Another identical 3* and 5*?

D2thePool

Seriously?

With the new 3* and 5* Gambit characters coming out, I'm all excited. Gambit was a HUGE favourite character of mine growing up and reading Marvel comics.
But WHY must the 5* be identical to the 3*?

Other characters that are similar, if not the same, as their other tier counterparts:
- Dr. Strange (3 & 5)
- Hawk guy Hawkeye (3 & 5)
- Electra (3 & 4)
- Thanos (3 & 5) (although this one I can kind of excuse as he has the gauntlet as 5* so he's more powerful.... but the same abilities?)
- Storm (1 & 3)
- Thor (2 & 3)
- Human Torch (2 & 3)

And now, Gambit.

This just seems lazy.
Why create a practically identical 3 and 5* character?

Anyone else getting a little annoyed by this?

Jaedenkaal

You must be new here. Also, you forgot Steve Rogers, 2&3. And Hawkeye 3* and 5* only share a single power.

You say lazy, D3/Demiurge says "you get more characters than you would otherwise"

The rational behind the 3*/5* pairs is that if they only released a 5*, hardly anyone would ever have it fully covered (or even see one cover) . If they only released a 3*, lots of players wouldn't reasonably be able to use them. By doing both, as versions of each other, they can do both and cover a much larger player base. By using the same character design for both, this is actually a feasible proposition.

Vold

Sometimes there's small changes that's worth noting like Capt's blue can create protect tile.

 I see it the other way around. It started with storm when I first play. When I got Storm classic I see her powers are different except lightning to the *

was hoping to use her * powers "hail" but she's so weak being a *
much later I learn there is another storm with same powers at a higher tier. I was glad it's there.

Vold

I'm more curious as to where's the night crawler I keep hearing about that's being released with gambit...

hopper1979

I like the duel release a lot.  It does not hurt the game it lets people who cannot get the 5's quickly use characters they like and it always adds flexibility to your roster which is never a bad thing.  

Dotproduct

hopper1979 said:

I like the duel release a lot.  It does not hurt the game it lets people who cannot get the 5's quickly use characters they like and it always adds flexibility to your roster which is never a bad thing.  

That's how I see it. If you don't want to roster the 3* because you are well past that meta, then you can welcome to go for the 5* version.

I will admit they released the 3* Electra well after the 4* one and I never bothered to actively go after her, but definitely 3* Strange was a very welcome addition to the set for those of us who couldn't get 5* Strange. One could also argue apart from the low health, the 3* version is better for PvE because it recovers the health that might have been lost in previous rounds. I know I've gone into a wave match with 20% health and ended on full because of his ability.

Vold

Dotproduct said:

I will admit they released the 3* Electra well after the 4* one and I never bothered to actively go after her, but definitely 3* Strange was a very welcome addition to the set for those of us who couldn't get 5* Strange. One could also argue apart from the low health, the 3* version is better for PvE because it recovers the health that might have been lost in previous rounds. I know I've gone into a wave match with 20% health and ended on full because of his ability.

Is the 5* Strange permanent heal?

TPF Alexis

D2thePool said:

This just seems lazy.

For the ones that didn't come out at the same time (e.g. Storm, Daken, Thor), a number of people actually just refer to the later one as Lazy Storm, or what ever.

So yeah, you're not the only one who thinks is seems that way.

Anon

I like it this way though. I might never be a 5* player, but its great to use the character at a more accessible level.

DarthDeVo

Vold said:

I'm more curious as to where's the night crawler I keep hearing about that's being released with gambit...

 Kurt is likely the next 4* they release. I don't know if it will be as soon as next Thursday or not. 

Bowgentle

Jaedenkaal said:

The rational behind the 3*/5* pairs is that if they only released a 5*, hardly anyone would ever have it fully covered (or even see one cover) . If they only released a 3*, lots of players wouldn't reasonably be able to use them. By doing both, as versions of each other, they can do both and cover a much larger player base. By using the same character design for both, this is actually a feasible proposition.

That's the official spin, yes.

More like it's to get people to buy two roster slots instead of one, and further dilute the 3* tier, forcing everyone to carry yet another dead weight char.

Dual 4* / 5* releases would make more sense in today's meta.

3* tier should have been finished ages ago, but Demiurge found a way to make money off it, again.

