RIP Kitty - First 5 Star Meta Discussion

AdeptusRevolt

TLDR, Kitty's time is clearly up. Time to start recommending a different first 5 Star. 



Kitty Pryde has long been the recommended 5 star to be favorited. But in the past new character releases have finally made it clear that her ship has sailed. 

Kitty was recommended since she played so well with 4 stars, especially Rocket and Groot, who were boosted by her yellow passive. Her purple passive kept enemy goon countdowns under control.

But Morbius, and later Dock Ock (No Way Home) provided 4 star solutions to the enemy countdowns that were quicker and/or more proactive. 

Nico could provide more ready boosts to all special tiles. And Polaris, well Polaris always did prefer to constantly destroy the special tiles instead of letting Kitty grow them. 

Beta Ray Bill and his winfinite partnership with Polaris started getting recommended more as a first 5 star cover.  

Then Shang arrived. Shang who could, with the help of a few good 4 stars and no special tile crutch, combo and punch his way through anything. 

And then, this July, they came for her friends. Gorr, and "Genetic Memory" (Update: Chasm) will remove or prevent the initial tiles generated by GRocket and Beta Ray Bill. Gritty teams will be easy pickings in PVP next season, and beyond. 

Kitty no longer is the best first 5 star recommendation. Maybe she hasn't been for a while; the old ways are hard to change. But the writing is on the wall, it is very clear now - time to choose another heart for your shards to target on that long march from Shield Rank 7 onwards. 

HoundofShadow

Shang Chi has already taken over Kitty as the first 5* for a while. I see more players making SC as their first 5* nowadays, rather than Kitty. At least, that's what I saw in reddit.

It's always SC teaming with:
Melinda May, Valkyrie, America Chavez and 4* Dr Ock. Probably Karnak as well. 

Supports would be + purple match damage for SC or + his critical match.

Omegased

HoundofShadow said:

Supports would be + purple match damage for SC or + his critical match.

In My opinion, a better support is someone who generates more red (Shuri's lab, Chimichanga). yea more damage is good, but considering he'll smoosh people forever, more AP is a better fit.


I would still maintain that Kitty is essential for a 4 to 5 transitioning team. She can still limp you thru much higher SCL than if you have a team without her.
With Polaris still being so important for a 4star roster, it makes sense she (or BRB) can improve your Polaris very quickly. 

If you don't have Polaris, Kitty can improve other strong 4stars (Blade/Carnage/Medusa/etc) as well.

having said that - you're right that Shang Chi can walk thru opponents VERY easily (with a little luck).


Once you've transitioned to 5star, she isn't often used, but in my opinion, she's still a lynchpin for punching above your weight in PVE.

HoundofShadow

I think the next 5* has the potential to be on the same level as SC. SC's weakness for single champed mmr is still Polaris/BRB or Kitty/R4G. The new 5* automatically eradicate them and he has + up to 250% match damage. 

DAZ0273

I think that there is also already an existing alternative to both - Beta Ray Bill. As every 4* transitioner is told to get Polaris, BRB is her natural partner and he works fine with other 4* too and of course is part of the tried and trusted winfinite.

JimboJambo

I think this post is mainly focused on PVP. As a PVE player I still use Kitty a lot. At baby champ levels, shang chi is at risk of being wiped out by a cascade against high level enemies. Kitty, BRB, Polaris often offers a good combination between defense and speed on the challenge nodes.

shardwick

JimboJambo said:

I think this post is mainly focused on PVP. As a PVE player I still use Kitty a lot. At baby champ levels, shang chi is at risk of being wiped out by a cascade against high level enemies. Kitty, BRB, Polaris often offers a good combination between defense and speed on the challenge nodes.

I suppose it depends on who you're using SC with and what supports you have equipped. Mine is at lv457 and I don't really have much trouble on most challenge nodes with him outside of the rare occasion when the enemy team gets a lucky match 5 and then one-shots him with a critical in another lucky match 5. And even on the more difficult challenge nodes before I clear one I'll usually use his red power to help heal him up before I finish off the last enemy just so that I can avoid having to use a health pack on him before the next node.

HoundofShadow

My single champed 5* (SC)  account usually sees Polaris/BRB and boosted 5*. I also see SC + any of the above combination except Karnak. I think the odds of seeing Polaris/BRB and boosted 5* teams are pretty much the same past 900 points.

For shield sim, Kitty/R4G/Polaris is common.

