Honest Feedback for All Nine Carina Challenges

I finished off all these challenges a few days before 7.2 went live. I wanted to provide my feedback as a 6 year veteran of this game, was gonna do it sooner but couldn't find the time until today. I spend no cash on this, cuz why should you lol, and around 2-3k units to get 9/9 . This is gonna be a long one, hope people actually take this feedback into consideration. Here we go:

Starting off with a quote from the dev diaries: "We’re exploring some unique ways to challenge those of you at the top of your skill."

While this quote was accurate on occasion, it wasn't really what was going on for the most part. First of all I have got to say that some of these challenges were actually good designs and actually challenges. However, as I share my feedback I feel like I should share what a challenge actually is from my perspective. A challenge in this game is something to overcome with skill, planning and maybe a little bit of luck however it should be possible to achieve without the use of any revives or potions. Those should be tools to help if you mess up but they should not be the main tools you lean your back on while working on overcoming the challenge. BG's 6.2 itemless clear is a challenge, beating Maestro in Act4 with only a team of 2 stars is a challenge, going into Variant 7 with a non-hero champ and beating one quest is a challenge (yes you can take these ideas if you would like lol). So with that clarification out of the way I would like to talk about all nine Carina challenges, probably starting with the good and ending with the awful ones.

5.3.1 Mordo challenge with non mystic 3 stars: This was actually one of the fun ones because I got to use some 3 star champs I do not get to use since I do not have them at a higher star level. I got to use my 3 star Stryfe for fun and I really enjoyed the concept of this challenge. So I think this was one of the challenges that really hit the mark.

6.1.5 Xbones challenge with certain Mutant characters: I loved the throwback on this one because I absolutely adored the 90s animated X-men show so this was probably my favorite challenge out of all. Probably the easiest one for me as well since I had most of the specified mutants ranked up. Cue the X-men theme music, great theme to loop in your head all day lol.

6.2.5 Mordo challenge with only Cosmic 5 stars: This is probably the worst quest that was ever designed in this game and the "Strength in Numbers" node is still one of the least fun an interactive ones there is in the game. It essentially forces revives and it not being removed after all the feedback *cough cough* FOCUS GROUP . Not the mention, the quest also has one of the hardest global nodes as well. However, this was another successful challenge in my books because you can indeed finish this one with no items whatsoever if you plan accordingly. Certainly not the easiest challenge but it was a well designed one. CGR Medusa Hyp supported by Odin and Heimdall got me through quite nicely, took out one of the links by taking a path that starts with Diablo and it was a good experience.

5.4.6 quest with only Loki on the team: This is where challenges are getting a little out of hand on the list. This one only mildly because it indeed possible to push through but with boosts, masteries and some luck. Only talking about the initial fight of the quest by the way which is an Electro that kills you unless you are Swedeah, who barely got a solo who knows using which masteries and how many boosts. YJ is even worse after his update so you have to take Electro. After that it isn't that bad if you play perfectly, I personally took the Rage path cuz there was no Green Goblin on it. The Stark could be annoying if he evades constantly but the boss is a joke with Loki, probably his only purpose in the game. So I would say I kinda enjoyed this one as well.

6.2.6 Champion with a team of Kamala Khan( 🤮): This is certainly a very skill based challenge and the challenge aspect I have no problem with for the most part, if you exclude the Magik that has extra power gain and the unavoidable coldsnap damage you take from Iceman. I did this with an unawakened r1 6 star Kamala, who I didn't rank because I absolutely hate her and I would spend a thousand more revives than rank her up at all. That was my choice and I suffered for it but I definitely think this is one of the challenges that fits my idea of an actual challenge. Swedeah did it revivesless, granted he had both Kamala's ranked up to the highest level possible, but nevertheless he did it and it shows that it is indeed possible.

5.2.6 Collector with 3 star Garbage-I mean Cyclopses:: This is where we start with the bad ones imo. This was absolutely horrible, has 0 skill aspect to it whatsoever. The path moving to the collector could be considered a challenge but the boss fight is stupid. It is probably one of the worst fights ever designed, literally designed to kill your champs. Horrible, horrible design which imo is not a challenge, just a revive-fest, absolutely 0 skill aspect to it other than being able to dex/parry and time the Bane transfers decently on the regular fights, which is not even sustainable against the Collector. The real challenge is saving your revives for the following three LOL "challenges".

LOL with Canadian 4 star team: This was actually the only LOL challenge I enjoyed a little because of how hard Sabretooth was hitting. If you can get the PERFECT ramp, which is pretty possible with the Guardian perfect block synergy, you could potentially get solos. However, being forces to use revives because 4 stars can't finish any fights within the enrage timer, makes this challenge less enjoyable. I took the easy path and it was still around a 20-30 revive range including the ramp-up. It is fun once Sabreman starts hitting hard but getting there is just stupidly painful and has very little skill aspect to it whatsoever.

