I will not quit MPQ!

Bad

It seems I was late just for 2 hours and now a discussion is closed. If I dont express my opinion I could explode. And then my family will be questioning why. A pity to clean all that blood disgrace. For not mentioning those disgusting brains portions ( In fact every time my fingers touch brain, Im superfly TNT, Im the guns of the Navarone. In fact, what the **** Im doing in the back? You are the **** who should be on brain detail!!!)
Sooo...
On that discussion it was pointed that it was posible to be on 5* land in just 360 days. Well I would say it is a bit early. 
It took maybe 380 for me.
Shield 590 right now. Soon I understood for to be competitive land 4* was imposible for me. They had a huge 6 years gap. So before knowing any forum or guide I chose a 5* to develop.  Here is my data:
I started playing and I grinded all cp that I could. Thats it pvp full progression and first 15 cps pvp. All in the high level that I could play and the game was starting unbloking me. On the start all that took me 2 or 3 hours per day.
At the point I had the most tokens and cps was when it were kitty cable and kingping. Sadly the most covers I got were cable 6 and kingping 5. I chose kingping because I thought it was more efective on pvp defense and on pve waves.
I bought 2 cover for 500 cp and I raised him after that paying 720 cps per power. It took me 8 months to almost champ him. Thanks to feeder miles Morales 2 covers who I target as a favourite too.
When I had him at 12 covers I started a hoard of almost 220 pulls that I burned when they were Iceman carnage and PX. I was really lucky to champ PX and Iceman. 
So the world was mine now! With 2 5* champed my strenght raised and I could champ 3 more really soon. 
Right now Im not able to champ all 5* at this fast release.  But Im really near. Playing always at scl10 of course that is cruzial. And I will champ those that I will choose. Like Ihulk and yelena soon. And if I cant? well nothing is lost.
Hours playing? A lot. But if you love something and if you can then there is no problem. 
Money? Vip is vital for that. I buy bundles sometimes (I think there is nothing free on this world and one has to be thanked to the ones that make posible a game).
And finally personally I recomend all players to pass to 5* land. Its actually where the fun is.

ZootSax

I'm glad you posted this.  For years now people have talked about the possibility for players to skip 4*-land and more straight to 5*'s, but I don't recall anyone actually saying they actually did it.  Good to hear that it worked and that you enjoy it.  

HoundofShadow

For the first 365 days, I was largely playing in PvE SCL 6 and PvP SCL 6 (for approximately first six months before getting locked out). The only time I was playing in SCL 7 PvE was under 2 circumstances:

1) When I had the essential 5* character and it was an easy PvE.
2) When I really wanted the particular 4* cover a lot, which was a rare occasion.

My progress was basically like this, as my roster got better:

I played PvPs the moment it was unlocked for me. I also played Lightning Rounds the moment I saw it. 

PvP Placement:
consistentt top T1, T5 (most of the time), T10 placement in PvP SCL 6,vwhile using 3-hour shield most of the time. My score was about 800-850 points on average. Doing this means I was always getting net positive HP income after adding HP gained from T5 placement. On really rare occasion, I put up 8-hour shield. I was getting this placement while I was either in 3* land or transitioning to 3* land. After I was locked out of SCL 6, I jumped to SCL 9 and got Top 50 placements.

PvE Placement
Consistent T1, T5, T10 overall placement in PvE SCL 6. From T10--> to T5--> to T1. Consistent T1/T3/T10 sub placement gave me between 3cp-5cp and 50 or 100 HP every day. As my roster progress, I was getting T3 regularly and I was still in 3* land.

Lightning Rounds
Consistent 1-2 Heroic Tokens per Lightning Rounds on average while I was in 2* land. The biggest amount of Heroic Tokens I gained from LRs in a week was about 24?. On average, it was probably 10 Heroic Tokens from LRs a week.

I did this consistently. By the 9th month, (I think), I was earning on average 1000HP every 3 days.

Looking at my old record and I started recording after the 3rd or 4th month of playing:

1) Within first 4 months, I had all 2* max champed, except for Bagman.

2) Within first 8 months, I had rostered all 3* with 11 of them unchamped.

4) won my first Clash (Red Hulk) ~8 months later. 

4) By the 10th month, I had already gained ~4000 CP. 

3) Within 11 months, I had only 12 4* left to recruit.

4) I rostered all 4* when I used my CPs on the 12th month.

If new players can do the above, it can be done. Unfortunately, most players don't have the time to do this in PvEs and they give up playing in PvPs easily.

