is.

Sub 3, I greenchecked everything, started my grind-down a little later, ground everything to 1. Ended up finishing 6th for the event, 200 points and change shy of a top 5 finish.

So, y'know. Yeah, optimal play was probably necessary if I wanted to finish top 10 (and I did). Green-checking everything but leaving points on the board would probably have gotten me a top 50 finish. x4'ing everything and calling it good with progression (as I intend to do for Thick as Thieves because I hopped back up to CL8 and I don't intend to chase placement this event) might have gotten me top 100 for MR&G.

I was in the slice that ended at 10 pm CST, CL7. The bracket? May or may not have been luck. Hard to know.

Melevorn

jredd wrote:

exactly what does it take to get top placement in pve now? back in the 'clear every 8 hours' days i could hit top 10 if i really tried. ever since the switch to the current system i don't even sniff the top 50. even finishing every node in the event until it is check marked doesn't even get a top 100 finish.
are guys grinding 1 point nodes all day to score top placement?

As everyone else has said, you don't need to grind 1 pt nodes to get Top 10 (and, in fact, given that there's usually a few dozen/hundred points between final scores amongst the top 10, you'd have to do a *lot* of 1 pt grinding to make a difference).

There are LINE rooms which monitor bracket fills and at least a couple of dozen people usually jump at a bracket as soon as it flips. Be one of those people or you won't get top 10. If you aren't on LINE, pre-register for the slice you want and jump on it as soon as it opens.

Forget reading plot text or looking up from your game during the initial clear. Focus on getting points timers activated on every node (1 win for loaner nodes, 4 wins for normal nodes, 2 wins for wave nodes). I do the 2* required (it's so quick), then the 4* required, then the 3* required, then race through the chain to the final node (the one that rewards CP), get it to its timer and work backwards down the chain from there. If there's a one-win node (i.e. a node that can only be played once) then that gets left to last - so long as you eventually win it, it'll make no difference to your final score. Try to take no longer than 90 minutes for all of this, quicker is better.

Then, for a 24 hour sub all you need to do is allocate enough time before sub end to do your final grind. As I understand it, rubber-banding is still in effect so the later your clear the better - but if you want Top 10 you need to clear everything to 1 pt. Again, speed is king so that you can start your grind later but still reduce everything to 1 pt. Then, do it all again immediately when the next sub starts. For a 48 hour sub, there's a clear in the middle (but you don't have to grind that day, yay!). Don't forget to clear any repeatable nodes on the main event screen every 24 hours.

Do this, and you'll probably get top 10 without having to repeat any 1 pt grinds. In an easy bracket, top 1-2. Good luck!

WARNING: Use of this play style in every PvE will lead to burnout. Save it for special occasions. I usually just aim for top 200 (easy to get) and only bring out life-destroying grinds when really motivated to do so.

Mango9

Have anyone figure out what's the best way to target the loaner node to get the maximum point out of it ? The timer starts after 1 clear, and if you wait for 24 hours, 3 more clears would bring it down to 1, then the last 2 clears are just 1 point each. I wonder if I should hit it every 4 hours

fanghoul

What I do is I play at clearance level 7, join slice 5, 12 hours or more after the event starts. I do about 4 clears or less of each node. Then in the evening, 3-4 hours before the instance ends I clear things to about 6 or so, depending on how motivated I am. Then I'll start the next day's clear about 8-12 hours into the instance, playing pretty much like before.

Extremely sub-optimal, but this usually ends me up in the top 50 like this. With the last event, with the craziness for Medusa covers, it landed me in 26th place. I've also ended up in the top 10 once or twice when people hated the event.

My strategy basically appears to be to avoid the crazy competitive people, since I wouldn't stand a chance there anyway.

Fightmastermpq

ClydeFrog76 wrote:

Of course they are. It's mind-boggling.

I've got every node in MR&G to a tick so far for the XP, just need to do a few in the final sub. Still only going to make top 200.

They're playing "optimally" and grinding to nothing. Us normal people don't stand a chance.

Hardly anyone grinds 1 pt nodes all day. You hit everything 4 times when it opens (if you don't have 5*s this can be done in less than an hour), then you hit everything again 3 times starting about an hour before sub ends. This will get you T1-5. Clearing more than 4 times on your opening grind hurts you. Not grinding everything down to 1 hurts you.

smkspy

I want this magical team that can completely clear a sub in under an hour...just going through all the nodes once takes me at least 20-30 minutes using IM40, a champed iceman, and a third character.

