1* Covers

GamBaTron

I have only recently joined this forum and I am learning loads of stuff. Mostly what ive been doing wrong since I have started playing I have a question regarding 1* covers. (Kind of embarrassed to ask) I've always kept 3 1* characters on my roster just to be able to do the first match in the DeadPool Daily. Usually it helps push me to the next reward level, resulting in an extra ~ 3k in ISO. Now I am reading about stocking up on duplicates two star covers for "farming". Is there a much greater payoff in that verses the ~3k iso daily? I am assuming the answer is yes.

 

This kind of leads into another question. I have a hard time collecting hero points without spending a fortune buying them. Is there a recommendation to increase the amount of HP I can receive via rewards?

Dormammu

The value of farming 1-stars is debatable. Depending on your SHIELD rank, the ISO gains are minimal. I just sell my 1-stars for the immediate ISO returns. As for keeping three 1-stars on roster - you don't need to. One will do the trick for DDQ (common choices are Spider-Man, Iron Man, or Juggernaut) as long as they are max-level.

If you want more HP its time to farm your 2-stars. Once a 2-star is max-champed (lv 144) sell it and start a new one. Repeat. Do this with all the 2-stars except Bagman and you will see a significant increase in HP earnings from the repeated champ levels.

Waddles_Pines

I think I read somewhere that 1* farming is ISO positive until you reach lvl 120ish (swore I saw 140 somewhere, but 120 is a number I've seen a few times).  You only need 1 1* to defeat the DDQ node (Spidey,Juggs, or IM will work easily).  

With HP, 2* farming helps a lot.  Also, look at the reward tables for PVE and PVP.  There are certain point thresholds/placement that'll give you some HP also.  So, make sure to try to maximize those rewards.  

Also, it might be better in PVP to play down a level if you think you can place higher.  I don't know what level you're on, but sometimes the lower progression rewards are outweighed by the better placement rewards.  

If you gain CP, legendary tokens; save them.  They're of little use to you now.  Though if you happen to draw a 5*, they do have a place in 2*star land PVP you're in now.  I have an alt account at lvl 20ish and a one cover 5* just takes so long to kill...

Hold onto gold tokens (and maybe elite ones too) until you have your 2* all rostered and champed.  At this stage in the game, it's the covers dying on the vine that plays with your emotions.  You can mitigate that by holding onto the gold/elite tokens until you have enough HP to roster a new character.  Then open up tokens until you find someone you want to roster.  

Sorry, for writing a missive on this, but look at the character rankings to see you in the 3* star tier you'd like to roster (i would not advise going 2* to 4*).  My advice is to look to roster all the 3* that your 2* farm feeds (each 2* gives 3 3* covers of one character).  Eventually you'll roster all the 3*, but you have to start somewhere.  But, most importantly, have fun.  It's a game.  It's only as demanding as you let it be.  

GamBaTron

I just tried setting up the game pendium so I could share my roster but I don't think I did it correctly (ugh). I registered with the same name as my in game name. I was hoping that would be enough to link the account but it wasn't. Then I tried typing in my account name where it prompts you to and it returned a message stating "Roster must have one character"   

 

I'm sure it would help to see what I am working with.

abominatrix

Gamependium is a valuable tool, but is not linked to the game in any way. So, when you enter your roster there it's manual.

It's worth it since it provides an easy link to anybody you may ask questions about, but it does take some small effort to set up. 

Hope that helps!

GamBaTron

abominatrix said:

Gamependium is a valuable tool, but is not linked to the game in any way. So, when you enter your roster there it's manual.

It's worth it since it provides an easy link to anybody you may ask questions about, but it does take some small effort to set up. 

Hope that helps!

Oh Dang.. I need to fill it in manually? 

GamBaTron

Ok I just finished filling in my roster. check it out. Any advise is welcome. 

https://mpq.gamependium.com/rosters/GamBaTron/

Waddles_Pines

Are you a pvp, pve, or both player?  

GamBaTron

I play both but I tend to gravitate towards PvP. I play in the lowest level I can, level 6 and I Seem to get my butt kicked there most of the time. In another topic here I read it may be bc I have a few 5 star covers? So it matches me with higher ranked players? Should I stick to PvE a bit longer first? 

Dormammu

Just looked at your roster. Okay...

1) You need to immediately stop investing ISO into your 5-stars. Doing so is going to start handicapping your MMR (the matchmaking algorithm) in PvP to the point that you're being matched against champed & boosted 4-stars that you have no chance against.

