Thoughts after Restarting: Day 180

bbigler

So I’m just shy of 6 months and made a big accomplishment recently….. I’ve champed 3 x  5*s!  (Shang, Sersi, Gamora)  I’ve spent $660 up to this point plus countless hours playing and planning.  Champing 2 more 5*s hasn’t noticeably changed my PvP matchups (if you’re wondering). Since I’m in the very unique position of restarting my roster twice, once in 2018 and again in 2021; I wanted to show the difference in their progression having had the same amount of effort and money spent.  

But first, here’s the current state of my roster: 

Current Stats: 
Rank 112, Slots 205
359 Legendary Pulls (326 from Latest)
20 pulls currently Saved
2*s - Constantly recycling 
3*s - Champs between levels 189 - 231
4*s - 13 Champs + 4 more champable
5*s - 22 Rostered…..
        451 Shang (4/5/4)
        450 Sersi (5/5/3)
        450 Gamora (5/3/5)
        375 Crystal (1/4/3)
        360 Ultron (4/4/2)
        257 Abby (1/3/3)
        257 Elektra (1/2/4)
Supports: 

    1 x 5* (Chewie)
    2 x 4* (BW Batons & Hydra Henchmen)
    10 x 3* 

To show the difference in progression between my 2 restarts, I’ve chosen certain milestones to compare: 
                                 (Week #)   (Week #)
Milestone:                  2018          2021

First 2* Champ               2                1
First 3* Champ               3                2
Champ 10 x 2*s             4                3
Champ 10 x 3*s             8                5
First 4* Champ         hoarding          7
Get 200 LL pulls            23              15
Get 300 LL pulls            32              21
Champ 3 x 4*s              24              11
Champ 10 x 4*s            32              22
Get Rank 100                29              20
1st 13 cover 5*              29              14
2nd 13 cover 5*             33              23
3rd 13 cover 5*              39              25
Play SCL9 PVE              36               9

ISO production is a little higher in 2021
HP production is a little lower in 2021

LT + CP Rates: 
2018 Restart = 8 - 12 pulls per week
2021 Restart = 12 - 16 pulls per week 

As you can see, all metrics are better in 2021. The big difference between the restarts is that in 2018 I hoarded LL pulls until all 3*s were champed and didn’t get a champed top tier 5* until 9 months in.  In 2021, I opened LL weekly and got Shang champed after 3 months.  But that advantage of Shang can’t account for the entire difference in my metrics.  

I do want to point out that acquiring 4* and 5* supports is much much slower than acquiring 4* and 5* champs.  It’s frustratingly slow and I hope the devs ramp up that progression speed.  

atomzed

5* supports are an absolute rarity. After playing for 2925 days, having almost all 5* champ (2 unchamp)…I have a grand total of ONE 5* support (Vanessa Fisk). Prior to the recent support circuit, I have zero 5* support. 

It’s really hard to get them 

darkman84

Probably shards system + milestones ,which I believe wasn't yet a thing back in 2018 helped a lot in such improvements in the speed of your progress. Also personally I think you couldn't timed it better with SC apearing around your 2nd come back. He not only lets you punch way up above your weight, but can also be pretty fast against CL10 lvl opponents in PVE - which should allow you to increase your reward gains/progres even more once you hit that 120 SCL mark.

Timemachinego

darkman84 said:

Probably shards system + milestones ,which I believe wasn't yet a thing back in 2018 helped a lot in such improvements in the speed of your progress. Also personally I think you couldn't timed it better with SC apearing around your 2nd come back. He not only lets you punch way up above your weight, but can also be pretty fast against CL10 lvl opponents in PVE - which should allow you to increase your reward gains/progres even more once you hit that 120 SCL mark.

BBigler's the closest thing we have to a speedrunner (and whose earlier guides I based my own advancement on) but he was totally lucky on that SC timing for sure. He'd still be moving faster than last time thanks to milestones probably, but Gamora or Ultron wouldn't give him half the mileage.

bbigler

Timemachinego said:

darkman84 said:

Probably shards system + milestones ,which I believe wasn't yet a thing back in 2018 helped a lot in such improvements in the speed of your progress. Also personally I think you couldn't timed it better with SC apearing around your 2nd come back. He not only lets you punch way up above your weight, but can also be pretty fast against CL10 lvl opponents in PVE - which should allow you to increase your reward gains/progres even more once you hit that 120 SCL mark.

