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[Dalek]

Sonic booms abound as Nova enters the atmosphere, ready to take on all comers!

D3 Go! Producer Joe Fletcher dropped by to give us the skinny on the all-new Nova and what he brings to “Marvel Puzzle Quest.”

Marvel.com: So instead of alien symbiotes our next challenger’s wearing an alien helmet that turns him into a human rocket. What was the thinking behind bringing Nova, Sam Alexander, to “Puzzle Quest”?

Joe Fletcher: The last couple months of “Marvel Puzzle Quest” have been focused on Spider-Man’s amazing friends, and while we’ve got more coming soon from that corner of the Marvel Universe, we wanted to make sure we tapped into the whole galaxy of Marvel heroes out there, and who’s more cosmic than a member of the Nova Corps?

Sam Alexander has been a huge hit with Marvel fans since he put on the bucket helmet, even securing a spot on the All-New, All-Different Avengers. Since we added Miles Morales, Sam was the last member not fighting crime in “Marvel Puzzle Quest,” so this seemed like a great time to add him to our roster.

Marvel.com: Now to the uninitiated a guy whose main descriptor is “human rocket” might sound pretty one dimensional, but Nova’s got a ton of different powers he can bring to bear. How’d you guys address that in his in-game abilities?

Joe Fletcher: Flying around super fast may be Nova’s signature move, but saying he’s just a “human rocket” is like saying Captain America is just a “shield throw guy.” There’s a lot Nova can do with that speed, and so all of his powers are about momentum he builds up and then cashes it in for big damage.

Takeoff, Nova’s Red Ability, gets him up in the air, making two Black Strike tiles to augment his damage. While Nova’s team has at least one Black Strike tile on the board, his Red ability changes into his signature move, Rocket Man! Rocket Man knocks Nova’s enemy airborne, taking them out of the fight and dealing a nice chunk of damage when they come crashing down to earth.

As a young member of the All-New, All-Different Avengers, Sam’s eager to show off his new powers and impress veterans like Iron Man and Captain America. With his Nova Blast, Nova’s Yellow ability, he fires beams of energy from his fingers, dealing damage to Sam’s enemy of choice. He goes the extra mile when there’s someone to impress, though, so Nova Blast also creates Black Strike tiles for each of Nova’s allies still in the fight.

The flip-side to wanting to show off is that sometimes Nova gets a bit reckless. In his Black power, Danger Zone, Nova increases his speed past the limit of his control. If there aren’t too many Black strike tiles on the board, Sam manages to control his flight and adds more Black strike tiles to the board. But if there are too many, he loses control and careens into some poor enemy at supersonic speeds, dealing tons of damage, but removing all of his Black strike tiles.

Marvel.com: How have you been building Nova? And with Champion Levels in the game, are there different builds you’ve been thinking about for different situations?

Joe Fletcher: Nova’s such a diverse character it really comes down to your personality as a player! Want to focus on Nova and surround him with support characters? Then I’d recommend a 5/3/5 build where you’re maximizing Nova’s ability to cash in his Strike tiles for extra damage. But if you have some damage dealers you like, Nova can help the team out with a 5/5/3 build, boosting their damage by putting strong Strike tiles on the board. One of the biggest perks of making a character a Champion is being able to swap their Powers freely, so we hope players will eventually try out all the different ways to build Nova and see what works for them.

Marvel.com: Who does he play well with? Does he have any strengths that are heightened or weaknesses compensated for when certain characters have his back?

Joe Fletcher: When Nova puts his mind to it, he can really pump out the strong Strike tiles, so he’s a great to pair up with any character who can take advantage of them like X-23, Professor X, Cyclops (Classic), Carnage, Ant-Man, or Ghost Rider. And due to the generally low cost of his Powers, he’s a great buddy for Star-Lord who can make those cheap Powers even cheaper.

Marvel.com: When do we get to play the new Nova?

Joe Fletcher: Nova (Sam Alexander) will be first available to players on January 28 as part of The Hunt event.

 

[zulux21]

I don't even have a maxed out 3* Cyclops. My Jean Grey is a powerful 1/0/1.

Oh, and this just happened moments ago. WRONG JEAN GREY. My scaling was already effed....this blows....

you could always just sell off your 5 stars if they annoy you that much.


also with nova confirmed there is only one to go

for the ultimate spidy cartoon series

 

[PalaceBrother]

you could always just sell off your 5 stars if they annoy you that much.

