When Ares was introduced, I think in the first Hunt rerun, he was handed out like candy - a prize in every sub, in tokens, etc. The two 2s introduced since then have been rolled out like they were 3s, with covers being given out very, very stingily at first. It gives their PVEs very little sense of reward, and when combined with a weak PVE like the current one, it results in very low levels of player engagement.
While they don’t need to be given out quite like Ares was (I was a mid-level 2* player at the time, and I think I got enough covers to finish him twice over), a new 2* should be given out enough at least so that there’s a chance of fully covering them, or at least getting them up to playable by the end of the event. That way, 1) Players are more willing to put effort into placing well, and 2) The essential nodes in the next PVE don’t result in 2 characters plus waste of space.