MPQ Developer Q&A April 2023 (ANSWERS)

KGB

@entrailbucket said:
@KGB earlier you said that I saw Polaris teams in PvP because that was the only way those teams could score enough points. Also you said that Polaris was the only way players could do CL10. If this is true, then she's definitely overpowered, since no other character can do these things (by your admission), and a nerf would stop players from doing them.

Now it seems like the argument has changed, and that she's not all that good/unique -- that nobody needs her after all. In this case, a nerf would be fine, since players can get by using (for example) all the low-cover boosted 5* that they have.

So from what I can see, either a nerf would be good because the tier is so incredibly unbalanced that Polaris invalidates everyone else, or a nerf would be fine because Polaris is a crutch that nobody really needs, and barely uses anyway.

Let me try to clarify things a bit better here:

CL10 PVE:
She's not a must to complete the nodes. In fact to do the Guardians quests, I haven't used her in order to use specific Guardians to fire their powers. I had to do a lot more retreats because a Thug (3 turn CD) doing 17-30K damage will down most of my characters so I retreat and re-do. But I did need her/BRB (or the Kang/Im40/Hawkeye team) to do the challenge node. Of course the current PvE isn't a hard one but then I was using less optimal teams too. But what she absolutely does do is cut your initial clear time down from probably 90 minutes-2 hrs to 45 minutes. In that regard, she is a must have for PvE because hardly anyone can devote that kind of time to PvE.

PvP:
I do not believe anyone can climb beyond 300-400 points using JUST dual boosted 4 stars (other than a boosted Polaris / Grocket combo). I say that because I just never see dual boosted 4 stars at all anymore in PvP (and when I do, I always hit them because they are trivial to beat). I only see dual 5 stars or a 4 and 5 hybrid.
The 4 and 5 hybrid teams that can climb to 900ish are the meta / synergy ones like Polaris/BRB, AC/Shang, Valk/Shang. When certain 4 stars are boosted like say Karnak then he too can team up with someone like Shang to make the climb. Or if one of the web tile creators is boosted they can team with Chasm etc.
Dual boosted 5 stars are the most common thing I encounter when I get close to 900. When one of the Meta 5 stars is boosted it really tends to dominate the queues.

So you don't need Polaris for PvP if you have a decent number of 5s so that you have 2-3 boosted every week. You just use the boosted 5s that will be in the 400-450 range when boosted and you'll be fine to climb. If you don't have enough 5 stars to have several boosted then you use Polaris as your fall back. This is why I said all PvP is essentially 5 star PvP. The 100 level boost combined with modern match damage makes them the best bang for the buck for players at lower tiers.

If you are interested, I can try and capture a video of me skipping 40 or 50 teams in PvP so you can see what I queue up.

KGB

Bad

I champed and leveled kingping 5* prerebalanced as my only 5*.
I think there is no need to explain anymore.
Repeating: I champed and leveled kingping 5*.
So excuse me if I lol everytime I read never level your 5*s.

DAZ0273

Feedback from one of our 3* players (They have three 5* at 4 or less covers and highest 3* is 178, no 4* above 111) to question about Polaris in PvP:

"Very hard. I always skip if I see she is lvl 200+"

pepitedechocolat

Is there polaris counter in 3* lands ? I'm thinking of Jeff but that is like kitten paws counter

@Bad said:
I champed and leveled kingping 5* prerebalanced as my only 5*.
I think there is no need to explain anymore.
Repeating: I champed and leveled kingping 5*.
So excuse me if I lol everytime I read never level your 5*s.

Were you already "Bad" before doing so ? or has that KP champing turned you into it ?

DAZ0273

@pepitedechocolat said:
Is there polaris counter in 3* lands ? I'm thinking of Jeff but that is like kitten paws counter

@Bad said:
I champed and leveled kingping 5* prerebalanced as my only 5*.
I think there is no need to explain anymore.
Repeating: I champed and leveled kingping 5*.
So excuse me if I lol everytime I read never level your 5*s.

Were you already "Bad" before doing so ? or has that KP champing turned you into it ?