D4Ni13

Vold said:

I'm more curious as to where's the night crawler I keep hearing about that's being released with gambit...

after Gambit, not with Gambit

D4Ni13

Bowgentle said:

Jaedenkaal said:

The rational behind the 3*/5* pairs is that if they only released a 5*, hardly anyone would ever have it fully covered (or even see one cover) . If they only released a 3*, lots of players wouldn't reasonably be able to use them. By doing both, as versions of each other, they can do both and cover a much larger player base. By using the same character design for both, this is actually a feasible proposition.

That's the official spin, yes.

More like it's to get people to buy two roster slots instead of one, and further dilute the 3* tier, forcing everyone to carry yet another dead weight char.

Dual 4* / 5* releases would make more sense in today's meta.

3* tier should have been finished ages ago, but Demiurge found a way to make money off it, again.

They are not forcing you. I mean you don't have to have the 3* version if you don't want to. I, for example, don't have the 3* Thanos, because I don't like its utility, but I have a 1-2-1 5* Thanos. 

Clearly 3* chars are for lower-tiers, or if they turn out to be very good (Strang3), they could be easier to collect & champion until one has the ability to gather enough covers for the 5*. 

This being said, I think a lot of 4* players would actually roster 3* Gambit and use him for AP generation. I would definitely predict seeing champed Gambit as well as 2-ability Gambit (5-0-5 or 0-5-5 versions). 

Straycat

I don't know what the OP's issue is. Are you annoyed by the doubling up of characters, or of movesets? Are you annoyed that the movesets are similar so they're boring, or that in the fiction of the game it wouldn't make sense to have the same character so much weaker than themself? (e.g. Thanos Gauntlet)

The lazy 2-3 star copies are so old I don't have an issue with them. I like the 3-5 copies. Dr Strange and Thanos have great powers, I would be upset if the weaker version didn't have it. They are good at making the new 3*s useful beyond their tier. It is either a "cheap" or "economical" tactic to save on character design by using it twice. 3*s are easier to get and are used for champ rewards, which is why I am glad the tier isn't completely dead.
 
The only issue I have is with 3* Elektra, she is a lazy copy of one of the worst 4*s, released way after the original.

broll

It seems lazy because it is lazy.

DarthDeVo

For me, it's that the last two (5tar-Lord and Gambit) have been virtually identical to the 3* versions, just scaled up damage. 5trange, Thano5 and Hawk5 had enough differences to make them feel different enough from their 3* counterparts. Even 3lektra's red is different from the 4* version. 

Jarvind

The laziness of the design is irksome, but overall these don't actually bother me that much. The "most people will take forever to get the 5*" line might be "spin," but it's also true. And since we have to use 3*s for PVP and essential nodes anyway, I don't mind the extra variety.

Jaedenkaal

DarthDeVo said:

For me, it's that the last two (5tar-Lord and Gambit) have been virtually identical to the 3* versions, just scaled up damage. 5trange, Thano5 and Hawk5 had enough differences to make them feel different enough from their 3* counterparts. Even 3lektra's red is different from the 4* version. 

Star-lord bothered me there, too. Gambit... sort of, but at least Gambit does something new. SL didn't do anything new. (Ok, he had the highest match damage in the game).

vinsensual

Yes this is most glaring with Gambit and Star Lord.  There was nothing about Star Lord's powers that made him unique to the 5* tier, and even worse, scaling down his stats to a 3* he's already outdone by Kamala.  Thanos and Strange scaled down are top 3s with distinct roles.  

Gambit could be different because he's a battery, but some differentiation between the 3 and 5 besides big ball of stats isn't crazy to expect. It's not 2014 anymore.  What next, bringing back 2 power characters for Dazzler?

DarthDeVo

Jaedenkaal said:

DarthDeVo said:

For me, it's that the last two (5tar-Lord and Gambit) have been virtually identical to the 3* versions, just scaled up damage. 5trange, Thano5 and Hawk5 had enough differences to make them feel different enough from their 3* counterparts. Even 3lektra's red is different from the 4* version. 

Star-lord bothered me there, too. Gambit... sort of, but at least Gambit does something new. SL didn't do anything new. (Ok, he had the highest match damage in the game).

I like the column destruction mechanic that leaves your friendly special tiles intact. That's about it. 

Dotproduct

Vold said:

Is the 5* Strange permanent heal?

Not that I know of, they turned it into a passive + active power. So you can use it to actively deal damage instead of waiting for them to attack you.

http://marvelpuzzlequest.wikia.com/wiki/Doctor_Strange_(Sorcerer_Supreme)

By the Flawless Faltine’s flame - let the power you possess strike you the same! Deal 1533 damage.

(PASSIVE) Whenever an enemy fires a power, deal 557 damage to the target.