Is purchasing necessary for new players?

Unknown · February 2014

Thanks for the advice, John. And everyone else. Some greater starter tips here.

Unknown · February 2014

Oh, and join the lightning rounds as soon as they start. That is your best chance to get these "seed teams" of very low level characters. Lightning rounds have been going Tuesday noon Eastern to Thursday noon Eastern every week.

Unknown · February 2014

Haven't read all the posts, but I'm sure I can summarize what everyone else has already said:

1. No, you don't need to pay a dime. I don't spend money and can hit first place in tourneys where my team is reasonable.
2. Don't worry about M.Storm. You'll have more covers than you want of her in the near future.
3. Doing well in this game just takes patience and thoughtful strategy. You'll get what you want/need in time.
4. Enjoy the game.

Unknown · February 2014

This game is addicting isn't it?

Just a few words of advice from someone who was in the same boat as you.....

Unless you want to spend a lot of money, it will just take time to naturally build a roster. There is a natural path to progression, and the rate limiting factor is ISO to level your toons.
When I started the game I built up my 1-star team......it was IM35, M. Storm, and Juggernaut. That actually got me pretty far! I was able to place decently in tournaments to get tokens, from which I was able to build my original 2-star team...which was Thor, Wolverine (of course those two), and C. Storm, although I never was able to get C. Storm to lvl 85 due to bad luck with covers. That was enough for me to strategically place in tournaments to get OBW covers, and I got her to max level.....in fact for the longest time, until the recent nerfs, I ran the usual Thor/Wolverine/OBW team a lot of us did. I was able to do fairly well with that and place top 15, sometimes even higher, and grab some 3* covers.

The LR trick everyone mentioned is a great way to get ISO and tokens, but for consistent 3* covers you are going to need to do the PVE tournaments, hopefully when you get a 2* team assembled. I only have 3 decent 3* covers, Patch at 5/3/4, Punisher at 3/2/4 and Hulk at 5/2/2.....none of which I would have been able to get if it wasn't for their respective PVE tournaments. I should also mention I got a max Ares out of his PVE tournament as well. It's just too hard to consistently pull 3* covers from random tokens to assemble a decent, playable 3* toon. So dedicate yourself to one of the week-long PVE tournaments and you *should* get a decent playable character out of it. I say *should* because the recent tournaments have left a lot to be desired, and are nowhere near as fun or profitable as the old Hulk or Ares tournaments.

I should also mention it is a LOT easier to get a decent 2* team than a 3* team, and you would either have to play an awful lot or spend a lot of money to get a decent 3* team. That being said, a decent 2* team goes a long way. My punisher and my hulk I almost never use because they max out at lvl 89, and even then they do not work as well as my current 2* toons unless they are specifically buffed for a tournament. Patch is my only toon above lvl 100, so I have a long way to go as for as progression. However, I'm still having a lot of fun with the game, and will someday transition to a 3* team.

Lastly, use your HP only for slots, I would get to at least 20. There are so many instances where you need a specific toon, like to do a mission in a PVE tournament, or certain buffed toons in PVP. Not having a single Daredevil or Invisible Woman cover, may lock you out of needed points in a PVE tournament, as an example. Once you have a decent number of slots, then consider using HP for covers. I regret early on deleting a bunch of covers because I was too cheap to spend my HP on slots.

Best of luck to you

Unknown · February 2014

Mizake wrote:

This game is addicting isn't it?

I regret early on deleting a bunch of covers because I was too cheap to spend my HP on slots.

I'm right there with ya bud. I did the same thing and I'm regretting it as well.

As for your advice, I've spent maybe 400 HP on the daily deals (2* cover for 100 HP), but I'll shift gears now to open up those slots.

Thanks. See you on the puzzle grid.