LOL with a team of 4 star Inhumans: Garbage "challenge". I had everybody at 5/50 excluding the devil Kamala, and went for the easy path and it was a grind. Even with boosts and a full team you can barely take off half of one champs health using the entire team. Very little skill aspect, contrary to the quote from the dev diary, just revive your way through for the rewards. Poor design.

LOL with only 4 star Star-Lord: Probably the worst one there is. I took the shortened path inside and it probably cost around 50-60 revives. I was insanely lucky with Venompool and Maestro cuz they only proced regen 4 times, combined for both which could have been way worse if anybody saw Karatemike or MSD take on these "challenges". Even with that luck, it was just another "revive your way through" objective because of the enrage timer. If you play super aggressive, you could maybe take off like 30-35% with full boosts and masteries but it is just not sustainable if you do not have the resources or units.

Overall I would say 3/9 of the challenges were great, these are 5.3.1, 6.2.5 and 6.1.5.
2/9 which are 6.2.6 and 5.4.6, were decent as well but the Iceman/Magik for Kamala and Electro/YJ for Loki made them less enjoyable. However I consider these 5 to be reflective of the quote "We’re exploring some unique ways to challenge those of you at the top of your skill."

The LOL "challenges" and the Kabam Miike cyclops garbage "challenge" were simply screaming out: "Hey guys you get mad when we sell these, so we are not gonna sell them but put them inside challenges and "pseudo" sell them!" They were poorly designed. Designed isn't even a good word they are just put there to drain the resource and unit stashes, I don't think there was any though put into these ones at all. Absolutely no skill aspect to them whatsoever, unless you count being able to parry/dex, use your revives/wallet to get back in a skill. They were not challenges and a horrible experience for everybody. Constantly needing to revive is not skill based nor challenging, it is just frustrating. The Sabreman one was tolerable due to the damage but the other 2 LOL objectives and the 3 star Cyclops were plain stupid.

These 4, 3 if you exclude the Sabreman one, really made the experience infuriating rather than challenging. The first 5 are really good with small issues but the rest are just forcing you to revive, which in my books is not a challenge. I hope in the future when you guys design stuff like this, take this feedback into consideration. Nobody likes being forced to use items because there is not other way to move forward. Make them actually skill based somehow and make the revive aspect a choice not a requirement. Overall, I think they were ok but if forcing the use of revives is Kabam's idea of a challenge, I urge you to think out that perspective because I can assure you, nobody, literally NOBODY likes it that way.

I really dunno how many ppl will make it this far but if you did thank you for reading my feedback and I hope this actually provides some perspective on what I think, and probably what anybody who did 9/9 thinks, about the Carina's Challenges.

Comments

Kill_Grey

This was a very fun read

What were your rewards?

unknown

This content has been removed.

Worknprogress

Pretty much how I feel about them as well. I did all but the 6.2.6 and Inhumans and SL runs bc I had enough stashed to do them all unitless. Don't really have any intention of doing the remaining 3 unless I end up building a ridiculous stash again or the R4 mats become actually relevant

Furious_Fighter1

TL;DR

5.3.1 Non Mystic Challenge:
Fun and Enjoyable

6.1.5 with Certain Mutants:
OP's personal fav
Easiest for OP.

6.2.5 (Mordo) with only Cosmic:
One of the worst quest(due to nodes) but successful challenge since its Doable w/o using units.

5.4.6 With 3* Loki:
First fight is a pain in the back.
After that it becomes doable.
Boss can be cheesed.

6.2.6 Champion with KK:
Apart from Magik and Iceman the challenge is mainly Skill Based.

5.2.6 with 3* Cyclops(es):
Horrible
Not skill based
Eats units / Revives.

LOL with Canadian 4-star:
Sabertooth if ramped up perfectly can hit hard.
Only LOL challenge that OP enjoyed a little.
Enrage timer forces revive

LOL with Inhuman:
Even with full boosts can't take out half of a opponents life with single take.

LOL with Starlord:
Worst of all challenges.
Forces a hell lot of revives.
Can only deal 35% health at maximum with single take.

1st 3 challenges were Pretty Good.
Next 2 were Decent.
Remaining 4 were just Garbage.

Mqc19

The LOL challenges are garbage and won’t even bother w them. The others I did and collector was the worst for sure.

Challenging shouldn’t mean money grab KABAM! Also LOL’s w 4’s is silly and not respectful of people time nor skill set. Let’s do better next time!

unknown

This content has been removed.

Sarvanga1_

I have done 3 of them.
5.3 with non mystics- loved it. Easily the best. Aegod and shang chi for the win.

6.2.5 with cosmics- pretty fun and took the cosmic gated path and fought darkhawk and red skull with 5 star r3 proxima which was awesome experience.

