Is building a full roster still possible? Havoc, now Undead Hulk

Yepyep

Honestly, how can we cover them? By saving up tons of LL tokens and/or CP?

And crucially, moving forward, how are we going to be able to cover 5*s with rewards as they are and then new 5*s spat out like 4*s...?

For real. Am I the only one feeling like I'm under siege by the game I play while I'm under siege by a stupid freaking virus...? Does nothing let up ever? How is this fun?

wymtime

the way this is how I do it.  Hoard CP and LT till you can cover all 3 in one go.  From there you have to be able to grind essentially in PVE and play well in PVP (CL10 1200 points for me possible 1k for CP) if you can play CL9 PVE essentially from the start you can be in a top 20 PVE alliance.  Being top 30 placement and top 10 alliance and scoring in PVP will give you enough LT and CP.  you might need to pull on a new release to just get one cover then hoard for another release to get up to 300+ pulls.  

I also get a lot of CP and LT from 3* farm and all my 4* except for Maria Hill is champed and I am FTP.  It is a grind but still possible for now.

i still would like to see the release schedule go to a new character every 3 weeks instead of every 2 so the dilution does not build up so fast

ThaRoadWarrior

I've been chronicling my adventures spending as I go here:
https://forums.d3go.com/discussion/81450/grand-experiment-2-treading-water-in-the-scl-10-post-shardpocalypse/p3

I'm now at the stage where I hold on to cp/lts after the oldest 5* is champed/champable, and then start spending again when they rotate out. I had bad luck on Carbage, he left at 12 covers and about 45% of shards, but I have a champed BRB and most of a Sinister. I've not rostered Havok yet, but I do have half a cover in shards, so next time he's featured, unless it's in a 5* release where their shards override the feature, I'll get a starter that way.

Generally speaking, spending as you earn keeps you from being able to take advantage of surprise deals, but it keeps a steady stream of resources flowing in so that you can keep your roster where it needs to be. (assuming you aren't trying to go all-in on 500+ level 5s, which I think is a special level of commitment that you'd need specialized advice to achieve)

Vhailorx

Define full roster?

I think that champing every 5* as they release with the new schedule will be quite challenging, but I suspect the top 20-50 or so alliances will be able to do it.  But it will be a real hard grind.

Getting higher level 5* champs for every release will almost certainly cost $.

bluewolf

Let’s assume they keep a 12 week rotation for a 5 to be in Latests. 

If you can play in scl 10, you can get 2 1/2 covers from progression. If you hit progression you can probably grab another 50 or so from placement.   So you can probably get 3 colorless covers while they are in Latests. 

Not to mention managing to place well in PvP and getting another 50 or so there per event. 

So let’s say that 300 pulls is enough for a fully covered 5; doing so should be sufficient even with bad RNG, most of the time.  12 weeks is 84 days for about 3.5 pulls a day.

Placing well both personally and in an alliance can help a lot with that but the key really is how built up your 4s are, since the lion’s share of rewards at the high end of placement (in terms of an advantage over lower placement) are 4* covers and thus the “recycled” pulls are key to covering 5s. 

If your roster isn’t that advanced and you are not generating that kind of pull rate you’ll need to skip certain 5’s, or maybe low cover them and chase certain ones. Like go all out for BRB then hoard until Sinister leaves, and maybe Havok too, to chase Hulk. 

The game is giving us more rewards than ever, so unfortunately they are increasing the pressure with the 5 release rate so far. I expect that to continue although it’s always possible there will be some shifting due the current situation. 

The only option for most players are to accept the new normal and make peace with it. I agree with the OP’s implied statement that if you are feeling pressured by MPQ it could very well be better to explore other games that are more enjoyable as far as not built around a constant keeping-up scenario. 

ThaRoadWarrior

Does that featured rate hold true the way we've been seeing the 5* releases shards over-ride the regularly featured character? is it just the classic features that have lost out like this so far (OML this time, i don't recall who lost out to Sinister and Havok)? 

wymtime

ThaRoadWarrior said:

Does that featured rate hold true the way we've been seeing the 5* releases shards over-ride the regularly featured character? is it just the classic features that have lost out like this so far (OML this time, i don't recall who lost out to Sinister and Havok)? 

