Thoughts after Restarting: Day 152 (5 months)

bbigler

Hey everyone, I’ve been making steady progress on my new roster and wanted to discuss a few different topics, such as: 
1) The LT slump in rewards
2) PVP Climbing & Defensive characters
3) Trying to cover Classic & Latest 5*s
4) New PVE Clearing order! 

First, here’s the state of my roster after 5 months:
Rank 104, Slots 199
2*s: in the 4th generation cycle
3*s: Between levels 183 & 224
4*s: 10 Champed, 2 Ready to Champ, All Rostered except Monica, Northstar & Scorpion
5*s: 20 Rostered, the notable ones are….
       Level 451 Shang (Champed)
       Level 435 Sersi (5/4/3) - 294 shards

       Level 360 Ultron (4/4/2) - 150 shards
       Level 285 Crystal (0/2/3) - 150 shards
       Level 256 Gamora (3/5/4) - 252 shards
Supports: Chewie 250, Task Sword 150, etc
       No new good supports here

Weekly Production Rates: (lately)
ISO = 530K - 560K
HP = 4000 - 4600
LT = 3 - 4
CP = 245 - 275

1) The LT slump in rewards: My production rate for pulls is low now.  I’m in this period where all my 3*s are champed but below 227, plus 90% of 4* covers are used to cover my 4*s instead of going to champ rewards, AND my rank is below 120, so I can’t play SCL 10 for the best CP rewards. So, my weekly pulls have gone down some. But my 3*s are going to start hitting 227 soon, so that will help.  Playing SCL 10 is still 8 weeks away and champing 4*s takes forever.  

2) PVP Climbing & Defensive characters: Shang & Valkyrie work so well that level 570’s don’t scare me.  So I attack almost any team but pick the easier battles like most people.  I can climb quickly to 900, but I also quickly get beaten down.  Unshielded, they take me down to the 400’s. Since there’s no guarantee I can hit 1200, I play PvP in multiple sessions to hit 75 wins, climbing to top 10, getting beaten down, then climbing again over the course of 2 days.  I’m spending more on shields now, so I’ll do my final climb sometime between 17 - 19 hrs out, then do 8 + 3 + 8 hr shields.  Lately, I’ve been ending between 1000 and 1200 points.  

*I thought my boosted Sersi would deter some attacks in PVP this last week, but she hasn’t made much difference.  

Defensive Characters: 
Colossus: a general problem for Shang, but I could use Polaris team ups to stun him.  I can still down him without stunning, but it takes high combo points to do it.  It’s a battle I would rather skip.  

Wanda: a general problem for Shang, but manageable because Shang can heal from her hits and destroy her repeater too.  

Killmonger: a general problem for Shang, but some careful play can avoid his match-5 defense.  

Beta Ray Bill: a small problem with triggering Valkyrie’s bounty, but his protects are quickly overpowered by Shang’s match dmg.  

Yellowjacket: Only a problem if he goes invisible 
Onslaught & Prof X: Shang can usually heal from their passive dmg
IHulk: a general problem since the AOE can kill Valkyrie and/or the required character.  I wish I had Electro for these battles, but Quake may do 
Ronan: I almost always down him before his CD tile goes off
Odin: a small problem for Shang, but easily managed.  He’s like a weak version of Colossus

Polaris: Usually not a problem, but occasionally she’ll get a lucky cascade and stun Shang, then destroy everyone

 3) Covering Classic & New 5*s: somehow I’ve been making steady progress getting older 5*s.  Excluding Latest pulls, I’ve gotten 12 x 5*s.  Some from champ rewards, some from milestones and some from special stores.  But I still lack the required 5* in many PVEs.  My progress is steady so I won’t complain.  I was hoping to have Sersi champed by now, but at least I’m really close.  I’m also really close with Gamora, so I’ve been watching the daily shard deals for them since I have a ton of HP right now.  Sersi could help with PVP climbing and Gamora could help with Wanda and/or Colossus, but that’s yet to be tested.  

My new focus is Crystal.  I’ve decided to forgo finishing Wheel & Abby, so I started saving CP for her store, and boy was I lucky with it.  4 Crystal’s in 15 pulls, plus the one cover I got from her “Heroic” store.  This gives me a big head start in covering her when she hits Latest.  The plan is to run her with Shang in PVP and hopefully I’ll get hit less so I can climb higher.  Ironically, she’s also a very good counter to Shang.  

4) New PVE Clearing order!: First, I want to say that I’m willing to divulge my secrets to success even though it can be used against me.  But I believe all truth should be freely shared (unless it’s a proprietary secret that you should keep from your potential or known enemies, but I don’t consider anyone here my enemy), so here’s my recent discovery……

After some discussion with an alliance member, I set out to reinvestigate the PVE point system.  I then created a spreadsheet to calculate the end score for a sub, when given the full node points, battle speeds and clearing order.  The first table cleared nodes in the traditional order of highest to lowest point nodes in the beginning and then in reverse order at the end.  I then copied the table and changed only the clearing order to use my wave method, which is to clear all nodes 1 time in a wave, then repeat 2 more times.  