With the next 5* stunning enemy team before the start of the game, using BRB/Polaris would be challenging if that 5* becomes popular in pvps. Imagine starting Polaris/BRB with one strike tile on the board instead of 4 protect tiles. You need to chase six blue aps, followed by matching protect tiles, which delay your match significantly. It's the same with Kitty/R4G.

I would say SC is still the most versatile out of all the meta choices available. On top of that, he could help you get T10 in scl 10 pves without bracket sniping.

dianetics

TBH I say good riddance. She is far too common in lower tier PvP. Kitty BRB Polaris shows up far too often in PvP (simulator). It is also looking like the new crop will also partly address Scarlet Witch, which is also a good thing.

Looking for more variety in teams to fight against in PvP.

For PvE she will be just fine, but Shang Chi is definitely superior to kitty for PvE.

scottee

The hard part is that it's difficult to focus on one 5* to transition. The main way to do that is through shards or featured stores, but I think those are both a waste of CP/LTs.

I still think the best way to transition is to save up enough pulls to fully champ the 3 in the Latest Token. Favorite the oldest of them just in case RNG doesn't finish that one.

Vhailorx

Kitty hasn't been the best transition 5* for a long time, and even then she was principally useful for PVP.  Okoye was always a better transition 5* for pve-focused players.  SC is now a clearly superior option for PVP offense, and BRB has been more useful than kitty as a defensive deterrent in PVP for some time as well.

ThaRoadWarrior

I transitioned with pre-rebalance Ghost Rider. I may start recommending new players do that, like when old people tell you their "walked uphill in the snow both ways" character building stories about when they were your age.

Notepaddy

SC has to be first priority for someone set on prog/ranking. I think Kitty is still alright for someone who just wants to get through a few things easily. Assuming the new 5 delivers, the zombies in Shield Sim will need to figure out what the rest of their roster does outside of brb/kitty/polaris. 

Phumade

Its true,  she's definitely moved out of the competitive PVP and PVE ranks.  But she's still top tier  in a variety of counterplay situations.  She's more at the "needs to be champed to middle of your 5* roster" vs needs to be biggest 5* in your roster.  

ArchusMonk

Omegased said:

HoundofShadow said:

Supports would be + purple match damage for SC or + his critical match.

In My opinion, a better support is someone who generates more red (Shuri's lab, Chimichanga). yea more damage is good, but considering he'll smoosh people forever, more AP is a better fit.

Why choose? Sharon Carter does both. Gives you a critical damage multiplier and extra red and purple AP on a match (depending on level).  SC is the perfect support for SC. 

Jimsta_rooney

ArchusMonk said:

Omegased said:

HoundofShadow said:

Supports would be + purple match damage for SC or + his critical match.

In My opinion, a better support is someone who generates more red (Shuri's lab, Chimichanga). yea more damage is good, but considering he'll smoosh people forever, more AP is a better fit.

Why choose? Sharon Carter does both. Gives you a critical damage multiplier and extra red and purple AP on a match (depending on level).  SC is the perfect support for SC. 

She doesnt give you extra red ap
Its extra red dmg.
Its still a plus though 

ArchusMonk

Jimsta_rooney said:

ArchusMonk said:

Omegased said:

HoundofShadow said:

Supports would be + purple match damage for SC or + his critical match.

In My opinion, a better support is someone who generates more red (Shuri's lab, Chimichanga). yea more damage is good, but considering he'll smoosh people forever, more AP is a better fit.

Why choose? Sharon Carter does both. Gives you a critical damage multiplier and extra red and purple AP on a match (depending on level).  SC is the perfect support for SC. 

She doesnt give you extra red ap
Its extra red dmg.
Its still a plus though 

Sorry. Extra purple is at rank4 which I do not have. Hopefully people got lucky with the recent puzzle gauntlet awarding SC.

Borstock

I still use her in Simulator. That's more than I can say for most 5*.

danielrandkai

Shang Chi is the answer. Plus, is easily most puzzle-y character, which is why he's my favorite character to play. 

LavaManLee

I still use Kitty/Grocket/Pol on Mindless One PVE nodes and I am in 5* land.  This might change with the new 5* (they will be able to prevent Mindless One's from their power before match begins).  But I definitely used Kitty in PVE a lot for the past several years.

Bad

I'd be glad to say her farewell and even to whistle at her a requiem, however there is a small factor missing in here: there are still rebalances on the future. 
My wild sequence of guesses is: venom messes up poors kitty teams at any pvp tier= players who only have her become very sad= they start demanding a meaningful rebalance for her= kitty revives stronger then ever and with a useful new kit.