Ascended Winners and Losers

@LavaManLee said:
Apologies if missed this upthread but 2* Daken is a major, major loser. At 5Ascended550, his damage is pathetic. Purple at 5 makes a whopping 2135 strength red strike tile on a green match. Blue at 5 does 23436 damage plus 11717 damage per strike tile. That's baby damage for a 550.

Is it? Blue only costs 6ap, how much should it be doing to compare? It's a little swingy but it's not difficult to cast it with 2 or 3 strikes on the board. Who's hitting harder for 6?

I'd never use him at 550, but at 672 he rips. He's got good passive true healing and a cheap damage power.

@LavaManLee said:
At 550, those just aren't impressive numbers to require a bit of luck and machination (have to have the green matches available) vs others that can start immediately with supports. I guess with Grocket and, as mentioned, Ultron he would be better. Maybe I'm just using him wrong but not seeing a ton of value.

Is he good at 672? Probably. I haven't checked those numbers yet. But at 550 seems like someone not useful (again, to me) vs other options

If you're criteria is, are they worth using at 550 with no boost then pretty much every character in the game is useless. Only a select few meta characters or niche use characters are worth using unboosted.

Thats fine if that's how you play, but then I don't think it's fair for you to say a character isn't good based on a rating system that is relevant only to you.

@LavaManLee said:

@BriMan2222 said:
Thats fine if that's how you play, but then I don't think it's fair for you to say a character isn't good based on a rating system that is relevant only to you.

Well of course it's fair. I keep saying it's my opinion. Isn't everything on here just an opinion? Or are others more important?

Don't we all base an opinion on how we like to play and how good they are? I'm confused about why my opinion isn't fair. I don't judge a 550 by saying "well they are great at 672" but I totally think it's fair to have that opinion.

@LavaManLee said:

@entrailbucket said:

@LavaManLee said:
At 550, those just aren't impressive numbers to require a bit of luck and machination (have to have the green matches available) vs others that can start immediately with supports. I guess with Grocket and, as mentioned, Ultron he would be better. Maybe I'm just using him wrong but not seeing a ton of value.

Is he good at 672? Probably. I haven't checked those numbers yet. But at 550 seems like someone not useful (again, to me) vs other options

Which other options though? I'm actually asking, not trying to dismiss you.

Off the top of my head:

Frankie / 3a4May / MT / M'Baku / Chasm / 3a5Namor / KangVeil / BaronSkullViper / Goose / 4a5Juggs / 5Sam / May / Mephisto / Riri / 1a5 Almost all of them

Ah sorry, I was being more specific about the blue power. I do think it's in line with (or better than) what a 6ap active ability should be doing at 550.

I agree that those other characters are generally way, way stronger than average, especially in a synergy team, but doesn't that make everyone awful in comparison? Why bother levelling up or trying out anybody?

@entrailbucket said:

@LavaManLee said:

@entrailbucket said:

@LavaManLee said:
At 550, those just aren't impressive numbers to require a bit of luck and machination (have to have the green matches available) vs others that can start immediately with supports. I guess with Grocket and, as mentioned, Ultron he would be better. Maybe I'm just using him wrong but not seeing a ton of value.

Is he good at 672? Probably. I haven't checked those numbers yet. But at 550 seems like someone not useful (again, to me) vs other options

Which other options though? I'm actually asking, not trying to dismiss you.

Off the top of my head:

Frankie / 3a4May / MT / M'Baku / Chasm / 3a5Namor / KangVeil / BaronSkullViper / Goose / 4a5Juggs / 5Sam / May / Mephisto / Riri / 1a5 Almost all of them

Ah sorry, I was being more specific about the blue power. I do think it's in line with (or better than) what a 6ap active ability should be doing at 550.

I agree that those other characters are generally way, way stronger than average, especially in a synergy team, but doesn't that make everyone awful in comparison? Why bother levelling up or trying out anybody?

I "bother" because I enjoy the game and like to see synergies and what happens. Shame on me for Daken to actually become pretty amazing at 550. This game is still enjoyable and I was able to get Daken to 550 through normal playing and ascension. My opinion is just that he isn't that great. Certainly never mentioned that I regretted levelling him or trying him out.

You are all so laughably wrong about Daken that you should be embarrassed to even post here anymore!

His blue costs 5, not 6!

But seriously, the big drawback to 2* vs 3* is that 2* only ever makes 1 strike, so it does take more to get the most out of his blue. In his native tiers his strikes aren't all that strong, they're mostly meant to power up his super cheap blue. The thing to remember is that you don't have to make the green match, his passive works for either team, so that does contribute to the value assessment a little bit.

I, too, am someone who rarely pays attention to the boosted list. I will play cheese teams that are fun or at least a little puzzle-y before going for raw power. I do currently have 3* Daken as my favorite because I do want to see his numbers as a 5*, I'm just waiting on his dupe to hit 370 before I do it.

Basically there is a group of players out there who are ahead of everybody, who are trying out all this stuff. A few are still here, most are on Line. They're not coordinating this or anything, but they generally have rosters that are ahead of everyone or they're really good at coming up with strategies using lower level guys.

The "is this guy 'meta'" question has been, and is still being asked continuously, for all the ascended guys and for every new character. For the 5* and most 4* it gets answered (and disseminated) basically immediately. For the 1* ascended we had that answer a long time ago. 2* were more recent but I think that's solved now. 3* remain mostly a mystery, because they just take forever.

So if Daken was "meta," (ie usable unboosted) you'd have known about it months ago. He's been tested a ton already. He'd already be on your list!

@LavaManLee said:
My gosh. All these posts just for expressing my opinion on a player I ascended and got to 550 in a thread actually dedicated for that. The vitriol is a bit over the top. I apologize for even offering my opinion in a thread that is supposed to be about that.

From reading above posts directed at me, I guess I can no longer have opinions about any other 550 characters I get because I already have the ones needed and if they were good than others would have said so already. Got it.

I don't think anybody's saying that, at least I'm not. I don't really see vitriol either. I'm not sure if you're reading further into this or something. I don't think anyone is trying to insult you.

@LavaManLee said:
Apologies if coming off a bit sensitive. Feels very much that I offered my opinion and it totally got dumped on by several people. In addition, I was told my opinion was not "fair" whatever that even means. So if I read further things as more than they are meant, my apologies again.

Your opinion is perfectly valid and is shared by tons of players -- heck, it's probably the majority!

I think I was trying to get at something different, and possibly it didn't come across the way I meant it to.