What if...? Stars Equated to Power

Marvel Puzzle Quest MPQ Character Discussion
1

What if the number of stars below a character’s named equated to their relative power level? It’s something I’ve often considered. It’s even been proposed on these forums before. What would the landscape of Marvel Puzzle Quest look like? Can such an insignificant and pointless question possibly be answered? I have decided to try.

1-STARS
Only having a single star associated with your cover surely would be a humbling situation in the face of gods, cosmic beings, and living planets. These characters would be the powerless individuals who rely on equipment and gadgets to overcome their foes. This doesn’t mean they aren’t formidable, but simply that their abilities and prowess falls within the bounds of what a normal (comic book) human could achieve. Or, if they have a power it is something merely cosmetic or non-offensive.
Examples: Black Widow, Coulson, Falcon, Hawkeye, Jubilee, Kingpin, Punisher, Vulture

2-STARS
These individuals are enhanced, but on the lower end of the spectrum. Their powers are more low-key. They could have fantastic agility, stretchy limbs, or enhanced senses. These would be the characters with healing factors or the ability to control chipmunks. They’re definitely ‘super’ but still a long ways from realistically standing toe-to-toe with a god.
Examples: Ant-Man, Black Panther, Bucky, Bullseye, Daredevil, Dazzler, Kraven, Moon Knight, Mystique

3-STARS
These heroes and villains can pack a wallop. They either have one amazing stand-out power or a variety of exceptional abilities/powers. This is the ‘middle’ where I envision a large portion of the character population would fall and the tier which would have the widest range. They are either physically formidable, have a power capable of creation/damage/destruction, a massive intellect, or possibly a combination of things that form a truly exceptional individual.
Examples: Cap, Dr. Doom, Human Torch, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Sandman, Spider-Man, Storm, Thing, Wolverine

4-STARS
You don’t want to mess with these guys. The 4-stars are the gods and the people capable of defeating gods. They might have massive destructive abilities, immense physical strength, or simply rival all others in their arena of power. They can take on entire teams of foes and prevail.
Examples: Ares, Dr. Strange, Hulk, Juggernaut, Loki, Magneto, Professor X, Thor

5-STARS
Anyone with five stars under their name are beings of galactic power and cosmic significance. They are capable of damage on a planetary (or greater) scale. It usually takes a universe-wide crossover event to handle these kinds of threats.
Examples: Phoenix, Silver Surfer, Thanos

So what do you think. Agree? Disagree? Where would your favorite characters fall?

2

At first I thought this was a suggested change and I was going to say you may as well ask what if the game were made out of spaghetti. Seeing as it’s a hypothetical it makes more sense.

A lot of people seem to think it is and/or should be. I still see confusion on that all the time. "How is [Hawkeye|Black WIdow|other characters I’m not thinking of] a 5*?!

It would make sense from a roleplay/game world perspective, but with how they choose to do character release it’s super impractical. If they wanted to make an MPQ 2 and do that it might work, if they started with 5*s out of the gate and tried to grow the size of the tiers either evenly or completely randomly based on characters they want/need to promote.

Personally what I would rather see is something more like Strike Force where star level was a power level and characters progressed through the tiers. Then instead of having 7 Spider-Mans there could just be 1 but have skins for the different ones that are only available via premium currency.

3

I think Doom should be a 4* - he fits the description of being able to take on Gods and entire teams and prevail.

The difference between 1* & 2* level is probably the trickiest one and where most debate might be. I understand the logic behind Kingpin and Daredevil in the respective tiers but then think about times the two have clashed and how badly it has often ended for DD.

Otherwise, that looks pretty spot on to me.

4

It may not be a popular sentiment, but what about these “1*” sentences doesn’t apply to Iron Man?

“These characters would be the powerless individuals who rely on equipment and gadgets to overcome their foes. This doesn’t mean they aren’t formidable, but simply that their abilities and prowess falls within the bounds of what a normal (comic book) human could achieve.”

I’ll admit I’ve never been a huge IM fan, but in the end he is nothing in a battle without his various (albeit awesome) gadgets.

5

I think Tony fits into this category, myself.