New player fears, and request for advice

froggerjohn

I'm on day 10 of MPQ, working my way through the prologue. I picked up the starter pack, and redeemed several characters, with the rest of the covers still waiting in Rewards.

I seem to be getting overwhelmed with irrational fears of doing the wrong thing. For example, I used up many of the initial team-ups when I didn't really need to, because I thought "one-time use" was per-match.

Despite reading a number of "getting started" guides and tips, in some cases this has only made things worse. Sometimes the info is outdated, and sometimes the info is filled with warnings and pitfalls. Case in point, I've been afraid to do anything in Versus due to various stories about heroes getting pummeled while you're away "once you open that door". I'd really hate to open my game and find a bunch of damaged characters. I can't seem to find a definitive source about what actually goes on inside Versus and what processes that sets in motion, so for now, I just haven't even tried it.

Something else I haven't tried, is joining an alliance. Again, primarily fear of the unknown, but also because I can't find any info on how to choose a good candidate for a beginning player.

Probably the biggest fears however, involve the decisions about what to redeem, and what to spend leveling points on. I've been doing DDQ 1*, and recently felt I was getting far enough in a couple of 2* characters to try the next tier with Storm and Thor 2*, and a 1* Juggs. Storm is my best 2* at 2-3-2, and I leveled her to 30 to increase her Wind Storm damage. It's working great in the Prologue when paired with 3* Thor and Kamala Khan from the starter pack. (Their higher damage factors, except for blue, keep them in front to take the hits). But in 2* DDQ, Storm out-damages everyone else except for Juggs in red. And with no Kamala Khan healing boosts I lost Storm in wave 2, with a quick demise shortly thereafter.

I'm guessing I have Storm over-leveled compared to the others. I didn't realize that trap until it was too late, and now I'm not sure how to fix it. I have a fair amount of resources still, so some guidance would be super appreciated.

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

- 30K Iso, 195HP (and plenty more still to farm in Prologue).
- 6 open roster slots

- 9 Elite, and 4 Heroic unredeemed covers
- Unrecruited rewards from the Starter pack for 3* Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Gamora, Spider-Man, and 2* Wolverine
- in 2 days, I get another Thor 2* cover from Resupply, which will let me level him up a bit more

The Starter Pack felt like a great deal, but it also pushed me up into a region where new roster slots are more expensive. If the game balance expected me to be earning HP for 2* covers at the cheaper rate, I may find slots even harder to come by than normal if I recruit the rest of my Starter Pack covers.

spatenfloot

Don't stress out. Ignore versus for now. Only use hero points for roster slots. Go ahead and open the elite and heroic tokens, but don't open or buy legendary tokens until after you have a few championed 3 stars. Try to roster all of the 2 stars and then work on adding 3s. You only need one 1 star character so pick Iron Man or Jug and use the other slots for 2 or 3 stars.

HoundofShadow

I'm two months in the game.

Regarding team-up, just use them. There's a cap of 20 slots for team-up anyway. You get plenty when you play PvE or sometimes PvP. I seldom use team-up and my team-up slot is always full. 

If you are ready for PvP, just play it. Don't worry about getting pummeled. Regardless of whether you are in 2*, 3*, 4* or 5* land, people are still getting pummeled. When someone attacks you, you won't lose your hitpoint/healthpoint. You only lose hitpoint when you attack them. Set a goal. Many players set a goal of 575 progression points in PvP. This is where you get the awesome Command Points (CP). 

Regarding alliance, If they are not competitive, they might allow you to join them. If not, I don't think those competitive players would allow you to join them because you could pull down their ranking. Ask yourself how you can contribute to the alliance and how active are you going to be.

Level up all your 2* (except Bagman)and 3* or now. They would be very helpful in the essential node for PvE. You get more points, which means you can get more progression rewards and better placement rewards. When you get stronger, you need only 1 or 2 1* just for DDQ.

What's your current S.H.I.E.L.D ranking now?

Lastly, remember to set one bonus hero for each 3*, 4* and 5*. 3* Dr Strange is recommended. For 4*, Captain Marvel is considered one of the top in 4*. Remember, set only one for each. It's not a fast and hard rule. Ask yourself what's your strategy going to be. Don't stress yourself oit with the strongest or best characters.

PS: Use HP to buy slots only and don't use your CP if possible.

froggerjohn

Thank you for the replies, and in particular, "not losing HP when someone attacks you in PvP". I apparently misunderstood what "losing points" meant. (I see now that's just with respect to rankings).

The 3* from the starter pack likely puts me in a PvP class I wouldn't have much success in yet, but's it's great to know I don't have to worry about risking the rest of my gameplay when I want to try it out.