Pongie

You'll need a wide roster so that the boosted characters of each events are available. Using im40 and iceman when unboosted will be a lot slower

Vhailorx

smkspy wrote:

I want this magical team that can completely clear a sub in under an hour...just going through all the nodes once takes me at least 20-30 minutes using IM40, a champed iceman, and a third character.

Its a bit roster dependent. When jg or rulk or iceman is boosted, it can take 45 minutes if you are really fast (and 3* strange may speed thingd up even more). Other weeks it might take 70 or even 90 minutes if the available options arent good.

And optimal play really matters for top 10. Scores up that high are separated by just a few hundred points. 1-10 in my hearts of darkness bracket were all with 1600 points of each other

Fightmastermpq

smkspy wrote:

I want this magical team that can completely clear a sub in under an hour...just going through all the nodes once takes me at least 20-30 minutes using IM40, a champed iceman, and a third character.

Start paying attention to the T10 rosters in your brackets. Those are the teams you need.

smkspy

Fightmastermpq wrote:

Start paying attention to the T10 rosters in your brackets. Those are the teams you need.

Ha, ya I've been doing that (not that I really care all that much about top ten placement tbt) and I've noticed two big roster trends amongst them.

Either :
1) You're a champed 3 star roster and have all your 4 star soft capped

2) You're a highly deep 4 star roster at least 10-15 champed.

So awesome, spent the past year building up all my 3 star champs only to find myself right back behind now that I'm in the early 4 star transition just 5 champed as of now.

And that's what drives off a lot of players, the goal posts keep moving for people that are not 2-3 year vets, whales, or life-giving-up obsessed.

Pants1000

Like others said, it's about timing, not grinding 1 point nodes. The top players do the initial grind fast, then wait until about 90 minutes before the end to grind everything down to 1.

Calnexin

jredd wrote:

exactly what does it take to get top placement in pve now? back in the 'clear every 8 hours' days i could hit top 10 if i really tried. ever since the switch to the current system i don't even sniff the top 50. even finishing every node in the event until it is check marked doesn't even get a top 100 finish.

are guys grinding 1 point nodes all day to score top placement?

I'm in the same boat. I clear 4x as fast as I can (which admittedly is non-optimal), then green check essential and trivials when I can (usually ~ 12 hr after the initial clear again non-optimal), put 1-2 more on the hard nodes. T200, at best.

I've just accepted that I can't personally place for relevant rewards. If my alliance is pushing I'll put in the effort, but I generally tap out at the 4* reward. Unless it's a weekend with no family obligations, then I go for final progression. And then tap out.

The "play when you want" scenario is great with CL in context. If I couldn't earn a 4* halfway through max progression, I wouldn't bother. Placement is for people who have the time to schedule around the game - 4x clear ASAP and grind to one just before the end of a sub. If you don't fit that profile, don't bother. Accept that you're not getting tinykitty from placement and climb a PvP event instead.

Vhailorx

smkspy wrote:

Fightmastermpq wrote:

Start paying attention to the T10 rosters in your brackets. Those are the teams you need.

Ha, ya I've been doing that (not that I really care all that much about top ten placement tbt) and I've noticed two big roster trends amongst them.

Either :
1) You're a champed 3 star roster and have all your 4 star soft capped

2) You're a highly deep 4 star roster at least 10-15 champed.

So awesome, spent the past year building up all my 3 star champs only to find myself right back behind now that I'm in the early 4 star transition just 5 champed as of now.

And that's what drives off a lot of players, the goal posts keep moving for people that are not 2-3 year vets, whales, or life-giving-up obsessed.

The goalposts keep moving for everyone, vet or newb. Don't ever expect anything else from this game. it's a treadmill, and there is always a shiny new character-carrot hanging just out of reach.

The only rational way to enjoy the game is to figure out what level of performance you would like to achieve, figure out what type of roster is necessary to achieve that performance, and determine if you lifestyle can support the grinding time necessary to get and maintain that roster. If not, then you will never have the experience you want from MPQ.

Roland113

One side note, 3Strange really decreases your time to plow through the nodes, even unboosted he's still a huge time saver with a 5 in yellow. I'm sure 5Strange would do just as well if you've got him covered.

Bowgentle

Roland113 wrote:

One side note, 3Strange really decreases your time to plow through the nodes, even unboosted he's still a huge time saver with a 5 in yellow. I'm sure 5Strange would do just as well if you've got him covered.

He doesn't, really.
At 315 with 0/0/4 he does a measly 1413 per enemy skill use.
He needs WAY more covers to be useful.