3BH on Thanos, or Strange?

froggerjohn

https://mpq.gamependium.com/rosters/froggerjohn/revisions/145

With 20 4*s at 13 covers and awaiting iso, and no one on my critical short-list needing 3* feeder covers, I'm thinking that my best 3BH candidate right now would be to level Thanos (232) and/or Strange (220) to 266.

My first thought was Thanos, since I use him all the time, and rarely seem to utilize Strange any more.
That said, Strange is killing it right now with R&G in Strange Sights. (My champed R&G is relatively new to me, but I'm guessing that there's still limited opportunities for Strange in 4* land).

ThaRoadWarrior

Looking at your roster, I'd say you probably don't need Strang3 as much as you need Thanos. I use Court Death to blast through easy nodes in story, then switch away from thanos teams. I used my Strang3 with Okoye more when he was max-champed, but my baby champ dupe isn't as fast as my 293 Medusa on most nodes. 

DAZ0273

Despite the confirmed wisdom being that Dr. Strange is too squishy for PvP, I see teams with him on all the time and his Stun is such a pain to deal with. On a standard climb I would definitely rather fight slow Thanos despite his high health than Dr. Strange with his annoying counter attack & cheap blue. Thanos is really only a threat if you take in teams that are already badly injured and might give him a Court Death opportunity.

On the other hand if you are only interested in PvE then Thanos Court Death is quicker than Strange mostly for wiping out nodes but nowhere near as efficient as 5* Thanos who gets the stun.

So there you go, no help whatsoever.

ThaRoadWarrior

If you are seeing 3* opponents, Strang3 remains a problem in PVP i think. If you're primarily seeing 4*s and boosted 4*s, Strang3 is too squishy in my experience. A number of characters can 1-shot him no problem at that tier. When he launched, he was a psychological deterrent, but once you know his number, you might find you're actually seeking him out as a soft target.

Once you have a usable Okoye (I'm not sure OP's 1/0/1 counts as that), 3* Thanos is actually superior for fast clears since his Court Death benefits from Wakanda Forever. the Stun Thano5 brings to the table prevents the bonus damage. though that might be different on a champed Thano5, mine is 5/0/2 lvl 345. both benefit from strikes though, so maybe Thano5 + 4ocket is faster than Thano3 + Okoye? hard to say given my roster

DAZ0273

I personally don't think I have ever used 3* Strange unboosted in PvP myself and agree he is squishy but I am constantly amazed by how much he pops up early doors. My MMR is still 4* but in that sweet spot that can stretch to 3* teams. I guess he is simply often the highest level character some 3* players have and as I said before, his skill set is not at all bad for PvP with that stun and the need to get shot of him or take damage.

My 3* Thanos is currently at a point where he outperforms 5* Thanos also like OP will. Apart from the stun the other advantage 5* Thanos enjoys is the reduced damage to allies but as you say if you have a usable Okoye then it won't matter a lot.

ThaRoadWarrior

I guess your 3*/5* mileage is totally going to vary on both Thano5 and 5trange. My 5* Court Death is doing 6091:1510 at 5 covers lvl 345, and my lvl 182 3* thanos is doing 4227:1083, which isn't appreciably better.

Dormammu

If you need some numbers to help you decide, I have both Strange and Thanos max-champed on roster.

Dr. Strange: 10,809 Health; 2180 damage on blue stun each turn at 5 covers; 2114 damage on yellow flames

Thanos: 19,591 Health; 5020 damage to enemies and 1285 to allies on Court Death at 5 covers.

I use my 3-star Thanos daily in PvE as a 5-star player, mostly because my 5-Thanos isn't there yet and also because 3-Thanos doesn't stun on Court Death, making him much more useful with Okoye. My 5-Strange isn't there yet either, so I'm still using 3-Strange when called for. This is sparingly, except for any event with Mindless Ones (edit: or other tile spammers like ninjas or symbiotes) like the current Strange Sights event (which is run often). Last night, for example, I finished 2nd on my initial clears in SCL8 using Kitty/Grocket/Strange; that's fast.

helix72

I definitely use Thanos more than Strange, but for me, it was more important to have Strange at a higher level because of his usage. I say "was" because I have both max champed now, but let me explain:

I use Thanos, like everyone else, to power though the easy nodes in PvE and the 3* nodes in DDQ. But what I found is that Thanos's Court Death, especially when paired with Rocket & Gamora (who I see you have champed), wiped the enemy team no problem even without having Thanos at max level. Increasing Thanos's level just increased the amount of self-harm every time it fired.

On the other hand, while I tend to use Strange less frequently and more situationally, those situations involve a) when he's boosted, or b) when I need to hit tile spammers for max damage as quickly as possible. Strange isn't going to down an enemy with one blast at any level but over multiple blasts that extra damage can add up and can spell the difference between finishing off a goon or eating 5K+ damage from a goon with 100 health left. And the extra healing he gives, while not significant, is a bonus.

One of my go-to teams in PvE against tile spammers is Strange + Valkyrie + a strategic third. Use supports to make your strongest color match your strongest power, then watch as the goons kindly fill up your AP. Some examples:

w 4* Luke Cage, yellow as strongest color for Luke's Hero for Hire (my go-to team vs Mindless Ones)
w 4* Rocket, blue as strongest color for Strange's Crimson Bands or Rocket's Pack
w 4* ME Hulk, purple as strongest color, Gamma Powerbomb

froggerjohn

Thanks for all the notes. I've been trying to leverage Thanos more in PvE, either with Grocket/Gamora, or with America/5e (when there are suitable low-heath enemies).