BBigler's the closest thing we have to a speedrunner (and whose earlier guides I based my own advancement on) but he was totally lucky on that SC timing for sure. He'd still be moving faster than last time thanks to milestones probably, but Gamora or Ultron wouldn't give him half the mileage.

Totally agree, I was very lucky, it seemed to be my fate to get a champed Shang ASAP.  From week 3 and on, I steadily got his covers and leveled him up.  With my 2018 roster, I first covered 5*Loki, then Cable, then Kitty.  Just like Shang, I started using Kitty long before she was champed, and she alone improved my performance.  But I didn’t get a usable Kitty until 5 months in; then champed her at 9 months.  

So I think my improved speed is partly from Shang and partly from milestone rewards / shards and partly from NOT hoarding.  

But let’s say I champed Ultron or 5*Gamora instead Shang.  They’re still playable.  Ultron pairs well with Polaris & Valkyrie.  Gamora pairs well with Valkyrie & Melinda.  I would still be able to climb in PVP and play SCL 9 PVE, the difference is that I wouldn’t place as well, but the difference in placement rewards is small anyway.  Instead of top 5 or 10, I would get top 20 or 50.  

bbigler

Timemachinego said:

darkman84 said:

Probably shards system + milestones ,which I believe wasn't yet a thing back in 2018 helped a lot in such improvements in the speed of your progress. Also personally I think you couldn't timed it better with SC apearing around your 2nd come back. He not only lets you punch way up above your weight, but can also be pretty fast against CL10 lvl opponents in PVE - which should allow you to increase your reward gains/progres even more once you hit that 120 SCL mark.

BBigler's the closest thing we have to a speedrunner (and whose earlier guides I based my own advancement on) but he was totally lucky on that SC timing for sure. He'd still be moving faster than last time thanks to milestones probably, but Gamora or Ultron wouldn't give him half the mileage.

It’s also great to hear that my progression guide has been used.  I don’t think everyone here knows about it.  

KGB

How much of your improvement in progress do you think it because you know the game better now in 2021 than in 2018 since this is your 2nd restart vs 1st restart. Or would you say it's about the same and your improvement is simply better characters to chase (Polaris, Shang) + more/more efficient resources?

KGB

P.S. I also only have 1 Rank 5 support despite playing for years (long before supports came about) and I lucked into it via the Support Circuit (though I do have about 120 unopened L1 support tokens and 20 L2 support tokens so odds say I have a semi decent chance to get another one).  I really don't count on Supports for much other than true healing for Polaris/Grocket (I have 2 that do that).

bbigler

KGB said:

How much of your improvement in progress do you think it because you know the game better now in 2021 than in 2018 since this is your 2nd restart vs 1st restart. Or would you say it's about the same and your improvement is simply better characters to chase (Polaris, Shang) + more/more efficient resources?

KGB

P.S. I also only have 1 Rank 5 support despite playing for years (long before supports came about) and I lucked into it via the Support Circuit (though I do have about 120 unopened L1 support tokens and 20 L2 support tokens so odds say I have a semi decent chance to get another one).  I really don't count on Supports for much other than true healing for Polaris/Grocket (I have 2 that do that).

Good question.  Back in 2018 I already knew the game inside and out.  I knew which characters to chase, how to climb in pvp, how to clear in pve and how to efficiently use resources.  But I will say that I’ve improved a little on those things since.  My experience taught me that getting a low level 5* early on was better for my progression than hoarding (plus I hate waiting).  When I discovered how awesome Shang was, I was all in for pulling Latest and putting all 5* shards to him.  So, to answer your question, my experience pushed me to acquire 5*s immediately instead of hoarding, which did speed things up.  

As for supports, I was once again lucky to quickly get a 3* Taskmasters Sword (on Polaris) and a 5* Chewie (on Shang).  Those 2 supports alone have made a difference.  Polaris and Shang hit harder than normal in PVE, plus I can put Chewie on ANY 4* to win their crash (even 1 cover 4*s can win).