Upcoming Feature: S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance Level 10

wymtime

@IceIX

I am reading more and want to understand the philosophy behind some of the changes.  In CL9 today from a 3-4 day event in progression you can earn 40CP.  Now In CL 10 you can earn 34 CP and 250 shards.  

With CL10 being more difficult than CL9 why the reduction in CP?  Why not just add 5* shards to the rewards for CL10?  For comparison PVP is getting more CP and 5* shards added and it has become easier to get the CP.

also with in increase in CL in PVE will the 5* essential node give out 4 CP instead of 3 like in CL9.

JSP869

I recently revived my wife's 2-star account as an Alt, 100% free-to-play account, and was starting to make progress on it.
I was playing PvE at CL4 to the highest progression possible without the 4E, and playing PvP to 10-16 wins.
I finished & Championed all of the 2s, and I championed Doc Strange and Thanos.
My next goal was to roster all of the 3s fed by 2s to make use of the covers/shards from 2* Champion rewards.
The longer-term goal was to roster & finish Juggernaut and R4G to help move up to the next level.
All while playing 100% free-to-play.
With all of the recent changes to the game, reduced progression rewards, specifically the HP, I don't see any point in continuing to play this Alt account.
I realize it's not a loss to Demi or D3 if I don't, because it was not a revenue-generating account, however, I'm in agreement with shardwick; these new changes do not seem conducive to helping newer players progress in the game.

PinkoMcFlyToo

I'm hardly one to defend the devs taking away resources (my direct feedback comments are always to stop doing this), but in the case of the 6cp lost in SCL10, they just switched it over to SCL10 PvP.
Over two weeks it evens out if you play both at SCL10.
Now if SCL 9 pve is nerfed but pvp is not, you lose out there.

MrEd95

wymtime said:

@IceIX

I am reading more and want to understand the philosophy behind some of the changes.  In CL9 today from a 3-4 day event in progression you can earn 40CP.  Now In CL 10 you can earn 34 CP and 250 shards.  

With CL10 being more difficult than CL9 why the reduction in CP?  Why not just add 5* shards to the rewards for CL10?  For comparison PVP is getting more CP and 5* shards added and it has become easier to get the CP.

also with in increase in CL in PVE will the 5* essential node give out 4 CP instead of 3 like in CL9.

With a loss of 6 cp (just over 20% of a latest pull, of which you are getting a 15% of any of 9 possible covers) you 1/2 of a cover for any 5* character you want. I’m no mathematician, but that seems like a big improvement. I really don't see why there is any reason to complain there.

Sure, it would be nice to get both, but its still a big increase in rewards, and it is more directed to what you want. Its 1 5* cover every week for progression, and none of it down to chance.

That being said, i still play CL8, and theres no chance of me getting to CL10 any time soon, so i don't even know why I’m bothering with my opinion on the matter

Aweberman

Here's the head-to-head comparison of progression for CL10 (new) vs CL9 (old).  It is, of course, quite likely that the new CL9 will look more similar to the new CL10 than it does to the old CL9.

Differences at a glance:

Hero Points: 25 fewer

Mighty Token instead of Elite Token

Command Points: 6 fewer

3-Star Covers: 2 fewer

4-Star Shards: 900 more

5-Star Shards: 250 more

The other notable difference is that sub placement rewards for ranks 21-50 no longer receive 100 Hero Points and ranks 11-20 receive 5 fewer.  However, ranks 2-5 receive 10 more and rank 1 receives 20 more.  Ranks 2-5 also receive 1 more Command Point.

The straight up exchange for full progression, then is:

6 Command Points, 25 Hero Points, 2 3-Star Covers, and 1 Elite Token

... in exchange for:

1 Mighty Token, 900 4-Star Shards, and 250 5-Star Shards,
which is the same as 2.25 4-Star Covers and 0.5 5-Star Covers.

(And players who rank 21-50 in each sub also lose out on a total of 300-400 Hero Points.)

I will gladly pay 400 Hero Points and 6 Command Points for 2.25 4-Star Covers and 0.5 5-Star Covers (ignoring the inconsequential 3-Star Covers).  Why?  Let's compare some numbers.