Right now, I'm doing 4716 on Court Death, so it's less of an improvement than I thought at the max of 5020. (And even less of a relative impact when paired with Grocket strikes).

My Strange is 2002 blue, and 1934 yellow. The latter goes to 2114 (thanks for the numbers Dormammu) which is 10% more, but I don't think I'd ever run Strange in PvE without Grocket, which again lessens the impact I'd see from a raw boost.

I'll pay attention to the number of times I leave enemies with slivers of health, and in the meantime, I realized an alternate 3BH goal of getting some of the lower-level 4stars, even ones I'm not eager to use, at least up to 10 covers so I can do SHIELD training at level 209. So for now, I moved the 3BH to She-Hulk to feed my 4/3/2 Gwenpool.

Warbringa

I know it is an older conversation but I end up using 3* Strange more than 3* Thanos.  Strange is really good against goons and his blue stun power is still a really good power even for a 3* and I still use him at times in PvE with my 5* roster since I don't have 5* Strange fully built.  I never use any of Thanos active powers and I avoid his Court Death because I find that it never really helped that much in speed for the damage cost to his allies for me.  I suppose if you are an ultra competitive player those few extra seconds from Thanos are worth it but I generally find it was not worthwhile for me so Thanos usually just sits on the shelf.

Dormammu

Warbringa said:

I suppose if you are an ultra competitive player those few extra seconds from Thanos are worth it but I generally find it was not worthwhile for me so Thanos usually just sits on the shelf.

You don't need to be ultra competitive, just competitive. Thanos shaves significant time off PvE clears, even if it's the 3-star version. You're deluding yourself if you think it's only seconds you're losing by not using him. It's minutes.

Consider the amount of matches and time it takes just to clear the three easy nodes four times. That's twelve total fights and thirty-six total opponents.

Using three 5-stars who down one opponent per match-3:
36 match-3s and about 9 minutes

Using R&G + Guardian/Kitty and Medusa downs 3 opponents per two match-3s:
24 match-3s and about 6 minutes

Using any of the above with Thanos downs 3 opponents in one match-3:
12 match-3s and about 3 minutes 

Warbringa

Dormammu said:

Warbringa said:

I suppose if you are an ultra competitive player those few extra seconds from Thanos are worth it but I generally find it was not worthwhile for me so Thanos usually just sits on the shelf.

You don't need to be ultra competitive, just competitive. Thanos shaves significant time off PvE clears, even if it's the 3-star version. You're deluding yourself if you think it's only seconds you're losing by not using him. It's minutes.

Consider the amount of matches and time it takes just to clear the three easy nodes four times. That's twelve total fights and thirty-six total opponents.

Using three 5-stars who down one opponent per match-3:
36 match-3s and about 9 minutes

Using R&G + Guardian/Kitty and Medusa downs 3 opponents per two match-3s:
24 match-3s and about 6 minutes

Using any of the above with Thanos downs 3 opponents in one match-3:
12 match-3s and about 3 minutes 

I should clarify I guess, I never said he wasn't faster than Strange, my opinion just let useful for my roster. I still use 3* Strange in situations but never use 3* Thanos (unless required).  Thanos does provide several seconds per node clear benefit from 3* Thanos, yes I agree it adds up to many minutes overall in overall clears. It also depends on SCL etc, he is certainly more valuable at lower SCL's (3* version).  I don't have 5* covered/leveled enough to comment on him but if you want to place high in higher SCLs you usually need him too. If the team damage is worth that time and possible healthpacks then he should be used, for my roster I never found him useful as I never attempted to get T25 placement. Although I almost always get between 25-50 in any SCL I decide to play in without playing optimally or competitive.

Dormammu

I don't have a 5Thanos, either. But my 3Thanos is the difference between T10 and T5 in SCL 8. When you're running Thanos with Okoye or Gritty it really doesn't matter if you're using the 3-star or 5-star version; Court Death just becomes a damage delivery system, and the 3-star version is preferable with Okoye.

TPF Alexis

Dormammu said:

Warbringa said:

I suppose if you are an ultra competitive player those few extra seconds from Thanos are worth it but I generally find it was not worthwhile for me so Thanos usually just sits on the shelf.

You don't need to be ultra competitive, just competitive. Thanos shaves significant time off PvE clears, even if it's the 3-star version. You're deluding yourself if you think it's only seconds you're losing by not using him. It's minutes.

Consider the amount of matches and time it takes just to clear the three easy nodes four times. That's twelve total fights and thirty-six total opponents.

Using three 5-stars who down one opponent per match-3:
36 match-3s and about 9 minutes

Using R&G + Guardian/Kitty and Medusa downs 3 opponents per two match-3s:
24 match-3s and about 6 minutes

Using any of the above with Thanos downs 3 opponents in one match-3:
12 match-3s and about 3 minutes 

Given how much of playing an Easy match is outside the actual match itself, it's not going to be a linear improvement. Still an improvement, but I'd guess something more in the ratio of 9:7.5:6 or so.

Jacklag

Thanos is great for speed clearing easy nodes, no dispute there. But Strange has many other uses. He is really strong in PvP, can stun and damage with Crimsom Bands of Cytorak, disencourage players from picking on your team because of his Flames of Fautine and with the same power speeds up PvE nodes with higher level goons. So both have their uses, though Strage has more.