Time to Make the Jump to 5* Land?

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Comments

  • grunth13
    grunth13 Posts: 608 Critical Contributor
    tdtmf said:
    grunth13 said:
    How high are your 4s?
    All but the last 9 are champ'd. Highest level is 312 (Medusa) the bulk range from 290-300.
    You should be ok due the weekly boosts of 4s that will bring them close to where your 5s will be.
  • grunth13
    grunth13 Posts: 608 Critical Contributor
    abenness said:
    tdtmf said:
    I'd appreciate some input here. I have soft capped my 5* at 302 but have a 9 ready to champion. I enough Iso8 to do it but have held off so I don't increase the level of the competition. 

    I only play PVE. Should I make the jump, and if I do, how much harder will the competition get?

    the 5*s ready to champion are thor, kitty, thanos, cap, doc oct, dr strange, Jessica jones, Okoye, wolverine. 

    I also worry about making my 4* teams obsolete. 

    Thoughts?  
    Honestly dude, this comes across as a bit silly.  Of course you should move to 5* level, and you probably should have done it months ago. You have the meta PVP teams of Thorkoye, and Gritty available.  You have the fun alternatives of throwing in JJ or Dr Strange. Your 4*-only teams would be obsolete apart from boost weeks, but during boost weeks they may well work well with one of your 5*.

    In PVE, nothing would stop you from playing at the SCL you are currently playing, using the 4* teams you currently use, and taking the same time you currently do, for your current level of prizes.

    But, you would have Gritty and Thanos, enough to compete strongly for top5/top10 finishes in scl9. What more do you think you would need?
    Lets be honest, he is not playing for top5 and very unlikely he will place top 10 in cl 9 unless he catches a late flip or goes to a slice that is normally not populated.  With the advent of spreadsheet warriors, I have trouble placing in top5 in the first 2 flips of s4.9 and I play with a level 550 thanos and with my supports can get 0 turn wins on about 30-40% of the non-easy nodes.  I can clear a beginning sub 2-3 minutes before someone and somehow they can still outscore me by 20 points at the end of sub grind.  Top 5 has become cutthroat in pve.  People hide their spreadsheets so another alliance doesn't get a chance to beat you.  Rumor has it 1 alliance will let you in if you are worthy and show you their secret spreadsheet; but you can never leave, otherwise they will come after you in real life!
  • grunth13
    grunth13 Posts: 608 Critical Contributor
    OJSP said:
    grunth13 said:
    but you can never leave, ...
    Welcome to the Hotel California..
    MPQ version of the Bloods and Crips.  Blood in, blood out!
  • tdtmf
    tdtmf Posts: 17 Just Dropped In
    About 7.5 months ago I made the leap in a similar position to you. Had a lot of the same concerns and pretty much all the same characters to transition with. You can read my very long post discussing my transition here. Maybe it’ll help you decide. Though this was all pre-Bishop. 

    https://forums.d3go.com/discussion/76951/i-ve-denied-the-signs-too-long-i-m-a-5-player/p1
    I remember reading this when you first posted. the discussion has had quit the run as it is still on page 1. a lot of the same thinking here. we'll see how it goes. 

    who do you team up with 5* daredevil? mine sits at 3/2/0 and could be leveled to 330, but not sure it is worth it until I cover him better.
  • jtsings
    jtsings Posts: 278 Mover and Shaker
       This is actually a great question because, unfortunately, there's no player guide that tells you: once you reach this level of champ this is what will happen. There are several stories from players about their 5* leap but you have to be on the forums to take advantage of their insight.
    tdtmf said:

    I only play PVE. Should I make the jump, and if I do, how much harder will the competition get?
       As already mentioned above, unless you are going to start playing PVP or you decide to play a higher SCL in PVE, your level of competition will be the same.  If you use your champed 5* characters for you PVE clears they will undoubtedly make your clear times faster.

    tdtmf said:

    I also worry about making my 4* teams obsolete. 
      This would be the only "negative" thing about transitioning to 5* champs.  You have to ask yourself what do I want out of your PVE play: do you want to play competitively for better rewards or do you enjoy playing with a variety of characters to take advantage of the puzzle element of the game.  If you are a puzzle fan, then you can go ahead and champ your 5's, but it's very easy to get trapped into just using the same 5's every PVE and for some people this can cause burnout.  However, it doesn't matter how many 5* champs you have you can always make the decision to only use them in hard nodes and continue using your 4s for as long as you want.  But you just have to be disciplined enough to not let them collect dust.  There are however, 4* characters that are helpful to me as a single 5* champ player.  I use America Chavez, Peggy Carter, Medusa, R4G, Sabertooth, Th4nos and soon to be Juggernaut all the time in PVE and PVP play.

