What makes you an X* player?

Calnexin

There's a common nomenclature on the forums. "I'm a 4* player". The terms of that are loose and open to interpretation. It might be helpful to newer players to gauge whether they've passed a barrier, and might start funneling their efforts to more specific goals in their gameplay.

Generally, I would define being "on a tier" as having several champion characters in that tier. With softcapping, "useful" is the term I used for the poll, which is also open to interpretation. For the purpose of this poll, it's whether you'd use a character at your current scaling.

Basically - how deep do you go before you consider yourself to be "on" the next tier?

I added some percentages. I'm sure there are people in the 4-5* tier who don't bother to roster or develop every character in the 3* tier. etc.

halirin

I choose 5, though I just counted and I'm up to 10 4* champs now. But I've been trying to almost always use a 4* in PvP basically since I got to having two or three champs. After 5 or 6, I started only using 3*s in PvP when there's a particularly good synergy with a boosted 4*. Now, I almost never use 3*s that are primarily damage dealers and don't accelerate others.

So for a general rule, I'd say you're transitioning to tier X once you generally don't make teams entirely of tier X minus 1. You're _in_ tier X when tier X minus 1 is only used for specific support combos or because it's the essential.

dr tinykittylove

Scaling/MMR makes 5*s a funky tier due to how much higher they are up the ladder. You're pretty much stuck as a 4-5* transitioner with the first one champed or at some high tipping point. 2 champs makes you a 5* player, ready or not.

Quibbles

The way I think about it, the terms refers to which teams you generally need to field to be most effective. For me, I have to run 5* teams, because that's all I see. Of course, there are some PVPs where the boosted 4* make a compelling argument (Exhibit A: any 4Clops with 70,000 HP), but the same 4* that will be played boosted to 470 will sit on the bench when "only" at level 370. So if you play a 4* when it's boosted but generally play 5*, you're probably a 5* player.

Truth is, there are plenty of 5* players who only have 2 champed 5* and play them every single PVP. They don't have a choice in the matter, since MMR ensures that they'll face nothing but champed 5*. So it's 5* and health packs, rather than mixing in 4*. There are a few snipers who are finding that out the hard way this PVP, with their OML being unplayable and having only the OML/Phoenix combo champed.

GrumpySmurf1002

I would just say everyone is an X* player where X = the highest characters you use on a regular basis.

There's some gray though. I think if you have one champed five w/ good 4s you're closer to a 5* player, whereas even if you have 2 or 3 high level 3s w/ champed 2s, I think you're still really a 2* player.

Orion

Calnexin wrote:

I'm sure there are people in the 4-5* tier who don't bother to roster or develop every character in the 3* tier. etc.

Everyone should roster and champion ALL of the 3* characters. You need them as essentials for both PvE and PvP, and the champion rewards are too good to miss.

I consider myself a 5* player because I use 5*s for almost every fight. Sure, I'll use a boosted 4* in PvE sometimes, but PvP is always 5*s. I only have 2 5* champs, but I think it's different for the 5* tier.

In general, you consider yourself a x* player when you almost always use x* characters in your fights, not counting essentials.

Dormammu

I've never considered myself anything. Yesterday I used three 1-stars, six 2-stars, probably a dozen 3-stars, five 4-stars, and three 5-stars.

Team_Jacob

I'd almost say it's a sliding scale, e.g. a 2* player really needs only a few 2*, and should be pursuing those ASAP, rather than fleshing out 1*. By the same token, once you have a few champed 2* and are building a 3* roster I'd say you need 5-10 playable 3* to be a 3* player, you would ultimately want to champ all of the 2* though.

By the same token, I'd probably stay in 3* land until I have them all champed and slowly build a large pool of 4*, once you're over 50% 3* champed I might bring up 4* to 166 or so (for DDQ), but 4* are still pretty worthless at that level.

So it would be a long slog until you even start leveling 4*, but I wouldn't consider yourself one until you level at least 3 to 270.

5*, 2, maybe?

broll

I would have chosen 3 if that were an option, chose 5 instead.

Caveat on 3, that 3 assumes that all 3 are top tier and work together well in a team. Based on the RNG nature of the game 5 - 8 is probably more likely cause it assumes that some of your first once might not be top tier and/or some of your first few don't play well together.

broll

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

I would just say everyone is an X* player where X = the highest characters you use on a regular basis.

There's some gray though. I think if you have one champed five w/ good 4s you're closer to a 5* player, whereas even if you have 2 or 3 high level 3s w/ champed 2s, I think you're still really a 2* player.

This also breaks down in the early game as well. It's not uncommon for a new player not knowing what they are doing to get a 5* from CP and start using it constantly before they even have a single 2* character championed. I wouldn't call the player a 5* player because of this.

MarkersMake

aesthetocyst wrote:

The correct answer is "2".

All it takes to form a PvP team, and a PvE team around essentials.

I suppose a case could be made for "3" since that would cover all cases.

Hard to fathom why this poll skips from "1" to "5".

What makes you an X* player is which tier of character you most often use completed examples of. Once you have 2 complete chars from the next tier, you're almost certainly "encouraged" by MMR and scaling to use them all the time.

I say 'completed' because, for instance, it would be silly to call my alt a 5* account. Even tho it does play the heck out of its single-cover 5*s

Hmm, by that definition, what's a transitioner then? Only 1 "useful" character of the next tier? Seems pretty restrictive.

