Prospective Upgrades for Devil Dino

Marvel Puzzle Quest MPQ Character Discussion Speculation and Concepts
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1

I think Devil Dinosaur needs a major upgrade. Why?

When Devil Dinosaur was released, 4-stars were very rare. Even advanced players had only a handful of 4-star covers (even maxed 3-stars were pretty special). This made Dino special, and collecting a ton of covers during the Anniversary was incredibly fun, even though his abilities were pretty weak.

Additionally, he served a purpose. Long before Champions were a twinkle in a dev’s eye, he was usable as a big, beefy tank for slowly advancing rosters of mostly 2- and 3-star characters. He was a bridge to bigger things. Sort of.

But let’s face it: These days he’s just a big prestige paperweight. I’m hard casual and I do spend during the anniversary, so Dino is still my highest 4-star champ. Only boosted one week a year (plus a minor boost in Civil War), he isn’t usable for any veteran player. Even 3-star/4-star transition rosters with no boosted 4s will surely have a better boosted 3, or some unboosted 4* keystone who is much more effective. And any 5-star with a couple covers outshines a champ Dino, just for the higher match damage.

Giving Dino an upgrade could make him relevant again. Not great, not dominating, just, sometimes usable. With the right tweaks he could be useable, but not overpowered, for all but the most elite rosters. Imagine this hypothetical “usability index”:

  • 94+, he’s a huge monster even if you only get enough covers to take him to ~144. His match damage is about as strong as your 2-star champs, but his power damage is double or triple that..

  • 166+, You’ve got Dino from the anniversary and your first year S.H.I.E.L.D. Rewards. He’s close to champing. Not the best character on your roster in terms of utility, but health and raw damage are better than the handful of under-covered 5s you’ve pulled so far.

  • 270+. Dino’s one of multiple 4-champs. You likely use him when he’s boosted, and sometimes whith boosted synergistic support (i.e. Switch or Chulk); Especially on pvp defense.

  • 450+. Dino’s mostly retired these days, but once in a while you pull him out to mix things up in Simulator. At least Dino’s champ levels provide some CP during the anniversary, and 5-star covers for (future event character he feeds).

2

greenflag.png
Prehistoric Bite 7 greentile.png
AP
Devil Dinosaur grabs the target in his fierce jaws, dealing 3015 damage and taking a bite out of a random 2x2 block of tiles. If Devil Dinosaur has less than 50% Health after the board settles, he lashes out, destroying 12 additional tiles.

redflag.png
Prehistoric Chomp 10 redtile.png
AP
Devil Dinosaur snatches the enemy in his massive teeth, dealing 5721 damage, plus 5721 damage for each downed character in the battle.

purpleflag.png
Prehistoric Arms 6 purpletile.png
AP
Devil Dinosaur waves his foreshortened forearms ferociously, dealing 2111 damage and destroying 3 random tiles. Then create a 2-turn Repeater tile; when activated, Devil Dinosaur makes one free match. This power becomes Clever Devil.

purpleflag.png
Clever Devil
(Passive) Devil Dinosaur’s base match damage in all colors (including Team-Up AP) increases by 100.
(Passive) When an enemy special tile is destroyed, deal 704 damage.
When Devil Dinosaur’s repeater tile no longer exists, this power becomes Prehistoric Arms.

3

greenflag.png
Prehistoric Bite 7 greentile.png
AP
Devil Dinosaur grabs the target in his fierce jaws, dealing 3316 damage and taking a bite out of a random 2x2 block of tiles. This power becomes Prehistoric Chomp.

greenflag.png
Prehistoric Chomp 10 greentile.png
AP
Devil Dinosaur snatches the enemy in his massive teeth, dealing 6293 damage, ignoring protect tiles. If this downs the target, gain 6 Red AP. Otherwise, stun them for 3 turns.

redflag.png
Big Red 10 redtile.png
AP
Devil Dinosaur charges into battle, causing mayhem. Deals 4204 damage to a random enemy and creates 2 random Critical tiles.
(Passive) Whenever you match a Critical tile, deal 2200 damage to the enemy team and gain 3 Green AP.

purpleflag.png
Prehistoric Arms 6 purpletile.png
AP
Devil Dinosaur waves his foreshortened forearms ferociously, dealing 2111 damage to the target and generating 4 Red AP.

4

greenflag.png
Prehistoric Bite 7 greentile.png
AP
With an invigorating RRRAAAWWRR, Devil Dinosaur grabs the target in his fierce jaws, dealing 2575 damage and taking a bite out of a random 2x2 block of tiles.
Until the end of the battle, reduce the cost of Devil Dinosaur’s powers by 1 (cumulative, to a minimum of 3).

redflag.png
Big Red
It’s basically impossible for a giant red Tyrannosaurus to keep a low profile.
(Passive) Whenever one of Devil Dinosaur’s allies would be stunned, Devil Dinosaur becomes stunned for 1 turn instead.
(Passive) Each of Devil Dinosaur’s Champion levels add 2 additional levels to his overall level.

  • e.g., Dino with 10 Champ levels (normally 280) would be 300. Max champ Devil Dino would be level 570. His Champion rewards wouldn’t change.
    purpleflag.png
    Prehistoric Arms 6 purpletile.png
    AP
    Devil Dinosaur waves his foreshortened forearms ferociously, swapping two random tiles and dealing 1819 damage.

Comment: I like this spec because it hardly changes him intrinsically, but gives him value long term (both in a battle and in a player’s collection.) After a few Prehistoric Bites his powers would both cost 3, increasing cost effectiveness, especially if he’s naturally level 380 or something. He’d be a big meatbag on defense just like he used to be.

5

The stat upgrades from Big Red is an interesting concept, but it does seem difficult to balance considering character boosts. I don’t think it’s a big deal if the devs don’t rework him again, because he’s just a trophy character. However, it’d be nice to be able to theorycraft optimal teams for him.

6

If supports weren’t already effectively “limited,” I’d suggest a limited support for Devil D that made him viable lol