This resulted in a practically identical score (I could get into details but it won’t be helpful).  I then copied the table a 3rd and 4th time to try out a new method which bases the clearing order on your points-per-minute for a node.  Meaning, if you divide the node points by your battle speed, the nodes with the highest points-per-minute are prioritized.  So when the sub begins, you would clear nodes from your highest points-per-minute to your lowest.  Then go in reverse order at the end of the sub.  

This resulted in 18 - 36 points more per sub.  This order is dependent on each player’s battle speed for a certain node, but generally this translates into the rough order of: 
Beginning - E3, E2, E1, 2*, 3*, 4*, 5*, H3, H2, H1
Ending - H1, H2, H3, 5*, 4*, 3*, 2*, E1, E2, E3

E = Easy node, H = Hard node

Now I’m sure some players are so intrenched in their pve grind that nothing will change their ways.  I’m also guessing that someone else has discovered this and made it known, but this is certainly news to me.  

Timemachinego

I don't want to give away too many trade secrets but I think you're onto something with a combination of the wave and battle-speed tests, at least as far as I was able to understand some of the top-level texts out there... in many brackets and flips though you can play fast, biggest to small (points mind you, sometimes a wave is bigger than the CN) and t10 consistently. I don't think you need to break out the spreadsheets and timers until you're aiming for t1 in prejoins and most of s1 (all s1 flips are like twice as competitive as any others, it's weird) unless you're slow for roster or personal reasons.

HoundofShadow

In SCL 9, i do it in this order:

4*, 3*, 2* (x 4 each)
E1, E2, E3,
H1, H2, H3x4
H2x 3, H1, x3
E3X3, E2x3, E1x3
5* x 4

I find that clearing 5* node first or clearing it after 2* node made my ranking worst. I can get T5 easily unless 550 roster decided to play there.

If you are playing in SCL 10, such precise play order won't matter anymore because it's filled with 550 Okoye/Apocalypse/BRB/iHulk/Colossus. You can forget about T1 and T5, unless SC or Colossus is boosted. At best, you can get a T10. I'm referring to only the first bracket, so I've no idea how things look like for those competing in sniped brackets. The only thing I heard is that it's much easier to get T5/10 placement.

Timemachinego

So... there's a whole thing with the refresh rate of nodes and sometimes it changes, but generally if you're not spending half your clear on a CN or 5e you still want to clear those first because the refresh rate is bigger... same rate but bigger initial number.(if they do take you that long, or you can't full clear them they're like bonus points so deal with them last/first). It seems like it makes sense to start the timers faster, but the the low timers are worth less and accrue slower. Without spreadsheets and timers, top down is best most of the time. There's a few where hard waves are the top of the point scale, like Wakanda and... I think there's another but I could be wrong lol, but they're the rarity.

HoundofShadow

Some nodes have much slower refresh rate. I think Deadpool vs DDQ is one of them.

For SCL 10, It takes me about 2.5 min each to clear 5* and CN nodes x3 and 1.5-2 mins to clear 3* and 4* node x3.

It takes me 40-45 seconds to clear each easy nodes. So, clearing 9 easy nodes is equivalent to clearing CN nodes 3 times.

I didn't bother to calculate the timing because it's all 550 roster with great R5/R4 supports.

bbigler

I must say that numbers don’t lie and the method with the most points I’ve discovered is prioritizing your highest points-per-minute nodes and hitting them repeatedly and not in waves.  

So, no matter how competitive or casual you are, I would clear in that order.  

I’m currently testing out this new order and will see if my rank is better than normal, although I haven’t been tracking my pve rank, but I usually make top 10 in SCL 9 when I have the required 5*.  

The refresh rate for any node is exactly 33% of the full node points over 24 hrs.  Since we’re dealing with whole numbers, there are rounding errors with points too.  

After the timer starts, clears drop the points by 33% of the full node points.  These equations are simple and anyone could create their own spreadsheet to calculate points based on whatever clearing order you want.  

HoundofShadow

With a champed SC, you shouldn't have much problem hitting T5 in scl 9. T1 is a little difficult because at least two of the slices have 550 rosters. The precise clear order will be advantageous if we are talking about T1 or close to T5 placement. 

If you can finish 4 clears and 4 grinds (non-wave) within 20 minutes in scl 9, T1 is achievable. T5 is achievable if you can get it done within 25 minutes.

I'll probably do some math to figure out if this will help me get T5 in scl 10.

Timemachinego

It's that rounding up that makes a wave approach better at times on grind, I believe. I've never worked the sheets myself but I'm told it can be a 20+ pt difference in the end, but that's assuming you're playing perfectly down to the minute. I'm afraid enough of wipes and such that I usually end with more than enough time to tap a handful of nodes.

bbigler

Tapping nodes at the end for a few points works better with the repetitive hit approach over the wave method because there are more refreshed points.  

I have the required 5* in these next 2 PVEs, so I’ll track my clearing speed, rank and note the teams I used and of course use the new method

HoundofShadow

You might want to note who the top 20 of your slice are because that could affect your placement. Players sometimes shift up and down slices.