2* Farming

sambrookjm

farlus said:

If you've got the HP, yeah, roster a dupe before maxing. (This is what I do for 3* because they are much less farmable.) The latter method is less cost prohibitive, but you're always taking a risk of covers expiring.

I usually set that character as my only Bonus Hero character for that tier.  The only 3-star I've farmed is Cap, and I had five yellow covers in the queue, waiting for one to fill out the 5/4/3.  I was going to spend 20 CP on that final cover until I finally got a bonus Blue cover for him.  Sell the maxed one, champ the new one, and BOOM!  Five extra levels for the yellow covers.

Although I'm not even close to farming the 4-star levels (Invisible Woman and XFW are my highest at LVL 290), I had a Kate Bishop/R&G 4-star duplicate covers for my 12-cover 4-stars.  I set Kate Bishop as my bonus hero, and while that didn't work, one of the LT from the hoard gave me a cover I could use as the actual prize.  R&G then got set to my only 4-star Bonus hero, and several tokens later I got one of the covers I needed for them to get maxed.  Now I just need the 200K ISO for R&G in the next week.  Worse comes to worse, I break into the 2-star farm and sell the 3 maxed-out 2 stars for the ISO.  It's another reason to hoard the LT if you can manage it...when you need a cover for a specific character, it's somewhat easier to get it.

Jaedenkaal

aesthetocyst said:

Nick441234 said:

Theres got to be a point where it stops being random though. 

Ummm .... no, no there doesn't.

Haha, oh good. It's not just me.

Nick441234 said:

Theres no way I should still have 7 at 144 at the same time as each other after as long as I've been rotating them. 

It happens. In fact, there are non-random sources of 2* covers, such as PVP Sim rewards, or PVP placement rewards in general. Also Boss events still reward 2* covers for progression, I believe. Presumably they rotate those evenly, but you probably don't win them all evenly either.

And here's the thing, once your 2*s are leveling unevenly, there's really only one sequence of covers that will get them back to leveling evenly, and lots (all the other sequences) that will keep leveling them as unevenly as right now, or even more unevenly than right now. 

Kahmon

I'm well ahead on hero coins right now, so slots are not an issue for now. I'd like to have 2 of each 2*, but I'm so far behind on iso from champing 4*s that that is holding me back. Someday though.

Pongie

You need to start tracking every 2* cover and when you have s good sample size (thousands if not many magnitude more), then you can start looking at trends. At the moment, you won’t notice long streaks of duplicate colours if they are being applied as champion levels. Only when you hit maxed champion is when you are noticing, just because this is frustrating. 

Dormammu

At this point I'm HP positive. I have almost everyone rostered except a couple of 5-stars I have yet to luck into and my HP intake from a full 2-star farm more than covers new releases. I actually dip into vaults (gasp!) from time to time.

jtsings

   I'm only on my third round trip myself but my 2*s have had issues just like you, however I've not had to sell a cover as of yet.  One thing I've been considering doing, because I don't really want to spend a roster slot on a dupe (I still have 6 four star characters to roster) is waiting till my 2* gets to 130ish and just don't apply additional covers unless there is a trend toward one color.  For example, last go round Human Torch got like 8 red covers before any other color, so I would apply the quickest to expire 3 red covers to my existing champ.  This gives me a few extra days to get the colored covers I need.  Right now I'm still in need of HP for roster spots but I'll probably try this next go round when, hopefully, I'll have all my 4*s rostered.

smkspy

Bigger question, hiw much is a 3 star farm worth the investment. Obviously any 2 star feeder has value behind it, but besides rng biased characters: blade, iron fist, switch, 3strange...are the rest worth it once they hit 266? 

Is a new psylocke, beast, or vision worth the roster spot when it'll take months to build, 130k iso to champ, and maybe a year to get to 266 again.

