2022 Guide to Progressing Fast

bbigler

Hello there, this is a guide for progressing as fast as possible from the beginning to 5* play.  Your progression speed is mostly dependent on how much time you spend playing the game, but wisely spending your time, money and in-game resources makes a huge difference.  If your progression speed is fast then you can “catch up” with older players. I’ve restarted my roster twice, once in 2018 and again in 2021, so I’ve figured out the best way to do it and surpassed expectations. This advice applies to all, whether you’re playing casually or competitively, and spending or not spending.  First, here are some acronyms / abbreviations you should be familiar with:

Acronyms / Abbreviations: 
HP = Hero Points
CP = Command Points
XP = Experience Points 
HT = Heroic Token
LT = Legendary Token
RISO = Red ISO 
PVE = Story Events
PVP = Versus Events
SCL = Shield Clearance Level 
Farm = Characters that are champed to get rewards but are not used in battles 

MPQ Principles:
1. Spend your HP on roster slots until all characters are rostered
2. Spend your ISO on your main fighters first then on your champ farms second
3. Spend your CP on Legendary stores only, not on directly buying covers
4. Understand PVP mechanics & gameplay, then choose what works for you
5. Join a good alliance and move to better alliances as your performance improves 
6. Shard build characters that will allow you to either fight tougher battles or win faster
7. Play in the highest SCL you can handle in order to maximize your rewards. 
8. Hoarding tokens and resources is not advised in the beginning
9. Timing is very critical to this game, so develop a routine you can live with

10. Spending money can increase your progression speed, but it takes a lot of money

The Spending Timeline:
Week 1: Champ your first 2*
Week 2: Champ your first 3*
Week 3: Fully cover all 2*s
Week 4: Roster all 3*s
Week 6: Play SCL 8
Week 7: Champ your first 4*
Week 9: Fully cover all 3*s
Week 10: Play SCL 9

Week 15: Champ your first 5*
Week 25: Champ your second 5*

Week 30: Play SCL 10

Shield Clearance Level Difficulty: 
SCL 6 - Need 3* Champs 

SCL 7 - Need Top 3*s or Mid-Level 4*s
SCL 8 - Need 4* Champs
SCL 9 - Need Top 4*s or Mid-Level 5*s
SCL 10 - Need 5* Champs

Stages of Play: 
#1 - Champing 2*s & 3*s, playing up to SCL 7, opening all tokens including Latest, buying a ton of roster slots, getting some low level 5*s 
#2 - Champing 3*s & 4*s, playing up to SCL 9, continuing to open Latest and cover those 5*s, keep buying more roster slots, recycle the 2* farm
#3 - Champing 4*s & 5*s, playing SCL 10, keep opening Latest, surplus HP, recycle the 3* farm, very hungry for ISO
#4 - Champing 5*s & Leveling them up to 550, opening Latest with tokens only, hoarding CP for special stores, surplus ISO & HP

NOTE for Casual Players: In order to champ 5*s, you will need to hoard LT and/or CP to later use on a Legendary store that you want

Top Characters: 
1* - Spiderman, Juggernaut
2* - Wolverine, Widow, Storm, Magneto
3* - Strange, Fist, Cage, S. Witch, Iron Man, Kamala, Thanos, Hawkguy, Magneto
4* - Polaris, Rocket & Groot, Juggernaut, Medusa, Chavez, Karnak, Valkyrie, Mantis, Morbius, Vulture, Iceman, Carol, Nico
5* - S. Witch, Colossus, Shang, IHulk, Okoye, Apocalypse, Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Kitty, Prof X

NOTE: All principles and other advice is explained below, organized by topic

• Beginning Campaign: This should be completed in the first week of play. It rewards HP & 2* covers in addition to ISO. This extra effort in the beginning is worth it to speed you along.
• Progression: The way to progress is by improving your main fighting teams, either pick-2 or pick-3 teams in PVE and PVP. So, your efforts should be focused on improving those teams, but it’s also essential to build up champ reward farms. If your main teams are leveled up as high as possible, then spend your ISO building the champ farms. This means that you would start champing 3*s before your 2*s are finished, and start champing 4*s before your 3*s are finished, etc. Having 1 great team is better than having 5 average ones.  So, collect covers for the new fighter that you want and when they are potentially usable, start leveling them up.  There are some characters who are usable even at low covers & levels, I would gradually level them up as you get their covers instead of waiting. 
• Shards: These are basically fractions of a cover. Use shards to cover the top characters in each tier (1-by-1), focusing on improving your main teams. When those teams are built, then shard build everyone else in the tier for your champ farms.  The rate to acquire these extra covers is approx: a 3* cover everyday, a 4* cover every week, and a 5* cover every 2 - 3 months. Milestones also reward a ton of shards, and will speed this up.  Because of this, you can quickly shard build & champ 3 x 4*s and 1 x 5* in the first few months of play.  Events reward shards for specific characters and you can also buy specific character shards from the store using HP. 
• Measuring Progress: You could measure your progress by how well you can rank in events and what SCL you play in. You could also measure progress by your number of champs or by your resource acquisition rates. You could focus on improving in either PVE or PVP, but remember that progression and node rewards outweigh placement rewards, and there’s only a small difference between rewards in the placement brackets. Ultimately, the point of the game is to have fun, so I wouldn’t stress too much about missing out on better placement rewards. 
  
