Money Wasted

Unknown

The only reason to spend money is to have something sooner. I have spent more than most, but not as much as others. Spending money gives you an edge, but it doesn't guarantee anything.

Unknown

I think some of the previous posters have alluded to it, but haven't come out and said it. The biggest problem with your investment was the exact breakdown of what you spent money on.

Having invested a small amount myself to break into the end stage of 2* territory, I can say that resource allocation plays the largest part on your ROI (return on investment).

First of all, if you spent money on ISO, then you basically wasted whatever you put into it. Secondly, buying 1-2 3* covers won't get a hero high enough max lvl to be useful. Next, you mentioned using cap as one of your main 2* heroes, while cap isn't completely useless, he is on the bottom of 2* tier, so investing resources into him is very unlikely to be as useful as Thor, cstorm. obw, wolvie, daken or top tier 1 *'s if they aren't at max. Lastly, buying covers for heroes that you don't have the iso to spend in order to lvl will have a much diminished effect on progression.

Often times you benefit from roster slots by simply being able to keep a hero that is powered up during an event, letting you accomplish more in that event then would be possible without them.
Shields used in pvp allow you to preserve your points, get low to mid tier in a reward bracket and ensure you stay there.

As mentioned before, Northern Polarity's guide on * progression would be the best read for you. Take note of where you are, (not where you want to be) and spend your remaining resources to help you progress from your current point.

Moral

Bugpop wrote:

The only reason to spend money is to have something sooner. I have spent more than most, but not as much as others. Spending money gives you an edge, but it doesn't guarantee anything.

Or if you seriously screwed up where you allocated resources and don't want to spend the next two weeks straightening it out.

NorthernPolarity

I should probably add a section in my guide that explains the best way to spend HP on things besides roster slots. I assumed that my reader-base was mostly f2p, and so they wouldn't earn enough HP to spend it on anything except roster slots and shields. Spending money on iso is only something that very rich people should do, since it'll cost you 150 dollars to max out a 2* and ~350 dollars to max out a 3*, which most people simply can't afford. In terms of where to spend your HP to maximize progression though, I think it's valid to spend it on critical covers that you're missing. There aren't too many critical covers in this game, but buying the ones that will significantly boost your team power level can be a good idea if you want to jump start progression. The only ones that I can think right now are OBW 4 black (if your team has strike tiles), C Mags/Spidey 5 blue, GSBW 5 green, and maybe Hood 5 blue. All other covers would give your team a marginal boost, and typically isn't worth the 10 bucks you'd spend on the cover. If you had a ton of HP to dump on a single character, then going for the hero that is currently buffed in the PvE event is probably the best way to go as the buff is big enough that the character will single-handedly faceroll the entire event.

Edit: And... done!

Unknown

Cuchulain46 wrote:

I think some of the previous posters have alluded to it, but haven't come out and said it. The biggest problem with your investment was the exact breakdown of what you spent money on.

Having invested a small amount myself to break into the end stage of 2* territory, I can say that resource allocation plays the largest part on your ROI (return on investment).

First of all, if you spent money on ISO, then you basically wasted whatever you put into it. Secondly, buying 1-2 3* covers won't get a hero high enough max lvl to be useful. Next, you mentioned using cap as one of your main 2* heroes, while cap isn't completely useless, he is on the bottom of 2* tier, so investing resources into him is very unlikely to be as useful as Thor, cstorm. obw, wolvie, daken or top tier 1 *'s if they aren't at max. Lastly, buying covers for heroes that you don't have the iso to spend in order to lvl will have a much diminished effect on progression.

Often times you benefit from roster slots by simply being able to keep a hero that is powered up during an event, letting you accomplish more in that event then would be possible without them.
Shields used in pvp allow you to preserve your points, get low to mid tier in a reward bracket and ensure you stay there.

As mentioned before, Northern Polarity's guide on * progression would be the best read for you. Take note of where you are, (not where you want to be) and spend your remaining resources to help you progress from your current point.

Time is another commodity that is invested in the game. Earning Iso-8 in the game can be easy during PVE events and can be for PVP, but after a certain point it's a grind. The value of your time becomes an issue. It becomes difficult to earn 4k iso in an hour without PVP and PVE awards. If one could manage sustain 4k iso/hour, it would take 13 hours to earn 52,000 iso-8. That's assuming 1 battle every 2 minutes... no breaks. 52,000 iso-8 (Mother Lode) can be purchased for $99.99.

