Soft capping during 3-4* transition?

Mr Bacon

Long time lurker, first time poster - so I tried to provide all the details up front, sorry for the long(er) post...

Firstly, I love the advice and help the community has provided me over the last 430 days, so thank you MPQ forum community!! You've saved me a ton of headaches and given me advice and strategies that have made this game so much more fun!

TL/DR:

- all 3*s champed (except Spidey & Sentry) - starting 4* transition, have a 14th cover for 4Thor - Do I champ her or sell the cover to not mess up MMR?

I'm starting the 3-4* transition and wanted to ask other people who have far more experience for their advice. Aside from Agent Venom, I have at least 1 cover in every 4*. All 3*s are champed except Spidey & Sentey. Early on, I spent CP to open Classics, but lately I've been hoarding and spending the 120 CP on individual covers. I've "bought" 3 covers (1 red/blue for 4cyke, 1 red for 4Thor). I fully understand that this means I'm getting 1 cover for every 6 (or 5 on Latest), but I've just accepted that if I want exactly what I want, I need to pay for it - and I'm ok with that.

My question is that now that I'm getting into the (early stages of) 4* transition, is it better to soft cap my 4's or will championing one or two begin to mess up my MMR? When I went from 2* -> 3*, I soft capped and only max leveled when I had a solid group of key 3*s and max leveled them together. Do I use the same approach for 4*?

- I currently have a 4Thor that is 5/3/5 at level 188 - In my rewards queue, I have a 2* Storm cover for my level 114 Storm. After leveling up to 115, this will give me a 3* Storm cover - My 3* Storm is 182, so that next 3* Storm cover will give me a 4Thor cover - Should I save up all ISO, champ 4Thor, and get a 271 4Thor?

- Or.... do I sell that 4*Thor cover for ISO because championing will screw up my MMR?


Play style: a mix of PVE & PVP. Aim for the final 15 cp in PVE; 650 in PVP. I find 2* and 3*s during the early climb, then it is 3* teams or 3* and one 4* to get to 575. This is usually where I call it quits, no shield and place in the 100-200s. I've tried for 900 in PVP and have hit it half a dozen times or so but I don't feel my roster is there yet to hit it consistently.

I like running 4Thor (188), IM40 (201) and either: BB (now that I pulled his black), KK or whoever is the required character. So the champ 4Thor would get used a lot.

Roster: full roster in signature, but here are the better covered (and leveled) 4*s.

- IW: 188 -- 3/5/5 - 4thor: 188 -- 5/3/5 - 4cyke: 188 -- 5/2/5 - HB: 188 -- 5/3/4 - XFW: 172 -- 5/4/2 - Ice: 172 -- 5/1/3 - Peggy: 172 -- 3/1/4 - Thing: 168 -- 5/5/2 - Jean: 152 -- 2/4/3 - PX: 140 -- 5/5/1 - Fury: 120 -- 3/5/3

I also have a few unleveled 5*s that have multiple covers:

- BB: 255 -- 1/1/1 - IM: 255 -- 1/1/0 - GG: 255 -- 1/0/2 - Banner: 255 - 1/1/1 - OML: 255 -- 1/0/1

I enjoy hitting 575 in PVP without any trouble. Max progression in PVE is generally my goal (depending on the required 4*). I don't want to screw things up and make these goals harder - at least not until I have more covered & leveled 4*s.

For those who are farther along in the 4* transition, or have completed it and are in the 5* transition - what would you do?

Your advice and help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Edit: added 3* champ progress for clarity - all are champed except Spidey & Sentry.

adamdivine

For the level of play that you are taking about, you won't be affected too much. And thoress is a great 4* champ to have. I didn't look at your roster, but if you didn't finish the majority of your 3's, you may find little resources left to go back to them once you start on your 4's

hodayathink

With all those 5*, a champed 4Thor won't mess up your scaling too much unless she's boosted. But when she is, PvE is going to get much harder, and you're going to be forced to use her the whole time.

Vhailorx

I have a few responses:

(1) Don't spend CP on covers! It's almost never worth it (Buy a 13th cover for iceman or peggy carter, but otherwise save your CP). And don't spend CP or open LTs at all unless you have enough HP to roster any new character you might pull.

