Shield Simulator: Help me to 2k?

shartattack

Here's my roster:
https://mpq.gamependium.com/rosters/shartattack/

I'm on day 205 and I would like to finally hit 2k on the shield simulator.
I have everyone but Green Goblin rostered. I have all 3*s champed but Cyclops, Quicksilver and Thanos. I am not using any of my 4*s yet, but i have some 11-12 cover 4s. The matchups are ok. I can still find points available to climb, but the problem is that i run out of health packs and lose outrageous amounts of points (200-400 in between play sessions) I spent lots on shields to climb and reach that medusa cover last season, but in the time for one matchup, i would get smacked back down. I know not to start too early, and that the last few days are a blood bath, so I was planning on trying the middle approach, and saving tons of health packs, and playing early AM east coast time. My question for you fine folks is, what 3 star defensive team will be the most of a deterrent? I know a good 4 or 5 star roster will throw me down, but surely there can be a 3 star team that will make others think twice? The teams i listed are ones that i like to climb with. Thanks!

DesertTortoise

Cage/Switch/Fist
IM40/3 Cap/KK

That should get you there. Wait until later in the season to make a big push. I made it to 2K each season with those two teams and never had to use shields. I'd just keep hitting the simulator later in the season whenever you have healthpacks to spare, don't sweat too much if you get countered for a ton, you should settle in at a reasonable striking distance at some point. Then, on the last weekend of it, try to make big pushes and use shields if necessary. Good luck!

Twysta

Personally, defensively you should mostly just accept that people are going to beat your team.
I also disagree that you should wait later in the season to make your push.
The earlier you do it - if there's points - the easier it is as you should expect less people to attack you.
The longer you wait, the more people that will climb.
If you try push for it as soon as possible (especially if you can do it one go) you should get there without too many bumps and snags.

mpqr7

You can generally get to 1000 pretty easily. 1500 is tough. After that, if your roster isn't advanced enough, then just do a big hop with boosts and such to get to 2000. Then let yourself fall back down; don't bother shielding, unless you want to hop up and shield near the very end.

Jarvind

4- and 5-stars are common enough now that any 3* team you leave out is going to get hit and lose on defense. Just go with whatever lets you win matches fastest and with the least damage taken. I'd roll with Tony, Steve and Kamala.

Also, it would probably help to wait until later in the season when there are lots of easy points to harvest. I find 4-5 days before the end to be the easiest time to find 60+ point matches while not getting hit too much.

thanos8587

simulator has NOTHING to do with defense. dont even worry about it. its all about the value of the targets and the push. slow climb as much as you can and plan for a single sitting push when youre sitting at 1200+. use boosts if youve got them.

i usually do mine with about 7/8 days left in the season. very little activity. try to finish by wednesday or early thursday.

Magic

Don't wait. If you care for the cover think about shields. There is no such thing as a good defensive 3* team in the simulator. You are just a pack of cookies for anybody with championed 4* (not to mention 5*). Start early and climb as high as possible with your team. See where is your floating point (be it 500 or 1000 points or more). Under the floating point there is no reason to shield.

Start at the floating point again and go hard. 10 health packs, might be good for 400-500 points. If that is the case - drop an 8h shield and regenerate the heath packs. At this point you should be around 1400-1500. Repeat the process (this time it might be 300 points as the matches can become difficult). If the 8h shield is not working drop a 24h one and restart the following day. That means you pay about 500-800HP for the cover. That is pretty good price. You will not keep the points till the end of the season but you should get the cover. The higher you can float the better. But getting 1k-1,2k points early (even by hitting people worth less than 39 points) is your best bet.

Forget about scoring 2k in the last day or so if you don't have developed 4*. Early on a lot of people ignore the Simulator. There is time to do it. And this is your chance.

Guvnah

IM40, Kamala Khan, She Hulk - Triple AOE Offense with board shake to keep IM40 in the yellows. Furious charge can also be really annoying to fight against.

IM40, Kamala Khan, Magneto - Magneto seems a much bigger PITA on defense than 3Cap. Offense remains quite good, though not as insane as 3Cap.