       I suppose I might be a bit biased in this recommendation, since she's my only 5* champ, but if you'd like to dabble first with 5*s without going "all in" you might want to champ Okoye first.  She really can make even your 2* characters do 5* calibre damage (when you have enough team up tiles banked).  And you really won't be relying on her solely, because she needs teammates to make her one of the best 5*s out there.  She really does make almost all characters in the game better by a significant amount.  

       But most of all just make sure you're having fun and if the variety of 4*s fits your playstyle just continue to use them even if you do champ some 5*s.
  • abenness
    abenness Posts: 228 Tile Toppler
    grunth13 said:
    abenness said:
    tdtmf said:
    I'd appreciate some input here. I have soft capped my 5* at 302 but have a 9 ready to champion. I enough Iso8 to do it but have held off so I don't increase the level of the competition. 

    I only play PVE. Should I make the jump, and if I do, how much harder will the competition get?

    the 5*s ready to champion are thor, kitty, thanos, cap, doc oct, dr strange, Jessica jones, Okoye, wolverine. 

    I also worry about making my 4* teams obsolete. 

    Thoughts?  
    Honestly dude, this comes across as a bit silly.  Of course you should move to 5* level, and you probably should have done it months ago. You have the meta PVP teams of Thorkoye, and Gritty available.  You have the fun alternatives of throwing in JJ or Dr Strange. Your 4*-only teams would be obsolete apart from boost weeks, but during boost weeks they may well work well with one of your 5*.

    In PVE, nothing would stop you from playing at the SCL you are currently playing, using the 4* teams you currently use, and taking the same time you currently do, for your current level of prizes.

    But, you would have Gritty and Thanos, enough to compete strongly for top5/top10 finishes in scl9. What more do you think you would need?
    Lets be honest, he is not playing for top5 and very unlikely he will place top 10 in cl 9 unless he catches a late flip or goes to a slice that is normally not populated.  With the advent of spreadsheet warriors, I have trouble placing in top5 in the first 2 flips of s4.9 and I play with a level 550 thanos and with my supports can get 0 turn wins on about 30-40% of the non-easy nodes.  I can clear a beginning sub 2-3 minutes before someone and somehow they can still outscore me by 20 points at the end of sub grind.  Top 5 has become cutthroat in pve.  People hide their spreadsheets so another alliance doesn't get a chance to beat you.  Rumor has it 1 alliance will let you in if you are worthy and show you their secret spreadsheet; but you can never leave, otherwise they will come after you in real life!
    I should have specifically referred to a later flip of scl9 for high placement, not prejoin. I agree that prejoin competition is brutal.

    But Gritty/Thanos is the team to have if you want to compete, and I would expect that after OP's 5 years of PVE he would have an idea of how it all works.
  • justsing
    justsing Posts: 507 Critical Contributor
    Since you only play PVE, you don't need to worry about MMR and the types of teams you'll face in PVP. Champing your 5*s only affects PVP enemy levels and NOT PVE enemy levels. I'd say champ Okoye, Thor, Kitty, and Thanos right away. Having those meta 5* champs means that PVE will be so much faster. SCL7 becomes an utter joke, so does SCL8 tbh. SCL9 is quite easy as well though you'll face tough competition placement-wise. If you ever find yourself missing the diversity of 4* land, just drop to a lower SCL (e.g. SCL7) and use your 4*s. (I champed several 5*s in one go a few months ago and have not regretted it.)

    If you're not quite ready to make the jump or would rather stick with your 4*s, level Okoye, Kitty and Thanos to level 360 and Thor to 345 (so that Okoye will tank for Thor) and see how they work with your 4*s. 
  • tdtmf
    tdtmf Posts: 17 Just Dropped In
    Very helpful, thanks! 
  • CHRISJN
    CHRISJN Posts: 105 Tile Toppler
    I remember the first time of the old meta before the nerf bat, when i fully cover Old Man Logan, I did ask a veteran player before (Ruinate - if he is still playing the game now). Is it worth champing him and move to 5* land?
    Plain and simple answer. GO FOR IT, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.. So i followed the advice, 
    and yeah, the transition is new but it makes more fulfilling, progressing the game. Then i champ Phoenix after few weeks, totally changing the game play. PVP and PVE become more fun and challenging. Now I have 29 5* characters champed.
    Try Okoye and Thor 1st, and see the difference. 
  • spectator
    spectator Posts: 395 Mover and Shaker
    If you have 5 green Thor covers, keep him 11 levels below okoye
  • Yepyep
    Yepyep Posts: 952 Critical Contributor
    tdtmf said:
    About 7.5 months ago I made the leap in a similar position to you. Had a lot of the same concerns and pretty much all the same characters to transition with. You can read my very long post discussing my transition here. Maybe it’ll help you decide. Though this was all pre-Bishop. 

    https://forums.d3go.com/discussion/76951/i-ve-denied-the-signs-too-long-i-m-a-5-player/p1
    I remember reading this when you first posted. the discussion has had quit the run as it is still on page 1. a lot of the same thinking here. we'll see how it goes. 

    who do you team up with 5* daredevil? mine sits at 3/2/0 and could be leveled to 330, but not sure it is worth it until I cover him better.
    I bump it from time to time with updates on my journey, which is why it’s on page 1. 