Daredevil217

I know people may think me having trips of each 2* is a waste of HP, but I think roster slots are the absolute best use of HP in the game. It’s like buying land in real life. If ever I’m in need of HP, iso or a roster spot, I can sell a maxed 2.  I actually did that with two of mine and have been putting off rechamping (whoever said it’s easy to spend that iso elsewhere is right!).

I’ve spent $2 on this game total so I’m not a whale by any means, I just put a high priority on investing in slots. I’ve got 167 slots and 14.5k HP. Most of that is likely going to go toward more slots because a VERY large portion of my 3s are getting to the place where a dupe needs to be rostered. 

Pongie

smkspy said:

Bigger question, hiw much is a 3 star farm worth the investment. 

Allow me to link to the figures. Is it worth it? That depends on how much you value the champion rewards compared to iso. 

Nick441234

sinnerjfl said:

farlus said:

The  most prohibitive thing about these solutions is that building a dupe for each 2* before the main is done requires another 1k HP, which isn't realistic for most people who are 3* to 4* transitioners or even for the 4* to 5* transitioners.

Waiting the 2 weeks after hitting 144 to get 13 covers is more viable, but as of late even that hasn't worked. In fact, with 2* Bullseye, in 2 weeks after hitting 144 I was only able to get ONE purple cover. I sold him and rostered at 1/5/5 and hoped that before the remaining green and black covers expired I would get the additional two purples I needed. I ended up having to roster a second 0/5/5 dupe so that the covers wouldn't expire. Absolutely atrocious. I should've just done the former method at that rate.

If you've got the HP, yeah, roster a dupe before maxing. (This is what I do for 3* because they are much less farmable.) The latter method is less cost prohibitive, but you're always taking a risk of covers expiring.

From the champ rewards and selling off the champ 2*'s, you stand to make around 4500 HP. Its really worth it and yes it will take some roster space but in the end, you are better off doing it.

I also much prefer getting a 2* to 144, building the dupe, sell the 144 and re-champ immediatly. Much less tempting to spend the iso on something else that way.

Exactly my thinking. If I leave the sold ISO in my pile too long, I'll put it elsewhere and end up having to find more ISO to champ the 2*. I wouldn't enjoy having to find ISO just to champ a 2*. 

Quebbster

Nick441234 said:

sinnerjfl said:

farlus said:

The  most prohibitive thing about these solutions is that building a dupe for each 2* before the main is done requires another 1k HP, which isn't realistic for most people who are 3* to 4* transitioners or even for the 4* to 5* transitioners.

Waiting the 2 weeks after hitting 144 to get 13 covers is more viable, but as of late even that hasn't worked. In fact, with 2* Bullseye, in 2 weeks after hitting 144 I was only able to get ONE purple cover. I sold him and rostered at 1/5/5 and hoped that before the remaining green and black covers expired I would get the additional two purples I needed. I ended up having to roster a second 0/5/5 dupe so that the covers wouldn't expire. Absolutely atrocious. I should've just done the former method at that rate.

If you've got the HP, yeah, roster a dupe before maxing. (This is what I do for 3* because they are much less farmable.) The latter method is less cost prohibitive, but you're always taking a risk of covers expiring.

From the champ rewards and selling off the champ 2*'s, you stand to make around 4500 HP. Its really worth it and yes it will take some roster space but in the end, you are better off doing it.

I also much prefer getting a 2* to 144, building the dupe, sell the 144 and re-champ immediatly. Much less tempting to spend the iso on something else that way.

Exactly my thinking. If I leave the sold ISO in my pile too long, I'll put it elsewhere and end up having to find more ISO to champ the 2*. I wouldn't enjoy having to find ISO just to champ a 2*. 

It's only 65K ISO to champ a two-star, that's like two day's Worth of ISO if you play a lot.

smkspy

Pongie said:

smkspy said:

Bigger question, hiw much is a 3 star farm worth the investment. 

Allow me to link to the figures. Is it worth it? That depends on how much you value the champion rewards compared to iso. 

That is a big iso loss, especially if i
your shield rank is 125 already.