I'm currently S.H.I.E.L.D. rank 13, and redemption of tokens netted some decent luck. I thought with more uncovered characters than what I had partials for, I'd end up with a bunch of new characters taking up slots. But I only drew two of those, and the rest filled in additional covers for my existing roster.

I now have:
Thor   2* 1-5-2
Storm 2* 4-3-3
Jugs   1* 5-5

Still three empty slots, and drew my first OBW as well.

HoundofShadow

You lose points in a defensive loss, but not your characters' healthpoint. Don't stress yourself. Have fun. Playing PvE is less stressful. When I played PvP, I was using level 50 Juggernaut in PvP and level 50 Ironman while building up my 2*. Just set baby goals like 300 or 400 points in PvP to get the tokens. If you are up for a challenge, go for 575 and 725.

abominatrix

A couple of things to add to the good advice already given:
1. Most alliances that will require a roster you don't yet have are private. Look for a public alliance and join it. THey'll let you know if you don't qualify, but many public alliances are perfectly happy if you play everyday. And, 1500-2000 free ISO every day is very useful. Many public alliances are also a mix of newbie and veteran rosters; this is useful since you can always ask for team-ups from your alliance-mates and a high level team-up can be a difference-maker. Since the team-up you get is somewhat random (the person sending it can choose the character, but not the power), you may get a stinker. Just trash it and move on.
2. Play lightning rounds. They start every 2 hours on (mostly) Tuesday and Wednesday. If you start right at the beginning the enemy "seed" teams will be a level 70 3* and 2 low level 1*. The level 70 3* sounds scarier than it is. Again, it's free ISO and standard tokens which will occasionally spit out a 2*.
3. Play PVP, as others have said. Yes, you'll get hit. No, it won't matter. You'll finish low, but again you'll get some ISO, tokens and covers for your trouble. As a starting roster, 575 is too high of a goal, but 200 for the Elite token is pretty tasty. If you time it right, you'll get seed nodes in PVP (just like the lightning rounds) which will almost get you to 200 right there. Grab the Elite and don't worry if you get beaten down; the game won't take the reward away from you.
4. Don't feel you have to play the highest SCL that you're eligible for. I keep on reading about people who become eligible for SCL 8 or 9 but don't have the roster to compete, do it anyway and don't understand why they aren't having fun. I'm sure it happens at lower levels, but my roster was pretty good for SCL8 when that started. Play at a level at which you're comfortable and you'll be fine.
5. Somebody else said to use HP ONLY for roster slots. I don't like repeating advice, but this is the best advice a new person can get. There are other reasons to spend HP, but not until you reach that happy point where roster slots are not a problem. The game will give you opportunities to spend your HP; ignore them. ISO and covers will always come, HP is hard to come by with a new roster.

Hope that helps!

ThaRoadWarrior

I'd suggest doing PVP anyway. worst thing that happens if you don't do well is you burn a few health and just wait until later. The after-match random rewards might really help you out too, particularly if you start pulling in 2* covers here and there. It's probably worth you trying it, just to get feel for it. And like HoundofShadow said just pick some attainable goal and then walk away. There really are no stakes to losing at the level of play you are at. Also join an alliance of active players. if you can get in one that is playing above your level, the alliance placement rewards will really help you jump up.

froggerjohn

>  the game won't take the reward away from you

Thanks so much for that additional insight. It makes sense after hearing it, but it wasn't obvious to me ahead of time. That and the knowledge that my character's heath is safe once I quit makes a huge difference, and eliminates the unknown effects I was worried about.

Got through the first two waves of DDQ 2*, now that I was able to fix the over-leveling problem with Storm. So now I have a taco token. Is it correct to just redeem that now? I see notes about hording strategies, but that seems like something for well down the road.

HoundofShadow

It will take you about 150 to 300 days to get all 300 tokens, depending on whether you get 1 or 2 tokens per day DDQ.

The difference between hoarding and not hoarding is whether you want to have a guaranteed prize or if you want to try your luck.

There are two types of tokens: sweet and savoury. 

When I started, I opened the tokens every day. I got lucky twice and got 250 HP. Most of the time, the prize I got isn't very good.

Now, I stopped opening because i got 500/100 iso quite frequently.

Some players will stockpile until they have 300 tokens and then wait for the characters that they want to appear. 

Once again, it depends on your goals once you reach 300 tokens. Some will stop opening their tokens until they got what they want. Some will open all 300 tokens because it gives them some sort of satisfaction. 

