I’ve denied the signs too long... I’m a 5* player

Daredevil217
Daredevil217 Posts: 3,966 Chairperson of the Boards
in MPQ General Discussion

***Warning this a pretty long read, so feel free to skip.  The TLDR is the thread title, lol****

Yes, me. Mr. “4* tier is the best tier” (the name needs work) is a 5* player. I guess it all started with (5*) Daredevil. My namesake. The character I have a small statue of on my desk at home, a wallet of in my back pocket, and mini-shrine to at work. I never cared about obtaining 5*s before him. I had amassed a sizable hoard, not to transition, but because I didn’t want to waste 4* covers (way before saved covers were a “thing”). Once I decided to break said hoard to max-cover Murdock, the itch to collect had begun. BUT, by letting them collect dust and not putting iso in them, I could remain in the 4* world where gameplay is varied and fun!

The second thing that happened is 5* Thor. Mine still sits at level 255, fully covered, in the ideal 5/5/3 build (thanks, cover swaps!). Mr. Odinson at half health is just too good not to run as one of my 2-3 options each match. He’s a soft target on defense, sure, but every week I would pair him with the best R/G/Y users he could boost and go to work. Nova? Agent Venom? Iceman? The list goes on! But I mean, Thor was just a battery. It was the 4*s doing the heavy lifting!  So I could still remain a 4* player and hang with the roadwarriors and randomheros of the world! I’m just like you! Right!?

Then... I completed (re: champed everyone in) the 4* tier. And another couple 4s came out, and I did it again. And after champing all the 4s, and dupe champing all the 3s, a funny thing happened... the iso just grew. This was definitely something new for me as a guy who came up in an era where scrounging for iso was the only “feature” that would allow you to save covers. So I FINALLY poured just a tad into my fives.  And the iso grew again. So I poured a tad more. Most are now at 330, allowing me to stay in 4* MMR and cling to that 4* identity like I have MPQ Stockholm Syndrome. 

Also of small note is that 5* Thanos has replaced my 3* for beating on trivial nodes. I only have 3 in black, so my 3* is slightly better, but I’m too lazy to scroll through the roster to find him (plus I figure the 5 is a slightly bigger scarecrow). Also, I finally found a use for Daredevil over a year after covering him. I can’t hit 1200, so if I want to grind to 75 wins instead, I’ll use 5* Matt and his ex-lover 1* Natasha to beat on seeds and retals all the way to 75 wins. I usually queue high level 3* teams that can easily team up on and defeat Matt, and I rarely use health packs when retaliating because of his sustainability.

The next major event in my mental transition to 5* play was one Katherine Pryde. And this is the straw that broke the camel’s back. Last week’s boosted list read like a 4* all-star team. You’ve got Vulture, Peggy, Dusa, Jean, and Dom (plus X-Force Wolvie on injured reserve)!  Any of the starters on this all-star team could be built around to speed clear PVE.... but none were faster than underleveled Gritty (to be fair, with boosted Medusa, 2/3 of my team were 4*s, but still).

So, as it stands all of my teams have some combo of Kitty, Thor, Daredevil or Thanos on them. All 5*. All underleveled. But why? Several reasons. But, with each drop of iso I invest, those reasons become foggier. Harder to see amidst the mist. Variety, the spice of life, was my main reason. As a 4* player, my fastest options were to switch between several boosted 4* options that changed each week, giving great variety in both PVE and PVP. That was the main purpose for remaining in the 4* tier.  But now, regardless of boost lists my underpowered 5s are my fastest option!

Wanting to avoid harder climbs and stay in easier MMR... that was the second big reason. Apparently (according to people on Line), there’s a bit of a bounty on my head, from people whom are not the biggest fan of mine. So the idea of being visible to the hyenas is a scary proposition, sure. But I’ve been doing the 75 win retal option on and off for awhile anyway (which champing DD could admittedly screw up). And it’s possible my last three hour climbs might be faster with champed 5s (really not sure about this). 

Other, smaller reasons include things like not wanting to have to keep up with 5* releases and my 4* becoming relics of the past but both those things are happening anyway. So... if I’m already mostly using fives as the backbone of all my teams anyway... might as well power them up. So... I’ve decided to transition to the 5* tier! For realsies.

My original plan was to save enough iso to champ all my fives who are close to 13 covers at once, investing slowly over time. Then I realized that if I’m to really commit, I might as well just champ the heavy hitters since they are all I’ll be playing anyway. And then if I champ the others as the iso slowly trickles in I’ll be more likely to play around with them as I get them because for a short while they’ll be new to me. 