Some people choose to substitute their real-life grind for in-game grind. They spend less time obtaining the same amount of iso.

Unknown

I haven't spent money on this game but I'm more inclined to buy iso 8 over HP for the reason Bugpop mentioned. While you can't grind for HP, after a certain point there's also no need for more HP. You probably don't want to start off by spending money on iso 8 because it's not clear to a new player who he should spend it on. Even if you're spending money on a solid character like The Punisher, it's not clear if he offers you enough advantage to be worth it. Usually money should be spent for characters who are either very likely to be featured, or characters who are way ahead of the power curve, like the recent lazy two characters, so that you get a lot of use out of them even if they do get nerfed eventually.

Unknown

Bugpop wrote:

Time is another commodity that is invested in the game. Earning Iso-8 in the game can be easy during PVE events and can be for PVP, but after a certain point it's a grind. The value of your time becomes an issue. It becomes difficult to earn 4k iso in an hour without PVP and PVE awards. If one could manage sustain 4k iso/hour, it would take 13 hours to earn 52,000 iso-8. That's assuming 1 battle every 2 minutes... no breaks. 52,000 iso-8 (Mother Lode) can be purchased for $99.99.

Some people choose to substitute their real-life grind for in-game grind. They spend less time obtaining the same amount of iso.

This is true, but outside the current issue imho. The post is about the $ spent not accomplishing much towards the goal of advancement. My response was based on obtaining adequate "bang for your buck," not whether a $100 dollar purchase of iso is worthwhile to all people in all circumstances.

If to the original poster spending $135 on this game was the same as buying a cup of coffee for me, then I would have no qualms about recommending buying several 3* covers and iso to max lvl them.

NorthernPolarity

Phantron wrote:

I haven't spent money on this game but I'm more inclined to buy iso 8 over HP for the reason Bugpop mentioned. While you can't grind for HP, after a certain point there's also no need for more HP. You probably don't want to start off by spending money on iso 8 because it's not clear to a new player who he should spend it on. Even if you're spending money on a solid character like The Punisher, it's not clear if he offers you enough advantage to be worth it. Usually money should be spent for characters who are either very likely to be featured, or characters who are way ahead of the power curve, like the recent lazy two characters, so that you get a lot of use out of them even if they do get nerfed eventually.

I think it depends on what your end goal is. If your end goal is to max out all of the characters in the game, then buying iso would be the correct move as it's the limiting factor of the game. However, I think that most want to get to a point where they place highly in tournaments, which means maxing out a 2* team and getting a couple of 141 3*s. In that case, I think HP is the limiting factor due to roster slots and cover caps.

Unknown

NorthernPolarity wrote:

Phantron wrote:

I haven't spent money on this game but I'm more inclined to buy iso 8 over HP for the reason Bugpop mentioned. While you can't grind for HP, after a certain point there's also no need for more HP. You probably don't want to start off by spending money on iso 8 because it's not clear to a new player who he should spend it on. Even if you're spending money on a solid character like The Punisher, it's not clear if he offers you enough advantage to be worth it. Usually money should be spent for characters who are either very likely to be featured, or characters who are way ahead of the power curve, like the recent lazy two characters, so that you get a lot of use out of them even if they do get nerfed eventually.

I think it depends on what your end goal is. If your end goal is to max out all of the characters in the game, then buying iso would be the correct move as it's the limiting factor of the game. However, I think that most want to get to a point where they place highly in tournaments, which means maxing out a 2* team and getting a couple of 141 3*s. In that case, I think HP is the limiting factor due to roster slots and cover caps.

Even then, let's say you spent money on The Punisher and get him to 141, but a ton of people have him at 141 and since this game's model is inherently competitive, it's not going to offer you a significant boost, despite the fact that The Punisher is one of the most solid characters in the game. Getting Magneto to level 141, on the other hand, should pay for itself (and if not, there's probably no hope for you anyway). Having a high level lazy Thor or lazy Cap right now is likely to offer a very considerable advantage, as not only those two characters are way ahead of the power curve, but it's also very safe to assume both characters are going to be featured prominently. I can see spending money to get lazy Cap to say, level 80, would offer you a rather big advantage as he's likely to be boosted another 90 levels in a new PvE event, and there's probably going to be at least 2 more PvP events featuring him as a featured character, so even a minor boost to say, level 120, will still make your roster look very threatening compared to the guys using the loaner Captain, which will offer you a huge advantage in PvP as people pass you up to attack the guy with the loaner Captain.