5.4.6 with loki- electro and Spider-Man fights are annoying. Most of the champs on the rage path had a way to give fury so that worked well. Destroying ultron was such an exhilarating experience.

I love all 3 of these.
Now I am eager to do 2 more challenges but I wouldn't right now because of the following reasons:

Lol canada: Don't want to grind arena because of the state of the arena right now.

6.1.5: don't have rogue and wolvie. Have
Gambit but won't upgrade him until I get apoc. I wish there was a way to get rogue like we got Kamala.

There is no eagerness for me to do the others. I have Kamala khan but I don’t think I can do that challenge without breaking my phone.

Panchulon21

Hey man this was a great read and exactly how I felt. I enjoyed the same ones you did. I have not done the kamala, cyclops or LoL ones. As much as I want to, I’m not throwing revives at something just to throw them.

When they first came out I wrote something similar to what you wrote about these challenges should be skilled based not units, revive deepest pocket based.

Kabam’s definition of challenge is how much can you not spend but still spend to clear your stash and have to spend units or real money when other content launches. I love the game but that aspect of the way kabam thinks actually pisses me off.

I feel like I am skilled enough to clear most content with little items (not skilled enough to solo EVERYTHING but mostly). That’s how you challenge us, I’m even anal enough to start quests over when I die to early, test me that way. Don’t test me (or us) on how much we can grind for resources (whether it’s solo events for revives and pots or arena for BC and units). Why not allow us to spend most of our units on offers? (For those who are skilled enough to save units).

I’m not asking for content to always be like 7.1 and 7.2 but a few of the challenges were cool. The mutant one from the 90s was nostalgic, the cosmic one for Do not go gentle was fine (even though that strength is numbers is by far the worst node they made), the loki one was dumb but manageable and the 3 star non mystic was fun.

Great read man. Thanks!

unknown

This content has been removed.

AverageDesi

i am waiting for buff of Kamala, Cyclops before doing those two. but this challenge mostly has pushed back the buffs for them

AverageDesi

I have done 3 of them.
5.3 with non mystics- loved it. Easily the best. Aegod and shang chi for the win.

6.2.5 with cosmics- pretty fun and took the cosmic gated path and fought darkhawk and red skull with 5 star r3 proxima which was awesome experience.

5.4.6 with loki- electro and Spider-Man fights are annoying. Most of the champs on the rage path had a way to give fury so that worked well. Destroying ultron was such an exhilarating experience.

I love all 3 of these.
Now I am eager to do 2 more challenges but I wouldn't right now because of the following reasons:

Lol canada: Don't want to grind arena because of the state of the arena right now.

6.1.5: don't have rogue and wolvie. Have
Gambit but won't upgrade him until I get apoc. I wish there was a way to get rogue like we got Kamala.

There is no eagerness for me to do the others. I have Kamala khan but I don’t think I can do that challenge without breaking my phone.

i did same as you plus 6.2.5. i rankd rogue to r4 for this and she solo every fight except crossbones which i mess up

X_Scott

The shills are gonna smell negative feedback and come running!

unknown

This content has been removed.

Ironman3000

I only have the 3 LOL paths left. Really have no desire to spend the time and units to get them done.

Rasilover

Carina challenges are for people with no content to do and a bunch of resources

Polygon

Saying that its a fair challenge just cause the best player in the game can do it is the most absurd logic I’ve ever heard. Its like saying if Michael Jordan can dunk with his eyes blindfolded , we should all be able to as well.

Furious_Fighter1

TL;DR

5.3.1 Non Mystic Challenge:
Fun and Enjoyable

6.1.5 with Certain Mutants:
OP's personal fav
Easiest for OP.

6.2.5 (Mordo) with only Cosmic:
One of the worst quest(due to nodes) but successful challenge since its Doable w/o using units.

5.4.6 With 3* Loki:
First fight is a pain in the back.
After that it becomes doable.
Boss can be cheesed.

6.2.6 Champion with KK:
Apart from Magik and Iceman the challenge is mainly Skill Based.

5.2.6 with 3* Cyclops(es):
Horrible
Not skill based
Eats units / Revives.

LOL with Canadian 4-star:
Sabertooth if ramped up perfectly can hit hard.
Only LOL challenge that OP enjoyed a little.
Enrage timer forces revive

LOL with Inhuman:
Even with full boosts can't take out half of a opponents life with single take.

LOL with Starlord:
Worst of all challenges.
Forces a hell lot of revives.
Can only deal 35% health at maximum with single take.

1st 3 challenges were Pretty Good.
Next 2 were Decent.
Remaining 4 were just Garbage.
Lol, exactly what my initial post needed, thanks for that! Well summed up.

Although the TL;DR needs a TL;DR too lmao

Jh_Dez

Your definition of a challenge is on point

unknown

This content has been removed.