And so, I have champed Thanos (457), Daredevil (452), Okoye (452), and Jessica Jones (456), while also bringing Kitty and Thor to 440 (So Daredevil and Okoye respectively will tank for them). I liked having over 2 million iso in the bank. So it sucks to see my account dang-near at zero (6K actually). But, this is the price of fame... or at least faster PVE clears. I’m also aware of the immense privilege I have being able to transition with literally the best 5 characters in the game all at once (best 6 if you think Daredevil deserves that monicker... which is certainly debatable). I’ll have to scrounge up more iso to keep my 4* champ mills humming (oh god... is that all they are to me now?) but hopefully it’ll all be worth it in the end! To those that made it to the end of my decent into madness, I appreciate it, and appreciate this community.  Even those whom I’ve butted heads with over the years. You all make this place great. 

P.S. Despite what I just wrote, for the hungry jackals who will undoubtably ask what slice I play in for PVP; since I either hop in at the very beginning (75 wins off retals) or very end (900 points in the last 3 hours) it really depends. If I happen to be on when a slice is about to begin or end I usually hop in. So it isn’t consistent. That may change with 5* play but as of now I’m a nomad. 

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Comments

  • fight4thedream
    fight4thedream GLOBAL_MODERATORS Posts: 1,973 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited January 2019


    It seems you have a good set of 5*s, I'm sure you will do fine. And yes, DD is definitely one of the better 5* characters. He can do some crazy stuff with the right partners. Good luck and have fun! 
  • BlackBoltRocks
    BlackBoltRocks Posts: 1,187 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited January 2019
    The day has finally happened.

    You’ll come to enjoy 5* land. And rest assured, if you ever see me hit you in PvP, it’ll be solely because you’re (likely) worth good points, and nothing personal  B)
  • Huntah86
    Huntah86 Posts: 221 Tile Toppler
    I put off the transition forever as well and for the same reason. Struggling in the 5* essential forced my hand and I couldnt be happier with the choice! I started by just champing Peter Parker and pairing him with Vulture and that was a blast! Added DD next and that was really fun! As soon as I champed both Thor and JJ I fell in love! Now I have fun with whatever 5* is boosted in PVE and build around them typically!
  • justsing
    justsing Posts: 510 Critical Contributor
    Congrats and hope you have fun with your shiny new 5* champs! :)
  • TPF Alexis
    TPF Alexis Posts: 3,826 Chairperson of the Boards
    Having only Kitty, Cable, and Black Widow well-covered, I'm not quite ready to take the full plunge, but since I did champ Kitty, it's been shifting my mindset in much the same way. Even more so now, since your comments were one of the things that had been keeping me more determined to stay in 4* land. If I get some good results on a vault with Okoye, Daredevil, or Jess, or if a good 5* partner for Kitty shows up, I'm probably going to go for it.
  • BigSoftieFF
    BigSoftieFF Posts: 454 Mover and Shaker
    I covered Thor and Okoye on the same evening when I pulled from the Year end vault. Champed them immediately and havent regretted it in the slightest. 

    Still need a bunch of ISO’s for 4*’s and 3* dupes and probably will for a while but It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. 
  • bbigler
    bbigler Posts: 2,111 Chairperson of the Boards
    Congratulations. I hope this transition brings some new interest in the game to you. Given that you're transitioning with ALL the meta characters, you'll be fine, but I would really like to know someone's experience transitioning when they didn't have the meta.
  • jamesh
    jamesh Posts: 1,600 Chairperson of the Boards
    I'm in a similar position but not quite as developed a roster.  I'm close to having all the 4* characters champed (still have Domino, Bishop, Prowler, Taskmaster, and Spider-Ham to go).  I have 3* dupes but haven't pumped any iso into them.
    My 5* story is a different matter.  I did manage to fully cover a few by hoarding, but that list is Wasp, Loki, Kitty Pryde, and Kingpin.  With 20 extra Drax covers I could add Star-Lord to that list.  I'm happy I got Kitty covered, but I don't know if I want to be in a position where I need to use this set of characters.  I'll probably start levelling them up once I've got some spare iso, but at the moment I'm back to hoarding for Doom plus the two that come after.
  • Quebbster
    Quebbster Posts: 8,070 Chairperson of the Boards

    This is pretty much what happened to me when I decided to transition. The fourstar tier felt pretty much done and my options were to go on to fivestar play or just stop playing.

