I went DDQ only several months ago (in October, right when 5s were really starting to take off) and as a result my 4 transition roster had sort of stalled with a handful of covered, underleveled 4s and a complete 3 roster ranging from 120 to 166. Back when I was playing competitively, I felt like had a good handle on the ideal way to spend ISO In general, it made the most sense to level the very top tier 3s ASAP, level top tier 4s to 200 or so ASAP, level everyone else only as needed for events, and stockpile everything as much as possible. saving ISO made sense when the marginal added value of the last handful of levels was really only in defensive deterrence. A 210/140 IMHB/IF would perform just about as well offensively as a 270/166 team; it would just see more attacks per minute unshielded. And keeping all 4* characters underleveled was marginally helpful for PVE scaling.
But 5s and championing have totally broken that old dynamic. Since they start at level 255(270 really), 5s immediately undermine and underleveling strategy for 4s. And championing provides a strong incentive to max level every 3 and 4* as asap (lest covers go to waste).
But leveling everyone is basically impossible given the iso flow rate. (I had more than 1 million iso stockpiled for months and months, and could have used 3x that much just on championing 1/2 of my roster.) And with all the extra legendary tokens from championing, many people, including myself, will probably have one or more 4-7 cover 5*s fairly soon.
So what do people think is the best strategy re: leveling 5s? Is it better to level those 5s asap, or should one use the old method of waiting until one had a full 5* team ready to go before blowing the top off your roster by leveling a 5* above 300? when does a 5* really surpass the 4* tier? is it at 6 covers? 10?
IMO if you are concerned with MM, then the answer is no. People ready for the 5* transition aren’t worried about scaling or matchmaking.
For the most part I treat it the same as any other transition - don’t spend the ISO until you know it will be worth it. If that means having a scary PvP team then I think you are talking about 7-8 covers.
So after all of demiurge’s talk in september that 5s were supposed to be different than the earlier tiers, and that each 5 cover would be a real achievement, it still takes 8 covers before having a 5* give you a clear advantage over a good 4*? Ugh.
5* are more about level and match damage than covers. A 350 5* can do some real damage but because OML needs so much AP to convert to do damage he is beatable with a good 4* team. My OML is 3,1,1 and still at base level and he does work for me in PVP as a true healing tank. His strike tiles do massive damage. My SS is 1,3,1 and I need to level him so his red can do more damage. Right now his red is ok but with levels can do work.
I think the general advice has been that a 5* is generally PvP playable at 6 total covers (which gives you a level max of 345), which is quite different from a 4*, who generally needs at least 10-11 covers to make them playable.
I suppose it depends on the context. A 1/1/1 5* like OML is very playable in PvE (as in, you don’t have to tell him to hide in a whole while his partners do the work).
Generally, if I’m given the option between a 6 cover 5* + maxed 4*, vs a maxed 4* duo, at the same point value, I’ll pick the 4* duo.
Having a couple 5s with 5+ covers, i have decided that no 5 will go above level 350, the max boosted level of a 4*. So my MMR doesn’t change. So far the only place i have noticed any difference, is in Ssim, where i am now put against others with max 4s and mid level 5s, but easy enough fights.
So, since you have some 4s, even underleveled, find out where they stand when boosted, this way you can leave your 5 at that level, and it will not be any different than a week where one of your 4* are boosted.