Point 1: 560 Hero Points is what it costs to get 20 5-Star Shards in the twice-daily store.  Here, 400 Hero Points (again, at the extreme end) gets you 250 5-Star Shards instead of (a pro-rated) 14.28, or 17½ times as many.

Point 2: Since the rate of 5-Star Covers in Legendary Tokens is about 1 in 7 (or, I think, about 15%), this suggests an exchange rate of:

25 Command Points = 1 Latest Legends Token = 0.85 4-Star Covers + 0.15 5-Star Covers

At the above exchange rate:

6 Command Points = 0.24 Latest Legends Tokens = 0.204 4-Star Covers + 0.036 5-Star Covers

However, the exchange rate we are getting is:

6 Command Points = 2.250 4-Star Covers + 0.500 5-Star Covers

Or slightly fewer 5-Star Covers (0.497) if you subtract out the 400 Hero Points worth of shards.  (Although clearly those Hero Points could be spent on other things, instead.)

What am I missing?

Godzillafan67

To aid in my transition from 3* to 4*, I played pve cl7 because of the guaranteed cover. It took me 1.5 hours on the initial clears and then the same on the final ones. Sure, that meant that I was going well beyond progression, but my time investment usually guaranteed a t50 place yielding 100 hp per day.

When they reduced hp in the champion rewards, they said that most hp wasn't earned there anyway, and that matched my experience. But now they're reducing hp from the fount from which I regularly drink? Totally unhappy.

This is strike 2.

ThisisClemFandango

I’m in between 3 and 4 star land so scl10 won’t effect me but I can’t really understand the logic here, it seems they are catering more for the 5 star players and the whales and purposely making it harder for newer players to make any sort of progression. I’ll see what this looks like but it may be time for me to step away

ThaRoadWarrior

Not sure why y’all are so convinced those are loose Favorite shards. They are almost certainly not.

PinkoMcFlyToo

ThaRoadWarrior said:

Not sure why y’all are so convinced those are loose Favorite shards. They are almost certainly not.

Agreed.
The only thing I hope for is that they are not for the featured 5*.
Honestly I would prefer if they rotate through the classics and leave the latest out of it. 

Warbringa

PinkoMcFlyToo said:

I'm hardly one to defend the devs taking away resources (my direct feedback comments are always to stop doing this), but in the case of the 6cp lost in SCL10, they just switched it over to SCL10 PvP.
Over two weeks it evens out if you play both at SCL10.
Now if SCL 9 pve is nerfed but pvp is not, you lose out there.

Well that is very helpful for those who don't play PvP or play it in a limited fashion.

Vhailorx

Aweberman said:

Here's the head-to-head comparison of progression for CL10 (new) vs CL9 (old).  It is, of course, quite likely that the new CL9 will look more similar to the new CL10 than it does to the old CL9.

Differences at a glance:

Hero Points: 25 fewer

Mighty Token instead of Elite Token

Command Points: 6 fewer

3-Star Covers: 2 fewer

4-Star Shards: 900 more

5-Star Shards: 250 more

The other notable difference is that sub placement rewards for ranks 21-50 no longer receive 100 Hero Points and ranks 11-20 receive 5 fewer.  However, ranks 2-5 receive 10 more and rank 1 receives 20 more.  Ranks 2-5 also receive 1 more Command Point.

The straight up exchange for full progression, then is:

6 Command Points, 25 Hero Points, 2 3-Star Covers, and 1 Elite Token

... in exchange for:

1 Mighty Token, 900 4-Star Shards, and 250 5-Star Shards,
which is the same as 2.25 4-Star Covers and 0.5 5-Star Covers.

(And players who rank 21-50 in each sub also lose out on a total of 300-400 Hero Points.)

I will gladly pay 400 Hero Points and 6 Command Points for 2.25 4-Star Covers and 0.5 5-Star Covers (ignoring the inconsequential 3-Star Covers).  Why?  Let's compare some numbers.

Point 1: 560 Hero Points is what it costs to get 20 5-Star Shards in the twice-daily store.  Here, 400 Hero Points (again, at the extreme end) gets you 250 5-Star Shards instead of (a pro-rated) 14.28, or 17½ times as many.