I suppose you can use Kang to send her away for a breather/end of match?

pepitedechocolat

@DAZ0273 said:

@pepitedechocolat said:
Is there polaris counter in 3* lands ? I'm thinking of Jeff but that is like kitten paws counter

@Bad said:
I champed and leveled kingping 5* prerebalanced as my only 5*.
I think there is no need to explain anymore.
Repeating: I champed and leveled kingping 5*.
So excuse me if I lol everytime I read never level your 5*s.

Were you already "Bad" before doing so ? or has that KP champing turned you into it ?

I suppose you can use Kang to send her away for a breather/end of match?

9 ap ability is barely a counter to polaris creeping SAP tiles. My view is you counter her by punishing sap tiles (mantis / sabertooth for example) or preventing creeping (Gorr, or big board shake) or both (4thanos). Only 2 abilities that I know to match that in 3* land is jeff and dock, but both are meh (jeff is jeff, ock is too expensive)... So I hoped I forgot something (and yeah if you are masochist mode, hulk can do big board shake)

DAZ0273

@pepitedechocolat said:

@DAZ0273 said:

@pepitedechocolat said:
Is there polaris counter in 3* lands ? I'm thinking of Jeff but that is like kitten paws counter

@Bad said:
I champed and leveled kingping 5* prerebalanced as my only 5*.
I think there is no need to explain anymore.
Repeating: I champed and leveled kingping 5*.
So excuse me if I lol everytime I read never level your 5*s.

Were you already "Bad" before doing so ? or has that KP champing turned you into it ?

I suppose you can use Kang to send her away for a breather/end of match?

9 ap ability is barely a counter to polaris creeping SAP tiles. My view is you counter her by punishing sap tiles (mantis / sabertooth for example) or preventing creeping (Gorr, or big board shake) or both (4thanos). Only 2 abilities that I know to match that in 3* land is jeff and dock, but both are meh (jeff is jeff, ock is too expensive)... So I hoped I forgot something (and yeah if you are masochist mode, hulk can do big board shake)

Probably my answer should have been "I don't have a clue" as I have never needed to do it. The player I am referring to does not have those characters. Obviously 3* rosters are going to vary enormously as to what they do or don't have. As he has 3 5* I presume two of those are used as meat shields in PvP. We didn't really go into great detail, lol!

Bad

@pepitedechocolat said:

@Bad said:
I champed and leveled kingping 5* prerebalanced as my only 5*.
I think there is no need to explain anymore.
Repeating: I champed and leveled kingping 5*.
So excuse me if I lol everytime I read never level your 5*s.

Were you already "Bad" before doing so ? or has that KP champing turned you into it ?

Actually I'm signing like Bad since saloons arcades where you were allowed to put 3 initials and it was easier to put Bad.

entrailbucket

@KGB Honestly I probably see about the same stuff you do in PvP, once I have to start farming 5 point (or less) fights. For me this is usually when I'm at 950, but sometimes closer to 1000. It's a ton of Polaris teams, plus some assorted low level boosted 5*, Kang teams, Shang-Chi, AC, etc. Their point values would put them in the 500-700 range, I think.

It sounds to me like a Polaris fix wouldn't be the end of the world. It would encourage more diversity in PvP and get people to try more characters. It might stop some players from playing CL10, but we don't know whether the devs intend those players to be in CL10 at all.

skittledaddy

Leave my Polaris alone. She's perfect just way she is.

blah blah punch up
blah blah glass cannon
It's all been said before.

If anyone can't beat a Polaris team anymore, then just grind for a few more months (get some more 5* covers from boss events) and you'll be able to. She has so many counters, and they actually work. I see plenty of non-Polaris teams in pick-2 PVP (Sim, not so much). People that leave her out on defense do it because they're indifferent (or lazy), not because she actually puts up a fight.

As for PVE, why shouldn't a meta 4* be allowed to succeed in CL10. People have to transition with someone. Most move on to their 5s soon enough, anyway. I (mostly out of stubbornness and comfort) choose not to, but almost everyone else does. Good on them, and much thanks to metas like Polaris to teach us that CL10 isn't that scary after all.

entrailbucket

If she's fine, then why did the developers themselves just put her in a group with Chasm and (pre-nerf) Gambit, two of the most overpowered characters in the history of the game?