    I wouldn’t suggest investing in a 5 cover DD at all personally. Especially missing one of his best powers (and reason to run him) completely. 

    As for who to pair him with, he’s an amazing utility character that meshes with tons of partners. He really works well as a transition character due to his ability to tank for 4s and heal up, and due to his punishing stunned opponents (all then best stunners are in the 4* tier). As for 5*, he really goes well with...

    Thanos: My go-to PVE pair. He heals court death damage from last match and lays down strikes to speed along your current match, to get to court death again  faster. Grocket lays down enough strikes to heal DD in 1-2 turns if he’s close to death. So if you run all three you should only ever have to heal Grocket. 

    Doctor Doom: My Daredevil tanks three colors, Doom tanks 4. I can switch off who tanks while the other heals for sustainable climbs. I’m a big fan of stunning with DD and board shuffling with Doom right after. The resulting cascades do nice damage and really boost the utility of both expensive powers when played back to back. 

    Kitty Pryde: I keep my Kitty underleveled just so DD will tank for her. He takes damage, makes strikes, and she buffs them to high heavens. 

    Cable:  Once Cable stuns with his blue, Matt can do his passive thing. Cable also provides extra strikes to boost DD’s healing. Always use Cable’s green over DD. 

    Thor: They both start putting a hurting on you at half health, making you have to think about which to take out first (spoiler: it’s Thor). 

    Jessica Jones: Complete coverage on match damage, and actives in 4 colors. Not a ton of synergy here but just two really good characters that play well together with DD doing chip damage while Jess nukes. 

    Kingpin: Matt is probably Fisk’s best pairing. He puts down free strikes that Kingpin can give away for his blue nuke. Matt usually makes enough specials that you can give one away that’s matchable. 

    Okoye: Allows Matt to double dip on all his chip damage. Especially great with a stunner for a third. 

    I haven’t tried him with Iceman. The fact that Iceman tanks all but purple kills my excitement since you want Matt taking damage and making strikes. Bobby is one of the best stunners in the tier though.  Storm has sleeper potential (haven’t tried her either). Yellow is her best power and you can tank with Matt while chasing it. She’s all about the board destruction and if you can hit the opponent with a stun before she causes massive cascades, you can just watch the enemy melt. 

    This is such a great post, @daredevil217, thanks for it! 🙏🏼
  • tdtmf
    tdtmf Posts: 17 Just Dropped In
    Greetings all. It has been 6 months since I made the jump to 5* land and it has been a mostly good experience. The PVE game didn't change all that much. I still use gritty for most of my clears but now use 5* Dr Strange as the third. As expected, PVP got much worse, but since I rarely play that side, it didn't change all that much.   

    I appreciate everyone's insight while I was making the decision. It really helped a lot. 

    My current situation is - 12-5*s are champ'd with 2 more at 12 covers (Captain Marvel & Gambit) and 4 at 11 covers (Doom, Hawkeye, SM & Wasp). my 12 champ'd are Kitty, Dr Strange, Iceman, Logan, Okoye, Cap, Prof X, Thor, Black Bolt (yea shards!) Doc Oct, JJ & Thanos.    

    I do need to read up on how to get the most out of my 5*s. I don't seem to grasp the team synchronicities very well. 

    Best of luck to all! 
  • abenness
    abenness Posts: 228 Tile Toppler
    tdtmf said:
    Greetings all. It has been 6 months since I made the jump to 5* land and it has been a mostly good experience. The PVE game didn't change all that much. I still use gritty for most of my clears but now use 5* Dr Strange as the third. As expected, PVP got much worse, but since I rarely play that side, it didn't change all that much.   

    I appreciate everyone's insight while I was making the decision. It really helped a lot. 

    My current situation is - 12-5*s are champ'd with 2 more at 12 covers (Captain Marvel & Gambit) and 4 at 11 covers (Doom, Hawkeye, SM & Wasp). my 12 champ'd are Kitty, Dr Strange, Iceman, Logan, Okoye, Cap, Prof X, Thor, Black Bolt (yea shards!) Doc Oct, JJ & Thanos.    