2) Sell your 1-star Juggernaut and MBW to free up two roster slots. Then re-spec your 1-star Iron Man to 5/5/3. He's all you need for DDQ.

3) You don't need to be putting ISO into under-covered 4-stars - they can't help you for the most part. Focus on champing your 3-stars. All of them. The sooner you start gaining 3-star champ rewards, the faster you can start fully covering 4-stars.

4) All those max-champed 2-stars? Sell them and start new ones. Farm all your 2-stars, over and over. This will get you lots of HP, CP, and 3-star covers which will in turn help you get 4-star covers. Champ rewards pay it forward all the way up the line.

5) If your main focus is PvP, you need to shift focus. High-end rosters are built in PvE. At SCL 7 you get (at minimum) two 3-star covers and one 4-star covers as progression rewards. If it's a 7-day event, double those numbers. Progression also offers 30 CP, plus a bunch more from node rewards. It's also where (by far) the most ISO can be earned. Don't worry about placement - 5 clears of each node in each sub is enough to get you all the progression rewards. Lean on your IM40 and Doc Strange in PvE when things get tough, they can allow you to punch above your weight class in SCL 7. Partner them with Patch, especially against goons, and you have one heckuva awesome team.

6) Your roster is not ready for high-end PvP yet. You can certainly play PvP but set realistic goals for how many points you can get. If you can get to 575 for the CP progression reward on weeks where you have a couple of good boosted 3-stars, that'll be about as high as you can go without some serious shield-hopping (which I don't recommend; you have better used for HP). Otherwise 300 for a vault token may be a more realistic goal.

Waddles_Pines

Although no one really knows the full formula for mmr, a good ballpark figure is that you'll be seen as the average of your 5 highest levels characters (including boosted levels).  Mmr will ignore 1 or 2 complete outliers in your roster, but since you have a whole bunch of 5* rostered and leveled, the game is seeing you as a 4*star player.  Mmr only counts for pvp.  The 5*s will help you in pve, but if you want to compete in pvp, you might have to sell some of your characters.  

GamBaTron

Thank you so much for the detailed feedback. This is exactly what I needed. I’ve already started making changes to my roster.

 

So this is why I have been getting destroyed in PvP!! I have been consistently matched up against 4* super teams! If I ever meet Medusa I’m punching her in the face! If I do catch a good PvP that fits for my roster and I am able to time it right I’ve been able to finish in the 600s, 700s if I’m really lucky. But it is such a time investment for me and definitely requires a shield or two. Otherwise in between game sessions I’ll lose 180 points easy.

 

I dropped all three of my 1* covers (Before I read your suggestion to keep ironman) I’ll keep a spot open for an ironman to build back up.

 

Dropping them allowed me to pick up three Quake covers, and five She-Hulk covers that I had on the vine. So that was pretty cool.

 

I then sold a maxed out Areas. With that ISO I was able to Champ 3* Widow and acquire a LL token because I also had a widow cover on the vine. I still have the rest of my two star covers. I was thinking I’d wait to get a bunch of 2*s in my queue before selling them so I am not playing DDQ with one cover 2*s.

 

I’ve also started focusing my efforts on the current PvE event rather than the PvP. I’m a little disappointed that I don’t have a 5* powered up cover for this event. I remember when having one it was so quick and easy to just run through the whole event. When you said five clears in each node gets you all the progression rewards, does that include the nodes that have a required character? If I don’t have the required character will I still have a chance to get the top CP reward?

DAZ0273

Ouch, your 300+ 5* will really be hurting you, not only matching you with champed 4* teams but with boosted high 3* teams which will also see you as highly enticing as a target. Remember that playing lower level SCL in PvP will NOT protect your roster from matching you with opponents out of your league, it will only mean that you are fighting for prizes in placement against (hopefully) players on or around your level.

Heartbreaksoup

I think you're swimming in advice, most of it good for your PVP goals, but I'll add this.  Since you sold off all your 1*s and are rebuilding from scratch, go with Juggernaut.  He's moderately easier to max than Iron Man (40 instead of 50) and easily cuts through his DDQ level.  (Match against the grunts until you've got 6 red AP, then headbutt the character who's matching you, finish quickly and easily.)

