Impossible PVP Scaling

Marvel Puzzle Quest MPQ General Discussion
1

Like several other posts on here, I find PVP scaling to be so ludicrous that it actively STOPS people playing this game.
I have been playing for 1015 days and have a reasonably strong roster - I have a few 5* but each of these only has 1 or 2 covers, so they are pretty worthless right now. Other than that I have 5 x 4* characters above level 200 but NONE are champions yet. After that I am down to a load of 3* champs.
Problem is that in EVERY PVP event I play, once past around 700 points I only get matches from far superior opposition - Like a team dominated by boosted 4* and 5* champions, and if I’m not shielded I get thumped by similar level teams literally HUNDREDS of levels above my best team. What is more, you look at the rosters of these guys and they have several 5* champions and up to 50 4* champions… yes, 50 X 4* Champions. Even if I have 1 of my 4*'s boosted, I am NEVER going to win against these teams, they have such strong teams with so much depth in their rosters that it all becomes pointless - once my team has used all my health packs I have nobody left on the “bench” to keep going, so playing the event ends for me, shields up and I’m lucky if I get a top 50 event placement.

It’s such BS so now I dont ever bother with PVP. I don’t play PVE as I get bored replaying the same battles over and over. So this game has been reduced to Deadpool Daily and that is it.

Don’t even get me started on SHIELD Simulator - I have a go at that, go as far as I can before the impossible matches appear and thats me done there too - I’m not going to shield for 3 weeks to get to the end of the season, progressing a little when I can… so I play the simulator for a bit, stop when all oppositions are 4* & 5* Champs and then watch whilst I get beaten all the way back to 0 points over the rest of the season! What is the point of that?

A couple of times I have asked d3go about it but I just receive the same BS auto response about scaling being based on the strength and depth of my roster - What BS!!! So I have a couple of 5* characters, so what, I cant actually use them in an event, so to pitch me against a team of 5* Champs is simply stupid, likewise to pitch me against an opponent with 50 4*Champs when I don’t even have 1, is totally stupid!

So for all those new guys out there posting on this forum to say you are struggling getting your 2* and 3* teams strong enough to compete… sorry to say that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, 1015 days in and I have the same struggles as you - the game is drastically flawed, probably by design to force frustrated players to speed up their roster development by paying a lot of money.

2

It doesn’t sound like your roster is equipped to go any higher. That’s the current state of PVP right now, unfortunately. My suggestion is to quit banging your head against the wall for placement and simply set your goal for the progression rewards. The 575 for CP is a good goal.

There aren’t 50 4* covers in the game, but I see your point.

PVE is where you should seek placement and progression - it’ll help advance your roster a lot. Yeah, it gets dull sometimes. Try taking an event or two off occasionally to keep from burning out.

I think you’re hitting the Simulator a little too early. Give it a week or two so more players have joined and advanced, you’re MMR will then have more to choose from. Again, don’t bang your head against placement here - seek a reasonable progression goal.

3

Playing for 1050 days would normally mean you have a much better developed roster. As Dormammu said - your roster is not primed to go further. To get to 900 you should have multiple 4* championed or shield hop a bit. To get to 1200 with championed 4* you need multiple hops. So set you goals in the realistic realm. Getting 800 points in all PvP events and 2k in simulator gives you max progression for the season.

If you are not softcapping your roster unintentionally (which works in PvE but hurts you in PvP; by lack of covers or iso) you just need to expand the 4*. If the soft cap is intentional - keep benefiting in PvE but forget about PvP. Simple.

Strategically wise - climb to 500-600 points in PvP and wait. If you have one or two boosted 4* championed you should be able to fairly easily climb to 900 from there within last 8 or last 3 (more tricky) hours. When there (or at 800 if you don’t need the 4* cover that much) drop a shield and forget about the event. Rince and repeat. Eventually you will get a boosted 4 for each PvP and with that getting 900 is pretty straightforward. Just keep in mind that sometimes it’s better to hit somebody for 30 points and shake things up around you rather then skipping over the same group of people.

To get more out of PvP (more than 900) you need multiple well developed 5*. But that apparently is a killer in PvE so choose what you prefer.

4

Thanks for the responses guys - although I follow what you are saying it all seems a bit chicken and egg to me; my roster doesn’t have enough 4* champs to progress me beyond where I am already getting to in PVP. Problem is, how the hell can I get the covers needed to champion a 4* character? I’ve had X-Force Wolvie sat on 12 covers for at least a year, waiting to drop the last elusive yellow cover! If I cant win events because my roster isnt strong enough, then I cant progress my 4* characters. I have 31 X 4* characters, but only 5 above level 200. Most are lower level than my 2champs! And I level all my 4’s to their max whenever I get a cover… just can never get the covers because my roster isnt strong enough to compete!!!

Dormammu’s response just about sums up what is wrong with this game right now - even after 3 years of playing the game I am aiming too high by trying to place in the top 50! As a top 50 place NEVER wins a 4* cover I dont see how I can ever turn it around. I simply refuse to grind out battle after repeated boring battle against frikking Hammer bots in PVE events just to very VERY occasionally win a 4* cover that is no good to me.

