5* node in PVE

atmosvere

The new 5* node in PVE is welcomed, but will become very frustrating when I don't have the required character.  I don't have all 5*s despite playing for about a year now,  so they are clearly difficult to get without dropping large amounts of $$ which I don't have. MPQ - please loosen up the reigns on the 5* rewards if the 5* nodes are a permanent change. I've gotten exactly 1 bonus 5* cover since you've started that bonus feature. 

Tiger_Wong

Gotta change the goons so they don't feed the villains so they aren't firing 515 lvl powers every 2 turns.

Phumade

a 515 node is really scaled for 450-480 rosters (including the 5* featured).  If you can't complete the 3x 515 node,  your much much better off dropping to 8 to try the 3x 355 version.

Piro_plock

Phumade said:

a 515 node is really scaled for 450-480 rosters (including the 5* featured).  If you can't complete the 3x 515 node,  your much much better off dropping to 8 to try the 3x 355 version.

In CL8 it's 3x 405. Not quite as challenging as CL9 version of the node, but still higher than anything that non-5* rosters ever had to face in PVE (well, other than Gauntlet or boss events). 3x 355 is in CL7.

Arphaxad

5* node s scaled way to high. Until you open up the ISO8 vaults and let us level up our 5*, you need tone these down a bit. Or make them worth ZERO points. Having placement effected so drastically will turn MPQ into a Pay-To-Win game, and cause players to leave.

LavaManLee

Arphaxad said:

5* node s scaled way to high. Until you open up the ISO8 vaults and let us level up our 5*, you need tone these down a bit. Or make them worth ZERO points. Having placement effected so drastically will turn MPQ into a Pay-To-Win game, and cause players to leave.

This is a great idea.  The 5* Node should be for awards ONLY and not to help determine placement.

Bowgentle

LavaManLee said:

Arphaxad said:

5* node s scaled way to high. Until you open up the ISO8 vaults and let us level up our 5*, you need tone these down a bit. Or make them worth ZERO points. Having placement effected so drastically will turn MPQ into a Pay-To-Win game, and cause players to leave.

This is a great idea.  The 5* Node should be for awards ONLY and not to help determine placement.

Sure, so everyone can ignore it.

That's not how this works.
Demiurge wants you to get the required 5* and then level it.

If you choose to level 4s over 5s, fine, it's your decision.
But then you're not getting placement.
It's your choice.

GrimSkald

Bowgentle said:

LavaManLee said:

Arphaxad said:

5* node s scaled way to high. Until you open up the ISO8 vaults and let us level up our 5*, you need tone these down a bit. Or make them worth ZERO points. Having placement effected so drastically will turn MPQ into a Pay-To-Win game, and cause players to leave.

This is a great idea.  The 5* Node should be for awards ONLY and not to help determine placement.

Sure, so everyone can ignore it.

That's not how this works.
Demiurge wants you to get the required 5* and then level it.

If you choose to level 4s over 5s, fine, it's your decision.
But then you're not getting placement.
It's your choice.

Basically, this.  They made it as forgiving as they possibly could (the node does not contribute to their calculations for progression awards,) but for placement where you're competing with people who have the character... well you have to make choices there.  If you don't have the character at all,  you kind of have to say "screw it" to high placement, though I suspect you won't have any real trouble with T50 depending on the bracket, slice, and level. (Btw, the above is me pretty much every PVE.)  If you have an undercovered, underleveled version of the character, then you should choose your SL accordingly - I have a 4/5/1 255 Star Lord, chose SL 7 and am having literally no problem at all with the node, but it would be another story in 8 or 9 I'm sure.  I wouldn't hesitate to run my 1/1/4 BSSM at level 7 either - my other characters can carry him just fine. 

 I'll probably try CL9 with my 4/4/3 305 Spider Man - it will be interesting to see how hard it is and will give me a good idea what I'm in for when I don't have the character maxxed.

I do think they should increase the number of ways you can get a 5* character in general, though.  Maybe adding them to the PVE vault?  That would be kind of cool.

DCUDCU

SCL9 with a basically unusable Spider Man. Beat it with Iceman and 3* Cyclops twice to get the good rewards.

Kept Daken stunned to prevent strike tile creation, took out Goon then Bullseye then Daken.

Had a few frustrating earlier tries before I stumbled onto this team setup.

Tiger_Wong

Basically brought Miles and IW and hid until I got enough AP to kill Daken and Bullseye in one shot.

finlanderboy

I am not a fan of D3 starting the required 5 Stars with new characters.  