I feel the 2 star feeders are worth starting as dupes, since they have a dependable source of reward covers. But everyone else just feels like waste of iso and roster slots and would just take too much time in comparison to how fast a 2 star farm rotates.

aesthetocyst

smkspy said:

... is a 3 star farm worth the investment ...

Asked and answered several times on this forum.

The higher the tier, the better the numbers.

But, the higher the tier, the longer the timescale.

Double but, since neither iso nor HP can earn interest, or be borrowed at interest, they have no discount rate, no timevalue to consider.

Therefore, it is worth farming all characters that offer champ rewards, no matter how long the cycle, unless it's going to require roster slots, you'd have to use real world money to acquire the slots, and you can't afford to set money on fire.

If you can afford the slots from in-game earnings, or don't mind burning cash, farm'em all.

Daredevil217

aesthetocyst said:

smkspy said:

... is a 3 star farm worth the investment ...

Asked and answered several times on this forum.

The higher the tier, the better the numbers.

But, the higher the tier, the longer the timescale.

Double but, since neither iso nor HP can earn interest, or be borrowed at interest, they have no discount rate, no timevalue to consider.

Therefore, it is worth farming all characters that offer champ rewards, no matter how long the cycle, unless it's going to require roster slots, you'd have to use real world money to acquire the slots, and you can't afford to set money on fire.

If you can afford the slots from in-game earnings, or don't mind burning cash, farm'em all.

I think the net iso loss after all is said and done is only like 7K for flipping a 2*.  A DDQ worth of iso is worth it for all the rewards.

What is the net iso loss for a three?

aesthetocyst

Nick441234 said:

sinnerjfl said:

farlus said:

The  most prohibitive thing about these solutions is that building a dupe for each 2* before the main is done requires another 1k HP, which isn't realistic for most people who are 3* to 4* transitioners or even for the 4* to 5* transitioners.

Waiting the 2 weeks after hitting 144 to get 13 covers is more viable, but as of late even that hasn't worked. In fact, with 2* Bullseye, in 2 weeks after hitting 144 I was only able to get ONE purple cover. I sold him and rostered at 1/5/5 and hoped that before the remaining green and black covers expired I would get the additional two purples I needed. I ended up having to roster a second 0/5/5 dupe so that the covers wouldn't expire. Absolutely atrocious. I should've just done the former method at that rate.

If you've got the HP, yeah, roster a dupe before maxing. (This is what I do for 3* because they are much less farmable.) The latter method is less cost prohibitive, but you're always taking a risk of covers expiring.

From the champ rewards and selling off the champ 2*'s, you stand to make around 4500 HP. Its really worth it and yes it will take some roster space but in the end, you are better off doing it.

I also much prefer getting a 2* to 144, building the dupe, sell the 144 and re-champ immediatly. Much less tempting to spend the iso on something else that way.

Exactly my thinking. If I leave the sold ISO in my pile too long, I'll put it elsewhere and end up having to find more ISO to champ the 2*. I wouldn't enjoy having to find ISO just to champ a 2*. 

Meh. Way too much overthinking.

Assuming you are past the 2* game and running champ 3s, and playing daily, then the second you see a 2* hit 144, sell it. Wasting time tracking what you have covers for, or which characters you have dupes built to a certain point for, is a waste of mental capacity and ties up in-game resources.

You'll get a cover for any 2* the same day, or within a day or two at worst.

When you sell a 2*, immediately use that iso on a higher rarity character, preferably toward saving covers from the vine.

You can level a 2* in 2 days. Even if, for some weird reason, events manage to conspire against you and cause you to have to burn some 2* covers (farming 2s aggressively for 16mos, never had to burn a cover yet), so what? That is the least consequential loss, they are easily replaced. 

sinnerjfl

Quebbster said:

Exactly my thinking. If I leave the sold ISO in my pile too long, I'll put it elsewhere and end up having to find more ISO to champ the 2*. I wouldn't enjoy having to find ISO just to champ a 2*. 