Unknown · February 2014

All great suggestions! ..and no, spending money isn't necessary, but if you find yourself playing a lot, I'd still encourage dropping a little something for the team at Demiurge. A perfect suggestion is some HP for roster slots. A lot of this stuff is probably redundant to what's already been said, but here's some of the advice I would give myself if I could go back in time:

1. Don't overlook the Prologue. This will fuel you with some good covers and a lot of ISO to level those covers.

2. Don't immediately grind out the rewards in the Prologue. Every new win gives you a guaranteed prize and an extra ISO reward. Play until you reach an impasse, then go back and try again for the rewards you really wanted but didn't get. I know you want that Storm cover -- it's teasing you. But wait.. be patient. You can go back later.

3. Play every Event, but don't over-reach or get discouraged. Many people have suggesting doing the Lighting Rounds and this is great advice. However, keep in mind that you will NOT place -- focus on getting the 25, 50, and maybe 100 level progression rewards. Rinse and repeat every 2 hours. Also, don't be discouraged when you are repeatedly and brutally pummeled by your fellow players in this event. This is normal, carry on.

4. Play as many brackets as you can during PvE events. Oftentimes, playing 1 mission in the "main" event, will spawn a second (or more). Keep on top of these and follow #2.

5. Even if you don't want to spend money, it's enormously beneficial to drop $5 for 600 HP to buy extra roster slots. This will help you later and save you tons of heartbreak, I promise. It's also a nice donation to the developers for a well crafted and constantly updated game.

6. If you are okay with dropping some cash, I'd recommend grabbing the Heroic 10-Pack. This will give you a great kick start. Also, if you choose to buy cover packs, ONLY do it when the Daily Deal is active (discount offered once per day for all packs accept Diabolical and Courageous)

7. In regards to #6, and in general, if you get 2*, 3*, *4 (especially) covers at this stage in the game, do not pump all of your ISO into them or replace your 1*s. The starting characters (IM35, MBW, and mStorm in particular) are actually incredibly awesome. They are made this way to teach you the basics of the game and to get you started. Their drawback is their levels cap out at 50, making them less useful as you get later into the game. (I almost said "useless as you get later...", but a maxed 1* Storm can still take out level 100 teams in the right situation)

8. Never, ever, buy a Recruit Token for 500 ISO. This is a trap. In time (and not as long as you think) you will be throwing out tons of those covers daily. That 500 is much more valuable than you think!

9. Covers will stay in your inventory for 7 days. Do not throw away new covers unless they are about to expire and you can not possibly add another slot. I can't tell you how many many Classic Storm covers I tossed because I thought "Meh, I don't use her anyway". /facepalm

10. If you absolutely must ditch a cover to make room, get rid of Yelena B or Bagman (in that order). See number #11

11. Never put any ISO into leveling Yelena B or Bagman. During the Venom section of the Prologue, you'll be joined by Spiderman for several missions. You then get Spiderman (Bagman) covers. You'll think, "Wow, Spiderman is pretty cool. He can stun and heal my team!". This is also a trap. The Spiderman you just got is not the same Spiderman that you played with and that everyone whines about. The Spiderman you just got wears a bag over his head because he is ashamed of how awful he is. He wants you to fail.

11a. The aforementioned *good* Spiderman that joins in the battle you can be a very useful tool for healing your party early on. If your team is running low on health, you can go back and play this mission at anytime to pull off a free heal (this advice is conditional on the upcoming Spiderman nerf)

12. Don't buy boosts unless they are critical. You'll have a lot of ISO at first and may think this is a good idea to get past a hard level. Don't do it unless there is no other option
.
12a. You can only hold a maximum of 10 of each boost. If you find that you are at the cap, then start using them until you are at 7. Otherwise, new boosts you will earn will be discarded and you'll never see the benefit.

13. Don't spend HP on health packs. You are goaded into this at the beginning and it may not seem like it's not a terrible deal. It is. Don't do it. Health packs refresh every 35 mins and you can hold a max of 5 at a time.