• Roster Slots: This is the biggest constraint early in the game, which may make you want to spend money on HP to avoid selling covers. That’s your choice; you can either spend money, or sell off the covers from the worst characters or hoard tokens until you can roster new characters. But if you hoard tokens, your progression will be slower, trust me.  You only need 1 roster slot for 1*s in order to win that DDQ node, but all other tiers should be fully rostered and farmed for champ rewards.  You could even roster a dupe instead of selling off a max champed character. Eventually, you’ll have everyone rostered and can start spending some of your HP on other things. 
• Spending HP: In the beginning, only spend HP on roster slots and 3 hr PVP shields. When all 3*s and 4*s are rostered, you’ll start acquiring more HP than you need for slots.  At this point, I would spend more HP on shields. You could buy some extra slots for 1*s to make it easier to harvest XP from those covers.  In a pinch, you could buy health packs and boosts with HP.  You could buy extra slots for 3*s and 4*s when they get max champed. You could also spend HP on vaults or other specials offers that cost HP.  It’s not advisable to spend HP on tokens unless you’re “feeling lucky”.  If you have excess HP, you could also watch the daily shard store for the 4* or 5* character that you want. 
• Spending ISO: Level up your main teams first; that will improve your daily performance and thus improve your rewards. Farms are a lower priority, but still important. Farms are a long term investment with steady dividends. If you have to choose between leveling up / champing a main fighter or building the farms, put ISO into the fighter first and get to the farms later.  Which means that your ISO may be split between the tiers, depending on who you’re fighting with. Eventually your teams will stabilize / optimize and you’ll be spending ISO on just farming. Then one glorious day you’ll have everyone leveled up / champed and you enter the “post ISO” phase (meaning surplus ISO). 
  
• Spending RISO: Just like ISO, spend this leveling up your best and most used supports. Having 3 great supports is better than having 10 average ones. After your best ones are leveled up, save your RISO for the next time you get a lucky support pull. That way you can level it up immediately and use it.  1 great support can help you win the DDQ Crash of the Titans node, even if the 4* is very weak.  The puzzle gauntlet is a good way to get support tokens. 
• Spending CP: In the beginning, it’s very useful to get a 5* character, even at low levels. This will help speed up your progression, so it’s best to spend your CP on the Latest Legendary store since that’s your best chance of covering a 5*. Milestones give you more 5* shards to better cover the best one you have, which should lead to your first 5* champ.  Hoarding in the beginning is not advisable, but once you have a good 5* fighting team, then hoarding could be wise. If a great 5* comes along in Latest or another special store, then spend your CP to max cover them. If you don’t have all Classic 5*s rostered, then you could open Classics to get them and finish covering the 4* tier as well.  But remember that 4* champ rewards give 5* covers and shards, so you could acquire classic 5*s that way. At the top level of play, you hoard CP in order to add champ levels to the best 5*s from a special store. 
• Legendary Tokens: These are acquired in champ rewards mostly, but you can also get them from top placement rewards, Boss Events, Introducing events, DDQ Crash of the Titans, Vaults, VIP membership and other special $ offers. These tokens are usually for the Latest Legendary store and you should acquire enough of them to get every new 5* rostered. Depending on your token acquisition rate, you may be able to max cover every new 5* without spending any CP (or very little).  This high level of LT acquisition comes from champ farms and playing SCL 10. Some players choose to hoard their Latest tokens (for a great new 5* and only open enough to roster the new 5*s (or get them to 7 covers).  New 5*s enter Latest 2 weeks after their Introductory store ends. 
• Farming: This starts with a 2* farm as you realize that it’s better to get the champ rewards than selling the covers for ISO. Unfortunately, farming takes a ton of roster slots, thus a ton of HP. A 2* farm can reach max champ and need recycling every 6 weeks. A 3* farm may take 6 months to start maxing out. A 4* farm is much longer of course. When your farm maxes out there are different modes of thought on how to handle the subsequent covers.  For 2*s, I recommend holding onto the subsequent covers for 2 weeks, then selling and rechamping the character immediately. For 3*s and 4*s, I recommend rostering a dupe in order to keep and use the max champ. Duplicate characters can also save on health packs. 
• Harvesting XP: Whenever you roster a new character or apply a cover, you get XP.  Farming XP from 1* covers is a fast way to gain rank levels and get extra ISO.  You could have a dedicated 1* slot to apply covers, then sell the character and repeat, clearing out your 1*s once a week.  It's tedious, but it advances your rank faster and results in more ISO than just selling the 1* covers.  If you buy more slots for 1*s, this XP farming is easier. As long as the Shield Rank ISO reward is more than 10 times the Shield Rank XP, then it’s profitable to harvest XP this way. 

• 3* Teams: This tier isn’t changing so the best teams are standardized: you have Cage+Fist+Switch (Scarlet Witch), IM40+Strange+Kamala, with Hawkguy being a great counter to special tiles, Magneto being all purpose and Thanos ruling easy PVE nodes.  Black Panther or Bullseye are good in wave nodes, with Switch & Fist.  Falcon teams can include Daken, plus Thor or Spiderman. There’s a winfinite with Thor+Kamala+Storm (2* or 3*) as well. Cage+Fist+Strange is a popular Shield Sim team. 
  
