I know it has been about 9 months since I updated my last guide. This is a big update because I've moved from doing a bunch of individual posts to this attached PDF format, which I love and hope works better for you all as well (fun fact: it is twice the length of my doctoral dissertation!). The PDF also means this is the one and only thread I'll have and won't have to keep making new ones when I run out of space. I also don't have to deal with weird online formatting. The first two pages of the document contain a glossary with hyperlinks so you can jump to the character you want to read about and then back to the beginning of the document when you are done. Page one has them in rank order, and page two is an alphabetized list in case you are looking for someone specific. The third page is just a fun list I made of characters that I felt needed to be re-balanced. As I was going through and re-reading/updating each character, I was keeping this running list and decided to add it. There have been a ton of re-balances, new characters, and meta shifts since I last wrote, so a ton of updates.
Usual disclaimer: I’m just one player and you can feel free to disagree with my opinions (I encourage it!). I know I can “get it wrong”, and would love to to hear things I might not have been considering when it comes to these characters.
My 5*s now range from 450-490 range, with three exceptions (in the very low 500s) thanks to the last anniversary. So that’s my MMR (clearly the 550 crowd may rank these differently).
This guide skews way heavier toward PVP and CL10 PVE than CL9 and below PVE where most 5* combos work well enough. This guide is also skewed way more toward established 5* players than those looking to transition. Though hopefully this guide helps them too. With a few notable exceptions (Polaris, Grocket, etc.), I mostly stick to talking about 5* pairs that could work with each character, because that’s mostly what I play.
So how did I ultimately determine these rankings? It was a combination of factors ultimately, including (in no order):
Speed- Since both PVE and PVP reward winning fast over just winning, does this character win fast?Efficiency- What do their powers do for the cost?Versatility- Can this character play on a number of teams and/or amplify others?Specialization- Does this character do something few or no one can do? Do they fill a unique niche?Defense- How scary is this character to face in the AI’s hands?Sustainability- Does this character help you climb/save health packs?Playability Boosted- Does this character play well boosted, and if so by how much?Fun Factor- Quite simply, are they enjoyable to play?Roster Importance- When really stuck between ranking two characters I simply asked, who would I rather have on my roster?
Really appreciate these posts. You clearly put a lot of work into these and as a 4* player who one day hopes to break into the 5* tier, these rankings really help.
I am. So. Happy. Thank you so very much for this work! Your lists have always been crucial for my gaming. Excellent, excellent, excellent.
Wow, you went all in on this guide. Just Epic. Really solid stuff
Great work, look forward to it all being cross referenced with supports
As a Daredevil fan you might want to mention the small synergy he has with MThor reliably destroying his green, should you ever get as far as firing it. It'd give him a small boost to ward off accusations of favouritism in his ranking.
Hi DD. I signed up here specifically to thank you for all the hard work that must have gone into this. It's very much apprerciated. This is a very helpful resource.
Thank you all for the super kind words. It means a lot!
@DrClever said: As a Daredevil fan you might want to mention the small synergy he has with MThor reliably destroying his green, should you ever get as far as firing it. It'd give him a small boost to ward off accusations of favouritism in his ranking.
I dropped him pretty significantly, so that should help with the accusations lol.
While that’s a pretty good combo I’ll need to try, I never thought of pairing the two of them, because I assumed Jane would wipe all his strikes and get rid of his best attribute (the healing). Combo-ing to leverage his worst power isn’t something I considered but am intrigued. Have you tried it?
@Daredevil217 said: Thank you all for the super kind words. It means a lot! @DrClever said: As a Daredevil fan you might want to mention the small synergy he has with MThor reliably destroying his green, should you ever get as far as firing it. It'd give him a small boost to ward off accusations of favouritism in his ranking. I dropped him pretty significantly, so that should help with the accusations lol. While that’s a pretty good combo I’ll need to try, I never thought of pairing the two of them, because I assumed Jane would wipe all his strikes and get rid of his best attribute (the healing). Combo-ing to leverage his worst power isn’t something I considered but am intrigued. Have you tried it?
@Daredevil217 said: Thank you all for the super kind words. It means a lot!
Throw in Polaris and should be good, though weak on defense.
Yeah, and it's about as good as you would imagine.
To give an example, I went with DD, MThor, and GEDoom against ProfX, Emma Frost, and Colossus which is a solid enough defensive team and so gave me enough time to get DD's green out.
It got destroyed quite a few times (by MThor and the opponent Emma) so its damage / AP reached very respectable levels.
His stun was also useful, but obviously special tile steal would br pointless with MThor around, and his healing would be severely hampered.