14. Be patient with transitioning to a 2* team. Characters are only as useful as their abilities and you won't have enough covers for your 2* characters at first to make them viable. This goes doubly so for 3* covers. Don't even look at your 4* if you get them -- just put them in a slot and go look at them once in awhile -- you won't be using them for a LOOOONG time. Keep in mind that a level 15 2-star and a level 30 3-star are about as effective as your starting characters. Don't be fooled by the glitz and assume that Black Hood cover you just got is going to put on easy street. Even though he may be level 30, your level 3 Iron Man will still eat his face. Focus ISO on your 1* team until you have at least enough 'useful' covers to get your 2* to around level 40.

15. There are some decent progression rewards in Shield Training. This is also a good place to get some ISO and try out new teams. Visit there when you are out of Events to do and are tired of getting 20-ISO consolation rewards for grinding the Prologue. Also, you'll see that Thor cover lingering around 1400 points and think about how awesome that would be right now -- just forget about that as a long term goal and focus on something more productive. There are Thor covers in the Prologue.

16. Sign in everyday and play at least one mission to receive your Daily Reward. You can go beat the first mission of the Prologue if you don't want to be bothered.

... I think thats it for now. Anyway, welcome to the game and have fun!! I look forward to seeing you in this week's Lighting Rounds!

Unknown · February 2014

Patience, young Padavan, patience....

Spending money is not necessary -- and relly is not advised as the state of game pretty much sucks and the root problems are not improving. The trend is really going south for like a month now and no engulfing candle on the horizon.

And the low-roster people are actually pushed hard now, you may get more success with the rare roster. (One of he fundamental problems, unaddressed).

Just play with what you have, try to evolve naturally. Best way to get covers is to win them -- from direct prizes and the zillion tokens you can get on the route. Save your money in the roster slots.

Unknown · February 2014

NO - don't spend on characters. If anything spend on roster spots. I've been playing for 34 days and have spent $8, but only for roster spots for expriring ** or *** covers I won in tourneys. At this pt I'm generating enough HP, I don't need to spend anymore $. Play the PVE and PVP events with the basic strategies in this forum (ie. tank your MMR when needed in lightning rounds, invest in buffed characters to place high in tourneys, capitalize on rubberbanding, etc). Given my minimal spend i've accumlated some studs in 30 days: 2/3/4 Ares lvl 53, 4/3/3 Wolvey Patch lvl 48, 3/2 Punisher lvl 45, 3/4/4 thor lvl 30, 1/2/2 daredevil lvl 30, 2/3/1 OBW lvl 30, and of course many others. Yes - lot's of grinding required.

Unknown · February 2014

nomnaut wrote:

Everyone keeps mentioning roster slots. How many is a good number to have?

I have 8 right now.

20+. Atm I'd say you want enough for one of each 3***, 1* storm and 2 other 1* characters..maybe.., thor, **wolvie, classic storm, obw. Anything else beyond that is a bunch of ubiquitous characters that if you need a single cover for an event or something shouldn't be too hard to find.

If you can, 25+, but I think if you have enough for what i said you should be good. Also, add a slot or 2for 4**** if possible, but it might be a while till you get one anyway.

Personally I have 31 and its more than enough atm
s there are plenty of covers I'll never use and nit feel bad about destroying either if I had to. I ll buy more instead of destroying for collector reasons and because I have enough hp to spare...but out of necessity? Not necessary.

Unknown · February 2014

Jachdo wrote:

6. If you are okay with dropping some cash, I'd recommend grabbing the Heroic 10-Pack. This will give you a great kick start. Also, if you choose to buy cover packs, ONLY do it when the Daily Deal is active (discount offered once per day for all packs accept Diabolical and Courageous)

8. Never, ever, buy a Recruit Token for 500 ISO. This is a trap. In time (and not as long as you think) you will be throwing out tons of those covers daily. That 500 is much more valuable than you think!

Absolutely agree on number 8. Basic recruit tokens grow on trees, and that ISO is much better spent leveling your characters. ISO for leveling is THE limiting factor in this game.

