I’m in the 3-4* transition period. I’ve got at least 1 cover of pretty much every 3*, and many of them are fully covered. I have 7 maxed, three more at 150+, and only 5 of them are below 120.
I also have 9 4*s, only one of which is well-covered (a 5-1-2 X-force Wolvie) and one of which is meh-covered (a 2-3-1 Thoress).
I’m not sure which game you guys are playing… but under no circumstances is the 1000/1300 progression level even moderately accessible for me. I have NEVER gotten to that point, even with shielding, and I’m almost a year in. The best I’ve ever done is the low 900s, and I immediately lost 100 points within minutes after that.
So I’m not building a roster to make me more competitive in PvP – I’m stuck, by my reckoning permanently, behind the people who ALREADY have well-covered Hulkbusters/Prof Xs/Carnages/Teen Jeans/etc, who will always outscore me and punish my point total. As they should – they’ve got better teams than me. But I don’t see a system currently that lets me move up outside of (a) coordinated Line-based strategies that aren’t really within the spirit of the game (and which aren’t accessible to all players), or (b) random luck in token drops (which = maybe 1 or 2 4* covers a month at most).
Boosted characters were a good idea, but only a stopgap. The fundamental issue is that there’s no 4*-level gameplay for the “haves” to move to, leaving the PvP placement/progression awards to the “have-nots” who need them. And alliance/seasonal rewards compound the issue by removing some (or all) of the ability/incentive for “haves” to sit out a PvP event. That’s a game design issue, and something that isn’t going to change overnight, I know.
But – it’s been stated that the PvP progression awards are intended to be the main source of direct 4* acquisition, now to be augmented by the legendary tokens. So that makes, by my accounting, 4 ways to acquire 4* characters (outside of special events like Ant-man):
- High (usually #1) placement in PvP events.
- Progression award/token award in PvP events.
- Progression award legendary token in PvE.
- Event award (progression or placement)
#1 is functionally impossible without a fully-covered 4* roster.
#2 is, as discussed above, incredibly difficult without heavy expense in shielding (plus luck) or alliance coordination.
#3 is, per IceIX’s comments, achievable, but only with a large amount of grinding, as the progression required will be (apparently) a multiple of the “regular” top progression award.
#4 is achievable for progression awards, but difficult without heavy grinding otherwise; i.e. basically the same as #3.
And this will all get much, much worse as we start seeing 2x5*+featured teams in PvP.
So in my position, I see the “message” being sent by the game as “either game the system by coordinating, or spend all your free time grinding.” That’s not a really great choice, especially given how radically different the 3* world is. (3s are difficult to acquire for 2-max team, but achievable, and then once you have the first cover, it’s moderately easy to cover out the character through DDQ + time + tokens.)
My suggestion is: fix this, pretty please. The simplest way would be to divorce progression from placement in PvP – progression is gross points obtained via wins; placement is net points reflecting wins/losses. (With an appropriate adjustment, if necessary, in the progression thresholds). Or increase the 4* rewards in PvE. Whatever it takes to make sure that a REASONABLE time investment in MPQ with a 3* team leads to REASONABLE rewards and REASONABLE progression. Because right now I don’t see that.
Peace, love, etc.!