5

As stated, you should be able to hit 575 in pvp and full progression in pve most events. Add that to any 4* crashes you can do and that should be 2-3 classic tokens a week plus 1-2 latest legendaries. You also should get the couple of 4*'s from pve progression each week. Open all tokens, level 4*'s, and you don’t say if you did already - but don’t level 5*'s. You may progress slowly based on randomness, but should progress.

6

You’ve been waiting for a full year for an x-force wolverine cover? Why not just save up the CP and use it to cover that last one? CP is easy as hell to come by.

7

I feel your frustration. Day 683 for me. My roster is mostly up to date in my signature. I have played PVE for the final progression religiously since cp were pushed into PVE. Now, there are an easy 10 cp in progression of PVP at 575. This is your 4* cover source. Pull classics. Just like in 3* transition, get 4 or 5 good 4*s champed, and life will get better. Top 50 still won’t happen if you are playing SCL 8. If placement is your goal, try dropping a level or two. Lastly, d3 is planning on opening SCL 9 (and 10?) sometime. This should move some of the higher rosters out of your scl.

8

Leveling them up before they have 10-13 covers is a bit of waste that can influence your scaling in PvE. Main source of covers is not PvP (at 900 it’s attainable but not great) - it’s PvE and opening LT/Classics. You might consider opening classics as they will grant more 4* covers. Roster the 5* you get but don’t level them at all. Eventually your buffed 4* will be higher level so you might not feel the influence of 5* on scaling. Or limit yourself to other tokens and PvE progression 4 cover. Up to you. Eventually you will start getting results in PvP but it takes a lot of dedication. It might be better if you treat it as a source of extra income (XP, some 2* covers, a lot of iso, HP and some CP at 575) not the main part of game.

Important big for 4* transition - set your 2 and 3* in order. Preferably champion all 3* and farm all 2* constantly. That way you some 4* covers and lots of other resources. When this is done - 4* transition speeds up a lot.

9

If you need 4* covers there are easier ways for you to do it than PVP, as others have stated above.

Chase CP - the 575 progression reward in pvp is 10 CP. There’s another 30 CP in pve progression. So almost every week, you can get 80 CP. That’s four classic legend pulls. (This isn’t counting any CP from pve node rewards, champ rewards, alliance mates, or SHIELD Intercepts).

Play PVE - Every pve has a 4* cover as a progression reward. It’s not hard to attain, you don’t even need to do four full clears to get it. There’s potentially two more 4* covers a week.

Hoard HP - Every now and then you’ll see a cheap vault with a desirable 4* cover in it that you can buy out for 3000 HP. If you’re not paying for shields and health packs in pvp these suddenly become more viable.

I’m pulling between 7-10 four and five star covers a week when I’m motivated to do full progression in pve, and I rarely play very far in pvp events.

10

Others have touched on it but youre not playing optimally or even close to it and your roster reflects that which is why youre not able to compete in PVP. Ive only been playing for just over a year (just got my devil dinos a week or two ago) and I have 6 champed 4* (all within the last month only) and almost every 3* champed (will have Sentry Champed shortly, just missing Falcon, Thanos, Bullseye and SG). I reached 10k last season for the very first time and usually get 900 - 1000 per PVP (my roster isnt ready for the 1200 level). I get that youve been playing for a long time but if youre just playing DDQ then youre just running in place. You should be able to get the 10 CP in PVP and if you play for at least progression in PVE then you have enough CP for 3 LTs every two PVP and PVEs. Really you just need a couple 4* champs or an upper 4* champ and plenty of champed 3* to at least hit 900 in PVP. Right now I use Peggy and IM40 for each PVP and its a blast. If you dont put in the time and effort then you cant expect the rewards. I beat every PVE and aim for 900+ in every PVP and even then I MAYBE play 2 - 3 hours a day tops and even then its normally just when I have down time (lunch break, train to and from work or just before I go to sleep).

If this was a year or so ago then youre absolutely right that roster progress can take forever but nowadays theres lots of CP and HP to go around and even ISO is easier to hoard.

11

So I can relate, but I also have to agree with other responders here. Let me elaborate on my experiences:

I am at day 460, and I have hit 900 points in exactly 2 PVP events, so my roster is not amazing, but it’s not bad either. I have a working 2 star farm, I have every 3* besides thanos champed, and I have 4 champed 4* (cho, thor, clops, and iceman), with at least a few covers for every 4*.

I spent 120cp on three of those 4* just to get the final cover I needed, because I had a few on the vine and I was tired of pulling dupes. So, you can mitigate the frustration by admitting: you will be spending more than a single cover is worth, but 120CP is worth the price for peace of mind.