Point 2: Since the rate of 5-Star Covers in Legendary Tokens is about 1 in 7 (or, I think, about 15%), this suggests an exchange rate of:

25 Command Points = 1 Latest Legends Token = 0.85 4-Star Covers + 0.15 5-Star Covers

At the above exchange rate:

6 Command Points = 0.24 Latest Legends Tokens = 0.204 4-Star Covers + 0.036 5-Star Covers

However, the exchange rate we are getting is:

6 Command Points = 2.250 4-Star Covers + 0.500 5-Star Covers

Or slightly fewer 5-Star Covers (0.497) if you subtract out the 400 Hero Points worth of shards.  (Although clearly those Hero Points could be spent on other things, instead.)

What am I missing?

This is a good post! But cl 9 to cl 10 is not 1:1.  Cl 10 should be straight up better than cl 9 in every way.  The extra 'costs' for cl 10 are the time and roster strength necessary to get the greater rewards.

So making us compare cl 9 to cl 10 is some clever sleight of hand by Demi/d3, and it may be a way for them to obscure the exact paremeters of the change for a bit longer (so that there is a less immediate and intense backlash).

When the new cl 9 rewards come out, then we will be able to see a real fair comparison of the old and new systems.  Maybe trading some HP for fixed partial covers will be a good deal.  But I am still suspicious.

PinkoMcFlyToo

Warbringa said:
Well that is very helpful for those who don't play PvP or play it in a limited fashion.

Then console yourself with Aweberman's breakdown above.

Tucsonjon

DarthDeVo said:

I'm not sure, but this *might* be one of the signs of the apocalypse. 😋

Just kidding! Looking forward to getting some of them 5* shards. This might be the year I manage to get all my unchamped 5*s finished, or at least really close. 

EDIT: Enemies up to 650? 😳 That's uh... that's gonna be a bitter pill to swallow sometimes, methinks.

You're not wrong!  Apocalypse is coming tomorrow!

Tucsonjon

ThaRoadWarrior said:

^where is that quote from?

Burning man.

SnowcaTT

I look outside to see if world is ending

SnowcaTT

DarthDeVo said:

Phumade said:

I am very curious about how the first run through the various events go.  3 rounds of 630 royal family is gonna be an issue.  400k health pools will be challenging

Yeah... not looking forward to 45 minute to an hour long clears. 😕

Agreed here as well. CL10 is long overdue for PVP based on number of people that compete for rewards....but CL9 pve should have always been cl10 based on difficulty/time required

T_REZ5000

Seeing a lot of posts here directly comparing old cl9 pve rewards to cl10 and concluding the tradeoff is worth it.  You know D3 is doing a great job cherry picking details when they can get people to draw such a false equivalency.

Crowl

Cheetah1982 said:

Is there any hope of updating the tiers to balance competition. I’m of the very strong opinion players with champed 5 star characters should not be allowed to join SCL 7.

Some people value lower time demands over the higher rewards, why should they be forced to move to a higher scl to make things easier for lesser rosters?

abenness

T_REZ5000 said:

Seeing a lot of posts here directly comparing old cl9 pve rewards to cl10 and concluding the tradeoff is worth it.  You know D3 is doing a great job cherry picking details when they can get people to draw such a false equivalency.

They are "equivalent" in that they will be the top level and highest rewards available for playing PVE competitively.  I expect that scl10 will have more points available than scl9, and if so I'd expect the majority of competitive alliance players will step up.

I'll also be scrutinising the new scl9 vs old scl9 progression and placement rewards, once we actually see them.

For me personally, I will try it and cross my fingers.  I currently have trouble with the 5e node (but only the 5e node) in a handful of scl9 pve's, which would be horrendous in scl10, but I'll be comparing the 5* progression shards vs a hit in my placement rewards if I'm non-competitive because of this.

IceIX

Added the SCL 10 Versus Season Rewards in the original post due to requests. Got a lot to read through and answer in the thread. And still have the Sneak Peek to update. Lots still to do!