I think my comment came across a bit more "first world problems" than I intended. Mostly I'm just frustrated that getting any usable 4* characters has been a seemingly endless grind. I'm well over two years in so I wish it was easier.

Basically I would have preferred 4*s in lieu of the 5*s but knowing how the game progresses I won't sell them. I'm just stuck with a tougher grind for the next (long) while.

 

[spatenfloot]

I don't even have a maxed out 3* Cyclops. My Jean Grey is a powerful 1/0/1.

Oh, and this just happened moments ago. WRONG JEAN GREY. My scaling was already effed....this blows....

If you had 3 already, another 5 star isn't going to hurt anything.

 

[Dalek]

My season 10 pack-all 2*s and a Miles Morales. Then I championed Spider-Man and got a Totally Awesome Hulk out of it. 😐

 

[Malmorian]

Well I solved my roster problem by booting some 2*'s. It's a shame that we still need them in PvE for specific nodes but oh well. Couldn't justify losing out on a 4* and 5*

 

[spatenfloot]

Just keep one slot for the essential 2* and sell him when you are done. Then open some tokens until you get the next one.

 

[Xamtheking]

Pulled a 4-star Elektra from the Vault
Yissssss

 

[Dr Campino]

With over 1550 hours spent playing MPQ on Steam, I've also started a second game on my phone, mainly to play at work when it's slow.

I wanted to see how it is to build a new team from the ground up, considering how the game has changed over time.

Also, I have a clear problem/obsession/addiction to this game.

 

[Gentle Rodriguez]

With over 1550 hours spent playing MPQ on Steam, I've also started a second game on my phone, mainly to play at work when it's slow.

I wanted to see how it is to build a new team from the ground up, considering how the game has changed over time.

Also, I have a clear problem/obsession/addiction to this game.

That sounds like torture, the game has barely become more beginner friendly since then, and it's already one of the least beginner friendly F2P games out there.

 

[Sadist]

Eh, I think I nerfed my rank; normally I end up in the top 50 with ease, but the final two events were hard. I'll end up in the 200 + regions now. So no extra Blade cover. Blegh, I'll start with the Nova The Hunt event in a few hours.

 

[PalaceBrother]

Any strategies for today's 4* DD? My LadyThor is only 115 @ 3/1/1 and I'm not sure it'll be possible for me.

 

[Malmorian]

Rags is an asshole, 4 tries so far and no luck

 

[zulux21]

Any strategies for today's 4* DD? My LadyThor is only 115 @ 3/1/1 and I'm not sure it'll be possible for me.

my hope is to block him well enough that I can fire blue off 3 times and red off 3 times in a row.
mine is level 120 at 2/2/2

my daily log in was 25 command points so I rolled that... and got my third yellow wolverine out of my last 6 rolls.

on the plus side one more yellow or a black wolverine cover and I can champion him once I get a couple million iso to level him up (I know he doesn't actually take that much but he takes a ton)

 

[Dalek]

Took me three tries with my 166 5/3/3 Thor to beat that Ragnarok. Blue is the priority. Stun him, make some charged tiles, etc. Don't use Red until there's a lot of charged tiles. Also deny him Green.

Got another Iceman for my troubles. Sigh-I'll never fully cover Jean Grey.

 

[Gentle Rodriguez]

I'm thinking of taking a break from the game, it's starting to feel like a job more than anything, I'm not playing cause I want to but because "I can't miss out on this cover" or "I have to get that 10-pack". I'll probably end up hating the game if I don't take a break soon.

 

[zulux21]

I'm thinking of taking a break from the game, it's starting to feel like a job more than anything, I'm not playing cause I want to but because "I can't miss out on this cover" or "I have to get that 10-pack". I'll probably end up hating the game if I don't take a break soon.

Step 1 of enjoying the game.

give up on the 10 pack.

it's a trap


edit: bleh I got rags down to 1k once but I think I am gonna call it. I need a ton of luck to beat him and I have already burned through all of my good boosts so it isn't going to get easier.

 

[Spoit]

Yeah, focus blue, with red being the second priority. watch the green, but it takes a lot for him to get it off so don't worry about it too much. Got it first try, but i got a dumb venom instead of a useful cover

 

[Dr Campino]

Day two of the mobile experience, I now have 13 characters. Managed a top 100 finish in the Sentry PvE and got two Blade covers. That definitely helps things. Still plugging away in the prologue, but I've been able to do some of the new Hunt PvE, too.