Now, I usually aim for the final progression in PVE, and I never care about placement. That means I can play whenever I want scattered throughout the day with no rush and no grinding, very little time commitment. That will get me 25CP and a 4* cover from progression. I also aim for 575 points in PVP for every event I have time to play, yielding another 10CP per event. It does not have me rolling in resources, but it gets me enough points to do something worthwhile.

Normally, I focus on a single 4*. In my case, it will be ant man next, unless I pull multiple Teen Jean covers somehow. He has 12 covers right now, already thrown away 3 dupes. I will be saving ISO and CP. Once I have enough ISO to raise him to champ level from where he currently sits, I will look at my CP. If I have less than 120CP, I will wait and save, and then probably spend it on the final cover just for peace of mind. If I have more than 120CP, I spend all the CP it would take to get my reserve down to 120. If I got the cover I needed, then great! If not, I at least got another few 4* covers, then I spend the 120CP and got the champ I wanted. OR I may have gotten a cover or two I needed to champ a different character, and then I just choose which I want more.

I have, and continue, to feel your pain. In December, I was debating quitting because I had been sitting on all 3* champed for a few months and still had no 4* over 10 covers. Most days, I still feel like the developers are screwing with us, and that there is no light at the end of the tunnel… meaning they will never make 4* covers easier to get. My Hulkbuster has been sitting at 5/1/2 forever, and I don’t think he will be going anywhere for a while, and that is frustrating due to how long he has been around. But life does get better, and I say this as someone who does not go crazy playing and hasn’t spent a ton of money overall on the game. Sometimes, you have to bite the bullet and take RNG out of the equation. Some people might disagree, but for the peace of mind to have a few 4* champs rather than hope for RNG to help me out? I’d do it all over again.

12

You understand that for then majority of players we’re all fighting up hill battles. I have 1 champ 5 star.png
(451 Phoenix) and most of my queues are dual champ 5 star.png

13

Hey Spider, I’ve actually done what you’re contemplating to do. After the 3* champion nerf, followed by the change in PvP, I stuck to only DPD. Soon after that, I quit playing for about three months. I’ve slowly come back, but I still absolutely HATE PvP. It just takes WAY too much effort, in my opinion, with the current MMR scaling. I’ve found a new appreciation for PvE, believe it or not, some light grinding turns up good ISO and top 400 in CL8 ain’t bad either. For PvP, there has been, and likely always will be, that progression wall. It just might change in appearance, but it’ll always be there. As I’ve seen suggested, hit 575, collect the CP, then shield up or free fall.

14

There aren’t 50 unique 4* in the game but it doesn’t stop people rostering duplicates. A lot of these vets/whales would no doubt have multiples of the top tiers

15

Unless they have the same character championed more than once, which is extra ridiculous (and part of the point of his post, no doubt)

16

OP, I’m on day 1026, so not much longer than you, but I’ve been able to get the 4* progression reward out of pvp for at least two years - sporadically at first, a shield or two, but then more consistently and now often without a single shield. Have you tried different slices? For good progression you want a slice where the top scorers are well above 1200. You won’t rank high, but the score inflation helps everyone in the slice.

A bigger thing for getting 4s though is pve. Yeah, it can be repetitious, but pvp progression is the easiest way to get 4 covers and CP. Maybe try that for a while to get your 4* roster moving along more and then go back to pvp.

Edit: I should add that when I started hitting progression with a 3* roster it was easier to do than with a 3* roster now, because not nearly so many people had 4s, and 5s didn’t exist. Now I’m doing it with champed 4*s.

17

Mate, spend CP and buy that last cover. You won’t regret it.

I had XFW sat at 5/2/4 for absolutely ages. Kept pulling greens, no blacks or yellows in sight. Then I fluked a yellow from a Heroic just as I hit Patch’s first 4* champ reward and I thought, “Screw this, I’m over RNG!” Saved up 120CP (which honestly doesn’t take that long), bought a Surgical Strike, maxed him, champed him, used Patch’s champ reward (GREEN, ALWAYS WITH THE GREEN) to get his first champ reward. Felt good, man.

I then did the same with Thoress, spending 240CP to max cover her. No regrets. She owns and I’m finally feeling like I’ve got a foot in the 4* door.

18

Thanks for all the response everyone… Great to hear so many people understand and feel my pain. So now it sounds like I have a plan - focus on PVE and progression rewards! Will see how I go Cheers!

19

PVP doesn’t become “easy” to get to 1200 until you have at least two boosted 5*s.

I miss the days when I could hit max prog in PVP with just a lv 390 OML and a championed Carnage icon_e_biggrin.gif

The good news is that you can win tons of ISO, HP and covers playing PVE, especially if you’re on a machine that allows ads.

20

Can I just focus on these bits for a moment…

I understand if you’re an FTP player, but you can’t complain that you’re not getting 4* covers if you refuse to play PvE. If that’s the choice you make, you’re gonna hafta learn to live with the consequences.

PvE progression will net you at least 25CP and a legendary cover if you’re at SCL7 or higher. DDQ alone is never gonna be enough to make any kind of progression in the game.