It's only 65K ISO to champ a two-star, that's like two day's Worth of ISO if you play a lot.

I know its not rational at all, but im enjoying myself a lot less when Im just playing to dump iso in a 2*.

It's silly, I know

shardwick

Daredevil217 said:

aesthetocyst said:

smkspy said:

... is a 3 star farm worth the investment ...

Asked and answered several times on this forum.

The higher the tier, the better the numbers.

But, the higher the tier, the longer the timescale.

Double but, since neither iso nor HP can earn interest, or be borrowed at interest, they have no discount rate, no timevalue to consider.

Therefore, it is worth farming all characters that offer champ rewards, no matter how long the cycle, unless it's going to require roster slots, you'd have to use real world money to acquire the slots, and you can't afford to set money on fire.

If you can afford the slots from in-game earnings, or don't mind burning cash, farm'em all.

I think the net iso loss after all is said and done is only like 7K for flipping a 2*.  A DDQ worth of iso is worth it for all the rewards.

What is the net iso loss for a three?

When you take into account the iso you get from the champ rewards for that 2* it's not really a loss though. I think it ends up being a net positive of around 4500 iso. It really only feels like a loss since the price to champ the new one is more than the price to sell the maxed old one.

smkspy

aesthetocyst said:

smkspy said:

... is a 3 star farm worth the investment ...

Asked and answered several times on this forum.

The higher the tier, the better the numbers.

But, the higher the tier, the longer the timescale.

Double but, since neither iso nor HP can earn interest, or be borrowed at interest, they have no discount rate, no timevalue to consider.

Therefore, it is worth farming all characters that offer champ rewards, no matter how long the cycle, unless it's going to require roster slots, you'd have to use real world money to acquire the slots, and you can't afford to set money on fire.

If you can afford the slots from in-game earnings, or don't mind burning cash, farm'em all.

Long term, possibly. Roster spots without cash isn't really a problem unless you suddenly have ten 3 star dupes you want to roster. I have 3strange dupe I'm thinking of rostering, unlike the 2 star feeders, he's a long term investment when numerous other places demand iso.

I think iso restriction is a bigger negative towards 3 star farming than slots.

aesthetocyst

smkspy said:

aesthetocyst said:

smkspy said:

... is a 3 star farm worth the investment ...

Asked and answered several times on this forum.

The higher the tier, the better the numbers.

But, the higher the tier, the longer the timescale.

Double but, since neither iso nor HP can earn interest, or be borrowed at interest, they have no discount rate, no timevalue to consider.

Therefore, it is worth farming all characters that offer champ rewards, no matter how long the cycle, unless it's going to require roster slots, you'd have to use real world money to acquire the slots, and you can't afford to set money on fire.

If you can afford the slots from in-game earnings, or don't mind burning cash, farm'em all.

Long term, possibly. Roster spots without cash isn't really a problem unless you suddenly have ten 3 star dupes you want to roster. I have 3strange dupe I'm thinking of rostering, unlike the 2 star feeders, he's a long term investment when numerous other places demand iso.

I think iso restriction is a bigger negative towards 3 star farming than slots.

3*s are feeders, too.

If you intended to focus long-term, roster him.

If you think 2* farming is great, you can't afford not to work those 3s, too.

They are at worst a medium-term investment; MPQ is a game of years

Everything gets faster over time. The roster rolls downhill. Get started while you are still young!

Jaedenkaal

smkspy said:

I think iso restriction is a bigger negative towards 3 star farming than slots.

The difference between selling your max-champed 3* and leveling a 13-cover 3* to 166 and champing them is only 22,149 ISO, according to Pongie's link. For most people I would imagine that's a day's play time, or less, and certainly easier to obtain than 1000 hero points.

It's also only about 3x more than recycling a 2*, and considering 2*s are champed after 50 covers and 3*s after only 100 covers, (not even taking into account the larger pool of 3*s and the lower rate of 3* cover acquisition) I'd bet that farming 2*s will be a much higher ISO cost per time than 3*s.