    The fivestar tier is just like any other tier in the game: When you only have a few characters to choose from it's pretty stale, but the more characters you get the more fun it is. Looks like you got a good head start by waiting until you could level all the best options at once.

  • DeNappa
    DeNappa Posts: 1,396 Chairperson of the Boards
    Seeing some similarities in your story. I'm slowly rolling towards 5* land, too. With about 50ish 4*'s champed and about 10-15 more covermaxed and at level 215, thanks to the saved covers feature I finally started investing a bit more iso in my 5*s in the past few months.

    I was also able to maxcover my first 5*s (Strange, Thor, and Black Bolt) and have 2 more sitting on 12 covers (JJ and Okoye). And to be honest, it's getting rare for me to do a PVE grind without Thorkoye.

    I'm only held back a bit by lack of ISO and the concern that I'm usually not playing / earning enough to keep up with the 5* releases. But that would probably work out in the end, too.
  • BlackBoltRocks
    BlackBoltRocks Posts: 1,187 Chairperson of the Boards
    Quebbster said:

    The fivestar tier is just like any other tier in the game: When you only have a few characters to choose from it's pretty stale, but the more characters you get the more fun it is. Looks like you got a good head start by waiting until you could level all the best options at once.

    The converse in also true of the 5* tier. Once you have all the big boys and girls, any new 5* release that doesn't match up to this group only brings frustration and adds to the dilution. Case in point: look at threads and opinions about Wasp, Loki, Cable, Kingpin, and Doom. If a 4* player were to transition now with the current Latest 5*, I'm sure s/he would enjoy using Kitty and Cable, and finding combinations for them with 4*. For players with Thor/Okoye/Jessica/Thanos etc though, Cable, Kingpin and maybe Doom (whom I like) are just unwanted pests to be passed over, in hope that the subsequent 5* will be much better.
  • TPF Alexis
    TPF Alexis Posts: 3,826 Chairperson of the Boards
    BlackBoltRocks said:
    Quebbster said:

    The fivestar tier is just like any other tier in the game: When you only have a few characters to choose from it's pretty stale, but the more characters you get the more fun it is. Looks like you got a good head start by waiting until you could level all the best options at once.

    The converse in also true of the 5* tier. Once you have all the big boys and girls, any new 5* release that doesn't match up to this group only brings frustration and adds to the dilution. Case in point: look at threads and opinions about Wasp, Loki, Cable, Kingpin, and Doom. If a 4* player were to transition now with the current Latest 5*, I'm sure s/he would enjoy using Kitty and Cable, and finding combinations for them with 4*. For players with Thor/Okoye/Jessica/Thanos etc though, Cable, Kingpin and maybe Doom (whom I like) are just unwanted pests to be passed over, in hope that the subsequent 5* will be much better.
    That's kinda the case in the 4* tier too, tho. I can't think of a 4* since Chavez who I use unless they're required, a counter for a very specific problem, or I'm fooling around because it really, really doesn't matter. And it's not that the whole past year+ has been bad 4* releases. But even the better ones feel kind of underwhelming when they're 20-30 levels below my standbys.
  • maguirenumber6
    maguirenumber6 Posts: 457 Mover and Shaker
    I tentatively entered 5* land a few months ago when I managed to acquire enough iso to champ my only two fully covered 5*s, Jessica Jones and Phoenix. They seem to work quite well together, since Phoenix's purple can fuel JJ's red, and they can both put strike tiles down too.

    I noticed the change in PVP straight away - it was nice to see some more variety in the teams you face, instead of just R4G-Gamora-Medusa in 4* land (not that this team can't be beaten, but it's good when the game gives makes you think a little bit at the match selection screen). It's made the Simulator more interesting too. Maybe this will change again when I champ subsequent 5*s (I think my next most covered character is Captain Beard at eleven covers). I'm not sure at this point. But, for now, PVP with two champed 5*s is good :smile:  
  • Daredevil217
    Daredevil217 Posts: 3,966 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited January 2019
    1) To everyone saying “welcome!” I appreciate the love. 

    2) To those saying “I thought I’d never see the day!”... me either. 

    3) I transitioned mid event after hitting 75 wins off retals already (Torch). I tried to climb to nab whatever placement I could with three hours left and it was a blood bath. Much harder than in 4* land!  Did get T50 but only 794 points. Yikes. 

