Hoard ISO or Max low-cover 5*s?

Eukaryote

At this point, I have 3 5* characters, (Dr. Strange, Black Bolt, Black Widow) and a lot of 3* champs, so I'd like to transition to at least 4* soon. I could max my 5*s to lvl 263 or 275, but keeping the ISO would let me level the 4*s when I get the covers.

Will leveling the 5*s mess up my scaling?

Thanks!

https://mpq.gamependium.com/rosters/Eukaryote/

(Aside: any alliances with openings, please let me know [will also post in that forum]))

abominatrix

The one thing I would NOT do at this point is put ISO in 5*. Here's what I would do:

1. Start the 2* farm. You don't really need to have any 2* at 144; sell them slowly and start building them up again; the CP, HP and covers you'll get will more than make up for the small amount of ISO you'll have to spend. There are different strategies out there on how to run the farm; what I do is simple... When a toon gets to 144, I just stockpile the covers until the oldest one is about to expire; then I sell the level 144 toon and immediately recruit the same character and apply whatever covers I have. You have enough 3* champed that you can handle the 2* essential even if that character is not champed, the only thing you need to make sure of is that you have a 2* team to beat DDR every day, so you can't sell all of your 2* immediately.
2. Hoard ISO. No matter how much ISO you think you have now, once you start getting to champ 4*, you'll spend it.
3. Continue to build your 3*. While you have many champs, you're still missing some essentials (IM40, KK, maybe Panther at least). Even some of the 3* you don't have rostered are pretty useful (Steve is top tier, Loki is extremely useful; Bullseye, Beast, Torch and She-Hulk are more controversial but they all have their uses).
4. Continue to stockpile HP and buy slots; I can't tell you how much better I feel to never have to waste a 2 or 3* cover since I have them all rostered. With the HP coming from the 2* farm and events, you really don't even need to put $$$ in; you can end up clearing around 700-1000 HP/week without trying too hard.

Hope that helps!

Magic

Just to confirm abominatrix opinion here.

1. Don't level 5* until they are covered. In your state of game it might make the game unplayable for you. I would also avoid opening the Legendary tokens but since you have all 3 in latest you might as well keep opening to get them a bit covered (or well covered). But stockpile the CP. Not yet is the mantra you should have.
2. Use HP on slots only so you can roster every 2-3-4-5 character in the game. For 1* you are covered with Iron Man (Juggernaut or Spider man might clear the DDQ quicker but IM is fine for that as well). If you have to shield in PvP (i am not sure for what kind of rewards you are playing there) make it count. There is no point hopping to score 600-800 points - it's net negative for resources. Dropping a 3 hour shield at the end of event to protect your score is fine - they are cheap. That way you always have HP to open new slot.
3. Having a 2* farm is a pure joy. Every elite and higher token gives you reward you can use. I do it in a similar way - when I have a character at 144 I wait for at least 1 extra cover before I sell him. For some (Magneto, Hawkeye and Storm) i might wait a bit longer - till the oldest cover expires. But I like that combo in DDQ so that the only reason.
4. Getting all 3* to that point (championed) is even better. Steady flow of rewards (HP, ISO, CP, tokens) that boost you transition to 4* land. I would stockpile CP and LT tokens but open the other tokens to get the 3* fully operational. There is no rush to 4* land when 3* can do perfectly fine in PvE and this is the mode that gives more progression and is more rewarding currently. PvP is just an small extra on the side (I would put a minimum goal at 4k per season to get the 10-pack). If you get all 3* championed the 4* transition will be much smoother and easirer. And by that time you should have a decent stockpile of iso.
5. As for the 4* transition itself - it's slow so pick your 4* with care. Aim for the top guys who mesh well together and try to get more than 1 to championed level (best - 2-3 of them as it will change your MMR in PvP and your scaling in PvE). Who to aim for? Hulkbuster, Peggy, Tean Jean, Iceman, Deadpool, RHulk, Cyclops, Nova, Thoress. You are so far off with all of them that it makes no sense to push the 4* transition yet. Just stay at the 3* level while you use the 5* a bit in PvE (they help clear the trivial nodes with match damage).

Eukaryote

Thank you both for the advice. It is really appreciated, and makes a ton of sense. I clearly haven't been on the forums enough because I hadn't heard of a 2* farm, but that makes great sense. Thanks again!

-Euk

smkspy

Use your cp for classic tokens to cover your 4s and attain a few 5s along the way. Your 4s are so under covered that it's really a no risk situation for you.

Champ remaining 3s while trying to get your best covered 4s high enough to win their crash.

I personally wouldn't start a 2 farm until you champ all the 3s you plan to champ (I recommend all of them). Yeah, you'll get champ rewards from the twos, but it can be a headache and put you in a bind for iso sometimes. Having an established 3 star farm (and that is what the majority of 3s really become) makes having a shifting 2 star farm much easier to manage.

Eukaryote

Would it be better to sell a few low-tier 4*s to keep more 3 or 2*s to farm, or just hold on and wait to buy more slots?

smkspy

I would just wait to buy more slots, you never know which 4 star is going to get cover quickly. I had like a 2 covered hulkbuster before the first run of civil war, now I have him champed. Whereas 4 Thor was one of my very first pulls and she is still siting at 8 or 9 covers after 500 days.

madok

Plus those 4 stars may come up as a required node in PVE events. Slow and steady is the way to go.