@Dormammu: Thank you for your considered reply.
On reading my original post again, I realize I did not properly describe the intent of this section of the guide.
The intent is not to rank characters against one another merely in terms of tactical flexibility and practical application in a wider context. Rather, the intent is to give newer players with limited roster slots direction regarding which characters to prioritize assuming they do not have characters that are lower ranked on the list.
That said, the intent is for players to earn better rewards with less real time and fewer health packs spent - first in PvE (as I think that may be the quickest way to earn rewards), then for alliance boss events, then for at least the initial setup nodes if hitting at open of slice for PvP and at least some light PvP after that.
More specifically, this portion of the guide is very narrowly directed towards players making the 2*-3* transition, anticipating they will for the most part want to play PvE SCL 4-6 or so to earn 3* rewards, as they cannot typically use the 4s from progression at PvE SCL 7+ anyways. (However, the list also is intended to allow players to play SCL 7+ to earn select 4s when they want to.)
This is something I should have been clear about, but was not. I think that answers to some degree the question
“So for example, how do we rank Iron Fist and Kamala Khan against one another?”
Instead of what I agree would be a rather difficult-to-answer question “Which is better (given a developed roster of 3s) - which character offers more utility when used with any combination of characters" - instead the question becomes "Assuming a player only has 3 Doctor Strange and 3* Iron Man, is 3* Iron Fist or 3* Kamala Khan a better choice for earning rewards in less time and to minimize need for health packs?”
I think given that context, the answer is Kamala Khan is a better pick. Iron Fist is certainly better against weak nodes, and has a good amount of hit points so doesn’t need to use health packs that often. But repeated use against PvE hard nodes, I think, does not see Iron Fist at his full potential, assuming a player only has Doctor Strange and Iron Man, while on the other hand Kamala Khan offers team damage and healing. Mind the team damage and healing are really negligible when playing way up, but I don’t think new players should be playing way up past, oh say SCL 8 or so.
Re: Colossus: Well, you’re right. I won’t go into why I put him at that rank, but on reflection, he really is too slow.
Re: Mystique: Maybe we can agree to disagree on this one. My thought is by that time PvE is covered, some PvP is covered (to some degree), alliance bosses are covered, but then it’s a question of what else might one face? My thought is if you can’t handle it with anything else on the roster to that point, Mystique is the way to go with AP denial into bomb black, and ability to depopulate RGY.
But if you have thoughts on what specific character is better to add to the roster at that point, I’d love to hear them.
Re: Black Widow: I’m afraid I’ll have to disagree. For most matches, yes, she is far too slow. But for alliance bosses, I consider Black Widow essential in the 3* range - her precision tile removal has helped me out many times where simple cascades wouldn’t work.
Of course I hadn’t specified the precise intent of the guide in my original post. But in that context - given that the first few characters more or less enable a player to at a decent SCL for most PvE, then what characters should be prioritized? I could easily say Blade was far better at speed and incidental AP drain and general purpose use - and he is. But when it comes to precision tile removal, I don’t know any character in the 3* range that can stand in for Black Widow. And that’s why she has the rank she does, not because she is “good” in most situations but given the order of priorities set for collection, I think she’s the best pick for the “next” character that allows a player to take on alliance bosses where such would not otherwise be possible. Well that was the thought anyways. Mind, I know I hadn’t detailed the intent in my original post.
Re: Spider-Man: I’d like to hear more of your thinking on this if you would not mind too much. I suppose if you’re talking PvP with Spider-Man / Scarlet Witch / Cyclops or something, then sure I can see that. Or if a situation requires multiple decent Protect tiles then yes, he certainly has an advantage (though I think the player needs an active purple power on the team, would you agree?) But if a player wants a 2-character team that can be used with whatever Essential Node character, I think usually I would rather take Luke Cage. The way Spider-Man feels to me is that he’s just missing something, and that you really need two characters to fill in those gaps. Maybe if you could mention a few good PvE and PvP teams he’s used in?
Re: Cyclops: I really like Cyclops - on my B-teams. Unless I see a particular reason to put him above another particular character though, I’ll leave him where he is. He doesn’t shake up the board much, he doesn’t generate AP much, straight damage he’s certainly good at, but what of it? What distinct thing does Cyclops do that makes him a priority? PvP defense?
If the answer to that is “Yes, and PvP defense should be prioritized”, sure I can go with that reasoning. But let’s say you have a player that’s developing their roster. What would your advice be regarding earning prizes while minimizing real time or real money spent, with limited roster slots available? Would you really put Cyclops ahead of Black Widow if it means you can’t handle alliance bosses? Or maybe you have a team (perhaps you would mention the exact composition?) that handles the various bosses - Apocalypse, Sinister Six, Galactus, etc. - that requires Cyclops?