• 4* Teams: Since this tier is still expanding and there are well over 100 characters in it, the possibilities are endless. But one of the best teams is Polaris+Grocket+Juggernaut for both PVE and PVP. Medusa and Carnage are still popular, along with Chavez, Vulture, Carol and XFDP. Spiderman 2099+Silk+Miles forms a solid team. Morbius is the perfect counter to special tiles, along with Medusa, Mantis, Doc Ock & Blob. Vulture, Ikaris & Karolina could stay airborne indefinitely for tougher battles.  Polaris is the best 4* and also works with Nico, Kate Pryde, Valkyrie, Beast, Blade, Hawkeye & Thanos, as well as 3* Daken.
• 5* Teams: Again, this tier is still expanding but the popular teams are: Wanda + Colossus, Okoye + IHulk, Shang + Onslaught / Prof X, Apocalypse + Half-Thor / BRB. Popular hybrid 4*/5* teams are: Kitty + Grocket, BRB + Polaris, Shang + Chavez / Valkyrie. Certain characters are very versatile and can work with anyone, such as Half-Thor, Okoye & Sersi. Other characters are very defensive like Colossus, Wanda & Odin.  Some characters are good counters to others, like Kitty, Electro, Killmonger, Black Suit Spiderman & Gamora.  Some are good at steady passive damage like IHulk, Ronan, Big Wheel, Black Bolt, Wanda & Knull.  One of the best PVE teams is Okoye+IHulk+Thanos. Since each week there is a different set of boosted 5*s, the best teams can change, which is good for variety. 
• 550’s: This is the end game, getting level 550 characters. Currently, this will take several years to do.  First, you have to get a strong 5* fighting team (baby champs) and play in SCL 10.  Then finish your 4* champ farm and roster all 5*s.  During this time, you would wisely spend & save LT and CP to champ or add champ levels to the best 5*s. Lesser 5*s can be finished through 4* feeders.  Then when your Classic 5*s are champed, hoard CP for Special Stores, then add more champ levels to the best 5*s until eventually they reach 550.  This is a long, long term goal, so is it worth it?  Well, how much do you like playing the game? 
• Versus (PVP): The team you climb with is just as important as the team you defend with.  Climbing fast is helpful, but discouraging attacks is just as helpful.  The last team you win with will be the team that other players fight, unless it’s a retaliation.  Progression rewards are based on points or number of wins. So if you can’t hit 1200 points, you could always grind out 75 wins (you could play in the beginning of the event and beat seed teams).  Remember that the higher you climb the more likely you will get attacked. I try to pick high point battles (38+) to discourage players from retaliating for lesser points.  When considering retaliations, it’s only profitable to attack for more points than you lost.  You also need to know when to skip; you can’t win every battle.  Shields are essential to getting good placement, but I limit their use in the beginning since they cost precious HP.  Some players climb early and shield early because it’s easier (but costs more HP).  Climbing late is risky as most high point players are shielded, plus it makes you a target as well.  Battle chat rooms can certainly help for climbing higher, but that takes more time for coordination. 
  
• Shield Simulator: You could treat this event as a testing ground for new teams. Just remember to play your last battle with a team that would discourage attacks. However you play it, hit 2000 points or 75 wins, then shield before it ends. For most players, the real game in MPQ lies in the required character PVP events, not the Simulator, so I wouldn’t focus too much effort on improving your Simulator teams. 
  
• Story (PVE): This is the daily grind for rewards, so some players go down to lower SCLs to minimize their grind time. There are many methods people use here, but you basically want to clear each node until the timer starts, then wait as long as possible for points to replenish and clear the nodes again until all points are gone (just before the event ends). The order and timing of clearing nodes is the tricky part, but take into account the points & time it takes to clear a node when determining the best order.  Unlike PVP, scoring well here requires a dedicated block of time everyday. Some of the best characters here are 3*/5*Thanos, Okoye, IHulk, Adam Warlock, 4*Grocket, Kitty, Polaris, 4*Juggs, 5*Thor, Shang, Morbius, Chavez.  The competition here is intense, where a small mistake can cost you in rank. Playing PVE to full progression rewards (and node rewards) is essential because these rewards outweigh PVP rewards. 
• Deadpool's Daily Quest (DDQ): this should always be completed because the rewards are great and the effort is small.  Because of DDQ, you need to maintain a decently leveled 1* character.  The required character nodes reward you for rostering and champing everyone. With a great support, any 4* can beat Crash of the Titans.  You can also use boosts and team ups to make these battles go faster. 
  
• Alliances: at this point you should be a part of a good active alliance.  Most importantly, you get alliance rewards, plus the occasional CP from purchases.  A good alliance has active players and gets decent placement rewards.  A great alliance gets better placement rewards and full progression rewards in Boss events.  Some alliances are a family of alliances, and you’re placed in them depending on your performance. 
  
• VIP Membership: if you don't mind spending a little each month, VIP membership is good for getting extra rewards, most notably it gives 2 LT per month and you get PVE bonus rewards from spending in general.  Technically, your characters heal faster, but I don't think I've noticed.  It's definitely good to spend the bare minimum per month ($2 Bugle Pittance = 200 HP) just to get the Bonus Rewards.
  
• Supports: These add those additional powers that you wish you could add to make your dream team even better. There are supports to do everything: getting extra AP, increasing damage, resisting damage, increasing total health, burst and true healing, creating, removing, buffing and fortifying special tiles, and doing stuns as well. Since supports only work in PVE, the most popular supports are those that increase your speed, like the AP gaining ones. Starting the battle with a bunch of AP can end it in a hurry. The best way to get high level supports is through the puzzle gauntlet, which is always tricky. 