NorthernPolarity

Phantron wrote:

NorthernPolarity wrote:

Phantron wrote:

I haven't spent money on this game but I'm more inclined to buy iso 8 over HP for the reason Bugpop mentioned. While you can't grind for HP, after a certain point there's also no need for more HP. You probably don't want to start off by spending money on iso 8 because it's not clear to a new player who he should spend it on. Even if you're spending money on a solid character like The Punisher, it's not clear if he offers you enough advantage to be worth it. Usually money should be spent for characters who are either very likely to be featured, or characters who are way ahead of the power curve, like the recent lazy two characters, so that you get a lot of use out of them even if they do get nerfed eventually.

I think it depends on what your end goal is. If your end goal is to max out all of the characters in the game, then buying iso would be the correct move as it's the limiting factor of the game. However, I think that most want to get to a point where they place highly in tournaments, which means maxing out a 2* team and getting a couple of 141 3*s. In that case, I think HP is the limiting factor due to roster slots and cover caps.

Even then, let's say you spent money on The Punisher and get him to 141, but a ton of people have him at 141 and since this game's model is inherently competitive, it's not going to offer you a significant boost, despite the fact that The Punisher is one of the most solid characters in the game. Getting Magneto to level 141, on the other hand, should pay for itself (and if not, there's probably no hope for you anyway). Having a high level lazy Thor or lazy Cap right now is likely to offer a very considerable advantage, as not only those two characters are way ahead of the power curve, but it's also very safe to assume both characters are going to be featured prominently. I can see spending money to get lazy Cap to say, level 80, would offer you a rather big advantage as he's likely to be boosted another 90 levels in a new PvE event, and there's probably going to be at least 2 more PvP events featuring him as a featured character, so even a minor boost to say, level 120, will still make your roster look very threatening compared to the guys using the loaner Captain, which will offer you a huge advantage in PvP as people pass you up to attack the guy with the loaner Captain.

Right, it would be better to invest in the characters that have been recently released since they're bound to be buffed in future events, but the point still stands that HP would be limiting factor in that case, as you need to buy covers for that hero before you can spend the iso to level him up. I also think that would be the best strategy to go with if you wanted to spend a lot of money on the game (investing in LazyCap right now for instance) and boost your progression, and that strategy is a lot more HP constrained than it is iso constrained.

Unknown

If we're talking about spending money efficiently, it would seem to me the greatest ROI is to buy HP (since it's comparatively 'cheaper' than ISO) and use it to spend on specific covers of great utility or on shields.

Due to RNG or how certain events fall, it can be a month (or longer) before you get a chance to get the 4th or 5th cover of certain characters. For many of the 3* characters, that can mean the difference between having a middling character or having an A-teamer that you build around.

So, to spend 1150 on a cover or an extra 500+ in shields to assure that you win that cover in an event would seem to be the best way to change your fortunes with money.

Unknown

Phantron wrote:

I can see spending money to get lazy Cap to say, level 80, would offer you a rather big advantage as he's likely to be boosted another 90 levels in a new PvE event, and there's probably going to be at least 2 more PvP events featuring him as a featured character, so even a minor boost to say, level 120, will still make your roster look very threatening compared to the guys using the loaner Captain, which will offer you a huge advantage in PvP as people pass you up to attack the guy with the loaner Captain.

For next PVE Torch will get the +90 boost. I doubt Capt will too, unless it's like Sim, where he could get it for one sub period. Sure he is very likely to get the normal +40 boost in many further events and be required for many battles where it's better him not be just ballast.

Also announce suggests we have Capt tournament starting right as we get his covers from BTI.

Unknown

Cuchulain46 wrote:

Bugpop wrote:

Time is another commodity that is invested in the game. Earning Iso-8 in the game can be easy during PVE events and can be for PVP, but after a certain point it's a grind. The value of your time becomes an issue. It becomes difficult to earn 4k iso in an hour without PVP and PVE awards. If one could manage sustain 4k iso/hour, it would take 13 hours to earn 52,000 iso-8. That's assuming 1 battle every 2 minutes... no breaks. 52,000 iso-8 (Mother Lode) can be purchased for $99.99.