There's no hard rule. If it makes you happy opening up the token, then open it. If you think that hoarding is a better strategy for you, then hoard it.

broll

1.  Max out your Jugg right away, he's the best 1* and the only one you need long term.
2.  Sell your other 1*s now or soon.  Once you have 2 usable 2*s (which you do with Thor and Storm) then you don't need these and you need all the roster slots you can get.
3.  Use your ISO to max out your 2*s and Jugg as soon as you can.  I would focus on your most covered 2*s rather than trying to level evenly.
4.  On Taco tokens it will take 300 days to max out a hoard of taco tokens.  At your early level I would think you want to open them as they come in as even the weaker rewards will be pretty useful at your level.  If you do choose to hoard I would pick one type (savory or sweet) and hoard one and open the other as it comes in.
5.  All your HP should go to roster slots for the forseeable future.  It costs a lot to get all those going and you'll need ever drop as the game goes.
6.  If you're planning to pay for the game more than just the starter pack I highly recommend VIP, it's a pretty sweet deal, especially the lower your roster is.  For other purchases never ever buy ISO, it's a rip off, only by HP which will be far more useful to you at this stage anyway.  If you have the means whaling HP early can be a huge boon to getting a good start, but ONLY SPEND IT ON SLOTS.
7.  For BH I would favorite 3* Strange and 4* Rocket & Groot.  Both have strong passives that will make the game far easier.
8.  Do not open or spend any LT/CP.  You really don't want or need to pick up a bunch of 4*s or 5*s for at least the first 3-6 months.  For me it was about a year before I was ready to start champing 4*s.  Hoarding is your friend in this game if you have the patience, train yourself now.
9.  Open ST, ET, and HT right away.  You're going to have to sell some covers (especially if you don't whale HP for slots), but you want to get to a point where you have at least 3 2*s champed early and start building up a good stable of 3*s.
10.  I would focus on 3 2*s and ignore most of the rest so you can start building your 3* roster without wasting a bunch of slots.  I'd pick the 2*s based on a combination of how good they are, who they give in their champ levels, and what RNG gives you.  You'll eventually want all the 2*s, but that's more of something to come back to once you've got enough roster slots that you're not wasting many/any 3*s.
11.  If you're planning on being FTP then be advised you'll probably want to pick characters to never bother covering.  Unless you're gonna have the HP to get lots and lots of slots some characters like Ragnorok aren't worth rostering and should just be sold.
12.  It's probably a good idea to have 2 slots that you consider 'flavor of the week' slots.  In order to have the required 3* and 4* characters (that you will get free in their progression once you get to high enough SCLs) it's worth rostering a 1 cover into those slots just to be able to do the nodes that require them.  Then if it's not a character you're going to keep sell if after the event.  This is something that will help if you're FTP.
13.  Focus on PvE.  PvP is exponentially more difficult the lower your roster is and a major HP sync.  Until you're champing 3* characters I would more or less ignore PvP.  If you're in an alliance join the events and do one clear for the free rewards though.
14.  Join a random non-private alliance until you're roster get's more advanced.  Competive alliances aren't likely to pick you up, but joining a random will at least get you some decent free rewards.

ThaRoadWarrior

that is all great advice

iron-n-wine

well done on finding the forums at day 10 - I think I was well into playing before I stumbled across them

on alliances, I will add, if you join one and its not right for you, just leave and join another, you will not be offending anyone

I've only been in 2 alliances myself, both very casual, but left the first one as several commanders had stopped playing and they are a pain to remove. My new alliance has been great and they ended up making me a commander too

froggerjohn

Thanks again for all the help, which really made a big difference (I've been getting top-50 placements in story events, albeit at SCL2). I have a few more issues right now that I could use additional advice on.

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

1. Playing with 3* Thor (buffed this week) I thought I could raise 2* Storm to a higher level. But I failed to keep my 2* Thor in mind, and screwed myself. Fortunately I didn't go nuts before realizing the mistake, but still went one too far and now she's vulnerable in green. (She does 30, and 2* Thor is 29). I had been winning the first 2* DDQ, but now that seems out of reach again.

With no imminent opportunities for more 2* Thor covers, it seems like I might have to temporarily find an alternative team solution until one drops. None of those options seem attractive though.
- Wolverine has no synergy with Thor
- Hawkeye probably isn't great until I get Magneto's purple
- Human Torch doesn't seem that interesting
- Could use the 1* BW stun, but she'd be very vulnerable on AoE
- Daken has been awesome when buffed, so I pumped some Iso into him to raise his level, but non-buffed damage is still underwhelming.