• Lightning Rounds: These are weekly 48 hr periods of 90 min PVP events with required 3* characters.  They are only good for gaining extra ISO, Heroic tokens and trying out new teams. Because these additional events may be too much of a time commitment, you could either play for 5 min in the very beginning to beat the seed teams and reach 250+ points OR play in the last 20 minutes to get top 50 or better placement rewards. I have found that placement is much harder when I join early but easier when I join late. It only takes 300 points to get decent placement here. 
  
• Puzzle Gauntlet: This is a monthly PVE event that rewards support tokens and RISO.  Each node has a different “puzzle” or win condition to meet.  This is another reason to roster, champ and be familiar with every character. 2 of the nodes limit who you can use and it may seem impossible to beat, but with the right supports and team ups, it can be done. Don’t be afraid to ask your alliance for specific characters in order to get those team ups. This event is one of the few ways to get support tokens. 
• The Off Season: This is the week between the season events that typically has unusual PVPs with less competition.  You don’t need to worry about Shield Simulator or your season score. To avoid MPQ burnout, it’s a good idea to relax during the “off season” and not worry about placement rankings.  

Pongie

Good guide but note that the recommended number of pulls for 3x 5*s is not 300 (it was under 50% with swaps). 

Number of pulls required 

To cover all three:

50%: with swaps: 315, without swaps: 377

55%: with swaps: 323, without swaps: 388

60%: with swaps: 331, without swaps: 398

65%: with swaps: 339, without swaps: 410

70%: with swaps: 348, without swaps: 423

75%: with swaps: 358, without swaps: 438

80%: with swaps: 369, without swaps: 456

85%: with swaps: 383, without swaps: 478

90%: with swaps: 402, without swaps: 508

95%: with swaps: 431, without swaps: 556

bbigler

Pongie said:

Good guide but note that the recommended number of pulls for 3x 5*s is not 300 (it was under 50% with swaps). 

Number of pulls required 

To cover all three:

50%: with swaps: 315, without swaps: 377

55%: with swaps: 323, without swaps: 388

60%: with swaps: 331, without swaps: 398

65%: with swaps: 339, without swaps: 410

70%: with swaps: 348, without swaps: 423

75%: with swaps: 358, without swaps: 438

80%: with swaps: 369, without swaps: 456

85%: with swaps: 383, without swaps: 478

90%: with swaps: 402, without swaps: 508

95%: with swaps: 431, without swaps: 556

Thanks for the information, I updated the guide recommending around 400 pulls. 

rixmith

This is a fantastic guide! Very nice work. Every new player who wants to excel at this game should read this!

AardvarkPepper

1)  1* Juggernaut is best 1*.  When transitioning to 2*, a 6 AP red that hits for 1100 is still relevant, and a 6 AP green that destroys 16 tiles is great.  His red-green-black suite also means he can take some hits.

On the other hand 1* Spiderman's red-blue-purple often hides behind 2*s, and I don't consider his purple quite worth the slot he takes up on a team.

Adding 1*s to roster and covering them is fine as long as a player has roster slots available.  But I would not put iso into anything but Juggernaut.  More Juggernaut covers can be obtained in Standard tokens, available through Lightning Rounds. 

2)  In 2* land, Bullseye and Daken are both useful though situationally.  Bullseye offers precision board control and persistent Protect tiles.  Daken is a functional regenerator.  Wolverine is not as reliable a regenerator against larger hits, as Wolverine won't heal up much past 50%, so often can't tank even one big hit.  (Daken feeds off Strike tiles and is almost useless on offense without Wolverine's Strike tile generation, but his regeneration and two-hit power make him worth considering - especially since the two-hit power can be used in PvP to kill two weak enemies using only 5 AP, triggering 3* Thanos twice, which helps speed a lot.

I also piloted a new account for a while for fun, and I found both Bullseye and Daken useful.  Nothing on the level like Mag-Storm in most situations, but each has their own particular uses.

3)  "2 weeks I had: Rank 29, 54 roster slots, 48 HT, 1 LT, 100 CP. " - All respect, but this does sound like it's fueled in some part by money.  It's a good idea to at least mention special deals available to new players, and how they match up against other deals, but providing reference points absent context can be misleading to free players.  I don't think free players would normally be able to hit 54 roster slots in two weeks; would you disagree?

4)  I don't recommend two slots for 1*s.  Instead I recommend one slot for 1*, and two open slots to rotate in 3*s (and 4*s as applicable).  Assuming a player isn't buying in to new player specials, their roster slots will be quite limited, but they can still get the Essential character for PvE events by earning them as progression rewards.  If they play at SCL 7 (which is quite possible with just a few good 3*s, key 3* Strange and Iron Man but also imo others which I won't get into here) - but anyways they can push to PvE SCL 7 pretty quickly.

Yes, SCL 7 usually has 4*s that newer players can't afford to roster so much (even more so for free players), but I think even new players should identify which particular 4*s they want, then go after them.

I would fully agree that a player's infrastructure and rewards structure favors rostering all 3*s before 4*s.  But I also think earlier key 4*s helps cut a player's real time spent in game, which is also important.

5)  At the beginning, I don't think it's "correct" to save Heroic tokens.  Yes, once a player has developed key 3*s to push into higher SCL, then I'd think saving Heroic tokens might be a thing to do.  But at least in the beginning, Heroic tokens represent possible additional 2* and 3* pulls that feed the player's roster strength.