The 5* who will lose out on shards will be whomever is feature after meet R&G.  OML was rewarded in placement in Honor Among Arthur’s and in progression in MR&G.  Since Hulk is placement rewards which ever 5* is essential next event will lose out.  It should be a classic 5* making it worse since they will not be essential again for possibly a year.

bluewolf

ThaRoadWarrior said:

Does that featured rate hold true the way we've been seeing the 5* releases shards over-ride the regularly featured character? is it just the classic features that have lost out like this so far (OML this time, i don't recall who lost out to Sinister and Havok)? 

It's going to just be whoever is essential, no necessarily a Classic.

I believe JJ is going to be essential for WW - we'll see soon enough - so you are really missing out on shards for her this time around, you are getting OML shards now.

Missing classics is a bit of an issue on a good one, most are pretty unexciting so it's no big deal.  But losing, for example, Okoye shards for a New5 at Sinister's level would feel pretty bad.

So far we only lost out on Sinister shards for Havok, who was the first 5 released after SCL10 was put in place for PVE. And like I said, it looks like losing JJ for Hulk.  The tradeoff is that the new 5 is not essential immediately after the HP release.  (We would not "lose out" on shards for a character if they made the new person immediately essential, assuming they paused the normal essential rotation for the new person.  But then there would be other issues.  Always that trade-off........)

In terms of the featured rate, I guess you will still see each new person mostly get 5 appearances as an essential (or at least shards) moving forwards.  12 weeks provides for 4.8 cycles of 2 1/2 weeks which is about how long it takes to get around to a Latest again.  So maybe planning for 4 appearances is best, especially if there is a 7 day (hard to know if those will still happen) or a boss event delaying shards etc.

Vhailorx

wymtime said:

ThaRoadWarrior said:

Does that featured rate hold true the way we've been seeing the 5* releases shards over-ride the regularly featured character? is it just the classic features that have lost out like this so far (OML this time, i don't recall who lost out to Sinister and Havok)? 

The 5* who will lose out on shards will be whomever is feature after meet R&G.  OML was rewarded in placement in Honor Among Arthur’s and in progression in MR&G.  Since Hulk is placement rewards which ever 5* is essential next event will lose out.  It should be a classic 5* making it worse since they will not be essential again for possibly a year.

I believe that sinister's shards were skipped for havok's release event.  I think that is why I have more Havok shards than sinister shards.

ThaRoadWarrior

I can't tell if this shard-skip behavior is the new "still in "NEW" status for Shield Training," or if this is helpful yet lol. But it's definitely some kind of thing.

Vhailorx

bluewolf said:

ThaRoadWarrior said:

Does that featured rate hold true the way we've been seeing the 5* releases shards over-ride the regularly featured character? is it just the classic features that have lost out like this so far (OML this time, i don't recall who lost out to Sinister and Havok)? 

It's going to just be whoever is essential, no necessarily a Classic.

I believe JJ is going to be essential for WW - we'll see soon enough - so you are really missing out on shards for her this time around, you are getting OML shards now.

Missing classics is a bit of an issue on a good one, most are pretty unexciting so it's no big deal.  But losing, for example, Okoye shards for a New5 at Sinister's level would feel pretty bad.

So far we only lost out on Sinister shards for Havok, who was the first 5 released after SCL10 was put in place for PVE. And like I said, it looks like losing JJ for Hulk.  The tradeoff is that the new 5 is not essential immediately after the HP release.  (We would not "lose out" on shards for a character if they made the new person immediately essential, assuming they paused the normal essential rotation for the new person.  But then there would be other issues.  Always that trade-off........)

In terms of the featured rate, I guess you will still see each new person mostly get 5 appearances as an essential (or at least shards) moving forwards.  12 weeks provides for 4.8 cycles of 2 1/2 weeks which is about how long it takes to get around to a Latest again.  So maybe planning for 4 appearances is best, especially if there is a 7 day (hard to know if those will still happen) or a boss event delaying shards etc.

Losing JJ shards is a real pain, even though IH looks good (I suspect most would prefer to lose OML shards).  I really hope this isn't the permanent solution, as it is unsatisfactory in many ways (though I appreciate the idea that it is enough to let you get a token cover for a new character when they are essential for the first time).  Perhaps they could offer extra shards for release events, rather than 1:1 replacement?

