Am I far behind for my Shield Rank?

Carnivex
Carnivex Posts: 1 Just Dropped In
Hey everyone.

 So the title says it all really. My current shield rank is level 80 and I have 118 rostered characters. I have a full 2* and 3* farm, one 1* for DPD, 54 4*s and 3 5*s.
I ask if I am far behind because I don't have a single 4* champed yet. I could champ one if I wanted (Vulture), but I'm waiting to have at least a meta 4* champed first before I champ any non-metas. My next nearest 4*s to being champed are Polaris and Scorpion, both at 9 covers.
My 5*s are Kitty, Okoye and Onslaught, all with 1 cover. 

I was just wondering roughly where everyone else was at my shield rank? Am I doing alright or am I just a shambles?
 
Thanks all. 

Comments

  • HoundofShadow
    HoundofShadow Posts: 8,004 Chairperson of the Boards
    How many in-game days have you played?
  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 9,576 Chairperson of the Boards
    A lot of us got our Shield Ranks grandfathered in when they introduced them so it is hard to say. We started at an artificial point in the process. Some players also advanced their SR beyond their roster strength. 

    What I will say is that I found that once I champed my first 4* they started to topple like dominoes. And boy were my guys sketchy - Xforce Wolverine, Luke Cage, pre-buff Wasp and pre-buff Mordo - it was a motley bunch. I would have given an arm to have Vulture!

    These days with saved covers you can take your time and go with the meta. So I would say you are probably doing fine.

    Remember it is a bit dangerous to rely on only meta characters because of the ever present threat of "rebalancing" but Polaris and Scorpion are fine 4* and worth chasing (Scorps isn't really meta but he is lots of fun).
  • Carnifex
    Carnifex Posts: 101 Tile Toppler
    Thanks for the responses. 

    True, I probably should have mentioned that. I am currently on day 528, and I'm only an occasional player. I do log in daily, but on a good day I can play for an hour at most.

    Ah fair enough, I wasn't aware that Shield Rank was introduced later.
    Do you mean that once you champed those characters that they weren't reliable? Should I wait to champ a handful at once?
    I have been chasing Polaris, but with Scorpion was more chance I ended up with that many covers for him. After Polaris I will go for Silk when she's featured, I definitely prefer the fun characters. 

    Cheers again.
  • Phumade
    Phumade Posts: 2,477 Chairperson of the Boards
    Looks like your doing great to be honest.

    next steps are priortize the 2*/3* dupe farm.
    horde all LT and CP for a later 5* transition.

    look at the meta this way.
    1.   Color control
    2.   Board shakes
    3.   CD control
    4.  Special tile user
    5.  Web Tile
    6.  Charge tile.

    4* play comes down to firing those powers to get out a knockout punch.   So build your 4* roster to cover those kinda win conditions.
     Take your time in 4* land.  Your definitely in the slow and steady phase of the game.
  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 9,576 Chairperson of the Boards
    What I meant is that I went to 4* champ land with less than ideal tools and it was fine. You seem to be building nicely and have no pressure of the pre-saved MPQ cover where you had 13 days to save your covers so you had to champ or else. Champed 4s are nice but boosted champed 4s are amazing so take your time and build and go with who you want. 
  • Carnifex
    Carnifex Posts: 101 Tile Toppler
    Thanks for the reply, that's good to hear! I had a bad feeling after looking at some other rosters and seeing quite a few champed 4*s!

    Im assuming dupe farms are the same character rostered twice so double the rewards? Wouldn't the 60,000 HP required better be used on the 4/5*s I haven't rostered yet?

    But thanks for the advice, I'll bear all that in mind! 
  • Phumade
    Phumade Posts: 2,477 Chairperson of the Boards
    Carnifex said:
    Thanks for the reply, that's good to hear! I had a bad feeling after looking at some other rosters and seeing quite a few champed 4*s!

    Im assuming dupe farms are the same character rostered twice so double the rewards? Wouldn't the 60,000 HP required better be used on the 4/5*s I haven't rostered yet?

    But thanks for the advice, I'll bear all that in mind! 
    Always a balancing act,  but the farms are the only way you can become self sustaining.
  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 9,576 Chairperson of the Boards
    Farming is I feel a personal choice. Some players do not farm at all but when you get to 3* farming the costs are quite high to begin with but the rewards, especially at later levels are worth it. Personally I max champ and then add 3* dupes as I go then sell the max 3 once I have maxed out the dupe. So it is a long war strategy but one that does pay off. I guess the argument is that as you progress you will find it is pretty easy to champ 3* and turn them in to a resource farm against progressing 4 and 5s but there really is no correct way. When we used to have Bonus Heroes I targeted MoonKnight just because I liked his kit - He was never meta but I just loved him - you could say I wasted those covers but personally I loved champing him.

    The value of rostering 4s and 5s is to score points in the essential nodes in PvE, to this end the newest ones are always greater value than the classics at low cover levels.
  • dramatist
    dramatist Posts: 218 Tile Toppler
    Just so you know, Vulture is an amazing 4* and would work well with 3*s. I think you should champ him. 
  • Carnifex
    Carnifex Posts: 101 Tile Toppler
    I like your idea of duping Daz. I'm not yet at that stage with my 3*s, I believe my highest level is around the 240 mark. But when I finally do max them, I'll try that duping method then. I can't imagine I'll ever go for a full dupe farm, I don't have that sort of time! But thank you for explaining. :)
    I totally get what you mean with you and MoonKnight too. I favour some characters even though they are far from meta, the game still has to be fun, not just a contest. 

    I will eventually champ my Vulture, Ill just wait until I have at least one other 4* there, I don't want to unbalance my roster. 
  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 9,576 Chairperson of the Boards
    It is also worth prioritising duping 3* who have a 2* feeder just because you will get natural cover churn from your 2* farm. I was extremely wary of running a 3* farm at first due to the HP costs but I found that by doing it in chunks I had a bunch of 3* at staggered different stages so it kept the rewards churning, rather than everybody at the same level. I like to think of it as feeding pay dirt to a wash plant in gold mining, gotta keep that plant fed!
    Obviously there are of course 4* covers to get as well, so this is probably the other consideration in choosing who you go with initially and seeing how it goes from there.