I'm not saying it's "wrong" to save Heroic tokens; again in terms of infrastructure and rewards it's the smart thing to do.  But again, I think opening Heroic tokens can speed a player's development especially when they're making that initial transition from 2* to 3*.  Imagine your 3* Iron Man or 3* Doctor Strange don't quite have the right covers you want, but that you don't have enough covers to champion them.  Would it make sense, in that context, to open Heroic tokens for a faster and easier push?

Yes, a player will have to discard an occasional 4*.  But I think a player can afford to keep *good* 4*s, and that they should do so even while they're making the transition from 2*-3*.  I also think that a player should look into pushing into PvE SCL 7 ASAP so they can earn key 4* covers when they are available.

6)  "then clear those nodes 2 or 3 more times just before it ends.  The order that you clear also matters.  In general, do the first 4 clears on the highest point nodes first."

Isn't it always 3 clears at the end?  When the timer starts, the points are reduced to 2/3 maximum.  When the timer is near zero, the points are near 100%, then once removes 1/3, twice removes another 1/3, third removes another 1/3 then the node's worth near zero.

Also I'm not sure that doing the first 4 clears on highest point nodes is always correct.  It depends on clear times.  If a player's clear times for highest point nodes is super quick, then sure, they want to set those timers ASAP.  But if the clear times on highest point nodes is a little slow, all the easy node timers are starting later as well.

Besides, there's the question of having to have hit easier nodes in the first place to *get* to the harder nodes.

7) "Heroes for Hire (HFH) and Vaults: Once you have rostered all 4*s, something new becomes an option for you: Heroes for Hire (HFH) and Vaults. -

I think it depends in some part on the player.  Let's say you've finally max champed some 3*s, and let's also say that by that point you're some way along in the 3*-4* transition, so you have a good number of fieldable 4*s.  But do you still really want to start over with that 3*?  Or do you want to dupli-roster 3*s?  The same is true for 4*s, what happens when you max a 4*?  Do you really want to sell it?

My thought is a player may want to dupli-roster so may need those HP.  It depends on the player, but it's an option I think at least worth considering.

8) "Who to Champ First: there are many good ones, but here's my 2 cents: Star Lord is awesome against goons!  His passive triggers immediately and he can overwrite their CD tiles.  Peggy is generally good.  Combining her with IM40 and Red Hulk is a near perfect team.  Medusa and Grocket are a PVP deterrent and do great against goons.  Vulture is a good green & blue battery.  Wasp, Carol and Gamora are generally good.  Thor works well with IM40.  Cage works well with Wasp.  Cloak & Dagger are a good yellow or black battery.  Iceman is very good alone.  Prof X can form a winfinite with 3* Widow.  Rogue is a good tank.  Kate Bishop and Moon Knight are strong. "

Is that in a context of playing PvE SCL 9?

Specifically - from what I've heard, PvE SCL 9 offers more points than SCL 7, so if you *can* play SCL 9 then you can score higher points, so you're more attractive to top alliances so you can pull better alliance rewards.  So yes, if those 4*s are going to enable you to hammer PvE SCL 9 then that's a consideration.

But if you're just playing at PVE SCL 7, then perhaps 4* Rocket and Groot would be the priority instead.  Sure, it's overkill, but you *really* burn through nodes a lot faster.

==

I liked what I read, but I think in places a bit more context would provide readers with a clearer understanding of why particular recommendations were made over others.

AardvarkPepper

Pongie said:

Good guide but note that the recommended number of pulls for 3x 5*s is not 300 (it was under 50% with swaps). 

Number of pulls required 

To cover all three:

50%: with swaps: 315, without swaps: 377

55%: with swaps: 323, without swaps: 388

60%: with swaps: 331, without swaps: 398

65%: with swaps: 339, without swaps: 410

70%: with swaps: 348, without swaps: 423

75%: with swaps: 358, without swaps: 438

80%: with swaps: 369, without swaps: 456

85%: with swaps: 383, without swaps: 478

90%: with swaps: 402, without swaps: 508

95%: with swaps: 431, without swaps: 556

By "swaps" you mean asking customer service to swap one 5* cover for another?  Do they still do that?

bbigler

@AardvarkPepper Thanks for the feedback.  Here's my comments on your comments:

1) Juggernaut is very good, but the problem with using him in the beginning is timing.  By the time I had a 5/5 covered Juggs, I was already fighting with 2* Wolverine, so Juggs never saw any play until I leveled him up for DDQ.  The same goes for Spidey, but I did get 1* Iron Man covers immediately, so I put ISO into him.  In my restart experiment, I only fought with 1*s for 2 days, then moved onto 2*s. 
2) Agreed, Bullseye and Daken can be useful, but both lack the ability to deliver a killing blow.  I hate how Daken's Blue ability works against himself - collect Blue, he doesn't heal but hurts himself instead and then removes the few strikes tiles you tried to build up.  3* Daken is useful against seed teams or easy nodes though. 
3) Yes, I spent a good amount of money in the 1st 2 weeks (around $100) on SCL Starter Packs and HP purchases, which is how I got 54 roster slots.  A free player would not be able to do this.  I thought it was clear that I was spending money, but I'll add a sentence explaining that my timeline is not for "free" players.
4) The extra slot for 1*s is simply for farming XP.  My overall strategy is "no cover wasted", which is why I opted to buy HP for roster slots rather than rotate 3*s and 4*s for required PVE nodes. 
5) Opening Heroics in the beginning is a short term gain long term loss, I believe.  I was gaining 3* covers so fast that it was not limiting my progress.  ISO and roster slots are what limited my roster progress.  Plus, I don't want to waste any of those precious 4* covers.  I do agree that playing in SCL 7 ASAP is best.
6) You're right, but I didn't want to go into the details of ideal clearing order for new players.  I think they'll naturally figure out that order by following the principal of clearing the highest point nodes first because they regenerate points the fastest. 
7) I consider having roster slots for 3* and 4* dups to be a veteran practice, meaning that it doesn't apply within the 1st year.  This progression timeline is so fast that by the time your 3*s have reached max champ level, you're already champing 5*s.  In my experience, my 3* champs gained an average of 1 level per week, each.  So, it would take well over a year for any of them to reach level 266.  4*s would gain 1 level every 2 - 3 weeks.
8) The SCL you want to play at is a personal choice, I believe, instead of a strategic one.  SCL 9 has slightly better rewards, but it will take longer to play.  It's a greater challenge, especially for a 4* champ roster.  SCL 7 with 4* champs would be a breeze, and perhaps time is more important than rewards.  In the referenced paragraph I was just giving my advice on good 4*s. 