MarkersMake

Timing is key - too early, and there aren't enough points. Too late, and everyone is climbing. Your floating point should be right around 1200 with the teams you are fielding (which is effectively a 3* roster).

I've found that this works for me (roster in sig if you are interested):
10 days left - begin climbing. Stop when bored or out of health packs (probably 800-1000)
9 days left - climb to 1400
8 days left - climb to 1800
7 days left - climb early in the day to reach 2000

You *will* lose points each day. Probably starting about 200-300 points lower than where you stopped the previous day. If you can climb early (ie. in the morning) on that last day, far fewer hits will have time to come in and you'll be climbing to 2k after only being knocked down to 1500 rather than 1350, while you were asleep.

You can shield, but you shouldn't have to. And as others have said, your team doesn't really matter much wrt being a deterrent. SWitch/Fist/Cage is probably a good choice though - I often skip it because it's an annoying combo of steady damage and mitigation of my match damage. The 4* teams will still hit you, but you might deter some 3*s.

YMMV, of course, but that's what I do with regular success.

Good luck!

Oh, and you're right - definitely save up a few extra health packs from DDQ if possible for that last climb (ie. Do DDQ last on day T-8 and first thing on the last day just before you climb for a good chance of pulling some. Or just hoard a few taco tokens.) Nothing worse than running out of them at 1950!

I usually use switch/fist/cage and kk/im40/CMags for speed - one recharge and the match is over, more often than not.

Hendross

Lots of good advice here; to re-iterate,

SHIELD Sim is about "hopping" from your equilibrium (the point where you're not worth attacking).
Speed, health packs, and roster depth are key, not defense.

rainkingucd

MarkersMake wrote:

Timing is key - too early, and there aren't enough points. Too late, and everyone is climbing. Your floating point should be right around 1200 with the teams you are fielding (which is effectively a 3* roster).

I've found that this works for me (roster in sig if you are interested):
10 days left - begin climbing. Stop when bored or out of health packs (probably 800-1000)
9 days left - climb to 1400
8 days left - climb to 1800
7 days left - climb early in the day to reach 2000

Very much agree with this. I usually hit 2K around 10-7 days left. I do it on a saturday morning (European time). Most of the US is asleep, so my final push is uninterrupted. It's early enough not to be too manic. Then over the next 7-10 let the points fall without worry.

chamber44

i always start with about 16 days left in the season and hit targets for 60+points, climbing about 250-350 points per day. Even with a few retals, i usually hit 1700 or so with about 6-8 days left, then throw up an 8 hour shield so that any retals that hit me don't lower my score. Then, if it's a cover i care about, i push the final 300 or so in one sitting - sometimes twice with a shield. You have to make sure you don't push too early, so that you're hitting small targets, and if you wait too long, it will be a bloodbath. I usually try to hit 2k with 5-8 days left.

crackninja

I agree with this advice. My path with a similar roster is to gather some points here and there early in the season, getting to 900 or 1000 with about 10-14 days to go. Ignore defense, just make a strong push in one day that you know you have time to get the job done. I use less than a health pack per battle, so I can get there without shielding.
Waiting to the end, when more people are making the push, is setting yourself up for pain.

veny

I would say IM40, Kamala Khan/Dr Strange and Hood.
Hulk, Wolverine and Kamala is also great combo but only if your hulk has 5 in black and you have enough heals. I was using this combo for quick games in both pvp and pve

hopper1979

IM-40, KK and She-Hulk until I broke into 4-star land this was my got to for the climb. This group has no issue climbing to 2000 and can handle many 4-star teams because of She-Hulks green. You have to play a very specific way with this group to optimize. First IM40 (5 blue/5 yellow/3 red), KK (5 purple/5 yellow/3 green) She Hulk (5 red/5 green/3 blue) all green goes to She Hulks green denial power never let you opponent build up any ap betwee KK pink and IM40 yellow you should be spamming this power by turn 2-3. All damage is dealt by She Hulks Red and IM40 blue if you get a good break you can do a lot of extra damage here as well if you get some good drops. KK keeps everybody healed. I have made the rise to 2000 without even needing a health pack, the one person you should avoid with this group is 3-star Hulk anger can over come the speed attacks of this group and it will do constant damage and then he will pound you with a big cascade power which can result in the other team starting to roll. You must deny all ap with this team for maximum effect. The speed and low cost of all the powers other than IM40 blue will keep you HP high and use of health packs to a minimum. Good luck, one you get into the 4-star conversion there are better teams but this is the best all 3-star team I have tried. Timing is very important as well always try to stay ~1000 6-9 days out you should be around 1500 points then make the run to 2000, just get it done when you make the decision to go, if you dont make it you will get pounded and have to start again.