On number 6, I don't think I agree. For the same price, you could get either 2 3* covers of your choosing, or 5 2* covers of your choosing, plus 2 daily deal heroic tokens. With the random draw 10-pack you'll get a lot of things you don't need. Certainly once you get established a bit, and have most covers for most 2*'s, buying the covers you need directly is a much better way to spend your money, IMO.

If you're not there yet, and can use almost any 2* covers, then I'd rather get the single heroic tokens 1 daily deal at a time. In 10 days you'll get the same numbers of covers for just over 1/3 the cost. Sure, you don't get a guaranteed 3*, but it wouldn't help you much now anyway. That 1 Hulk cover won't help until you get about 7 more and level him to 80+. Building up your 2*'s will allow you to place high enough in events to start getting those covers and ISO.

Tannen · February 2014

This has been reposted from a steam comment that I left awhile ago. If you've seen it before, that's where it came from. (although I have tweaked it some based my current experiences)

~~~

Here are some tips for new players...

Patience. You will need this in droves when you start. Basically learn the game's mechanics first and don't try to brute-force your way through. You can beat the entire prologue with the starting heroes - Ironman 35, Modern Storm, Modern Black Widow -- these are also some of the easiest heroes (that are decent) to level at first. You can finish the prologue without maxing any of them out. (Pretty sure mine were mid 30's when I killed Rags for the first time)

Levels - Only really help for soaking damage, they don't really provide anything other than more damage (per match) and more hp (eg survivability at low level). Modern Black widow has a 5 round stun when you max her blue power out. This means that you take no damage for 5 rounds. It is better to take no damage than to rely on your ability to soak it. That way you don't die to an unlucky chain. I found it useful to keep all of my heroes relatively close together, as that allowed me to spread damage amongst them more easily -- as you can match tiles more easily to swap them in. You DO NOT need to be the same level as an opponent to beat them. The "impossible <-> trivial" tags are simply based on the differences between your highest hero's and their highest hero's level and are not truly representative of how hard a fight is.

Iso 8 - You should never need to buy this, it is given away like candy during the day-to-day playing of the game. Currently I make around 4-6k iso per pvp event, depending on how much I play and what the progression rewards are set at. Only use this to level up heroes. Using this to buy boosters will (if you use all 3) use 600 iso (+/- 150hp) every 3 matches, which is significant.

Hero (gold) points - It is very tempting to spend money to get this to buy a few slots early on, and if you're going to pay any money for this game, this is pretty much the only thing you should buy early on. It is really worth re-doing all prologue missions that reward hero points (until you get them) as soon as possible, just to open up more slots.

Slots - This is also the ONLY thing that you should spend hero (gold) points on until you have a decent (20+) amount of them. They max out at 60(?) and there are currently... 33ish(?) unique heroes in the game.

Recruitment tokens - NEVER expire (covers do). If you don't have a free slot,be careful about redeemimg these tokens for covers -- this is much harder than it sounds. Everyone wants to see what they've won straight away, but if you redeem without a free slot early on, you'll find that you get more heroes than you have slots for. -- You can always come back later with free slots and redeem them all in one hit.

Covers - For each hero that you have that isn't maxed out, find any missions in the prologue that reward covers for those heroes. Also, if a mission rewards a hero that you don't have it may be worth waiting if you don't have a slot free. If you have a cover for a hero that you've already maxed out, you can either sell it or make an alt build of the hero. Currently there's no other use for it. There is no way to respec your heroes currently, so be aware that going over 3 covers in any power is permanent. -- Check the recommended builds on the forums to see why that power may not be the best.

Heroes - All heroes are NOT equal. If you're watching thor waste away in the recruitment section, think about dropping any of the following heroes - bag man, yelana belova, modern hawkeye, even if you've levelled them up. These heroes are arguably the worst ones in the game and are all handed out in the prologue. Never level up those three heroes, just sell their covers right away. If you really want them, you will get enough covers to make them 3 times over later in the game. Wolverine (astonishing), Thor (marvel now) and Classic Storm are also handed out in the prologue and are all decent to very good, make sure that you have slots free to recruit them before you take on missions that reward them.

Healing - if you have 5 health packs you're wasting the cooldown on them. Make sure that you're only sitting on 4 at any given time. The very first mission on the venom episode has a classic spiderman that you can use to heal your damaged heroes up. Just make sure that they have enough health to survive any hits they may take before you can trigger the heal. while you're low level you may need to run this multiple times to heal yourself up. When you are high level, use the end mission instead, that way venom won't die while you're matching tiles. If you're all out of health packs and all of your heroes are waiting to revive, just take a break, the healing packs will generally recharge faster than your heroes will, wait for them to finish (1.5 hours) and then play again.

PVP - Start pvping as soon as possible. You will never play against other live human players, but you will play against their teams. For starters wins give more iso compared to pve. Secondly there are usually 2 types of reward -- one based on your rank and the other based on the points that you earn. When you start out, don't go for the rank based rewards, simply play till you get the reward based on # of points that you want. For example, you can usually earn hero points at around 400 points -- this is one of the more consistent ways to get them early on without spending. Thirdly the ai for the opposing team will make horrible mistakes that you can take advantage of. Don't be afraid to try against teams that seem horribly mismatched. Finally if all 3-5 spots are filled with people that you don't want to fight, you can press "skip" to find ones that are more appropriate for you to take on.

Shields - While you are working on your 1* team (and arguably your 2* team) you should not worry about shielding. Use those hero points for roster slots instead. Once you are comfortably making it to position 15+ (so you're looking at 2+ 3* covers) and you have over 20 slots, you can think about shielding to preserve your pvp position. Until that point, don't do it. We all know that you'll be attacked multiple times, but those hero points are worth way more as roster slot openers rather than shielding against attacks that won't matter in the long run.

Enjoy.

