3* Championing to obtain 4*s [forum opinion thread]

san · April 2016

Hi all, this is more of a question rather than an information thread. I am trying to figure out whether it is worthwhile to level and champ

characters in order to obtain

rewards, whether to cover or for championing purposes. I ask this because I am one of the many folks who has all of the 3* characters at full covers, but not full levels.

I am most interested on opinion on mediocre characters that give great champ rewards, such as Ragnarok (X23); Vision (Cyclops); Beast (JG4), Sentry (RHulk) Storm (GoT) and IM40 (HB), though the latter could be said to have improved. At the same time, I'm wondering if these are worthwhile to level up to 166, given that 120 to 166 costs around

97,000

For reference, please see my roster in sig. I am a solid 3-4* transition player, with a lucky drawn Phoenix, which puts most of my matches in the 4* tier.

My list, sorted by level, includes:

Level

82

94

120

130

135

140

151

simonsez · April 2016

If you're sitting on ISO that you're not using, this might make sense, but most players are so ISO poor, spending it on characters you aren't actually going to use, doesn't seem like a good idea in most cases.

mohio · April 2016

I second simonsez, as bad as it feels to sell covers for "only" 500 iso, you would feel much worse realizing you are 100k behind in leveling that 4* you just got more covers for. Even if none of your 4* are worth putting iso into just yet I still would advise not to put more into 3*. ISO is far too valuable to spend just on getting a couple 4* covers and an LT or a few (after a looooong time).

Vhailorx · April 2016

While you are building a 4* roster iso is at a premium given the extreme costs of leveling 4*s.

Given that fact, I would say that it's only worth cramping 3*s that meat the following criteria

(1) top tier 3*s (iron fist, cyclops, switch, cage, etc). These are good enough to be worth using in their own right. Edit: TC, since you have a champed 4* thor, IM40 may fit this category. They are a very strong pairing. Successfully during recharge is basically match over. . .

(2) low hanging fruit. Any 3* on whom you have already spent a bunch of iso and can champ on the cheap (say less than 30k iso)

(3) key rewards. Some 3*s aren't great, but lead to especially important 4*s. So consider champing 3*s like beast (jg) and quicksilver (iceman) purely for this reason.

boomshaka40 · April 2016

I may be in the minority here, but I was in the same position as you once championing was announced and am a F2P. I didn't have any well covered 4s, so I decided to max and champ most of my 3s (have 5 bottom feeders left). Otherwise, I was reliant on the RNG from event and heroic tokens for my 4*. Champing has helped me obtain more 4 covers in three ways:

1) Trading free ISO for LTs. The other way is to spend $ for HP/CP. ISO comes, albeit slowly, for free everyday.
2) Having most 3* maxed and champed has helped me hit the 1000 pvp progression in almost every in-season event with 1-2 shields. The varied roster means at least 1-2 chars are always boosted each week, deferring some attacks. FYI, the HP from champ levels has made it a net HP gain for me overall with my alliance placement being invaluable.
3) My champed 3s have started to hit the 4* cover reward mark. Granted the first was Hulk giving me Chulk, but still...

Anyway, I recommend champing what you can to give yourself a varied roster to hit 1K in pvp. That gives you a 4* cover every 3 or 4 days. With steady play, you should get enough ISO to max champ a 3* every 4-5 days too. PVE rewards the CP progression every 3-7 days. With additional CP from PVE and PVP placement that's a few more CP every day (15 per week or so). I was averaging a 4* cover/LT every 1-2 days during my champing phase. I'm ISO poor, but isn't everyone. I feel an ISO bank is fairly useless unless you have 4* to dump it into. 4* covers came too slow prior to champing.

Recommend champing Vision, Beast, IM40 out of those you mentioned. Vision and Beast have spammable AOE which does ok damage when boosted. Helpful for quick shield hops to hit 1K.

Smudge · April 2016

As a 3-4* transitioner myself (not as far into it as you by a long shot though), here is my take on it.

With the ISO starvation everyone else has mentioned so far, the real question becomes...

Am I champing these characters only to obtain 4* covers for select characters?