CoatHang3r

Carina challenges are for people with no content to do and a bunch of resources

This nails it, I have had zero reason to farm resources or even open 4 hour crystals for over a year, these challenges have gotten me back into that style of play and I am enjoying it. They have taken me out of simply playing arena while waiting for content. I am now making choices about resources and time spent playing that I have needed to consider since the Abyss and that is welcomed.

People say cash grab, unit grab etc, they’re wrong this is content for people who have lost an entire portion of the game to the dumbing down of content that now caters to the average player.

7or7

tldr; tldr— some challenges are fun and require some skill. Some challenges require resources and some skill. OP is right about that.

Limiting Labyrinth runs to 4* champs certainly prevents you from completing them without resources and probably some units. Tbh I don’t mind it on the whole because it’s something new and interesting. It isn’t perfect if you can’t overcome the challenge without sinking revives into it, but I’m still glad they released it.

Palanthrax

This was interesting to read, I’ve completed them all as well. I was expecting the Inhumans challenge to be the worst, but actually I developed a new admiration for Medusa, and Quake was incredibly useful for UC, Magik and War Machine (the latter of which is arguably the worst fight). Venom is always a pain as well. But Maestro with Medusa went pretty well.

The Star Lord challenge was the absolute worst, and I spent a ton of resources on it (well played Kabam). I used Pacify etc. for Magik which works occasionally, I got destroyed by War Machine, I got battered by Venom, and Maestro procced regen and power gain almost non-stop, back to back. Thankfully I left this challenge until last, because if I’d done it any earlier I would probably have bailed on the rest.

But hey, now I have a profile picture of a noodle tier champ surrounded by melted cheese, so it was all worth it...

...I need my head examining.

Ghostboytjie

Well This was great said

I personally only done 2 of em atm

5.3.1 - 1 revive cause boss was almost dead
And Finished 6.2.5 Just now for 1 team revive which is decent.
I still need a 5* rogue to do 6.1.5

unknown

This content has been removed.

unknown

This content has been removed.

Holros

I've been hearing about this Carina challenge, where is it?, and what is it about?, am I the only one that doesn't know what it is

unknown

This content has been removed.

unknown

This content has been removed.

Holros

I've been hearing about this Carina challenge, where is it?, and what is it about?, am I the only one that doesn't know what it is
You are probably not Thronebreaker

Oh, little wonder, thanks for the info

CoatHang3r

Carina challenges are for people with no content to do and a bunch of resources
This nails it, I have had zero reason to farm resources or even open 4 hour crystals for over a year, these challenges have gotten me back into that style of play and I am enjoying it. They have taken me out of simply playing arena while waiting for content. I am now making choices about resources and time spent playing that I have needed to consider since the Abyss and that is welcomed.

People say cash grab, unit grab etc, they’re wrong this is content for people who have lost an entire portion of the game to the dumbing down of content that now caters to the average player.
Some of them certainly are not and they provide a very fun and challenging experience but the LOL ones and the useless Cyclops one are literally there to drain your items, you can't finish them without using any items. Sure you can grind weeks to get those resources and do it for "free", but I think that takes away from the experience, it is not challenging you in any way. If you consider grinding for resources for days and weeks a challenge then we can agree to disagree.

I can see people saying AOL was like that as well since you are essentially forces to revive once your hit count is finished but at least right now you can find revive less clears until the Collector which is simply amazing. It will be even easier once r4-r5 champs are available whereas you will never be able to finish the LOL carina challenges itemless because of the enrage timer limit against the 4 stars. The Cyclops one we will see since both of them are so bad that they are bound to get overhauled at some point with the rate Kabam is buffing champs.

When you say these should be able to be done without revives, as that is no challenge, you are completely ignoring the need for the company to be able to monetize content for this free to play game. It can be done without units/cash but yeah requires resources that can be earned by farming (an aspect of the game especially for f2p) or by spending.

IMO It’s super short sighted to be essentially saying that Kabam should provide content with such valuable resources without having an Avenue for players to spend on it.

Another way to look at this is Kabam are selling t5cc and 6 star shards to whales while allowing f2p an Avenue to earning those same rewards through game play. That to me is wonderfully beautiful and I hope to see more of it, so posts decrying the challenges as needing to be able to be done item less is disheartening because they are saying to Kabam don’t waste your time with leaving non-payers an opportunity to earn these items also.

*p.s. funny you mention AoL clears while poopooing farming, those clears required those players to spend an extraordinary amount of time in the abyss well beyond what the spent to 100% it previously. They farmed those abyss runs and did it well after they had already completed the content. Two of them are part of this “omg players should be to do this without items so this is a cash grab” mentality relating to the challenges, if they had spend their time with other aspects of the game they could at least do it unitless.