~~~

Cheers, and I hope that this helps.

NighteyesGrisu · February 2014

The only money I spent was to buy more slots.

Other than that, spending money will spead up your game, but you can achieve everything without it if you have the patience. Sometimes you'll get *** chars from standard drops, and as you level up your ** team you'll be able to get into ranks that allow you to win *** covers...

Unknown · February 2014

John Courage wrote:

Jachdo wrote:

6. If you are okay with dropping some cash, I'd recommend grabbing the Heroic 10-Pack. This will give you a great kick start. Also, if you choose to buy cover packs, ONLY do it when the Daily Deal is active (discount offered once per day for all packs accept Diabolical and Courageous)

8. Never, ever, buy a Recruit Token for 500 ISO. This is a trap. In time (and not as long as you think) you will be throwing out tons of those covers daily. That 500 is much more valuable than you think!

Absolutely agree on number 8. Basic recruit tokens grow on trees, and that ISO is much better spent leveling your characters. ISO for leveling is THE limiting factor in this game.

On number 6, I don't think I agree. For the same price, you could get either 2 3* covers of your choosing, or 5 2* covers of your choosing, plus 2 daily deal heroic tokens. With the random draw 10-pack you'll get a lot of things you don't need. Certainly once you get established a bit, and have most covers for most 2*'s, buying the covers you need directly is a much better way to spend your money, IMO.

If you're not there yet, and can use almost any 2* covers, then I'd rather get the single heroic tokens 1 daily deal at a time. In 10 days you'll get the same numbers of covers for just over 1/3 the cost. Sure, you don't get a guaranteed 3*, but it wouldn't help you much now anyway. That 1 Hulk cover won't help until you get about 7 more and level him to 80+. Building up your 2*'s will allow you to place high enough in events to start getting those covers and ISO.