These are real questions. Because as far as I’ve heard, Cyclops IS used on some alliance bosses, and of course there are PvP events far more regularly than alliance boss events. At any rate, a more detailed response regarding why Cyclops ought be higher ranked (specifically, is it for PvP defense? and would you say time spent for prizes is good, considering health pack depletion? and are you using Cyclops on offense or defense or both, and for what specific teams, and all the details if you would, please and thank you.)
Mind personally I blow through PvE with minimal health packs then maybe later do some PvP but that’s it. No PvP shielding, no popping on at PvP event close - I’ve looked at the prizes and generally I just don’t like the matchups I get and the time I would have to spend to earn those prizes. Probably because my SHIELD rank is artificially inflated because of 1* farming, heh. Or something.
Re: Hulk: Well I’ll think on it. Mind I didn’t claim Hulk is generally strong. “F: Not best on their own and need planned teammates”. I mean, that isn’t wrong is it? And in that category he’s only ahead of Vision.
“I think your A-J descriptions overly complicates what is already a very subjective thing. I think you could simplify this. Saying a character is ‘not best on their own and needs planned teammates’ is basically saying this is a ‘support’ character. There are all kinds of categories a character can fit into: Damage, Support, Utility, Feeder, Tank, Healer, etc… and some fit into several categories.”
I don’t think it’s entirely subjective, and I think it’s necessarily complicated. If you say that perhaps I didn’t do the best job of categorizing and have other specific categories to suggest, sure, I could go with that. Or you could say I didn’t do the greatest job of explaining, sure I’d go with that too.
But as I see it, characters need to be categorized, and not simply by numbers or general “support” descriptors. Simply ranking characters 1-70 misses out on the importance of how some characters are better in some situations but not in others. Breaking down the numbers misses the importance of AP generation, AP denial, stunning, board shuffling, neutralizing enemy Specials, and so forth.
I can accept that I can be wrong. But I can’t accept that the process of analysis is inherently incapable of making specific recommendations for specific reasons. As I see it, it’s just a question of defining and setting priorities. Surely that is not to much to ask of a character ranking list, yes?
Re: “not being “entirely” subjective” comment above - it’s not that I’m disagreeing completely. If one isn’t actually breaking down the numbers and looking at each specific situation, then it is subjective. But is Cyclops being considered a “good” character really a subjective measure? Good damage per AP spent, multiple bombs, self-feeds, good hit points, and the AI can’t really screw up playing him too much. Isn’t that why he’s “good”? Then Doctor Strange, it isn’t that he’s inherently good, it’s that it just so happens that PvE events tend to use a lot of self-AP-generating non-character enemies that fire loads of powers that activate Strange’s powers. In PvP Strange dies easily. Or with Iron Man generating 36 AP from 6 - these are all numbers and conditions that can be considered, and they are not so much subjective as they are objective fact.
So that’s where I’m coming from - yes, it’s subjective, true, until it’s well and thoroughly analyzed then it’s no longer subjective, is my thinking and intent.
Re: Rocket & Groot: As a regen tank, I think he’s the best in 3* land so thinking about it I’d have to agree, he should be far higher ranked Who else is going to suck up a big hit then be ready to go? Certainly not Wolverine or Daken with their slow regeneration. As long as you’re a fan of R&G (?) I’m curious to know how, specifically, you use R&G or how you’ve heard others use him, particularly in Essential Character nodes when only one other teammate can be picked, but also what 3-character team you consider him best in, whether his use in PvP plays a factor in your assessment and if so, again specific characters and specific teams, if you mostly use him if at all against 4s and 5s in stuff like PvE Simulator, and his applications in boss fights and the specific characters and teams and specific bosses then too.
Mind, I know on paper he’s got this amazing burst regen plus board shakeup when low, but in application I just haven’t been able to get it to work. Probably I’m too fixated on using him with Thanos or something.
At any rate, thanks again for the reply. Certainly reading it made me realize I ought to have put in a proper write-up of the priorities of the ranking list. As well, I’ll certainly have to reconsider Colossus and Rocket & Groot’s placement.
In the meantime, specific comments on Cyclops, Spiderman, and Rocket & Groot would be much appreciated - what teammates specifically in what conditions, what events (PvE or PvP or both, if PvP offense or defense or both, if PvE any particular PvE (maybe Simulator with a bunch of 4s and 5s) &c.
(edit - added in some punctuation, added a bit for clarification)