It’s been pretty consistently 5/4/4 since… Black Bolt’s release in 2016. Occasionally you get some variations, most often a 5 comes early, giving us a 5/4/5, but then we get three 4’s in a row, so instead of 5/4/4/5/4/4 we get a stretch of 5/4/5/4/4/4, changes how long each 5 is in Latest, but over time it’s the same release rate of 5’s and 4’s. It happened with Black Widow, Peter Parker, Cable, and Professor X, each 5 skipping a 4 in the release cycle, but an extra 4 coming out after to get us back “on track.”
It looked like the first half of 2019 was going to follow a 5/4/4/5/4 pattern, but it went back to 5/4/4 with Storm’s release.
The pattern shows that both February releases should have been 4’s, so if we’re getting a 5 later this month, then that release is definitely off the normal pattern.
Are there four factions of devs competing in regular Nerf gun battles to determine how SHIELD Training works?
After two runs with all older characters, we have a run with the absolute newest character. We’ve had runs with the second oldest and the third oldest in the past. No pattern, no consistency.
Is it really too much to ask for someone to decide who you think is “supposed” to be able to get the 4* cover in this event, build it accordingly, and stick to it? At this point I’d be happy if it’s always the newest character. I’d never get a 4* from ST again, but at least I’d know where I stand.
I was looking at the Karnak thread which lists Hearts of Darkness as the 2/16 event that features Karnak. The list here on the Sneak Peek says that event will be Venom Bomb. I’m not sure which is correct; maybe there was an initial plan for VB and that got switched around to HoD.
As far as anyone knows, it’s just determined by who is next up in the schedule to be the Featured 4*. With the way they’ve been rotating those, it works out to a 60% chance of the Required character being one of the most recent three.
Has the newer character appeared in PvE essentials more than twice way before shield training date?
If the answer is yes, take it that they aren’t essential.
OR
When it’s near shield training date, ask yourself:
will this week be the second time this newer character appears in PvE?
If the answer is yes, then that will be the required newer essential.
If the newer essential turns out to contradict your answer, you should be happy because they are using older characters or the older of the newest characters.
In this scenario, Modok and Karoline have already appeared thrice and Northstar just appeared the second time.
Oh, sorry. My mistake. I figured it was either random, arbitrary, or so complicated as to seem random or arbitrary but that’s very clear, transparent, and easy for anyone playing the game to follow along with and plan around.
I guess we’re lucky that they relaxed the restrictions on “join forces” essential missions. Otherwise Meet Rocket and Groot would have been impossible to complete, having both “Captain Marvel (Modern)” and “Captain Marvel (Ms. Marvel)” as essential.
Yes, this is what I noticed too - I really thought they were going to a 44545 release schedule, but then with Storm they really seemed to shake back to a 445445 schedule. Only Juggernaut was between Iceman and Prof X, but it was a long gap between Juggs and Prof X.
Placement Rewards:
5-Star: New Character - Shards
4-Star: M.O.D.O.K. - Black, Blue, Shards
3-Star: Elektra - Purple, Black, Red, Shards
2-Star: Thor - Yellow, Green, Red
2 things:
Jean Grey is 3 Classics in a row after BW and Strange…maybe the pattern is changing.
Placement rewards for New Person suggests very heavily that the NEW 5 will be essential in whatever PVE follows IP, so we are back to the “Make the newest 5 essential immediately” just like with the Profe$$or. I guess they think we are all fine with it since shards are in rewards now.
If we’re lucky, “New Character” is a placeholder for Mister Sinister and that’s his first Essential event as a Latest 5*. Phoenix is still out of order, but having Sinister up would far less egregious than having a new 5* HP release on the 27th and then having them essential before a CP store even opens.
Funny how we were just trying to go from royal family → Summers family with the last clue.
Havok would be a welcome addition to the game, but I’m not sure I want him as a 5*. No, that’s not right, I’m definitely sure I don’t want him as a 5*. A Cyclops, maybe Beast, definitely a Magneto, you could make a case for more standard versions of existing characters (like a non-Phoenix Jean, or maybe a 616 Wolverine that isn’t OML, but either of those could be accomplished via costumes as well). You could probably justify a future Omega Level mutant as a 5* easy enough.
But for just “filling the gaps in the roster” like Havok or Banshee or Cannonball or Forge or Polaris or so on and so forth, I’d rather see them as 4s and go elsewhere with 5s.