As for your question about the top CP goal... it depends.  If you are missing the 4*, then you should expect that you will need to do seven clears of all the nodes in the first chapters, and then typically five clears of the nodes in the last chapter.  If you have all three essential characters (and in this run of Honor Among Thieves, we're talking about 2* Wolverine, 3* Storm and 4* Gladiator Hulk), then five clears each should do it - but that's no guarantee.  I think you'll want to do seven regardless on the first chapter or two just in case you run into an awful node you don't wish to replay.

I'll offer one bit of contradictory advice.  Dormammu suggests you should not worry about putting Iso into your 4-stars until you're ready to champ them.  The flip side to that is that the cost per level between about 200 and 250 is ridiculously high (as it should be).  I have found it much less painful to add 3-4 levels a day for a couple of thousand Iso instead of sinking 150,000 or 200,000 into the character at one go.  Plus you get the extra fun of using a (say) Nightcrawler or Ghost Rider at their better level 230ish, 240ish stats in PVE instead of keeping them benched and collecting dust at level 168.

Waddles_Pines

If memory serves me right, the 5*essential isn't needed for progression.  That also led them to significantly lower the point values since it launched (though in some events it's still high valued...).  

Without the 5*, you're only going to miss out on possible placement.

DAZ0273

The other argument for levelling 4* is Crash of the Titan. If you have an underlevelled 4 and their Crash rolls around it is sometimes worth looking at whether you can invest a little iso in them to try and win it. Not just because of the LT but also the fact you win the other rewards (apart from BB & BE) by getting 22,000 points instantly.

DAZ0273

Waddles_Pines said:

If memory serves me right, the 5*essential isn't needed for progression.  That also led them to significantly lower the point values since it launched (though in some events it's still high valued...).  

Without the 5*, you're only going to miss out on possible placement.

This is correct. I think originally though that at SCL7 and above the additional points gained meant you didn't have to do full clears but this probably doesn't apply to SCL7 any more as they nerfed the 5E points available as you say.

GamBaTron

Any advice to get me back to more appropriate PvP matchups? Is dumping my 5* covers the only way? I would really hate to do that.

Waddles_Pines

GamBaTron said:

Any advice to get me back to more appropriate PvP matchups? Is dumping my 5* covers the only way? I would really hate to do that.

My .02 is that you'd have to sell Thor and AA to lower your mmr.  The game is seeing you as a 4* player when the majority of your roster puts you in the 3* realm.  But, if you sell some 5*s it'll make PVE a little harder for you.  PVE will help your progression at this stage more than PVP.  You're in an HP crunch and in order to get decent progression you'll have to either shield or do it all in one run (and then get clubbed down by stronger players).  

Dormamu laid it out perfectly in his post, PVE will help your progression more.  Also, psychologically you won't feel as "defeated" as you would in PVP.  I think we all know how messed up it is to exit a PVP match only to find yourself down a hundred or more.

Also, I don't think this was mentioned, but is your alliance placing high enough to give you decent rewards?  If you're in a high ranking alliance you also get HP from events.  

Heartbreaksoup

If it helps, I have several single-covered 5* characters and have never had a problem in PVP at all.  I typically use a 5-cover 5* Daredevil as my tank in PVP.

However - and this is a big disclaimer - I only play PVP to 300 points in the "character" events and I'm done.  Maybe 1400 in SHIELD Sim, as long as I get 4000 in the overall season and the Heroic 10-Pack reward.

If I were to attempt playing to 575 points, I'd get clobbered beyond reason.  If I were shooting for even top 100 PVP, I'd get beaten stupid.  Your roster might be great for PVE, but until you build your 4*s, keep your head down in PVP so you won't become a target.

Dormammu

GamBaTron said:

Any advice to get me back to more appropriate PvP matchups? Is dumping my 5* covers the only way? I would really hate to do that.

There's no other way to lower your MMR. It sucks, but I'm guessing in the SHIELD Sim you're seeing a lot of Grocket/Gamora/Medusa and can't compete. In PvP events you're seeing champed (& possibly boosted) 4-stars and you can't compete.

You can keep your 5-stars and tough it out, focusing on PvE until you finish up champing the 3-stars and get some fully-covered 4-stars. Once that happens things will start to even out. Otherwise, your Thor and Archangel are the two that are hurting you the most. Your 1-cover 5-stars likely aren't being factored in. You could sell Archangel (consensus is that he's not a top-tier 5-star, while Thor is) and see if that helps bring your MMR down. It should.