Anyway, I'll go back to my OP and modify a few things, thanks for reading it. 

Pongie

AardvarkPepper said:

Pongie said:

Good guide but note that the recommended number of pulls for 3x 5*s is not 300 (it was under 50% with swaps). 

Number of pulls required 

To cover all three:

50%: with swaps: 315, without swaps: 377

55%: with swaps: 323, without swaps: 388

60%: with swaps: 331, without swaps: 398

65%: with swaps: 339, without swaps: 410

70%: with swaps: 348, without swaps: 423

75%: with swaps: 358, without swaps: 438

80%: with swaps: 369, without swaps: 456

85%: with swaps: 383, without swaps: 478

90%: with swaps: 402, without swaps: 508

95%: with swaps: 431, without swaps: 556

By "swaps" you mean asking customer service to swap one 5* cover for another?  Do they still do that?

No, the saved cover feature replaced it. 

AardvarkPepper

@Pongie Thanks for the reply.

@bbigler Thanks for the reply; comments:

1)  1* Juggernaut is a usable character early in the 2*-3* transition for his cheap red hit and green shakeup.  You mentioned keeping things simple, which I understand can be best for some guides.  So take my word for it that 1* Juggernaut is without question the way to go.

2)  There may not be a need to write "2* Bullseye and Daken are not as good as you may think."  Players want to roster them anyways for 2* farming.

3)  2* Daken is not for killing blows.  He's only fielded if you want a regenerator, and then he's as good as you'll find in the 2* range.

As to 2* Bullseye, he's damage mitigation and precision black/green board control.  Not killing blows.

If I were going to dump on any 2*s it would be 2* Bagman.  He doesn't come in regular tokens, so he's slow to build, and he's not an Essential character in almost any event.

4)  I understand you may not want to go into the details of each character, but rather than saying particular characters aren't good (which only tells readers what not to do), focus on a couple specific good combinations, like 2* Wolverine's Strike tiles combined with 2* Black Widow's Espionage, or 2* Magneto's purple feeding 2* Storm's blue.

5) As I read it, the priorities of the guide are spending minimal money (but still spending) and not throwing away any covers, and in that context not opening Heroic tokens makes sense.  My thought regarding opening Heroic tokens is free players will have to be throwing away covers anyways, so they may as well get on with it - but that they should prioritize characters that will bring them better gains considering real time spent.  Then free players can leverage those gains to building roster slots and conserve tokens as they like, once the push to develop a few key characters is over.

6)  Regarding "real time spent" (and health packs) - as I see it, a player may spend only a certain amount of time on the game in a day.  Suppose you have a player in the 3*-4* transition playing PvE SCL 7.  They could push to PvE SCL 8 and spend more time and get slightly better rewards, or they could stay with PvE SCL 7 and spend additional time on PvP SCL 7 for an additional source of tokens, 3* covers, and 4* covers.

I'd say PvP doesn't pay as well as PvE for time spent, but doing PvP and PvE combined will earn better rewards than pushing up in PvE SCL.

Theire

Thanks for this guide! I'm still building my 3* champ roster and found it very useful. Just some comments from my personal experience:

The Day 55 milestone (Champ 10x 3*s) was pretty accurate for me, but nearing Day 80 I'm nowhere near Champ 20x 3*s. I'm have 14x 3*s champed and another 11x 3* max covered, but am horribly short of ISO.

Also, even though I have most of the top 3* champs you mentioned (only Magneto max covered, the rest like Strange, IM40, SWitch, IF, Cage, Kamala, Thanos, Hawkguy, etc. are champed), I still found that SCL7 was a horrible grind and got burnt out very quickly. I would struggle to hit the 4* cover progression reward and stop (meaning that I would miss out on the CP progression rewards).

I've ended up dropping down to SCL4 for most PvE events, which allows me to clear out all the nodes quickly and hit full progression. SCL4 full progression gives 20 CP, which is good for a CL pull (so I figure it's worth missing the 4* progression reward in SCL7, since I won't hit full progression in SCL7 anyway). At this point, I'll only do PVE SCL7 and/or hit 40 PvP wins when there's a specific 4* cover I want.

bbigler

Theire said:

Thanks for this guide! I'm still building my 3* champ roster and found it very useful. Just some comments from my personal experience:

The Day 55 milestone (Champ 10x 3*s) was pretty accurate for me, but nearing Day 80 I'm nowhere near Champ 20x 3*s. I'm have 14x 3*s champed and another 11x 3* max covered, but am horribly short of ISO.

