Best way to make the 5* jump?

helix72

Looking for some advice from 5* players: based on your experience, when and in what way is best for making the 5* jump? Level a bunch at the same time before champing any? Champ in stages? Champ one at a time? Champ certain pairs at the same time?

Currently I have every 4* character (except Legion) champed, and no 5* characters champed. I'm sitting on 2.3M ISO with the following top tier ones at 13:
Okoye 5/5/3 lvl 345
Beta Ray Bill 5/3/5 lvl 315
Kitty 5/5/3 lvl 345
Apocalypse 5/3/5 lvl 330
iHulk 5/3/5 lvl 315
Prof X 5/5/3 lvl 300

Others at 13 covers: Cable, Black Widow, Sinister
Notables at 12 covers: Thor at 5/4/3, Thanos at 5/3/4, Jessica 4/4/4
4* Bishop at lvl 293

Given champing costs, I estimate I could champ as many as 4 at once, perhaps 5.

What I want to get out of making the jump: I currently play PvE to full progression, PvP to 1000 then shield and out. I'd look for 2 things:
1) Make both accomplishments take less time
2) Get PvP to 1200

My current problem with doing any better than 1000 in PvP is once I hit 1000, the teams I get offered to fight are either too tough (e.g. champed BRB + Bishop) or worth so few points that I'd need to win at least 15 battles without a loss to get the next 200 points. And generally it just offers me the same 5 or so teams over and over again (why do I pay a skip tax when it just re-offers me the same team I just skipped?)

Any advice is appreciated!

BriMan2222

If you care about PVP it's best to champ 2 or 3 good ones at once, because as soon as you champ one PVP recognizes you as a 5 star player and will match against other 5 star players, so only having one will leave you at a disadvantage when facing multiple champed 5 stars.

All of your 5 stars at 13 covers are great.  Okoye and i hulk are a great meta team, but can be very health pack intensive.  I have about 20 five star champs, and I often use some combination of BRB, kitty, apocoalypse in pvp and pve.  I would say champ them first, and enjoy apocolypse being boosted in this pve event, and then work on champing okoye and Ihulk.

Vhailorx

Where is the problem here, exactly?

TC has all 4*s champed and almost all of the meta 5*s covered (or in a ready state for use a la thor).  The only key 5* missing is HE (who should probably be shargeted).  Sounds to me like the hard part is done.  just save up a few million for iso and champ the meta (okoye for sure, along with brb/kitty and maybe apoc). 

As for the 1k in PVP problem, that is likely to be universal (i.e., the phenomenon you are describing will not change with your 5* MMR, it's an artifact of the PVP scoring system in general and not a quirk of 4* play).  I can't add much to the advice of the very experienced commentators above/below me. 

If you do choose to champ only one 5*, I definitely recommend starting with Okoye.  She is fantastic with tons of partners and just about always benefits from more levels (since you want her to tank as much as possible and maximize her damage boost). There are also a bunch of other 5* characters who play really well with her if she can continue to tank over them (e.g., apoc, brb, etc). 

bluewolf

5* pvp sucks. Oh man, it sucks!

Play in S1 or 4 for progression only. 

 

Champ a bunch at once and marvel at at the excruciatingly slow pace of playing BRBitty all the time. (Or take hits left and right.)

Joe4521

In my experience, since jumping from 4 stars to single champ 5 star and then to multiple champ 5 stars, it is more difficult to hit 1000 and much slower. When I did it, Kitty was the way to go, but now with iHulk around, Okoye may be a viable choice if you are only going to champ one. At the multiple 5 star level, you will mainly see Kitty/BRB or iHulk/Okoye. I haven't found Apocalypse very useful so far, so hold off on him.

The 4 star game is sort of a sweet spot for PVP, since you can use multiple different teams every event because of the boosted characters. That goes away when you move to 5 stars, but you get used to it, and it will be a new challenge for you.

wymtime

from what you have I would champ Okoye, BRB, Kitty, and Apocalypse.  You could also level Thor for PVE and early PVP.  In PVE you can use Apocalypse, BRB, 1/2 health Thor and go through levels quickly.

for PVP if you want to get to 1200 you will need BRB kitty combo and I highly recommend joining Line for what ever slice you play.  You can into a battle chat group and meet a good group of players who can help you get to 1200.  You can go solo but it will take more shields and you will get hit a lot more on your climb since you will be a 5* player.

you can also run Okoye IHulk in PVP but if they are too close in levels IHulk tanks too many colors and kills your team.  Only level IHulk to the point where you have Okoye or Apocalypse tanking red and black for him.

helix72

Thanks for all the feedback thus far. What I'm gathering is that generally hitting 1200 in PvP isn't a function of being a 5* player, it's a function of shield hopping and coordinating on Line, which frankly is more energy and time than I care to spend on the game. So I won't get my hopes up that my 5* entry will be the golden ticket I'd hoped it would be.