You would think they would start with older characters like silver surfer and phoenix.   

stewbacca

I think scaling needs to be dropped a little bit, I run about 6 5* in the 460 level, and at 515 the sniper had more health than every one of them..

300k of combined health is just a bit too much... especial when they are laying  20k damage 3 turn countdown tiles every turn.. and that is just the goon power...

Phumade

I think the node is more tuned and gated for 470-480 range.  460 is really just nouveau riche.  That node is meant for old money.

but your so close,  I'm sure good board luck makes the match simpler.

Bowgentle

Phumade said:

I think the node is more tuned and gated for 470-480 range.  460 is really just nouveau riche.  That node is meant for old money.

but your so close,  I'm sure good board luck makes the match simpler.

Nah, it's tuned for a champed featured 5*, a champed 5* Strange and a 330+ featured 4*.
480s can brute force it, sure, but they're not needed.

Phumade

if you can't brute force it.  you won't be competitve for time and placements.  You need 470+ to viable to T2 at scl9

broll

finlanderboy said:

I am not a fan of D3 starting the required 5 Stars with new characters.  

You would think they would start with older characters like silver surfer and phoenix.   

I'm not either.  They seem to be doing them in release order.  It will be interesting to see if the do DareDevil next or skip him a loop back to Silver Surfer.  (other they could troll us all hand only rotate Star-Lord and the 3 latest)

Bowgentle

Phumade said:

if you can't brute force it.  you won't be competitve for time and placements.  You need 470+ to viable to T2 at scl9

Well yes.
T2 in s2 is out of the question anyway, it's Clochards territory.
Best I can hope for is t5.

Milk Jugz

I've found a way to get through the 5* node in CL9 in all the events so far. My SL5 270 3/3/2. I leveled up Parker used him at 345 4/4/2. And my Ock is currently 360 4/5/4, I'm working on champing him. The scaling is definitely hard, but not impossible. I like the challenge, Story has been far too mindless for far too long

sambrookjm

Here are the teams I've used for the Doc Ock node.  My Doc Ock is a 1/0/2, LVL 255, and I'm in SCL 9.  All of the other characters I've used in this node are champed.

Clear 1 - 4-star Luke Cage and 3-star Strange.  Flawless victory.

Clear 2 - Same team.  I took a Tommy Gun for 6K after the protect tiles, but got the Final Phase win.

Clear 3 - Scarlet Witch and Prof X.  Flawless Victory, but I got more crits in this match than I have *ever* had, so I'll admit this was a super lucky match.

Clear 4 - IM40 and Peggy. Going well up until a Threaten tile put 10K of extra damage on the board, and the resulting cascade took out Doc Ock and Peggy.  RUN AWAY!

Clear 4, Second try - 4-star Star Lord and Strange again. Star Lord's purple to overwrite the countdown tiles and to make Doc Ock's green cheaper.  The blue stun was almost always 7 AP, and I got another Final Phase win.  By that point, the Kishu and Muscle were both down and the Konran was at about 26K health and stunned.

So it's doable, even without using any other 5-stars in the node.  It's tough, but that's why it's worth the big points.

Tiger_Wong

I used the same team. At clear 5, I was gonna take a meteor so I quit twice.

Carol 5/5/3 champed
Doc Ock 5/2/1 270
C&D 5/4/4 champed

because C&D flood the board so well with stuff, it becomes easier to wipe out opposing CDs. I let konran's black go off. It takes half or kills one of his own. With enough black i decide whether or not to go with Doc's or Carols. I can start Ock' Plan but I don't get enough green to finish it. I let Muscle get off his yellow. I usually get rid of them with C&Ds yellow power. 

JumboSaltPretzel

I went 4 flawless clears on this node and used a different approach vs. the level 515's with a "weaker" roster, so I figured I'd share:

Doc Ock: 1/0/0
Invisible Woman: 3/5/5
Iron Man 40: 5/3/5

Strategy is pretty simple enough.  Blitz yellows and fire IM40's Recharge as frequently as possible.  Wait until there are countdown tiles at 1 timer left (or at least 4 CDs on the board), then fire IW's blue to lock them up.  Once you're in a position where you'd max going over your greens, fire IW's green for boats of dmg and clear those CD tiles.  With all the blue strike tiles, your match damage will tear through them as well.  Focus Kishu, then Muscle, then Konran.  If possible, let Konran's black fire to help down Kishu and Muscle faster.