(2) as for leveling strategy, think that leveling 1 or 2 4*s won't kill you, but you might find life a bit harder when your 4*s are unavailable or not boosted. I think capping around 240 or so will be easier on your iso and still give you maximum flexibility in PVE (and im40 + thor should still be able to get you your 650 or so in PVP). But since you do have a bunch of 255s at the top of your roster, adding a 4* champ probably won't trash your scaling/mmr.

(3) Ideally, the way to push into a new tier of play is to get 3-4 well matched characters covered and ready to go, and then save up enough iso to bump them up all together. This is a bit harder now given the high cost of champing 4*s, and the frustration of selling covers that could become champ levels.

(4) If you decide to champ sooner rather than later, the good news is that Thor is a pretty good first 4* to champ. She pairs so well with IM40 and that team is useful in both PVE and PVP.

(5) I agree with adam that it also makes sense to spend some time filling out your 3* roster if you haven't already. Getting that 3* champ farm rolling is an excellent idea, it will make PVP a bit easier, will ensure that you can make use of any 3* cover you happen to get, and in the long run it will give you some solid rewards.

halirin

Champ 4thor, then go back and champ spidey and sentry (unless you have another 13 cover great 4* by then) just for completeness, then save iso and champ great 4*s whenever you can.

I agree with others that you shouldn't buy covers with cp unless it's the 13th cover (e.g., With Cyclops it'll be irritating to get a blue or red and still need yellow).

Seems like you're at a point where you can either open classics when you have the hp to roster a new character, or start hoarding to try to max cover a new 5* when one comes out that you like.

In terms of the PvP, if you do what I describe above, it will feel awesome when you have a boosted 4*. When you don't, it should still be almost the same (because your boosted champ 3*s were about that level).

Mr Bacon

Thank you for your helpful responses!!

adamdivine wrote:

...but if you didn't finish the majority of your 3's, you may find little resources left to go back to them once you start on your 4's

Updated the original post with 3* progress. All are champed except Spidey & Sentry.

Vhailorx wrote:

(1) Don't spend CP on covers! It's almost never worth it (Buy a 13th cover for iceman or peggy carter, but otherwise save your CP). And don't spend CP or open LTs at all unless you have enough HP to roster any new character you might pull.

I try only to use CP on the 13th; but used it on 2 for 4cyke because growing up, he was one of my favorites, and remember owning & reading that same comic cover. I had no regrets with it (yet...)

Phumade

Congrats on taking the next step up.

A few points to consider.

The avg weekly boost is 95levels for a 4*, and around 65 levels for a 3* (someone can double check that for me.

Since your 4 best 3* are around 200. You can safely raise every 4 to around 100 and nothing will change with with respect to your MMRs. Boosted 3* will out rank your 4*.

Your basically aiming for the sweet spot of where the boosted 4* are the same level as the boosted 3*. Thats actually had to predict because you don't know who gets boosted and your 3* chars are all at different levels.

So a simple rule of thumb is.

1. Take the unboosted avg of your top 8 3*.
2. Take your 4* to the unboosted avg - 95 levels.

Do that until you have the core 4* leveled up. (ICeman, Jean Grey, Rhulk, Cyclops, Starlord, Dr. Strange, Nova, HB)
---- Those 8 4* give you a good mix of green/purple and red/black + plus good pve support, plus stuns, big nukes, and AOE. you can substitue Thoress in, just be cognizant not to level 2 assault class chars that have similar attack colors. Try and maintain rainbow coverage options.

Once those 8 are soft capped. Keep hoarding until your 3* avg rises high enough to relevel the 4* or until you can max 2 of them all the way.

Vhailorx

Mr Bacon wrote:

Vhailorx wrote:

(1) Don't spend CP on covers! It's almost never worth it (Buy a 13th cover for iceman or peggy carter, but otherwise save your CP). And don't spend CP or open LTs at all unless you have enough HP to roster any new character you might pull.