If the answer to that question is yes, then in my opinion, save your ISO and don't do it. The road to even getting the 4* cover from a 3* character is so long that it isn't worth it in my opinion; you will be able to get the covers for those 4s faster through PvP in all likelihood. As a reference, look at your current roster - out of your 21 3* champions, only one has even given you a 4* cover so far. The only immediate 4* reward from champing a 3* is the good ol' RNG LT for the first cover. Not exactly a guarantee on those top tier 4s.

If the answer to that question is, "No, I plan on using these characters/think they are fun to play with," then why not? Splitting ISO development between characters you plan to use or have fun playing and characters that help advance your game progress is, to me anyway, a big win.

That's my two

, anyway. Take it for what it's worth.

TxMoose · April 2016

first, im40 is top tier now - champing him should be a no-brainer, no matter what tier you play. but feeding cmags/steve/kk/fist/torch/gamora/daken/grocket/doom/patch full of ap is something you could use nearly every match. later its ice/cyke/4thor/rulk/jean/xpool/thing/etc...

as far as the others - to me they should all be at least at 120 - its really cheap to get them there. past that, it depends on if you have the means to further your roster. are you hitting 1K? are you making it to progression cp in pve? those should be your primary source of 4* covers. if you are hitting those consistently, then your 4* roster is progressing and you need to save your iso for them. if not, then your 4s are probably stagnant and it won't hurt anything to put iso into 3s.

mpqr7 · April 2016

I champed all of my 3*s, and I love it. It takes forever to champ the 4*s, so I was in no rush to start.

I need to throw away most 4*s I get, but once every month or so, I finally finish championing one, which is nice.

RyanL24 · April 2016

I have all the 2* and 3* characters championed. I had most of them at max level when they introduced the champion thing, and I didn't have any 4*s with enough covers to be playable. So for me it was a no brainer and I have no regrets. Leveling the 2*s was a blast and gave me lots of 3* covers. (I had something like 1,200 tokens when the champions started.) So I had a huge head start. That said, I have earned a total of ONE 4* covers from leveling 3*s. It is taking a really long time. But I have a bunch that are on the verge of giving me more. So at least there's that.

udonomefoo · April 2016

Vhailorx wrote:

(3) key rewards. Some 3*s aren't great, but lead to especially important 4*s. So consider champing 3*s like beast (jg) and quicksilver (iceman) purely for this reason.

This was my logic. Ice, JG & Rulk are really the only 4* covers in the game I "need". (I'd love to play with Quake, but she has one cover, so I'm not even counting that). So I champ'd Beast....and he now is lvl 168. Just 15 more covers to go before I get that one JG cover!

Would I be better off if I put that 100k iso into a second tier 4* like Kingpin, XFW or 4Thor? Eh, maybe? I don't know. FWIW, I pretty much scrapped my plan to also max QS and started trying to get as many 4s as possible to 180-200 instead. Does a 180 kingpin help me either? Eh, maybe?

Sorry, this isn't helping is it.

SnowcaTT · April 2016

I have champed 38 (of 40) 3*'s - primarily for the LT's. Only marginal help in getting to 5* game - but immense help getting your 5*'s covered.

This let me get all but five or six of my 4*'s to at least level 172, where I can beat DDQ's....and get more LT's.

Also note - since champing (I champed most of them day one), I'm now starting to regularly hit level 183 for the 3*'s - and getting even more 4*'s. Not "reliable" perhaps, but a further push into fully covered 4*. [You'll never be fully leveled there with the ISO needs.]

san · April 2016

Thanks for all the feedback folks.

Just to clarify a few questions raised.

- I routinely hit 1000 progression in PVP and have done so with regularity for at least 5-6 seasons. I hit 1300 for the first time this season, however, all with the help of boosted 4*s and my JG5.

- I have, like everyone else, a shortage of

. Presently I have

73K stored up.

- Many of my topi tier 4*s are decently covered (JG4 2/3/5, DPXF 5/3/3, RHulk 2/5/3, Ice 5/2/3 but about to get another blue), but not quite optimal. JG4 is actually something I won't focus on any time soon, given that my JG5 is very viable at this point and at level 390. HB4, Cyclops4, GoT, and Carnage are champed. Of the champed ones, I took both GoT and Cyclops from 180s to 270+ within a month span or so through Feb/Mar, just for reference. Carnage and HB were immediate champs when feature came out.

- All 3*s other than the above are at 170+ and champed, of course. This includes IF/Cyclops and the gang.