    I do need to read up on how to get the most out of my 5*s. I don't seem to grasp the team synchronicities very well. 

    Best of luck to all! 
    Try Gritty Thanos for PVE, it will be significantly quicker than Dr Strange, but it will hurt your team health along the way
  • CT1888
    CT1888 Posts: 1,201 Chairperson of the Boards
    abenness said:
    tdtmf said:
    Greetings all. It has been 6 months since I made the jump to 5* land and it has been a mostly good experience. The PVE game didn't change all that much. I still use gritty for most of my clears but now use 5* Dr Strange as the third. As expected, PVP got much worse, but since I rarely play that side, it didn't change all that much.   

    I appreciate everyone's insight while I was making the decision. It really helped a lot. 

    My current situation is - 12-5*s are champ'd with 2 more at 12 covers (Captain Marvel & Gambit) and 4 at 11 covers (Doom, Hawkeye, SM & Wasp). my 12 champ'd are Kitty, Dr Strange, Iceman, Logan, Okoye, Cap, Prof X, Thor, Black Bolt (yea shards!) Doc Oct, JJ & Thanos.    

    I do need to read up on how to get the most out of my 5*s. I don't seem to grasp the team synchronicities very well. 

    Best of luck to all! 
    Try Gritty Thanos for PVE, it will be significantly quicker than Dr Strange, but it will hurt your team health along the way
    Second this. If you aren't playing much pvp, you shouldn't have much need of health packs beyond healing these guys. 
    Though in pvp Prof X/Iceman, Gritty, JJ/Bishop (assuming you have him champed) and Thor/Okoye (Thor at 50% health - take him with Thanos for the easy pve nodes to bring his health down) are all good teams
  • bluewolf
    bluewolf Posts: 5,246 Chairperson of the Boards
    If you aren't going for T10 in PVE - or at least, aren't doing it in the first or second flip - you have options with Thor that are almost as fast but use less health packs (and in my opinion are much more fun to play) vs GrittyNos.

    Using Thor and America and a champed 5E can work really well, especially if you put a crit multiplier Support on the 5E.  Also useful among your options: Prof with Thor and America.  That team will destroy many nodes before you know it without the health pack use.

    It's just a game so play the way you want.  I personally think it's extremely stale for Thanos to still be the meta in PVE.
  • peterdark
    peterdark Posts: 151 Tile Toppler
    justsing said:
    Since you only play PVE, you don't need to worry about MMR and the types of teams you'll face in PVP. Champing your 5*s only affects PVP enemy levels and NOT PVE enemy levels. 
    Is there not an alliance battle that does take your level into consideration? Can't remember which one but it had crazy scaling on the lvl's you were facing on day 2. Although this one thing should have no bearing on whether or not to go into 5* land as it will probably only pop up once a year.
  • Waddles_Pines
    Waddles_Pines Posts: 1,188 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited January 2020
    peterdark said:
    justsing said:
    Since you only play PVE, you don't need to worry about MMR and the types of teams you'll face in PVP. Champing your 5*s only affects PVP enemy levels and NOT PVE enemy levels. 
    Is there not an alliance battle that does take your level into consideration? Can't remember which one but it had crazy scaling on the lvl's you were facing on day 2. Although this one thing should have no bearing on whether or not to go into 5* land as it will probably only pop up once a year.
    All boss battles do take your MMR into account after day 1 (ie they scale up pretty rapidly after the first 24 hours).  It's the exception to the PVE rule.  All the rest of the PVE events are capped by what SCL you're playing.
  • AXP_isme
    AXP_isme Posts: 809 Critical Contributor
    I don’t think it’s MMR that’s accounted for so much as roster based scaling. The two things are similar but MMR is determined dynamically by your roster, other people’s rosters, time slice and points totals. Roster based scaling sets the level of enemies you face based purely on your own roster, mainly the level of the top x characters. Also scaling affects the side nodes in boss battles but not the boss battle which is dependent only on which ‘round’ you’re currently on. 
  • Roland113
    Roland113 Posts: 298 Mover and Shaker
    I realize that this is an older thread and that the OP has already made the leap.  I'm a four star player myself, I'm getting close to that transition, but not yet.  I have Storm and Prof X at 13 covers.

    The one thing I wanted to add, and forgive if someone said this earlier. . . the fear of your 4 star characters behind just a fear of the unknown.  I don't want to speak for everyone, but when I made the leap I was kind of worried about leaving Blade and Strang3 and IM behind . . . 

    It didn't take long for me to stop worrying about that.

    Yes, they're kind of obsolete, but they've been replaced by far stronger characters that really make me forget about them.