Bad

In fact its really easy to save a hoard. The most time I employed was for gaining strenght with a 5* for making more easy and quick the grinding.  Then it took me about 4 months to save it. Right now I could do it on almost 3 although its better a hoard of 300 pulls for champing the 3 chars.
But I needed the power cause I hadnt 4* covers for winning the clash.
Saving a hoard means to skipp 1 or 2 chars.
Its posible to reach full pve progression without  the required 5* though. I did it countless times and I placed among 100 or 200 too.

bluewolf

Bad said:

In fact its really easy to save a hoard. The most time I employed was for gaining strenght with a 5* for making more easy and quick the grinding.  Then it took me about 4 months to save it. Right now I could do it on almost 3 although its better a hoard of 300 pulls for champing the 3 chars.
But I needed the power cause I hadnt 4* covers for winning the clash.
Saving a hoard means to skipp 1 or 2 chars.
Its posible to reach full pve progression without  the required 5* though. I did it countless times and I placed among 100 or 200 too.

I think "easy" is relative to the player, and it's not very intuitive for most players when the game is in many ways half match-3, half game of chance where you are encouraged to open tokens to see what you get.  The game encourages you to open, open, open and only a hardcore player will get to the point of considering a hoard as a viable strategy.  Which is fine, really, as the top tier in the game should be mostly limited to players who are trying hard or spending.

But the game has in a way moved to a point where doing what you are encouraged to do (open tokens) is against your best interest in multiple situations (especially if you are starting new and have 47 3s and 94 4's to roster, let along 45 or so 5s).

I am a little less behind the notion that a player can put in years of play at a low level but very possibly not champ even 1 5, but with shards and targeting that has become something that is more possible than it was before.

You can definitely hit progression in PVE without an essential character, possibly even 2 of them, if you understand the scoring and can hit your nodes immediately, let them recharge as much as possible, etc.  5x immediate (no recharge) clears of every node except the 5E are enough to hit progression (in SCL10 it's the CN that can be skipped).  It's nice that they have kept the scoring where it is, in a way. Dilution and the sheer number of characters makes it a major milestone for many new players to SIMPLY ROSTER all the 4s, let alone making them Crash-worthy let along champing them.  5's are another matter altogether.  Anyway, if you don't have a 4 rostered for their once-every- 2 2/3-years (and growing) essential run, you can even hit progression in that situation, I think.

The blessing of dilution is that an non-Latest 4 or 5 is only very rarely needed for PVE; the curse is that it's very hard to complete anyone you're not targeting.  A new player will simply never (EDIT: fully) cover all the 5's in the game without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, barring the devs adding a new tier and making 5's as common as 4s or somthing.

Mr_F

@bluewolf The only thing you need to roster everyone and eventually champ them is a plan. Of course it will take time. 2,5 years in my case to reach staple 2* farm, roster all 3* and start their farm, rostered all 4* (except Taskmaster) with 20% champed and 2/3 5* Rostered. I do not chase 5* now cause champing 4* and getting their rewards is easier and faster.

1st, you need pin-point the characters who's covers you can get faster than enyone else and skip them. No need to chase 3* Hulk as you wil get him from Moonstone. No need to chase 4* Wolvie as he is fast reward in daily login. If ya take that into consideration, you will easily decide which event to focus harder.

For Example: Let say thay you usually run SCL 5 and finish it high and full progession but this event you will go for SCl 6 for that Black Cat cover in shards who You do not have rostered yet. Next event You will go back to SCL5 - although you do not have Hulkbuster covers (which You can get in SLC 6 in shards) but you will get one from 3* Iron Man champion level.

Apply that logic to champing everyone. Be elastic, accordigly to what ya get from tokens.

Going with some plan, you will get all all characters rostered sooner or later. Use champion levels, shard system, PVE/PVP rewards ect. HAVE A PLAN is all ya need. Worked for me.

bluewolf

First, I was talking about covering in full all the 5s, not simply rostering them all.  I agree it is hardly impossible to roster each one given enough time and effort.

Now... I have pulled approx 4800 Latests/Classics/special 5 stores in my time playing since 5s entered the game as a low spender (VIP and bundles, occasionally some HP offers).  That's been about 5 years now.  I was not a high level player for a long time, I've been doing well placement wise since about 2 years or so ago.  At the start of that count I did not even have champed 4s yet.  Today I have a couple dozen 370s and all the 5's champed.

Anyway.  Let's pretend they weren't releasing any new characters.

