Scaling advice for semi-new player?

Theghouse
Theghouse Posts: 315 Mover and Shaker
edited February 2017 in MPQ Tips and Guides
Looking for some help from more experienced players who might know this from experience.

I'm 60 days into playing MPQ. I didn't find the forums until about day 40 so my first 40 days were full of rookie mistakes from not knowing any better (buying standard tokens with iso, buying and opening LTs with less than 20 roster slots, etc.) The top of my roster is a 5* pheonix (1 red cover) , and then 6 champed 2*s between 100-120.

I've noticed that having 5* pheonix is really messing up my PVE scaling, especially during the gauntlet. I'm not a big fan of the gauntlet, but i would like to try and earn the blade and iron fist cover progression rewards and i have the required characters to go the distance in all 3 chapters. But I've reached the next to last node of the second chapter facing fist, cage, and spider woman all at lvl 150, and it's almost impossible for me to beat them.

I've thought about dropping pheonix for a couple weeks to get my PVE scaling under control. Does anybody know if I drop her right now, will the scaling adjust immediately for the current event and node, or is the scaling "locked in" for this event already?

I don't want to drop her if it won't change immediately because without her, i would have absolutely no chance at moving forward at current scaling.

Does anybody know from direct experience how this would work? Any other advice for a semi-new player based on my given information is also welcome.

Comments

  • Astralgazer
    Astralgazer Posts: 267 Mover and Shaker
    First thing first: scaling is locked the moment you enter an event/sub-event. So, don't sell your Phx now because your scaling won't budge.

    With that out of the way, my advice to you is to sell Phx asap after the Gauntlet. Having a 5* really, I mean seriously, messes up with scaling for a 2* roster player. Until you're firmly in 3* land, don't roster any 5*. Just hoard your LT and CP for a big shower of 4* and 5* covers later. I mean really later. Day 200 or so.

    MPQ is a long game. Play patiently. Champion your 2* roster, then begin to level up the top tier 3* you have. Check Dauthi's 3* Guide stickied in here forum. Then you'd want to stay forever in 3* land if you're mainly a PVE player because the sweetest spot for scaling is when you have championed your 3* roster and level your 3* to level 180-ish.

    Then you can start opening those LTs and CPs. If like me, you then want to grab goodies from PVP, then you start building a 4* roster. Roster any 5* you find but don't level them up just yet. Day 350 or so, you might have your 1st championed 4*.

    Long game. Be patient. Have a well rounded roster. Or scaling will kick you in you know where.
  • udonomefoo
    udonomefoo Posts: 1,630 Chairperson of the Boards
    I agree mostly with Astralgazer.

    They made a change a while back that was supposed to consider both the level of a character and the number of covers. The purpose of that was to reduce the "penalty" for rostering a 5* while you're still in the early stages of the game. It may have helped some, but as you're seeing, it still hurts.

    At this stage in your game, PVE & DDQ are your best friends. So if the 5* is hurting you in pve, then as much of a shame as it is to sell a 5*, you have to do it.

    My only disagreement with Astral is on the length of how long you'll have to wait to start opening up the Leg's. I think the 1-2-3 transition goes a lot faster than it used to, but I could be wrong. Either way, don't open any Legendary tokens until you at least have some champed 3*s and enough hp to roster whoever you get.
  • Theghouse
    Theghouse Posts: 315 Mover and Shaker
    Thanks for all the advice. I was able to get through the main line of the 2nd chapter by beating cage/fist/spiderwoman with a well placed bullseye lethal improvisation team-up. I'm worried that i won't be able to beat the required branches or the third chapter because my squirrel girl/ 3* bullseye/ 3* blade are all only one covered and the levels are getting intense, but I'll keep throwing my health packs at it.

    But you've confirmed what i dreaded as a necessary evil, I'm going to drop pheonix after this event, chalk up cracking that LT as my one big noob move, and move on thru PVE at a much better pace moving forward.

    Thanks again!
  • MarkersMake
    MarkersMake Posts: 392 Mover and Shaker
    Theghouse wrote:
    I've noticed that having 5* pheonix is really messing up my PVE scaling, especially during the gauntlet. I'm not a big fan of the gauntlet, but i would like to try and earn the blade and iron fist cover progression rewards and i have the required characters to go the distance in all 3 chapters. But I've reached the next to last node of the second chapter facing fist, cage, and spider woman all at lvl 150, and it's almost impossible for me to beat them.
    Before you drop Phoenix, is it your actual PvE scaling that's being thrown off, or is it just for gauntlet?

    I ask because gauntlet is not a normal PvE event - it is very much a roster check that you are not "supposed" to be able to beat until your roster is a lot more advanced.

    If you have noticed scaling issues in other events, then go ahead and delete her. But don't base any decisions solely on your experience with gauntlet. As above posters have said, they were supposed to have fixed the scaling issues that a single 5* can cause on lower rosters.
  • Teskal
    Teskal Posts: 109 Tile Toppler
    udonomefoo wrote:
    My only disagreement with Astral is on the length of how long you'll have to wait to start opening up the Leg's. I think the 1-2-3 transition goes a lot faster than it used to, but I could be wrong. Either way, don't open any Legendary tokens until you at least have some champed 3*s and enough hp to roster whoever you get.

    I'm on day 96, so not a completely new player anymore, but still 'young'...

    I bought Canuck-Sold twice (while they gave nearly doubled HP) and I am VIP since day ~30.

    After getting all 2* and after them all 3* (beside Mystique still missing) and started adding 4* (12 so far) and started farming 2*.
    I have few 3* champed, but I'm not sure if I would say adding LT is a good idea, even after having few more 3* champed.

    From what I experienced so far, I think I will start opening LT if I have ~30 or more 4* and(/or) having few maxed 3* champed.
  • This is my current roster: https://mpq.gamependium.com/rosters/njanney7/

    I had a really hard time in the Deadpool PVE, is it because of scaling?
  • MarkersMake
    MarkersMake Posts: 392 Mover and Shaker
    This is my current roster: https://mpq.gamependium.com/rosters/njanney7/

    I had a really hard time in the Deadpool PVE, is it because of scaling?
    No offense intended here, so don't take this the wrong way - but you're basically fielding a 2* roster. That's probably the main issue. You only have three 3* champs, and the rest of your 3*s aren't fully covered, so they're not much good to you yet.

    I don't see any characters higher than your 3* champs, so I assume you are using them. With only 3 champs and not great synergy between them, yeah, it'll be a tough event.

    I found DPvMPQ a lot more difficult at that stage as well, and I had no higher level characters throwing off my scaling. Now that I'm firmly in 3* land (28 champs) I find it's a bit tougher than some events, but not by a huge amount.

    It's probably the low proportion of goons that makes it tougher - almost every match has a tile mover of some sort, and usually more than one.