    4) Doctor Doom PVP I was like 30 seconds late for seeds (not sure which slice) and I ended up queuing duo champs right away. Had some easier ones like Cap/Thanos and won with DD/1* Widow loaner. Queued some easier teams (usually America and a weaker 5 like Thanos or just Okoye) and could beat them easy enough. Wanted to see if I could hit 1200 if I climb early rather than the last three hours. So I used Thorkoye and hit 900 before the hits started coming in (same as before) but I was in first place so it was expected. Ah well.  I think I’m actually scoring less points and working in harder in PVP (but I suck at it I think) but PVE is obviously going to be easier. 

    5) I found the 4* tier much more varied in terms of matchups. I rarely saw Grockdusa outside of sim. It was always various boosted 4s. Here after like 400 points it’s all Gritty and Thorkoye. 
  • Nick441234
    Nick441234 Posts: 1,496 Chairperson of the Boards
    I loved the 4* tier. I tried to stay in there as long as possible but there just came a point where I had very little work left to do with the tier (only new 4*s required ISO). Also, I knew clear times with Thanos in PVE were going to become drastically shorter. After playing over 3 and a half years on this game, I had reached the point where much quicker PVE clear times were important to me wanting to keep playing this game. I didn't want to be spending an hour doing 4 clears each day anymore! 

    I dont regret the move now. I actually quite enjoy 5* land now. PVP gets a bit repetitive but that was never where I played most anyway so its not such a big deal. 
  • Straycat
    Straycat Posts: 963 Critical Contributor
    Daredevil217 said:

    5) I found the 4* tier much more varied in terms of matchups. I rarely saw Grockdusa outside of sim. It was always various boosted 4s. Here after like 400 points it’s all Gritty and Thorkoye. 

    Yea I think you missed out on having a single 5* champ. I had Daredevil as my first champ, and the enemies were varied between all non meta 5*s. Plus he tanked everything and true healed, so it was great.
    I now have 11 5* champs, and I enjoy messing around with non meta teams. Letting Loki revive a few times, controlling ap with Archangel and Cap, etc. Just saying don't be afraid to champ your other 5*s when you get the iso. You might find the 5* tier is deeper and more fun than you gave it credit.
  • KC_Hammer
    KC_Hammer Posts: 84 Match Maker
     I am in a similar position to how you were, I only have the latest 5 4*s left to cover, though I'm still working through ISO debt to champ 4 fully covered 4*s. But I do have DD, Thanos, Spider-man and Black Panther ready to be champed when I get the ISO. However, I am still not terribly interested in transitioning. Your story is a little depressing for me, and I feel like I might just have to stop playing instead of dealing with playing in the 5* tier.
  • DyingLegend
    DyingLegend Posts: 1,208 Chairperson of the Boards
    I'm trying to get more 5 stars, ( I currently have Clint/Jessica/Okoye/Robbie champed) but i can't cover them fast enough before they leave the packs and get condemned to classic purgatory.....

    RNG has not been kind to me lately.....
  • Daredevil217
    Daredevil217 Posts: 3,966 Chairperson of the Boards
    KC_Hammer said:
     I am in a similar position to how you were, I only have the latest 5 4*s left to cover, though I'm still working through ISO debt to champ 4 fully covered 4*s. But I do have DD, Thanos, Spider-man and Black Panther ready to be champed when I get the ISO. However, I am still not terribly interested in transitioning. Your story is a little depressing for me, and I feel like I might just have to stop playing instead of dealing with playing in the 5* tier.
    Not super depressing imo. The one thing I’ll say is Thorkoye is as good as advertised. So I can get hit a bajillion times and still fight back without ever using packs because her heal is so dang good. In 4* land once I was out of packs that was it. Shield or fall. I’m already up to 60 wins and the matches go relatively fast in mirror matches. They are super easy to beat on offense. I just beat a level 475 and 507 with my 440/452. That’s how big the discrepancy is. Knowing that, it makes sense I’m getting cracked on the top of the leaderboard. Because I’m sure I’m just as easy to beat. I just have to remember not to let enemy Thor get to half health before I green/red nuke or it will cost packs. 

    I might just be a 75 win guy for now. I mean I was doing it before but had to wait for people to attack my 5* DD, 1* Widow, loaner team. Now I can literally attack whenever I want over 3 days (while watching TV or on the treadmill) and the matches are just as long if not a bit quicker. I just don’t think I can hop in 2 hours before an event ends, hit 900 and shield out. I mean maybe. But I haven’t tried it yet. 

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