If you were going to chase the 42 Classics using JUST Classics from scratch (and ignore feeders) that would take approx 11,760 pulls to get 13 covers for each.  Sharding helps save you some pulls on some of them.  Probably north of 9000 pulls or so.  Based on my experience only that's about 10 years of high end play, give or take.

Let's say you hoarded for special stores.  It seems like 5 months is a good ballpark for enough pulls for 13 covers so that's about 2.5 times a year you can do that, or about 16 years to get the 42 Classics from that strategy.

If you were going to look at getting their feeders to 360 and maximize those covers that would take about 8,460 pulls to get all your 4s from champ status to 350.  So hopefully during those pulls you managed to get enough ancillary covers for the 5s that you can finish off them all, sharding the non-fed ones along the way.  This would take something like 8-10 years based on my history of play (CP has dropped, but shards are in game, but unfortunately few and far between for Classics).

The good news is that it is far from essential to champ all the 5s in the game, as most of them will not be useful in any way except when they are essential once a year in PVE.

Now of course they have turned up the volume on 5 releases so that every year they put out 12 (or more) now.  So dilution will be increasing during this time.  Hopefully (not super likely) they will turn up the resource volume as well.  Maybe if you play this game another 1 1/2 or so times it has so far been in existence you will finally champ that last Classic 5 if you are new to the game today.

Bad

bluewolf said:

Now of course they have turned up the volume on 5 releases so that every year they put out 12 (or more) now.  So dilution will be increasing during this time.  Hopefully (not super likely) they will turn up the resource volume as well.  Maybe if you play this game another 1 1/2 or so times it has so far been in existence you will finally champ that last Classic 5 if you are new to the game today.

But here you are questioning the principles of any gacha game. Dilution is harsh but can be solved shargeting and with feeders. It can be deal paying 720 cps too as I did.
Lets say HE is the base of your game, focusing on him trought some months its posible to champ him.
New LL can be champed with a hoard.
But now look at other gacha games. Same mechanics same working and the truth is on other games is unthinkable even to roster all characters, not alone have them at max levels. On other games is not viable to do that even robbing banks.

bluewolf

@Bad

Thanks for confirming I should not play most of these games. 

The question, I suppose, is if you don’t roster them does it matter to you in those other games?

MPQ incentivizes rostering nearly everyone regardless of how much they will or won’t help you win matches.  It’s weird spot when you want someone rostered but the essentials cycles are so long now. 

Bad

@bluewolf
All gacha games incentive to have chars rostered. In the case of the really abusive ones they give option of playing with some of them when its required.
MPQ its true that requires just one in some nodes. But then the player is up to accept this mechanic rostering all or not. Like I said above on my first year I could not play all nodes, I could not win a single crash.
So what? Here I am playing at the top level.
What are you suggesting? To stop releases, to give help to leveling obsolete chars.
That is just stalling the game. That is the road to gritty bishop.
Right now there are a lot of interesting metas and new 5* who can rule in there.
I think this way is much more interesting. 
If you have all 5* champed Im sure you are agreeing with my arguments here in a way or in another .

bluewolf

Bad said:

@bluewolf
All gacha games incentive to have chars rostered. In the case of the really abusive ones they give option of playing with some of them when its required.
MPQ its true that requires just one in some nodes. But then the player is up to accept this mechanic rostering all or not. Like I said above on my first year I could not play all nodes, I could not win a single crash.
So what? Here I am playing at the top level.
What are you suggesting? To stop releases, to give help to leveling obsolete chars.
That is just stalling the game. That is the road to gritty bishop.
Right now there are a lot of interesting metas and new 5* who can rule in there.
I think this way is much more interesting. 
If you have all 5* champed Im sure you are agreeing with my arguments here in a way or in another .

I am suggesting nothing beyond this, ultimately:

1.  You cannot truly finish all the characters in game at this point (especially the 5s) if you do not already have a significant amount of progress toward them (probably 6-7 covers and their feeders with 3-4 left to mine).

2.  It doesn't really matter if you don't finish a good 80% or more of 5s as they will not truly impact your ability to play the game competitively or at least to a level that many players would find satisfactory.

3.  Finishing the 5s you want will require significant focus investment towards those characters, which is what the game's introduction of shards accomplished.  (Giving players that tool.)

It's the nature of having a 6 year old game with a top tier that remains pretty hard to gather covers for (especially when they are not in Latests).  In a way, I find it a little sad that a newer player can't have all the toys due to dilution, but there really isn't an alternative that fits the game's business model.