Using underutilized characters for fun (hopefully)

Marvel Puzzle Quest MPQ General Discussion
1

Today I decided to abandon all concern for rewards (placement or progression) and avoid anything even remotely usual in my character selection for PVE nodes.

I was running through the easy nodes and decided to just not continue doing the easiest thing.

Maybe I’ll put some lower level characters to work tomorrow.

For now, starting with the “The Heart of Castle Doom” node I’ve given myself the following rules:

1: Find a character I don’t recall ever using. They can (and probably should) be champed 5. Yes, I’ve probably used all my 4s and 5s at minimum when they’re essential… But they’d just be chilling while whatever pick 2 I chose did all the work. That doesn’t count.

2: Find a second character that matches rule 1 (with more leniency to be a 4) that has some sort of synergy with the first character. I just need a win condition that can sound somewhat reasonable at first glance.

3: Find a third. Rainbow is all we’re concerned about here.

4: No Oscorp Spidey… Ever.

5: Use that team, and that team only. (Obviously, nodes with essentials will change one character, but that’s the only exception) If I picked wrong, I suffer the consequences of not being able to finish the sub. So be it.

6: No looking up anything at all. Any intentional research on a character disqualifies that character. Read powers, make decision, move on.

Selection:

I read through a few then saw Cable, thought “I forgot I even had him”,… Then I saw Hit Monkey and thought the same thing. I’ve thought about using him but never got around to it and he just faded into the background. Until now.

Hit Monkey: The lynchpin of the brave underappreciated toons that have heretofore done nothing more than take up space on my roster.

I know I’ve faced him somewhere, but I can’t recall what he does. Reading his powers… Purple: invisible and damage with CDs.
Red: damage. Lots of words but… Damage.
Black: CD, and some AP manipulation but also damage.

So… Hit Monkey does damage with shenanigans.

Second character: …I just considered Rescue and I’m angry with myself. I need a moment.

I’m tempted by Brand… But I may have used her at some point in a test team, plus she’s boosted and I don’t want Monkee being overshadowed.

Fisk has blue and green damage with shenanigans… And I’ve faced AI Fisk and know he can hit hard… He’ll do.

Filter for yellow… There’s Cable again. He’s expensive but I only need yellow so there it is.

Results:

Rainbow coverage and shenanigans side, these three have no business being in a team together. I knew that, of course, but my parameters didn’t leave me many options.

It was very slow compared to my usual play throughs, but I did get through it. That slowness did allow the enemy teams to collect AP which led to health pack usage between rounds though.

That said, each of them feel as though they should be good to decent individually, even if I still never have a need to actually use them.

Monkee should be good with a damage booster… And I feel like there’s a great team that includes him…I may need to look into that.

Fisk feels unique, but I can’t imagine him being the best anything… He has something to offer, but he’s on the bench because he’s just not offering as good a deal as others.

Cable… If his powers were cheaper, I’d look for a team that could use him.

Overall, speed will always be important and this wasn’t fast… But I was entertained for most of it so it’s a win.

2

Not to get up on my soapbox (again) about this, but this is how you keep having fun playing MPQ after 10 years.

Winning is fun, but honestly, it gets old when you have to keep using the same teams and strategies for years. (Trust me, I’ve won a lot.) And the rewards they give out are so good now anyway that you only lose a bit of value by not trying to win. What you gain in fun more than makes up for it, at least in my opinion.

When I gave up trying for placement in PvE I started doing something very similar to what you’re doing here (not quite as many rules though), and it completely turned the game around for me.

This kind of thing might not be for everyone, and that’s ok too. But when you get bored or burnt out, try something different! You have nothing to lose. I look forward to seeing what else you come up with!

3

Yeah… The repetition is likely the thing getting to me. I think there was comfort to it for a while but it’s just not clicking the same lately. In the past I had forced breaks due to deployments or other work related reasons I didn’t have internet. Then I retired. I don’t have those breaks anymore that r away then give me something to get excited about when I get back.

The rules were to force me to use a full team of characters I haven’t used, and to avoid accidently following any habitual formula.

I don’t think I’ll do it like this again… But I’ll likely try to rotate at least one new character into the rotation here and there, and allow much more freedom in the other two.

I narrated it here just to force myself you stick to the self-imposed rules.

I’m looking forward to the next community challenge and just warming up/getting to know more characters better in the meantime.

4

There’s just so much depth to this game, and it’s very easy to miss if you’re only focused on speed/winning. I’m sure there are crazy combos that nobody has even thought of yet, and there are plenty of characters we’ve all missed out on.

It’s a little unfair because I kind of get to have a bit of both (variety and speed). I can throw out random boosted guys at super high levels every event, but that’s only because I chose that path.

5

I do this for PVP against unboosted teams (against boosted and mThor/SC I run my own boosted). Either looking for synergies or just trying out random combos to see if I can win. I am currently running Odin / Loki with Angela.

As much as they’re all gods, this team is awful.

6

Somebody just said 5* Wasp Rampage mode is on?

7

I used to do this in DDQ with 4s on the nodes you can pick anybody on. I do wish there was more opportunity to explore your roster in non-timed, not-repeating nodes (an evergreen request would be replayable DDQ w/out rewards for this purpose).

Generally speaking I try to minimize time spent playing nowadays which is sad maybe? but also I have a lot of other things to do. And it creates goals which keep me engaged (leveling supports/characters etc).

8

I just ran Ghost Rider (Robbie) and Wasp together in Angela’s PVP. And won! The swarm was shrunk, grown, and called!

9

I see this a lot and I don’t really get it. Running the fastest team is really important when you’re trying to win. A few seconds either way makes a huge difference, and small advantages like supports matter a ton.

But if you’re not competing, what’s the point? Choosing a “fun,” non optimal team in PvE isn’t going to take your clear time from 20 minutes to 3 hours – it’s going to add maybe an extra 5, 10, or 20 minutes at the very most. I’m crazy busy all the time, but I can find an extra 5 or 10 minutes in my day to maximize the fun I have playing MPQ.

10

I’ve had a lot of fun with DD. I haven’t yet used Ronan, so I’ll take him for a spin.