Also little tedious but I like seeing the progress.

 

[spatenfloot]

I'm thinking of taking a break from the game, it's starting to feel like a job more than anything, I'm not playing cause I want to but because "I can't miss out on this cover" or "I have to get that 10-pack". I'll probably end up hating the game if I don't take a break soon.

This isn't Pokemon. Skip a few events.

 

[zulux21]

This isn't Pokemon. Skip a few events.

you can always do what I do.

enter PVP and just kill the bots.
enter PVE late and just do a few nodes.

fail fail fail fail.

when a PVE comes out with a new character enter with like 36 hours to go and then grind the nodes and end up with a top 10 because you have failed so much the game thinks you are a loser

note: it takes a lot of losses to properly get into the losers bracket.

 

[Dr Campino]

On my main account, I gave that 4-star fight a good few tries with no luck. Went out for a bit, came back a few hours later, and gave it another final try.

Got super lucky, managed to just eke out the win. Got myself another Red Hulk, now he's 2/2/2. Should be able to champion a bunch of folks in the next week, including Rocket & Groot this weekend.

 

[Sadist]

Yeah, The Hunt event won't be it for me either. Don't have Jean or Ms. Marvel 2*, so nope.

No Nova for me. Guess I'll just get my DDQ stash of 3k + iso and the Quicksilver cover. Saved up 200k iso though.

 

[Malmorian]

Just couldn't beat Rags. Used up all my ISO, boosts and health packs. Closest I got was getting him down to 3K. Shit.

 

[zulux21]

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww *continues long aww sound*

we are skipping devil dino straight to electra... I could have gotten a token from devil dino... I am not getting anything from electra... looks like I won't get another legendary token until feb 17th with prof x as elextra, ant man, and star lord aren't gonna do it for me (very small chance on ant man I need to check how many more covers I have for him)

 

[Dalek]

what?? My Devil Dinosaur is nearly fully covered!

 

[zulux21]

what?? My Devil Dinosaur is nearly fully covered!

the DDQ is always the 4 star cover below the legendary token. thus electra this time.
thus there won't be devil dino. likely not until the 3 year

also quicksilver is going from terrible to just bad.

new abilities
main changes
green and black cost less.
black does less damage
blue does more damage
green no longer creates critical tiles (but deals more damage) and instead locks a tile to make his blue going off quicker.

 

[Gentle Rodriguez]

Chose to get Kamala's 5th purple with my 20CP, she's 3/5/5 now. I might regret doing this but whatever. On the bright side I can champion he instantly when I get her next cover since I have enough iso, so it all evens out

Spoiler

Not really.

 

[Chanser]

Just championed KK, is there any point keeping Carnage? I only have 1 cover.

 

[zulux21]

Just championed KK, is there any point keeping Carnage? I only have 1 cover.

the game is quickly shifting to 4 star world.... thus you will eventually need to catch them all if you properly want to keep up.

 

[Gentle Rodriguez]

Got a random Jean Grey cover, really happy since she's my fave. Still only 1/1/0 but hey it's something.

Edit: Looks like they're going to test their new pve and pvp scaling next week, if it's good I won't have to fear getting a 5* every time I open a Legendary and maybe the brackets won't be as stupid too.

 

[Dalek]

I can't describe how much it HURTS to get an IW cover from a LT. Just not fair...

 

[Spoit]

I can't describe how much it HURTS to get an IW cover from a LT. Just not fair...

Just spend a few...hundred....thousand to champion her

(Don't champion her, that would be silly)

 

[Sadist]

Got a random Jean Grey cover, really happy since she's my fave. Still only 1/1/0 but hey it's something.

Edit: Looks like they're going to test their new pve and pvp scaling next week, if it's good I won't have to fear getting a 5* every time I open a Legendary and maybe the brackets won't be as stupid too.

Good! Last two events were murder.

Btw; anyone have a good spot open in their alliance? I'm a daily player and my roster keeps getting stronger.

 

[NineH]

I can't describe how much it HURTS to get an IW cover from a LT. Just not fair...

I managed to save 10 legendary tokens and opened them 2 weeks ago. 4 were invisible women and that just left a bad taste in my mouth. The other 5 were needed covers and I got a 5 star phoenix so it wasn't too bad looking at the big picture.

 

[spatenfloot]

Good! Last two events were murder.

Btw; anyone have a good spot open in their alliance? I'm a daily player and my roster keeps getting stronger.