Also, even though I have most of the top 3* champs you mentioned (only Magneto max covered, the rest like Strange, IM40, SWitch, IF, Cage, Kamala, Thanos, Hawkguy, etc. are champed), I still found that SCL7 was a horrible grind and got burnt out very quickly. I would struggle to hit the 4* cover progression reward and stop (meaning that I would miss out on the CP progression rewards).

I've ended up dropping down to SCL4 for most PvE events, which allows me to clear out all the nodes quickly and hit full progression. SCL4 full progression gives 20 CP, which is good for a CL pull (so I figure it's worth missing the 4* progression reward in SCL7, since I won't hit full progression in SCL7 anyway). At this point, I'll only do PVE SCL7 and/or hit 40 PvP wins when there's a specific 4* cover I want.

Thanks for the comments, I'm glad you're finding this useful. The timeline is aggressive, so if you're close to it, then you're doing good.  Champing all 3*s does take a lot of ISO, so I know it's tough. Double ISO events are your relief and catch up time, which should happen around Christmas. 
As for SCL 7, it is a long grind with a 3* roster. It took me about 60 - 90 minutes to do the beginning or ending clears. It's not easy,  but it is worth it if you can manage. Against tile movers, I would use IM40 + Strange + Kamala. Against goons, I would use Strange, Hawkguy(5/3/5) and Switch(3/5/5).
But my fastest team against goons, which reduced the grind was Thanos + Strange + Fist/Essential. To avoid using a lot of healthpacks, I would make sure Strange hit 3 times with his passive when the first enemy goes down so that Thanos' ally damage would be negated. I would also make sure that Court Death triggers just once because it kills a 2nd goon. So, I would switch targets when 1 goon is below the Court Death threshold. Plus, you have to watch their CD tiles. It's a little tricky process overall, but if you get the hang of it, the team clears goons fast with almost no healthpacks. With Thanos + Strange, SCL 6 should be a breeze and SCL 7 is manageable. 

Theire

bbigler said:

Theire said:

Thanks for this guide! I'm still building my 3* champ roster and found it very useful. Just some comments from my personal experience:

The Day 55 milestone (Champ 10x 3*s) was pretty accurate for me, but nearing Day 80 I'm nowhere near Champ 20x 3*s. I'm have 14x 3*s champed and another 11x 3* max covered, but am horribly short of ISO.

Also, even though I have most of the top 3* champs you mentioned (only Magneto max covered, the rest like Strange, IM40, SWitch, IF, Cage, Kamala, Thanos, Hawkguy, etc. are champed), I still found that SCL7 was a horrible grind and got burnt out very quickly. I would struggle to hit the 4* cover progression reward and stop (meaning that I would miss out on the CP progression rewards).

I've ended up dropping down to SCL4 for most PvE events, which allows me to clear out all the nodes quickly and hit full progression. SCL4 full progression gives 20 CP, which is good for a CL pull (so I figure it's worth missing the 4* progression reward in SCL7, since I won't hit full progression in SCL7 anyway). At this point, I'll only do PVE SCL7 and/or hit 40 PvP wins when there's a specific 4* cover I want.

Thanks for the comments, I'm glad you're finding this useful. The timeline is aggressive, so if you're close to it, then you're doing good.  Champing all 3*s does take a lot of ISO, so I know it's tough. Double ISO events are your relief and catch up time, which should happen around Christmas. 
As for SCL 7, it is a long grind with a 3* roster. It took me about 60 - 90 minutes to do the beginning or ending clears. It's not easy,  but it is worth it if you can manage. Against tile movers, I would use IM40 + Strange + Kamala. Against goons, I would use Strange, Hawkguy(5/3/5) and Switch(3/5/5).
But my fastest team against goons, which reduced the grind was Thanos + Strange + Fist/Essential. To avoid using a lot of healthpacks, I would make sure Strange hit 3 times with his passive when the first enemy goes down so that Thanos' ally damage would be negated. I would also make sure that Court Death triggers just once because it kills a 2nd goon. So, I would switch targets when 1 goon is below the Court Death threshold. Plus, you have to watch their CD tiles. It's a little tricky process overall, but if you get the hang of it, the team clears goons fast with almost no healthpacks. With Thanos + Strange, SCL 6 should be a breeze and SCL 7 is manageable. 

Thanks for replying!

I had a couple of questions and clarifications:

1. Is it possible to negate Thanos ally damage if Court Death kills the rest of the enemy team? My Court Death hits allies even on the starter nodes where goons have ~1000 health.

2. Your recommendation of IM40 + Strange + Kamala works nicely for non-goon nodes, but what team would you recommend if you had to include an Essential?

bbigler

Theire said:

Thanks for replying!

I had a couple of questions and clarifications:

1. Is it possible to negate Thanos ally damage if Court Death kills the rest of the enemy team? My Court Death hits allies even on the starter nodes where goons have ~1000 health.

2. Your recommendation of IM40 + Strange + Kamala works nicely for non-goon nodes, but what team would you recommend if you had to include an Essential?

