The story thus far…
You’ve been playing MPQ for a while, and are approaching SHIELD Rank (SR) 120. Maybe you followed the New Player Guide maybe not. SHIELD Clearance Level (SCL) 10 is about to unlock for you. Are you ready? How do you know you are ready?
Regardless, you’re about to enter the endgame…
Rewards of SCL10
Why is SCL10 such a big milestone? It’s the highest SCL, and it has the best rewards, of course. Most notably, in SCL10 you get 250 shards of a 5 star (half a cover) just for getting progression. Which doesn’t even require you to play all the nodes 3 times. Yep, that’s right, 3 times not 4 times. But more on that later.
To illustrate the differences in rewards, here are some screenshots from DonkeyTeeth’s PvE Tracker Spreadsheet (CL Comparison Tab if you want to play with it yourself).
Between SCL9 and SCL10 you are looking at losing a tiny bit of ISO, some 3 star shards, and a heroic token, but getting an extra 450 4 star shards, 200 5 star shards, and a mighty token - plus 15 HP! Woot!
Most important of course is the 5 star shards, as this is part of the LL train strategy to stay caught up and champ every new 5 star as they come out.
What about placement? Maybe you’ve been crushing it with the steamroller team of Polaris, Rocket & Groot, and Juggernaut in SCL9 and getting top placement?
This is what the differences are between top 10 in SCL9 and Top 200 for SCL10. T200 in SCL10 (in my experience) is about where you fall when completing progression but not playing for placement. Not a lot, depending. And again, that is SCL9 T10! You can dial in for your own experience on the sheet here.
Did you know - SCL10 gives T200 players a full 4 star cover for new release events, which is likely more attainable than what is needed in SCL9.
Still want to try for placement? Watch for bracket flips (using this guide and this spreadsheet) to improve your chances.
In short, SCL10 is all about the progression rewards, since it makes 5 stars much easier to cover.
A Brief Note about PvP/Versus
Prevailing wisdom is, always play the highest SCL. In Versus mode, SCL does not change who you match up with, just the rewards. So always pick high!
#Changes in SCL10
SCL10 is the biggest change in SCLs.
There is no 2 star essential (2E) Keep your 2 star farm going though. but you no longer need a specific 2 star for story mode.
There is a Challenge Node Replacing the 2E is a green Challenge Node. This is a super-tough node where you can pick any 3 characters to face the opponent. Seldom are these goons. And some of these are really, really hard.
One less clear to start the timers/green check a node Really good news - you only have to do each node 3 times to start the timers (2x for wave nodes) and 4 times to get all rewards (3x for wave nodes). This helps make up for the extra time it can take to fight the tougher enemies.
So what do I need for progression in SCL10?
In short, beat each regular node, the 3E, and the 4E - 3 times each.
Then, 3 beat the 5E and Challenge Node (CN) a combination of 3 times.
In other words, if you beat the 5E once and the CN 2 times, you should be good. Or the 5E 3 times, and the CN 0 times. Or the 5E 0 times, and the CN 3 times, etc.
If you do 4 clears on the other nodes, especially waiting for points to refresh, you will need even less.
A big takeaway here is you don’t always need the 5E to get progression in SCL10.
Long answer, you can use the PvE details sheet to calculate your points for any specific event.
Requirements for SCL10
In game, you only need to reach SR120 to open up SCL10. But what do you actually need to succeed? Well, that depends on what you mean by success. I’m going to start with success being “getting full progression while still having a life, and only 10 healthpacks.”
Here’s what you need for that in some general terms:
A way to reliably remove countdown tokens/special tiles. A Tommy Gun from a thug in SCL10 can wipe out a champed 4-star team. Cheap Shot can down most champed 4 stars and undercovered 5-stars. Therefore you need a way to keep them from going off, but the health of even generic goons is going to be 50k- six figures. Even Polaris, Grocket and Juggs will no longer be able to down them all before some of them go off.
For this reason Kitty Pryde used to be the top recommended first 5 star. Sure, her yellow boost to Grocket’s strike tiles ramped up fast, but more importantly at 5 covers, her purple would remove one countdown a turn.
Now, however, Morbius and Doctor Octopus provide more directed/reliable removal of those tiles (and repeaters) at the 4-star level.
A way to deal damage faster. As mentioned above, health pools for enemies jumps way up from SCL9. You need to deal more damage faster, or you won’t outlast the enemy.
A way to mitigate damage/heal. Enemy match and ability damage goes up too. While you can use Polaris/Grocket/Juggs, you will have to use a lot of health packs in SCL10 vs SCL9.
Several 4 star Champs See the list below for some highlights.
(Ideal) All 4 stars rostered Since you will start to get more 5 star covers and really want to be able to roster new 5 stars as they come out so you can do the 5E node
(Ideal) Some good utility 5 star covers See the list below
Recommended Characters to Build for SCL10 Transition
Recommended 4 Star Characters
SCL10 was made for 5 stars, but there are some key 4 star players that you should make sure you build up. The goal is to build a few different possible teams that can handle different SCL10 challenges.
Morbius Great special tile remover. Match one, and he removes 3 others. Self healing available too.
Doctor Octopus Another great special tile remover, with some board manipulation. Doubles as a good partner with Shang-Chi.
Medusa With Polaris and Rocket and Groot, trades Juggs’ toughness with a steady team heal. This team is weak to strong abilities that can one-shot them, though.
Melinda May Similar to Valkyrie, who is at least worth a mention here - a great AP battery. May has simpler AP boost and a cheap stun, though.
Deathlok AP battery that works great with Kang (5 star specifically) to generate the necessary blue to away enemies. Combos well with Okoye too, making him a 4 star that supports several 5 stars well. Vulture can improve the AP battery function, as Vulture is another technologist.
Gorr Another special tile remover, but only if several are put out at once. Pairs well with Okoye with his repeaters.
Recommended 5 Star Starter Characters
Beta Ray Bill Specifically getting at least 1 yellow cover enables a winfinite combo, which can allow you to punch way up on Challenge Nodes.
Shang-Chi Really shines once you get him champed, in which case you probably won’t need to use the winfinite in SCL10 anymore, and can do SCL10 clears in a little over 30 minutes. Downside? He really doesn’t work great before getting fully covered/champed. Works really well with several 4 stars, including Chavez, Melinda May, Valkyrie, and Doctor Octopus.
Kang Relatively new as I write this, Kang creates a shortcut, accelerated by 4 stars Deathlok and Vulture. 27 blue, and everyone’s away. One cover won’t necessarily do it, but there are other ways to cheese quick victories. 5 star Hawkeye and 3 star Iron man, plus supports to make yellow at the start of the game can make quick work even with 3 star Kang, but the team is really squishy if things go sideways. All the same, an undercovered Kang or 3 star Kang champ can be something to consider from time to time.
Chasm Specifically getting one purple cover will allow you to stun mindless ones as soon as the game starts, preventing them from placing their special tiles. One purple doesn’t do much else though.
Mighty Thor Specifically her blue. 1 cover in blue can help Shang make combos or Polaris fill the board with specials.
Okoye Another that needs to be champed to shine, but she now has several 4 star partners that empower her - Gorr, Hulkling, and Deathlok especially. Also can be devastating with Immortal Hulk with at least 1 green cover. However, as a first champ, Shang-Chi is more reliable and consistent.
Kitty Pryde Still worthy of the list, but not recommended as a first 5 star champ. She can enable Polaris and Rocket and Groot to clear, and with Beta Ray Bill’s yellow she can create a well-protected team.
Share your SCL10 tips below!