SnowcaTT

I'd say if you have one (3*/4*) boosted every week...that means about 10 of that level.

(Two probably makes you a 5* player)

GurlBYE

Orion wrote:

Calnexin wrote:

I'm sure there are people in the 4-5* tier who don't bother to roster or develop every character in the 3* tier. etc.

Everyone should roster and champion ALL of the 3* characters. You need them as essentials for both PvE and PvP, and the champion rewards are too good to miss.

I consider myself a 5* player because I use 5*s for almost every fight. Sure, I'll use a boosted 4* in PvE sometimes, but PvP is always 5*s. I only have 2 5* champs, but I think it's different for the 5* tier.

In general, you consider yourself a x* player when you almost always use x* characters in your fights, not counting essentials.

you are speaking as a person who has played with the game growing.

It'd be better to use the iso spent to champ your last 3 fully developed **** 3's on 3 decent 4s.
Like red hulk will help someone in pve and pvp

Punisher will make that one single node you do once every 40+ or so pve's easier.

GurlBYE

When you use that star of team by default in everything, thats when you've moved to the next tier.

When the scaling makes it so other characters are a chore, then yup. There you go.

Pants1000

I think it's more about what characters you use when you have a choice. In Simulator I use 1 5* (10 cover OML) and 2 4*'s, so I consider myself a 4* player.

GurlBYE

aesthetocyst wrote:

GurlBYE wrote:

It'd be better to use the iso spent to champ your last 3 fully developed **** 3's on 3 decent 4s.

How is adding a couple dozen levels to 3 different 4*s better than championing three 3*s?

Unless you're getting a massive discount (if so, please spread that around), I believe you'll find the cost ratio of 4* to 3* to be just over 3:1.

Seriously, spend a few days finishing those 3*s, then worry about devoting weeks to 4*s. It will pay off all through those long and dreary days.

As far as we creaky oldsters "growing up with the game" .... you have no idea how tight iso used to be. And the kicker? Leveling characters used to cost MORE. Maxing out a 3* used to be a month-long project. Now it can be done in 3 days. I know many 1,000+ day vets who just finished, or are still finishing, their 3*s. Partly because they divided their efforts ... as you are recommending ... but mostly because until this year, iso was truly precious.

I'm arguing that if a person has say, 3/4s of the 4's champed with squirrel doc oct and the last line guys left,
the iso is better spent on stronger characters.

if you've got a surplus, go for it, splurge.

But champing strong 4's after you've champed your strong 3's is more valuable.

I'm essentially commenting on the idea that you need all of your 3's maxed before advancing to 4.

maybe you mean iso wise, but cover wise, 3's still take long.
I haven't seen many 3strange covers at all since his event and the one following it

smkspy

I would say that whatever tier is your primary focus of your iso then that is when you are x tier player.

beyonderbub

I'd consider myself a 4*-5* transitioner, except that I'm purposely softcapping my fully covered OML/PHX combo at level 360 for fear of PVE scaling ruining my placement if I max them both. So I'm more of a 4* tier player, I guess.

My roster "qualifications" for 4* playerhood:

All 1* fully covered and level maxxed

All 2* fully covered, champed and farmed (every 2* cover pulled goes to a champ level or a dupe that needs to get to 13). Farmed dupes are held until their turn as the weekly boost is done and then sold off and recycled.

All 3* fully covered, champed, all over champ level 220 (just need a couple more covers for 3Thanos and 3Strange and will champ as well; otherwise all 3* covers pulled go to champ levels)

Over 35 4*s fully covered, champed; 2 4*s fully covered and just working on ISO to champ; the rest of 4*s are new releases and are in need of several covers each, parked at level 70 until their Crash of the titans node rotation comes up, at which time I'll boost to level 130 and give it a shot . Sometime I have to sell off covers for a newer character with 5 covers of a certain color but not ready to champ yet. So I'm "strategically" hoarding CP but just pulling LTs as they come. Maybe I should hoard them too.

5*s - I'll take them as they come. I have them all except for Banner. I don't pay much attention to them or use them. They are fun to mess around with if I read about a good combo with one posted on these forums. OML/PHX are the most used for clearing Lightning Round seeds fast or in PVP for the first climb in the event to the 10CP reward, then I switch to champed boosted 4*s to finish the event.

I don't think I'm ready to move up to 5* yet. I think I'll have to fully cover 3 more 5*s and enough ISO to champ all 5 at once. Maybe in year 4? Been playing since Dec 2013 but just came up on my 3 year anniversary (day 1095) earlier this week.

Jarvind

I said ten. My logic was "decent chance of having at least one usable character boosted in that tier in any given week." And my definition for "usable" was "will boost to at least their normal max (so 270 for a 4*) or higher."

Fightmastermpq

aesthetocyst wrote:

The correct answer is "2".

All it takes to form a PvP team, and a PvE team around essentials.

I suppose a case could be made for "3" since that would cover all cases.

Hard to fathom why this poll skips from "1" to "5".

What makes you an X* player is which tier of character you most often use completed examples of. Once you have 2 complete chars from the next tier, you're almost certainly "encouraged" by MMR and scaling to use them all the time.

Exactly this. Poll would be much better with 2, and 3 options added.

ZeiramMR

I picked 15 because I wanted a 33% choice.