Also, are we really going to get 1250 shards for each new 5* while they are still "latest" with this new release schedule?  Is everyone really going to be featured 5 times in 12 weeks?  That's 24 PVE events (assuming no 7-days), spread across a 5-characte cycle.  So at least 1 character is getting left out, plus there will be two new 5* releases in there too, presumably substituting shards for the new release.  It seems unlikely to expect 5 runs as essential for every character.  4 turns, meaning 2 covers' worth of shards seems like a safer assumption.

bluewolf

@Vhailorx

I agree as I think about it, 4 turns for PVE rewards will be all you can count on. But some might get 5 turns as rewards.  It would depend on the cycle of essentials, when the rotation happens etc. 

Daredevil217

Will Sinister end with two covers in shards? He’s next to rotate out once Hulk is in and I’m not so sure he’ll get a full 1K.

ThaRoadWarrior

I wish we knew what the bonus shard drop rate was - i have a feeling that is intended to be part of this new normal. I've yet to get anything but 3* shards that way so far though; odds seem pretty low.

Colognoisseur

If they start implementing feeders on a more regular basis then you need to have seven covers in any variant of 1/3/3 then you could receive the feeder rewards and champ the ne 5*. It is how I am hoping this will be the new normal. If it is then it should be possible to champ new 5* even on a 4-5-4-5 release schedule. Of course I am making a gigantic assumption about feeders. 

Vhailorx

Colognoisseur said:

If they start implementing feeders on a more regular basis then you need to have seven covers in any variant of 1/3/3 then you could receive the feeder rewards and champ the ne 5*. It is how I am hoping this will be the new normal. If it is then it should be possible to champ new 5* even on a 4-5-4-5 release schedule. Of course I am making a gigantic assumption about feeders. 

True, but irrelevant to most people.  The vast majority of the playerbase will never have many 4* champs above 320, let alone all the way to 370.

Also, regular feeder updates?  Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!

Mayo

It is not possible, sorry if I offend other players but if you dedicate more than 3 hours daily to a game then you have no life. Something that sucks away the life from you with nothing to return is like having a toxic partner. I nowadays play what I can and dedicate more time to my family, more time to personal growth and the same time to work. Moved to play only scl10 on pve and pvp, get progression rewards that I can and end the day. Don't chase the rabbit.

Cheers! 

DyingLegend

I've given up trying to do anything in this game. Cant cover anyone unless I play 24/7 and commit my life to this game or spend my daughters college fund on chance packs.

We are constantly under a continuous onslaught of new characters with no solution to dilution ever. 

I think it's time to call it quits. The quality of life changes the game needs desperately are never coming. 

Warbringa

They should really give both the "lost" 5* shards on the boosted character and the new 5* shards as a bonus to make new character release events that much more special.  I would be really ticked if I was needing that 250 JJ shards to champ her for example and then her shards are skipped.

PiMacleod

Mayo said:

It is not possible, sorry if I offend other players but if you dedicate more than 3 hours daily to a game then you have no life. Something that sucks away the life from you with nothing to return is like having a toxic partner. I nowadays play what I can and dedicate more time to my family, more time to personal growth and the same time to work. Moved to play only scl10 on pve and pvp, get progression rewards that I can and end the day. Don't chase the rabbit.

Cheers! 

This.

This is what I do.

You will drive yourself to insanity doing anything MORE, IMO.

I play other games.  Not on my phone, mind you.  Other things to break up monotony.  A bit of Apex Legends.  Animal Crossing.  Borderlands 3.  Hollow Knight.  Minecraft.  MIX IT UP!

Because seriously, grinding anything out is just asking for extra stress.  I mean, I guess I could go back and play the original Dragon Warrior... :P

Nah, but for real, I do what Mayo said.  I pull my LTs when a new guy enters, and take what I get.  I use my CP when a new guy gets a store, and take what I get.  If I didn't pull "this often", I'd probably go stir crazy.  I need those occasional breaks from hoarding to remind me of the reason why I hoard. 

SnowcaTT

Lots of good suggestions in here, and I agree it's going to get exponentially harder to simply cover (13 / 450) new 5*'s if they are going to be released so quickly.

Which comes back to the very long give and take this game has had, and I argue all the time: if you are going to increase release rate (or any other resource needed) - you, the devs, need to equally increase the drop rate to acquire these resources.

To give a few extra shards as rewards and then increase the release rate quite a bit makes all those "Look, shards, new ways to get 5*'s bigger and faster!" a few months ago look very, very inaccurate.

Need more LT's, more shards, more feeders, and very likely - a higher 5* rate out of all tokens.