So it's more of a proof of concept than a strong team, and it's not Hard to think of better green powers for MThor partners (Riri, BRB) but it's viable, and of course MThor doesn't have to be on your team to make it work.
Updated. Did some small changes/cleaned some things up. Also, added a cover-page (since it bothers me when I download it to my books app on my Iphone that it doesn't have a cover, lol). Also added "Feeders" and "Affiliations" for each character (that should be super useful). Added new Mags. Also, added Jeffrey and Emma, even though I have neither champed. So take my opinion on them with a grain of salt until I get the chance to play them. Enjoy the update!
Still hoping to get this stickied and my old guide taken down. @Scofie, @fight4thedream can either of you help?
@scofie would you mind swapping the stickied post out with this new one? It’s such a great resource and should be at the top!
Mod note: Stickied! Good stuff!
As someone in 4* land who is making decisions about which 5*'s to chase, this a is a fantastic resource. It should be added to the reddit sidebar for better visibility.
@Daredevil217 - just wanted to post to say THANK YOU for this guide.
It's amazing. Truly.
I use it all the time, and I know other folks in my Alliance do as well. I'm guessing lots of people use it who just don't comment, but you should know how valuable and great a resource it is. Again, thanks!
@Vog said:@Daredevil217 - just wanted to post to say THANK YOU for this guide. It's amazing. Truly. I use it all the time, and I know other folks in my Alliance do as well. I'm guessing lots of people use it who just don't comment, but you should know how valuable and great a resource it is. Again, thanks!
@Vog said:@Daredevil217 - just wanted to post to say THANK YOU for this guide.
Couldn’t agree more!
So this guide has everyone but the 5 stars who were after Jeff? So High Evo, Spider Gwen, VenomDino, and Omega Red Right. I think High Evo is pretty good. Massive health pool that can be constantly upgraded more and more. He is very fun imo. I really like him and his 3* version. I think Spider Gwen isnt good at all. I think her abilities cost 2 much. and that purple is very wierd and feels useless when there are other web tile makers in the tier that can make web tiles better (Chasm mainly). Pretty good damage from her tho. VenomDino is ok. He just does loads of damage and thats it. He has no passive which heavily hinders him. He has the 2nd highest health in the game (not including high evo because his health can go very nuts very fast) which is a plus other then that he is ok. I know its to early for Omega Red but I really like him. Its a bummer he has overlap with his best friends (Apoc and Okoye). I still think he is still useable with them. Imo he has a better red then Apocs and Okoyes and his black is a passive that is so good boosted with the boosters of Apoc and Okoye. He is fun and it feels like they did him justice for how long people have been asking for him. Imo it goes ORed then High Evo and then VDino and then Spider Gwen. Just some thoughts before this gets updated again eventually. Also thank you for the rankings @Daredevil217, they are very useful in understanding the 5 star land.
Updated!
I also added an appendix with all the affiliations in the game and who is a part of them in the tier. Each character also has them in their write-up but the links are clickable. So if you are reading Emma’s entry and want to know who all the Phoenix Force people are. Click the link and it’ll take you to that part of the table. I hope this helps folks.
I really do not get why Wasp is still the worst here. I need more elaboration why reworked Wasp is still worse than Rescue, Widow or Dock Ock or whatever. It looks like you use her the wrong way and that is why you have problems with her dmg or cost.
It's not like that I deny your opinion or think you are straigt wrong - I can not say I do know what dmg can some 5* dish as I do not have them champed or used them extensively so I MAY be wrong here but to me, if the Wasp is worst there is then none 5* is really BAD. And we all know some ARE.
Great work on this. Is it possible in future updates to get a what's changed page?
Since you mentioned your doctoral dissertation, may I ask in which field you got a doctor? I would guess it’s something with mathematics… just got that gut feeling, now I’m curios
@Grizwald said: Great work on this. Is it possible in future updates to get a what's changed page?
I could do that for big changes (e.g. edited Archangel to reflect rework, added Vulture/Omega Red, added “affiliations index”, etc. for little changes, probably not.
What I should’ve done and wish I would’ve is kept old copies of the guide rather than just over-writing/updating the file. Ah well.
@Chrynos1989 said: Since you mentioned your doctoral dissertation, may I ask in which field you got a doctor? I would guess it’s something with mathematics… just got that gut feeling, now I’m curios
Way way off. I suck at math and outsource that to @helix72, lol. I always ask him whether or not a deal I’m thinking about biting on or a particular vault are “good deals” relative to others we have gotten. He then uses his math wizardry to answer. He also once created a spreadsheet to help me track my continuing education hours, which was super nice.
Oh to answer the question… Clinical Psychology.