1. On the easy nodes, you can't avoid Thanos' ally damage, so I would use Thanos + 3*Grocket + Any 5* (for match damage). You should win in 1 or 2 turns. When Grocket is low, match yellow to heal. Doing 9 - 12 clears this way should only require 1 health pack. If you have 4* Grocket and/or 4*Ghost, they ensure a 1st turn win on easy nodes. 
My previous suggestion to negate Thanos' ally damage using Strange, only works on harder nodes that have higher level goons.  If you had a usable 4*Medusa, she could also help to burst heal and kill faster.  It's faster than Hawkguy + Switch + Strange, but the latter is more fun. 

2. For essential nodes, I used IM40 + Strange against tile movers. Strange's blue stun is so awesome! It solves any problem being both offense and defense. If the essential doesn't have a good red or green power, then simply wait for IM40 to nuke someone with Unibeam. This team also works well against goons, but Thanos + Strange is faster against any number of goons.
Any other 3* combo I've tried is slow compared to Thanos or IM40 teams. This should allow you to place top 50 in SCL 7. 

Some other notable 3* teams: 
Panther + Fist + Switch => generate 15 purple, flood board with black, Rage of the Panther, flood more black, Rage again. Also good on easy wave nodes, but I would use the Hawkguy team above for hard goon wave nodes. 
IM40 + Magneto + Kamala => recharge, clear TU tiles, Magneto blue nuke, Kamala purple to create green cascades, Green Bash x 2. Many times, this can go on and on, which works well on boss events, like Sinister 6. 
Another Sinister 6 team could be 3*Thor + Kamala + 2*Storm, which is a true winfinite. Yellow and Purple flood green, and Storm's green destroys 25+ tiles to keep things going on and on. Don't forget to hit with Red and Blue too. It's slow to get going, so use AP boosts and AP producing supports. 

marvel_dayz

For the budget player,
(With this, on a low $ spend, I have every character except 5*s.)

Wait for ~$3 deals: Note that you get the same month long of purchase bonuses regardless of how much you spent. So if you are on a tight budget, you can plan regular small purchases to leverage the purchase bonus. Remember that players who spend more money will have stronger rosters so just accept that and enjoy the play.

In the end, you only need 1* Spiderman 5/4/4: That is to play DDQ 1* node. Spiderman alone can handle that 1* node. His red at 640 can usually take out any enemy. Typically it will be the active enemy with life > 640. Match that enemy down below 640 and down the active enemy first. The worse match is with Ultron flyers but that is rare.

2* Magneto, Storm, Hawkeye is a very effective team. Don't complicate this decision, Just go for the purple. The thing is you want to use all your other 2* for resource farming so only keep one fighting 2* team around for DDQ again.

Resource farm all 2*. The thing is if you do not have slots, there is no point collecting covers unless you want to spend money. If you do not mind playing the long game, 2* resource farming will keep you supplied with 1000 HP for that slot when you need it. Having all 2* around at all times allows you to maximize special PVE nodes.

Conserve your 3* shards: I would say use your 3* shards only to get that final cover to complete a character. Do not use shards to promote levels. Why? Back to resource farming. If you conserve shards, when you fully champ and sell a 3*, you can use the shards to quickly complete its covers so the character is useful again. This works especially well for characters who are fed shards from 2* characters.

Not all characters are equally effective: When starting out, a single 4* cover is not useful. A single 5* is only useful for the match damage and as a meat shield. Do not worry about selling 4* or 5* covers while you build up your roster. Review the character ranking rosters and target keeping the "good" ones, especially to form teams. Like the OP said, conserve tokens till you think you can actually use them. Expiring covers is annoying however often inconsequential. Like many of the new 4*s, no big deal if do not have them on your roster.

Build fighting teams: You will find you use the same characters over and over again if they prove effective making most of your roster expendable. If I am against a special tile enemy, I use 4*/5* Carnage, Mr. Fantastic and Medusa. General enemies, Oyoke, Medusa, 3* Dr. Strange. Vulture, Karnak, any 5* with colours different from Karnak to boost critical tile damage. Spider-Gwen, Spider-man 2099, Vulture. To name a few. The thing is once you have your effective team, you can slowly build up the other characters.

5* meat shield: A single cover 5* powers are weak. You can use a 5* to protect more powerful lower ranked characters in PVE by giving them Supports that boosts their weaker colour so your 5* is in front for 4 instead of 3 colours.

Aim for SCL7: OP mentioned it but I think it should be highlighted. PVE SCL7 provides more or less, guaranteed 4* cover. As long as you play 7 nodes, you should get it. Since the game is mostly 4*, the 4* covers will be crucial in building out the roster.

 

Speed283

I’m a newer player. Didn’t pay attention to much and was/am willing to spend money.
i started reading forums and just joined this one. I see that no way should I have 40 some 4* characters. Should I sell them at this point? I have champed and am selling 2* characters. Have all the 3*, but of course haven’t champed any of those yet, but am getting close.
 Thanks for any help!

Speed283

Thanks OJSP!

Speed283

Helpful article! What do I do with the 20+ covers I have sitting there? I can’t use them!

Speed283

I think I asked my question incorrectly and/or with not enough information.
 I have many 2* characters with over 20 covers. I either can’t or don’t know how to use them.
 Thanks for  the help!

Speed283

Thanks again OJSP

bbigler

Since I have restarted my roster again and the game has changed in the past few years, I’ll update this guide soon. 

Sekilicious

I’m pretty stoked about the upcoming update. I used this guide quite extensively to optimize my own gameplay somewhat, back in the day. The recommendations are gold, even if you just take the pattern of play and only spend what you are able, if anything at all.