Scofie

Mod mode off

Overpowered for the tier is one thing. Overpowered for the highest tier is an entire other one. I think 1* Spidey and 1* Juggs are miles better than the rest of the 1* tier. But they're not OP because 3*s are way, way better.

Polaris, even at 370, does not deal well with boosted 5s or the meta 5s.

There is no 6* to combat OP 5s. There are just counters sets and therefore no "easy" way of dealing with them.

entrailbucket

That's just a very 5* centric way of looking at things. (Which is fine, since that describes everyone here! Even the ones who choose to artificially kneecap their 5*).

There's a whole lot more lower-tier players who may have a very different view of things. Again, this all started because the devs' own words put Polaris, Chasm, and Gambit in the same group.

DAZ0273

@entrailbucket said:
That's just a very 5* centric way of looking at things. (Which is fine, since that describes everyone here! Even the ones who choose to artificially kneecap their 5*).

There's a whole lot more lower-tier players who may have a very different view of things. Again, this all started because the devs' own words put Polaris, Chasm, and Gambit in the same group.

Didn't we literally have a self identified 3* player post on this very thread? Just because they don't regularly posts doesn't mean they are not reading or present. I lurked on the forums for a year before my first post.

entrailbucket

So sorry. Almost everyone posting on this thread, and almost everyone who regularly posts on this forum, is a 5* player, except for that one guy.

Does that exception really change what I said?

DAZ0273

@entrailbucket said:
So sorry. Almost everyone posting on this thread, and almost everyone who regularly posts on this forum, is a 5* player, except for that one guy.

Does that exception really change what I said?

Once the first domino tumbles can the rest be far behind? We should choose our words carefully. You have now qualified what you said which is a different thing.

Your statement was false. Your opinion is not disproved by any means and may well be correct that this forum contains largely later game players and getting pissy with me pointing that out is probably a waste of your energy. We don't know for sure who we have here and at what stage they are at. Obviously I am not telling you what you can or can't say but if you want people to take your arguments at face value it helps a lot not to make statements that are easily proven to be false. Remember - you were the one who said we had no 3 star player voices and then one gave your their experience and you completely blanked them! So maybe they are not speaking up because when they did they got ignored by you anyway?!??! Maybe something to think on so you don't get me (or others) pedantically picking holes in things you post. Or maybe that guy is the only remaining 3* player out there (apart from my guys who didn't even know there was community challenge going on). No idea.

Right - I return you back to your Polaris nerf crusade of which I can't disagree that she might be deserving. 😀😀😀

entrailbucket

Characterizing my statements as a "Polaris nerf crusade" is also false.

The developers made the initial statement, grouping those characters together. If the developers have chosen to deal with Polaris, I think there are a number of reasons why they might have decided to do that, which I've been explaining. I haven't really seen anyone address the initial statement by the devs.

Personally I don't particularly care what they do to her, since I'll continue stomping her trivially every time I see her. If anything, I'd prefer they left her alone -- it makes PvP much easier for me.

I do think the anti-nerf arguments are pretty funny. If I said "I don't think Chasm should be nerfed, because he lets me float for hours in PvP, and that saves me a ton of money on shields," well, from the developers' perspective, that is probably a very good reason that he should be nerfed! Just because a character allows you to do a thing, that doesn't mean it's a thing you're meant to be doing.

DAZ0273

Fair enough - my characterisation regarding "Polaris nerf crusade" and I will own that.

Bad

Polaris is a high damage multi passive character. She could had a healing active power and she still would be top. Instead she has a cheap long stun power plus self feeding strikes: just she couldn't be better.
In order to take off her throne, it's easy: just design a character faster and more damaging than her.
And also not based on SAP tiles or polaris will pair up with them.

KGB

@Bad said:
In order to take off her throne, it's easy: just design a character faster and more damaging than her.
And also not based on SAP tiles or polaris will pair up with them.

They did. His name is Chasm

Anyway, the only reason she is remotely over powered is because they allowed her passive to process before cascades finish which means she can place her new SAP tiles on drop in matches which cascade to more damage and more SAP tiles so that a bad cascade can put 10-20 tiles on the board plus multiple damage hits. If they just changed her passive to only place after cascades she'd still be great but would not longer be incredible.

KGB