Some people choose to substitute their real-life grind for in-game grind. They spend less time obtaining the same amount of iso.

This is true, but outside the current issue imho. The post is about the $ spent not accomplishing much towards the goal of advancement. My response was based on obtaining adequate "bang for your buck," not whether a $100 dollar purchase of iso is worthwhile to all people in all circumstances.

If to the original poster spending $135 on this game was the same as buying a cup of coffee for me, then I would have no qualms about recommending buying several 3* covers and iso to max lvl them.

I intended my reply to be "Time is another commodity that is invested in the game" and leave it at that but I went on and derailed myself. I explained it as it applied to me, but it ought to have been explained otherwise. Time ought to be considered in the "bang for your buck" equation. Choosing a solid 2-star character to advance will save a significant amount of time in the long run. I don't consider an investment in ISO to be a waste, if carefully spent. Advancing a character to a point to outshine alternatives is the key (thinking of a small roster with 1- and 2- star characters).

Wobby

I wasted money yesterday.. Seriously played my first LR and made it to top 25... Threw up Shields.
Leave the screen, come back and see I've been hit for -30 (that counted??) and my rank was out of top 50.

Diabolical token becomes a green 2* Thor via a Heroic instead.

Anger ensues... But at least my daily reward today was 50 HP which recovers the cost of that spent on shielding... But doesn't help me get a 3* cover.

Unknown

That's the strangest thing about this game's economic model: Money actually buys you a few things early (roster slots), but as you keep playing, the value of every dollar goes down very quickly. So as you get more invested in the game, the less likely you'll get a good payoff for giving anything to the developers.

The closest thing to a good investment after the very early game is to buy slots for alliances.

NorthernPolarity

hibikir wrote:

That's the strangest thing about this game's economic model: Money actually buys you a few things early (roster slots), but as you keep playing, the value of every dollar goes down very quickly. So as you get more invested in the game, the less likely you'll get a good payoff for giving anything to the developers.

The closest thing to a good investment after the very early game is to buy slots for alliances.

Yeah, they should look into monetizing more through items that are considered "good investments". I bet that weekly iso boosts (100% iso gained or something) for instance, would be a pretty hot commodity item.

Copps

When I started playing I spen a decent chunk of cash on the game mostly gambling on covers but also buying ISO during Xmas to level wolvie and obw. Since then the only thing that tempted me into spending cash was covering lazy Thor when he was the only good char in the back to back jugg events and I was enjoying playing him as well. At this point I have a very nice roster with almost everyone fully covered (one daken black psylocke bp and new cap) but lack the ISO to level them all. Mainly because the dollar value of ISO is incredibly low. This roster however lets me place within the top 5 of any pvp and with an easy bracket push for the win. Oh yeah my 4 stars aren't fully covered but are close.

Unknown

NorthernPolarity wrote:

hibikir wrote:

That's the strangest thing about this game's economic model: Money actually buys you a few things early (roster slots), but as you keep playing, the value of every dollar goes down very quickly. So as you get more invested in the game, the less likely you'll get a good payoff for giving anything to the developers.

The closest thing to a good investment after the very early game is to buy slots for alliances.

Yeah, they should look into monetizing more through items that are considered "good investments". I bet that weekly iso boosts (100% iso gained or something) for instance, would be a pretty hot commodity item.

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason why there isn't a 'weekly iso 8 boost' is because they haven't figured out how to implement it, because that really seems like a no brainer.

over_clocked

Wobby wrote:

I wasted money yesterday.. Seriously played my first LR and made it to top 25... Threw up Shields.
Leave the screen, come back and see I've been hit for -30 (that counted??) and my rank was out of top 50.

Diabolical token becomes a green 2* Thor via a Heroic instead.

Anger ensues... But at least my daily reward today was 50 HP which recovers the cost of that spent on shielding... But doesn't help me get a 3* cover.

Dude, 50 HP shield only covers you for 15 minutes in a LR, are you sure you weren't hit because the shield expired before the end of the round?

HailMary

locked wrote:

Dude, 50 HP shield only covers you for 15 minutes in a LR, are you sure you weren't hit because the shield expired before the end of the round?

This, I did not know. Now that I know it, it makes perfect sense. Thank you, dear sage.