Good luck.

dokiy

Like others have said, no defensive team with a 3 star team. When I had 3 star roster, I would climb to roughly 1400 points and chill out. I'd get hit, but eventually you'll drop out of the que and can focus on other things.

From here: I ALWAYS (still do) wait for a Sunday evening (US time) and make my final push. 600 points should be doable with 10 health packs and a few good teams. Use boosts if you need to and you should make it.

deadtaco

Just wanted to drop in a thanks for the advice in here, I got my first 2k sim score this morning.

I used kk/3cap/IM40 and IF/LC/SW for most of the work over the last few days. Last night I used Stormfinite (kk/storm/hulk refactored for storm's green) to get me to ~1950. I got withing 20 pts at one point but that team is terrible defensively so I was getting hit a lot. I shielded to stop the bleeding and this morning I was at 1932.

I broke the shield and had to make three quick fights for some reason. I should have only needed two but I wasn't watching my score after the first one, just jumping to the next fight I had queued. When I finished that one I was still ~20 points shy although I never got a defeat notification or anything. So one quick fight later I had made it.

I have since lost ~250 points, but don't care. Got 4Carol and my 10-pack, it's all good. Thanks for the advice.

Astralgazer

Chipping in my thanks to OP for making this thread, and to all that answered. Thanks to this thread I also made 2k the 1st time ever in Sim. I use Thoress/IM40/KK after I broke 1200. My last hop was in D-6, from 1600-ish, spending 6 health packs on the climb.

Thanks again.

monstermike

Wait until CW starts this week. Hit the SIM during that event for an easy climb.

Don't use shields in the SIM. There's no boosted toons for a reason, just straight up matches.

With all 3s champed, getting to 1600 should be no problem. Start early, but go at it little by little. You want to be queueing people ranked higher, as you'll get more points, regardless of Thier team strength. So the more people who've started and ranked higher, you'll get higher point nodes.

I didn't try for 2k until I champed a couple 4s. But if you need to load up your queues, use lots of AP damage boost and make your final push as quick as you can.

MarkersMake

monstermike wrote:

Wait until CW starts this week. Hit the SIM during that event for an easy climb.

Don't use shields in the SIM. There's no boosted toons for a reason, just straight up matches.

With all 3s champed, getting to 1600 should be no problem. Start early, but go at it little by little. You want to be queueing people ranked higher, as you'll get more points, regardless of Thier team strength. So the more people who've started and ranked higher, you'll get higher point nodes.

I didn't try for 2k until I champed a couple 4s. But if you need to load up your queues, use lots of AP damage boost and make your final push as quick as you can.

Good advice on shields and waiting for another event to start, monstermike, but the rest of your advice is a bit conservative.

You do not need any champed 4*s to hit 2k. You do not need to have all your 3*s champed to hit 2k. You do need to be smart about who you hit (especially later when retaliations become relevant) and most importantly *when* you make your climb, and you *will* hit 2k.

I'm a solid 3* player (25 champed 3*s and zero playable 4*s), and since I champed KK and IM40 I have hit 2k every time but one (I was traveling so I had to push in the final 3 days - stalled out at 1950 several times before the season ended). I have never had to shield or use any AP/damage boosts.

So if your roster is fairly close to mine (see sig) - then yes, you too can definitely hit 2k!

Good luck out there, everyone.

DaveR4470

The answer for me -- as in "who would I skip over" -- is anybody/anybody/Strange. Unless those two anybodys were super squishy, or unless Strange is weak. I just don't want to bother with absolutely having to burn a couple of health packs if I can avoid it.