2. I have 85K Iso, but not sure who to apply it to. Leveling still seems to be an art form that I don't quite understand.

3. <2 days until the rest of my starter pack covers expire, and I'm out of roster space. I have 3 covers for each of:
3* Captain Marvel
3* Gamora
3* Spider Man

Seems like I want to recruit all of these, but not sure which ones to sell off to make room.

CT1888

I would be inclined to say 1* Black Widow,  Moonstone and 2* Bullseye - 2* Black Widow and Magneto are better characters.

If you are unsure, don't worry and hold onto that iso for now until you get some more covers, and where you get them will prompt you where to spend it - characters are greedy for iso once they have the covers. Having that iso and more in the bank will allow you to champ Thor and Storm once you get those last few covers.

Lots of really good advice on this thread, you'll do great!

DAZ0273

Unfortunately for you Storm is very strong in both green and blue so will be hard to "hide". Daken still might be viable as his blue will produce green for Storm and Thor and also strike tiles - shame you don't have his black to heal though and his health is low. Otherwise although he overlaps with Thor especially, maybe Wolverine might pinch-hit in the meantime.

A little tip for Under The Sea  - try and finish round one with a superpower if you can and try to use round 1 to set up round 2. Unless you are getting completely battered it may pay to save resources built up in the round but only use one power, preferably to take out the last round 1 dude. All that AP that the AI has been stacking up but can't currently use as you down its characters in round 1 will be unleashed upon you one after the other right at the beginning of the next round but if you finish the wave with a power (or a team-up) then the next go is yours again and you can take a breather to plan your next move. Also, if you can (and I acknowledge at starter levels how tough UTS is) try and save a power(s) for round 2 - especially windstorm which you can then use to stun the non goon character who normally turns up and make a dent in the next levels health.

Another tip - once you join an alliance - ASK FOR TEAM-UP'S! Just because you are a beginner player does not mean you can only get beginner team-ups! Your alliance can and will send you powerful 5, 4 & 3* team-ups that you can use to overcome difficult matches.

ThaRoadWarrior

I like to send junior players my alliance AoE powers if I can, because they can generally just end one of those challenging nodes quickly. So if you go in with say Ballistic Salvo (IM40 blue) and banked up Team Up AP from boosts, then just chase the team up tiles across the match, sometimes you can just end the match all in one go.

DAZ0273

ThaRoadWarrior said:

I like to send junior players my alliance AoE powers if I can, because they can generally just end one of those challenging nodes quickly. So if you go in with say Ballistic Salvo (IM40 blue) and banked up Team Up AP from boosts, then just chase the team up tiles across the match, sometimes you can just end the match all in one go.

Definitely and 3* land has some great aoe from Kamala Khan, through Thor and GSBW to Black Panther.

ThaRoadWarrior

And on that subject, Ms Marvel's yellow can create Team Up tiles, which in turn have a decent match-5 probability, and 2* thor creates yellow off his red (not to mention green off his yellow if that is more prevalent on the board), so you can do pretty well using Thor, Ms Marvel, Hawkeye and not have to wait for a purple magneto to make good use of Hawkeye while still hedging your bets on a Team Up

froggerjohn

Daken-Wolverine is indeed an interesting synergy. They also just slightly come in below Storm's green, but it gives me another avenue to eventually find covers for. I'm not too worried about hiding her in blue, but if someone else could take the green, that would be a huge help.

Daken-Wolverine-Thor looks like a good team, but would be much better when I find some Wolverine covers, so he can absorb the green hits. Then I can take advantage of the healing when matching yellow (which Thor puts to great use making more green).

I actually skipped the Daken black deliberately, because the board usually has fewer than 8 blue tiles (especially since I want to match the blues), and I thought I'd have more penalty there than benefit. Maybe that changes at the higher ranks of the black power (when the requirement goes down), but it might take awhile to get there.

Going to play story modes for a bit while waiting for covers, and not worry too much about DDQ tier 2.

BTW, there's some tasty HP at the end of the Prologue, but guarded by a level 140 Ragnarok. From what I can research, it looks like the stuns are the key to beating him, by having a character like Magneto that can keep generating more blue. Doesn't look like I have the right lineup to beat that yet.

ThaRoadWarrior

One cool thing about Ragnarok is that he generates blue charged tiles, which give whoever matches them more AP than a standard match as well as doing more damage. I believe that ability also has a self heal, which is annoying, but I wouldn't necessarily assume he's unbeatable without trying it first.

DAZ0273

Boss Ragnarok is pretty tough, he is one of those characters that the AI can play and suddenly he is unstoppable. You will wear him down and then he will heal himself so you have to start again.