It seems that general consensus is that it's not worth it unless they're 1) close enough, 2) good enough, or 3) characters I love - none of the above 3*s fit any category, I think. In other words, keep saving, I suppose.

mohio · April 2016

Seeing you have 4hor championed...the one character I deviated from my own advice for was IM40. Enough people were telling me how great he was and that he was worth the iso that I went ahead and maxed/championed him from level 125 or 130. He is a regular in PvE (which he could still be at lvl 120 like you have him), and even comes out to climb in PvP when 4hor is boosted. He's just a battery so levels don't really matter, but he does end up giving out IMHB covers which are useful for champion levels, and if you do decide to ever use him in PvP you may like having him maxed.

Vhailorx · April 2016

I think the consensus may be that im40 is worth it. Recharge is really really good. Especially with 4*thor whom you have conveniently already champed. He is just a battery, but levels = health = extended survivability in a 4* game.

Otherwise, saving is probably the right course (100k probably isn't worth it for qs. You only need a couple more iceman covers, and you will probably get them before you could champ qs and collect 15+ extra covers for him).

rawfsu · April 2016

I think the "type" of you are should factor into your decision-making as well. For example, I am a PVP-focused player that has burned out on the PVE experience. As for PVP, I am unable to reach 1k, let alone 1.3k. In other words, my access to LT's is extremely limited. In my case, championing my 3*'s is my only sure fire way to obtain LT's and build my 4* roster. I've managed to pull Dark Phoenix, OML, and SS in the process, which is debatable as this point as helping or hindering my progress. Either way, in my situation, it's benefits me to champion. Along with gaining LT's, the rewards that come with championing will pay me back over time.

Dayv · April 2016

I can max three 3* in the time it takes to max one 4*, assuming they're both starting at 0 ISO. In actuality, most of my 3* have a significant investment of ISO in them already, while many 4* are still languishing in the level 70-100 range. On top of that, 3* covers drop far more often, so they distribute champ rewards more quickly. Count me as a vote towards maxing all the 3* for the various rewards they provide. What I did was first champ all the 3* I had within a few levels of maxed, then all the 4* I had maxed, then all the strong 4* I had close to the top, then returning to 3*, highest level ones first. Occasionally I deviate from that to keep some covers from expiring, but I try not to let that bother me too much.

My only real regret is that I paused my IMHB at level 220 (right around 50% of total ISO, if I recall correctly) because I was focusing on Silver Surfer and they share colors, but this week I've thrown away 4 IMHB covers.

Dayv · April 2016

aesthetocyst wrote:

Each tier flows to the next. Ride it.

Yes, all of this. The only reason I haven't champed some of the 2* yet is because I don't have their 3* upstream ready to receive the covers.

smoq84 · April 2016

I have about 30 3*'s champed already, many of them from the very beginning when championing was introduced. I have spend tons of ISO for them.
At the moment my highest level is 176 - so 10 covers over standard max level. To get my first 4* cover I still have to get 8 additional covers for that particular character.
So it's really a long road to get single 4* cover from championing, which can take months and a lot of ISO if you didn't have your character already on 166lvl.

It is not worth

Quebbster · April 2016

I already had all 3* characters maxed when the champion system was introduced, so it was a fairly easy decision to champion them all. Some are starting to get to the Point where the first fourstar cover drops - I already got Patch and Psylocke past that Point and I am eagerly awaiting Another Kamala Khan cover, that will give me a Thor cover, which in turn will give me Another Legendary token...
I'm very happy I took the time to invest the ISO into my Three-stars back when my fourstar roster was still lacking and not quite Worth leveling. That's the same reason I am focusing on finishing fourstars now instead of moving on to fivestars. I can definitely understand why others would feel it is not Worth the ISO investment though.

madsalad · April 2016

DayvBang wrote:

but this week I've thrown away 4 IMHB covers.

I weep for you.

CNash · April 2016

I'm championing all of the 3*s as and when I max them - not just for the rewards, but because it's the only meaningful "progression" I can do every day. It gives me a realistic goal to work towards. Hopefully by the time I've got all of them maxed and champed, I'll have a viable team of 4*s. If not, then... I guess move on to the 2*s?

3* Championing to obtain 4*s [forum opinion thread]

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