But I also don't want it to make getting to 1000 worse. And some folks here have suggested that is a real possibility. So perhaps any improvement in my PvE clears will only be offset by the extra time and anguish of getting to 1000 in PvP. One step forward, one step back, which seems to be a theme in this game.

wymtime

helix72 said:

Thanks for all the feedback thus far. What I'm gathering is that generally hitting 1200 in PvP isn't a function of being a 5* player, it's a function of shield hopping and coordinating on Line, which frankly is more energy and time than I care to spend on the game. So I won't get my hopes up that my 5* entry will be the golden ticket I'd hoped it would be.

But I also don't want it to make getting to 1000 worse. And some folks here have suggested that is a real possibility. So perhaps any improvement in my PvE clears will only be offset by the extra time and anguish of getting to 1000 in PvP. One step forward, one step back, which seems to be a theme in this game.

A lot of people think using Line and going for 1200 in PVP will take a lot of time.  The reality is it can save a lot of time in PVP too,  you are in a group of a lot of knowledgeable players who really don’t hang out on the forums anymore.  In PVP if you use line you might actually spend less time in PVP.  When you think about how many matches it takes to get to 1000 points?

Vhailorx

wymtime said:

helix72 said:

Thanks for all the feedback thus far. What I'm gathering is that generally hitting 1200 in PvP isn't a function of being a 5* player, it's a function of shield hopping and coordinating on Line, which frankly is more energy and time than I care to spend on the game. So I won't get my hopes up that my 5* entry will be the golden ticket I'd hoped it would be.

But I also don't want it to make getting to 1000 worse. And some folks here have suggested that is a real possibility. So perhaps any improvement in my PvE clears will only be offset by the extra time and anguish of getting to 1000 in PvP. One step forward, one step back, which seems to be a theme in this game.

A lot of people think using Line and going for 1200 in PVP will take a lot of time.  The reality is it can save a lot of time in PVP too,  you are in a group of a lot of knowledgeable players who really don’t hang out on the forums anymore.  In PVP if you use line you might actually spend less time in PVP.  When you think about how many matches it takes to get to 1000 points?

Line is not a time sink; as others mention, it is actually likely to reduce your total time played in pvp significantly because it is so much more efficient (think 1200 in less than 20 matches every time because you really can average over 60 pts per match). But it is a very specific playsyle, that involves a fair amount of watching line and waiting for things to happen.  So it may not be to your taste.  It is certainly a different feel than playing completely solo.

Rod5

As a 5* player you can climb to 1.2+ in S1 at the end if you’re fast. S4 is possible too but harder as fewer available qs.

wymtime

Vhailorx said:

wymtime said:

helix72 said:

Thanks for all the feedback thus far. What I'm gathering is that generally hitting 1200 in PvP isn't a function of being a 5* player, it's a function of shield hopping and coordinating on Line, which frankly is more energy and time than I care to spend on the game. So I won't get my hopes up that my 5* entry will be the golden ticket I'd hoped it would be.

But I also don't want it to make getting to 1000 worse. And some folks here have suggested that is a real possibility. So perhaps any improvement in my PvE clears will only be offset by the extra time and anguish of getting to 1000 in PvP. One step forward, one step back, which seems to be a theme in this game.

A lot of people think using Line and going for 1200 in PVP will take a lot of time.  The reality is it can save a lot of time in PVP too,  you are in a group of a lot of knowledgeable players who really don’t hang out on the forums anymore.  In PVP if you use line you might actually spend less time in PVP.  When you think about how many matches it takes to get to 1000 points?

Line is not a time sink; as others mention, it is actually likely to reduce your total time played in pvp significantly because it is so much more efficient (think 1200 in less than 20 matches every time because you really can average over 60 pts per match). But it is a very specific playsyle, that involves a fair amount of watching line and waiting for things to happen.  So it may not be to your taste.  It is certainly a different feel than playing completely solo.

I agree and the fact that it can take less time overall can be beneficial.  I climbed from 0-1800 in 33 matches in a little less than 90 mins today in high stakes.  I think the people who avoid line think it is a lot of work when in reality it can make PVP a lot less stressful.

Daredevil217

I had a very similar transition experience to you.

* Champed and exhausted all of the 4* tier 

*  Had all the meta 5s max-covered

* Worried about my PvP climbs being harder

* Didn’t want to coordinate on Line. 

This was my thread on my transition:

https://forums.d3go.com/discussion/76951/i-ve-denied-the-signs-too-long-i-m-a-5-player#latest

I went all-in and champed the top 6 characters I had covered.  The rest I brought up as I collected Iso. When I transitioned, offense was king (Gritty/Thorkoye), and I found my climbs to be faster. My goal was 900 and out as a 4* player. I found I can still hit that as a 5* player, but also was hitting 1200 maybe half the time as well.  Now unfortunately, the meta is all about putting up slow, annoying defensive teams for opponents to slog through (Bishop, BRBitty), or making you eat health packs (Bishop, Hulkoye). So it takes longer by virtue of where the meta is right now. That said, while I don’t think there’s a “best way” I have no regrets about transitioning the way I did. 