That's very true, buying the Heroic Tokens ala carte is definitely a better deal. I know it's just a matter of luck, but I've always been quite fortunate with the 10-Packs (Heroic only). This goes the same with most of my friends. I suppose it comes down to what you want out of the game. If you want to play for free, you certainly can.

However, many of us have that Magic/Pokemon fever where the most satisfying aspect is opening a new pack and rolling the dice. This is the first and only game I've ever spent real money on, but I think I've gotten my worth out of the enjoyment. I certainly spent more in the beginning though. Once you get established, HP rolls in a lot faster. I usually always have a large reserve (although mine was significantly depleted after last nights Elite tournament).

Just to illustrate, I just picked up a 10-Pack Heroic. Here are my pickings:
-*3 Loki (purple)
-*2 Captain America (yellow)
-*2 Storm (blue)
-*2 Captain America (yellow)
-*3 Hood (yellow)
-*3 Hood (blue)
-*2 Wolverine (green)
-*2 Captain America (blue)
-*3 Classic Magneto (blue)
-*2 Modern Haweye (blue)

Now that was a particularly good draw, but at least in my experience, it's not very uncommon. Even with having a nearly full roster, that purchase was still worth my dwindling HP because of those 2 Hood and the Magneto cover (all of which I needed). That would have cost me 3750 if purchased indivdually. It also earned me 725 ISO and 25 HP back. Take in consideration that probably every one of those covers would be useful to you and that you can't level colors you haven't earned yet, it's not a bad deal. No one knows the real percentages behind these gains, but based on anecdotal evidence, I've had better draws with packs. There is a thread somewhere on the board here that tracks percentiles, but that data is only based on voluntary submissions and also is subject to the hidden and mysterious whims of the development team.

Regardless, that's not really what you were asking. No, purchasing is not necessary, but I think you'll find that the majority of top competitors have dropped some cash at one point or another (some reasonable amounts, some not). This is just my perspective based on what I've seen and read, please don't take it as gospel. I know there are plenty of highly ranked players that haven't spent a dime. However, those folks are likely in a lot fewer quantity and have had to sink a lot more time in. You're at the bottom of the curve, as you advance it gets easier. The structure of the game banks (literally) on you being impatient and impulsive.

Also, please don't let this turn into a "I haven't paid a cent!" thread -- Just my opinion

Unknown · February 2014

This is all great stuff. This game is deeper than I imagined.

Time to continue my journey.

Unknown · February 2014

I think I got an advantage starting fairly in the beginning. Still I did not pay. It depends where ya wanna go. And how fasf you wanna get there. And I heard a bunch of ppl really disappointed who have paid. It does not ensure succes.

Moral · February 2014

My advice:

You can speed up the process by using $20 to open some extra slots, then buy heroic tokens at 100 hp, one per day on the discount.

Even so, iron man35, widow and storm are a good, balanced team. (Just leave iron man at 3 blue). Use them to compete until you get some 2* characters with enough covers to be effective.

Unknown · February 2014

It's handy to buy a little HP so you can afford roster spots. Once you're regularly getting 50-100hp in progression awards from any non-lightning event you choose to enter, it's a bit easier to not have to pay to afford roster spots. Plus if I'm putting real time and effort into a game I like to reward the devs so they are more likely to keep updating the game instead of shutting it as unprofitable, call me crazy.

One of the smartest things you can do, as other people have suggested, is getting at least the first couple of progression rewards from every event you can. That's a lot of quick ISO and standard tokens for winning one or two matches.

You will notice a lot of 1* and 2* covers are rewards on Prologue missions. You can repeat those missions until you get all the rewards (then you can still repeat them but there's no point unless you're doing it to use healing abilities). You mentioned selling your Modern Storm- there's a lot of Modern Storm covers for free from the Prologue and they show up regularly on Standard tokens, you'll get her back easily enough.

I've never bought any of the 10 packs or 5 packs or whatnot. Not really necessary or cost-effective I think. I've used spare HP on the daily deal heroic tokens from time to time.

Is purchasing necessary for new players?

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