Whats the purpose of different star levels for the same characters?
nameless
Member Posts: 31
This is something I've always been confused with and it really makes no sense. Why wouldn't Kabam just implement a character shard system like most games do. Why would anyone still use a 2 star Starlord if they have a 5 star one. We're going to have 6 different star level versions of the exact same characters. I really see no purpose its just pointless padding of the total number of heroes you have on your profile picture.
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Could also be obtained by starting off everyone with 1 star characters then building those same characters up to 6 stars. Only need 1 version of each champ to accomplish this so why have 6 different versions?
Of course lol this is why they should have a character shard system like "Injustice" and many other games. For example you grind and win a 4 star in arena now your older 3 star version gets converted into shards so you can now work towards earning the 5 star version.
It just another gameplay feature, either a grind from 1* to x* or able to acquire a champ at different * level.
Does it mean you will stop soon since you don't like the current game play design?
There's also a degree of collecting involved. It also caters to all different levels of Players, and their desire to acquire Champs.
Lots of reasons, but at least one is that a player could have as many as four teams of champions running simultaneously: AW defense, AW offense, AQ offense, and questing. Just because you have the 5* magik, doesn't mean the 4* magik can't be useful at the same time. You can only use the 5* magik in one place at one time, but having the 5* magik on defense and the 4* magik on offense is a reasonable thing to have happen. Many champions are considered good both ways in at least some contexts: Magik, Hyperion, Dormammu, Yellowjacket for example.
The point is that players get to decide when to use them and where when you are allowing to keep every version. Forcing players to "upgrade" the champ to the highest tier and only allowing them to keep one takes options away. This is separate from the fact that there is a 3* featured arena that you can only use 2* and 3* champs in, and a 4* basic that you cannot use 5* champs in. Forcing a player to upgrade a 3* champ to 4* means the option to use that champ to grind a lower arena disappears.
There are also meta-gaming mechanics that exist here you may not be considering. Kabam does have a shard system. When you dup a champion you not only get signature levels on that champion you get shards for the *higher* tier (star). That means the act of collecting one tier also grants progress in the next tier. When you have no 3* champs, almost every 3* champ you pull will be granting you a new champ. But when you have them all the duplicates will start earning you 55 4* shards with each dup. That means about 36 dups grants you a 4* crystal.
As you progress and max the signature levels of those 3* champs you will start getting max signature crystals which also (most of the time) drop 55 4* shards. At the point in the game where you have most of your 3* champs maxed out additional 3* dups will start essentially generating 110 4* shards, which means about 18 dups grants you a new 4* champion.
So separate from the use case for the 3* champion in content or arenas, they are a meta meter for progress in the game. A new player gets very little additional progress for drawing a 3* champ, except getting the champ. Players start getting 4* shards as they start to fill their 3* roster. They go from needing lots of 3* champs to acquire 4* shards to the point where about 36 gives them a 4* to eventually the point where 18 gives them a 4*. In other words, 3* crystals and 3* pulls get more valuable over time as you continue to progress.
It is something that I think players often forget, that we don't use 3* champs to only get more 3* champs and 4* champs to only get more 4* champs. Each star tier earns resources to climb to the next tier, and never stops doing that. A long term player that has all their 2* and 3* champs max signature actually tends to get enough fragments from duping alone to get a 4* champ out of every 200 PHCs, separate from any actual 4* champs they draw. When 6* champions arrive a similar thing will be true for 4* and 5* champs. As players continue to progress and continue to max signature their 4* and eventually 5* champs, the value of a 4* draw will become more valuable over time as they generate both dup shards and max signature-related shards. It starts off slow (practically stationary initially) but accelerates over time.
Even if you never use a lower tier star champion, the lower star tier champions are also an indirect way to make higher level progress, and building those lower tier champions up can accelerate your progress in the higher tiers through shard generation. In effect, the lower roster is a shard farm for the higher roster.
In MCOC we get the full benefits of a shard system to upgrade our roster without having to give up the lower champions. In fact we get rewarded for building those lower tiers up. 2* and 3* signature stones are still meaningful to me, because indirectly they can increase the rate at which I earn 4* and 5* champions.
All of that collectively adds to the players' ability to make progress in the game. And that's more than enough reason to keep the star system we currently have.