I did join Line, mainly because the in game chat sucks and I moved to an alliance that uses Line to communicate instead. I still don’t coordinate. 
Not because of time. I just have a horrible memory and don’t want to have to remember who to hit and who to avoid. Or play PVP at certain times. So I just go it alone and try to avoid the slice my alliance hangs in so I don’t accidentally hit one of them.  But even if like me, you never coordinate, Line is worth it just for the sense of community, the amount of information/tips, and the various rooms dedicated to MPQ. I’m not in any shield check rooms and would still recommend it. PM me if you want to know more or would like an invite!

jtsings

  Here's a log of my experience that's a bit dated but somewhat still relevant.  https://forums.d3go.com/discussion/78577/my-5-single-champ-season-experience-was-it-worth-it/p1.  What has changed since then?  I just champed Apocalypse which makes my 17th five star champ. 

   PVE: I generally play SCL 8 or 9 depending on how good the 5* featured is and every once in so while SCL 10 when I want half a cover of the 5*, but PVE is much faster for me at least.  I usually play for placement so 1/2 Thor and Okoye get my clears done quickly (but as others have mentioned keeping Thor 12 levels below Okoye make it much faster and less health pack intensive.  Kitty and BRB are usually my go to team for the hard nodes on SCL 10. 

   PVP: it's still difficult to hit 1000 even with the meta teams champed.  Okoye and Thor get you fast wins but you'll get attacked too fast to hit 1000, unless you find off hours to play.  BRB and Kitty are both a very solid team but not nearly as fast as the former.  I don't have iHulk at a good distribution but I've heard him and Okoye are both really good for PVE and PVP and it seems like a very solid defensive team too.  I think I'm finally coming to what I'm sure most vets have the idea of is having a good breadth of 5*s to counter other 5*s (and two other well known 4*s); so it's best if you can continue champing others (especially Black Suit Spiderman and Hawkeye.)

   What would I do if I were in your shoes?  I would champ Okoye then put Thor and iHulk at levels that your boosted 4*s reach, that way you'll still be in Single 5* champ mmr and you could play your favorite boosted 4*s with Okoye or switch to iHulk or 1/2 Thor when there's a less than stellar 4* boost list.  From there see how you like 5* land and, if you find you're ready, then my recommendation would be to prioritize leveling up iHulk to just below Okoye's purple match damage level, put Thor at the same level as iHulk until you have a 2nd 5* champ then level him up to just under 12 levels below Okoye and then go for Kitty and BRB.

  Just one word of caution would be that once you champ even 1 five star you will have to use them for mostly all PVP matches, with some exceptions, so if you are a big fan of variety, it may be best to wait till you have enough ISO to champ lots of them at once so at least you can rotate between your several 5*s.

killahKlown

Once you have 5*s, you don't need to coordinate in any rooms.  If your goal is to get to 1200, you can do so easily in s1 or s4 without being in any rooms.

You have a great starter set.  Way better than most people have when they make the jump.  Champ all of them and you'll be very happy I think... good variety there.  Work on getting that final Thor though. 

Also... someone said earlier that HE is a must have.  To that I LOL

lastly, what is your in game name?  I want to make sure to welcome you properly when I see your shiny new 5*s pop up.

Sithforever

@killahKlown HE isn't bad lol (mine is at 8 covers) but only one good team to be on. Also I love the welcome comment. Definitely a good start to 5s land as to the topic and others said it best. Loving my BRBlypse.

Vhailorx

killahKlown said:

Once you have (good) 5*s, you don't need to coordinate in any rooms.  If your goal is to get to 1200, you can do so easily in s1 or s4 without being in any rooms.

You have a great starter set.  Way better than most people have when they make the jump.  Champ all of them and you'll be very happy I think... good variety there.  Work on getting that final Thor though. 

Also... someone said earlier that HE is a must have.  To that I LOL

lastly, what is your in game name?  I want to make sure to welcome you properly when I see your shiny new 5*s pop up.

(1) I don't know if you mean me, but I did say that HE was the one meta 5* that TC doesn't appear to have covered.  HE is definitely not 'must have,' especially in PVP where he just barely scrapes his way into the meta with worthy.  But he is a reliable superstar in PVE where he is an essential cog for arguably the best team to use for the most dangerous nodes (gamora/coulson/HE).  If you want to play cl10 for every event, and especially if you want to 6/4 clear every node in every event, then HE will make your life a whole lot easier until you can get your roster (specifically okoye) up above 500 and start fighting some of the hardest nodes straight up. 

(2) I corrected your statement in bold above.  good luck trying to hit 1200 with Wasp and 5* KP.  Even mediocre-to-good 5*s like cable, BP, or BW will struggle mightily in the current PVP environment of 5*s that have well over 60k health, 800+ match damage and 6-7ap nukes, or killer passives.