You should have said something 2 days ago when I posted. Full now.

 

[Earthanoid]

Got a random Jean Grey cover, really happy since she's my fave. Still only 1/1/0 but hey it's something.

Edit: Looks like they're going to test their new pve and pvp scaling next week, if it's good I won't have to fear getting a 5* every time I open a Legendary and maybe the brackets won't be as stupid too.

I hope their fix actually works, the match making is really terrible. I don't even have a 5*, my max level is a champ MN Mags around 110, but I'm consistently facing teams in the 160-200 level range in PVP. It makes even just going for the 300 pt token rough. In PVE if I have one boosted character the top nodes are way 50+ levels higher than my team. Most of my 3*s only have 2-4 covers so they're still pretty useless even when boosted, except to be damage sponges.

The champs system and DDQ prevented me from deleting the game entirely, but unless they fix the matchmaking I may go to doing nothing but DDQ every day.

 

[Xamtheking]

I got a Yellow Old Man Wolvy cover with a token
RIP scaling

 

[Dr Campino]

Got to the 2000 mark in the simulator, got my second purple Miles Morales cover for my troubles.

Otherwise I recently got a Thing cover and an Ant-Man cover. They're coming along.

Oh man, Galactus event coming up soon, with the later round prizes being Hulkbuster! Yes!

Round 6 is a red one, the only one I'm really, really needing. So excited!

 

[zulux21]

Got to the 2000 mark in the simulator, got my second purple Miles Morales cover for my troubles.

Otherwise I recently got a Thing cover and an Ant-Man cover. They're coming along.

Oh man, Galactus event coming up soon, with the later round prizes being Hulkbuster! Yes!

Round 6 is a red one, the only one I'm really, really needing. So excited!

yeah it could be useful, don't know how gaf-vengers will fair though as last time we only managed to get the single cover (but hey we got one )

see

edit: maybe that was from an ultron event as galactus apperently gave cyclops and red hulk

 

[Dalek]

Ive been grinding the hell out of The Hunt. Looks like I won't get the legendary token but I should at least get a Nova cover. If only I had done a little more grinding a few days ago I could have got that LT.

 

[Gentle Rodriguez]

I might actually get 3 Nova covers here, would be pretty nice especially if I could win an eventual 4* DPD with it(probably not though).

 

[zulux21]

I might actually get 3 Nova covers here, would be pretty nice especially if I could win an eventual 4* DPD with it(probably not though).

i might get one... i have to grind more >.>

 

[NineH]

yeah it could be useful, don't know how gaf-vengers will fair though as last time we only managed to get the single cover (but hey we got one )

see

We might do better this time around because I remember around 2 or 3 members didnt play at all but I think now most everyone in the team at least plays every day.

Ive been grinding the hell out of The Hunt. Looks like I won't get the legendary token but I should at least get a Nova cover. If only I had done a little more grinding a few days ago I could have got that LT.

yeah, its bullshit that they raised the LT from the last time they ran The Hunt. It was 40000ish points last time to get the token but now it's 54000. I'm guessing they are thinking we won't mind grinding because we are doing it to get a new 4* character.

 

[Triz]

Honestly Ive only been grinding the CP nodes, and Its been frustrating as hell. Still missing two and Ive done them both too many times.

 

[zulux21]

We might do better this time around because I remember around 2 or 3 members didnt play at all but I think now most everyone in the team at least plays every day..

it will partially depend on how D3 is feeling.

I mean we have a lot more 5 stars and now champ characters that can help make the thing easier, so if this is a repeat of run two of galactus then it won't be so bad we might get two covers.

if they decide... oh we added more power and move back to galactus 1 though...
we might as well just give up and cry @_@

 

[Gentle Rodriguez]

Galactus 1 was the most unfun thing the game ever had so I hope not, I'm sure they don't want to risk the backlash again.

 

[Sadist]

You should have said something 2 days ago when I posted. Full now.

Aw nuts.

Oh well. Wonder how I will fair in the Galactus event. Normally I win jack shit. Galactus kicks my but.

Edit: hey, a loki cover from the DDPQ token. Good.

 

[Gentle Rodriguez]

Got 14th in the pvp, only 1k points off of the third cover

It was looking really good to but the crazies entered the last day and got like 30k somehow.

 

[Dalek]

No LT for me in the Hunt, but I did get a Nova. I'm also in 1st place in our Galactus event, GAFvengers, but I'm all spent unless you move him onto the next round.