I try only to use CP on the 13th; but used it on 2 for 4cyke because growing up, he was one of my favorites, and remember owning & reading that same comic cover. I had no regrets with it (yet...)

Never regret spending resources on something in game that makes you happy. I always try to give advice with the idea of maximizing roster strength against the current meta. But since the game is theoretically about entertainment (and totally not addiction/operant conditioning!), you should always feel free to do something that is less efficient if it strikes your fancy!

And in your particular case, 4* cyc is a strong character in mpq, so even less reason to have regrets.

DFiPL

Phumade wrote:

Do that until you have the core 4* leveled up. (ICeman, Jean Grey, Rhulk, Cyclops, Starlord, Dr. Strange, Nova, HB)

Strange isn't a 4*. The advice is sound, but plug somebody else in the "core" list. Perhaps, as Phumade suggested, She-Thor.

Tony_Foot

Mine got much worse after Champing the 2nd 4* but you soon get used to it, adapt and wait for the next wall.

Phumade

DFiPL wrote:

Phumade wrote:

Do that until you have the core 4* leveled up. (ICeman, Jean Grey, Rhulk, Cyclops, Starlord, Dr. Strange, Nova, HB)

Strange isn't a 4*. The advice is sound, but plug somebody else in the "core" list. Perhaps, as Phumade suggested, She-Thor.

Lol, 3* strange is so good that I mentally lump him with my top tier 4* for pve. In fact he's better than 5* strange until you get him leveled up fairly high.

We can only hope that the next 3* release/rework is as good as 3strange.

Phumade

If I were D3 I would put together a deluxe version of MPQ that started your roster at:

Champed versions of:
4*ICeman, Jean Grey, Rhulk, Cyclops, Starlord, Nova, Thoress, Medusa
3* Dr Strange, IM40, SW, IF, Loki
2* Ms Marvel, Modern Hawkeye, Ares, moStorm, cMags
1* Juggs, Spidey, IM35

30 slots

That would immediately make you competitive for 900 in pvp and T25 in pve. It would be a fun diverse roster that lets you play almost all events competitively for a T25 finish.

Personally, I think thats well worth 200-300 dollars although D3 will price it at $999

homeinvasion

go for 4 thor, you will probably get there. Particularly if you level up or sell a maxed 2 star etc. She works great with im40. Good character to transition off.

ClydeFrog76

Vhailorx wrote:

Never regret spending resources on something in game that makes you happy.

Couldn't agree more. I spent 80CP on covers for Strang3 so that I could champ him and I don't regret it at all.

He makes goon nodes so much less tedious that I easily view it as my best use of CP since it was introduced to the game.

hodayathink

Phumade wrote:

If I were D3 I would put together a deluxe version of MPQ that started your roster at:

Champed versions of:
4*ICeman, Jean Grey, Rhulk, Cyclops, Starlord, Nova, Thoress, Medusa
3* Dr Strange, IM40, SW, IF, Loki
2* Ms Marvel, Modern Hawkeye, Ares, moStorm, cMags
1* Juggs, Spidey, IM35

30 slots

That would immediately make you competitive for 900 in pvp and T25 in pve. It would be a fun diverse roster that lets you play almost all events competitively for a T25 finish.

Personally, I think thats well worth 200-300 dollars although D3 will price it at $999

moStorm is 3* storm. 2* storm is Classic Storm.

Warbringa

I am in the same boat as you other than I have all 3* except Strange already champed. I have Hulkbuster max covered and one cover away from LThor max, I too need one more Storm 3* cover to get her last cover. I also have Prof X max covered but have no plans to max him due to Charlie's Angels. My strategy right now is to bring up several of my 4* to level 188 or so that I am able to do so with. That way they when some are boosted, they will be boosted to similar levels as my boosted 3*. I also found that at level 188, just about all of the weekly DDQ challenges are doable. I am banking ISO until I can get a good stable of 4-5 4* to level up, at this point I still need a handful of specific covers to do so and about 700,000 iso! I really only play PvE, so to me, it doesn't really make sense to max one or two 4* and potentially have scaling thrown off when they are champed. I prefer to use several combinations of teams as well. I would get bored even more than I am playing the same team over and over and over again.