Beginner's Guide (Part 1)

Part 1: Getting Started

Introduction

Welcome to the THANO$VIB$ Beginner's Guide! This is the first of three parts, which aims to guide players through about their first month of playtime.

This guide has been created for Update 10.3.5a - "Claws". If this is outdated, look for a newer version at thanosvibs.money/beginners - note that updates take time.

Made by DUBU, Astrospeedyjm, Ren Vader, wavegangse, Chaebae and anuswarp.

On the web version of this guide (and any THANO$VIB$ guides like this) you can click or tap on any character portrait for more information about that character.

Basic Information
Character Progression
Character progression is very convoluted in this game. Here is a basic rundown for the majority of characters:
- Unlock the character.
- Upgrade to 6 Stars, 6 Mastery, Lv.60.
- Upgrade gears to +20.
- Upgrade to Tier-2.
- Realise Potential by running World Boss.
> For characters you really like or want to unlock a 6th skill for, Upgrade Potential and level to Lv.70.
> For characters you want to unlock a 6th skill for, upgrade gears to +25.
> For some characters, upgrade to Tier-3.
> For some characters, Awaken Potential, upgrade Awakened Skill, and Transcend Potential.
> For characters you want to upgrade to Tier-4, upgrade gears to +30, Level to 80, skills to Lv.10, and Tier-4 Advance.

"Native Tier-2s" and "Native Tier-3s" follow a different levelling system, but you can worry about those later.
Character Selections
The characters recommended in this guide are chosen based on:
- Low-Spec Playability: How easy it is to play the character with subpar builds.
- Scalability into Endgame: How well the character fares in later-game content.
- Safety from Power Creep: Characters with good Leaderships and Support Passives are less likely to be power creeped.
You can of course choose to just pick who you like, but following a guide like this and optimising your new player bonuses will allow you to more efficiently acquire your favourites in the future.
Additional Resources
This guide focuses on your personal account progression and shouldn't be the only resource you look at. You should also check out:
- Part 3 of this Beginner's Guide, and the "Team Building" and "General Tips" sections of Part 4.
- Part 5 of this Beginner's Guide for important gameplay tips.
- r/future_fight's Basic Question Thread.
- thanosvibs.money for various game resources (including this guide).
- A Discord server to get feedback on minor things - the THANO$VIB$ Discord would be the obvious place for questions about this guide. Link below.
THANO$VIB$ Discord
It is generally advised to avoid using YouTube videos as reference while you are a beginner (or ever), as you will often be missing important context.

Characters - The Main Cast
This section contains information on the primary characters you'll be building - these should remain relevant all the way into late-game.
Character portraits are shown primarily with their recommended uniforms, but the no-uniform version is shown too underneath, along with their Custom Gear / C.T.P. recommendations. If you don't know what this means yet, don't stress.
Note that Luna Snow's [Summer Lilac] uniform will be returning in late July or early August. If you are willing to pay 20 USD for some Crystals and this uniform, it is recommended to build Luna Snow over Spider-Gwen. You can also build both, but Luna is the better one and they are used for the same gamemodes in late-game.
Fixed Selections
These characters you are more or less shoehorned into doing (e.g. through login events or Guided Quests), so they are considered "fixed selections" that all players should invest in.
Spider-Gwen [Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse]
Spider-Gwen [Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse]
- Acquisition
  Given as a free Transcended Potential Character on Day 3.
- Uniform
  Regular price 1750 Crystals. Purchase during a uniform sale, or with your first uniform discount.
- Advancement [Transcended Potential]
  Comes with Transcended Potential.
- Usefulness
  One of the most versatile PvE characters, especially in late-game.
  Still strong early on, proc-friendly, and has some use in PvP.
Iron Man [Model Nil]
Iron Man [Model Nil]
- Acquisition
  Given as a free Tier-3 Character on Day 2.
- Uniform
  Regular price 1750 Crystals. Purchase during a uniform sale, or with your first uniform discount.
- Advancement [Tier-3]
  Comes with Tier-3.
- Usefulness
  Really solid early-game PvE character, easy to play and given for free at Tier-3.
  While he has less uses late-game than Spider-Gwen, definitely still worth building.
Loki [Marvel Studios' Loki]
Loki [Marvel Studios' Loki]
- Acquisition
  Given as a free Tier-3 Character on Day 4.
- Uniform
  Regular price 1750 Crystals. Purchase during a uniform sale, or with your first uniform discount.
  Ideally, rush the Guided Quest before Day 4 so you can buy his uniform half price.
  Once he is given at Tier-3, you will not be able to start the Guided Quest.
- Advancement [Tier-3]
  Comes with Tier-3.
- Usefulness
  Extremely versatile PvE character, especially good in mission clearing and Alliance Battle modes.
  While best with a C.T.P. of Rage for this reason, he is still very powerful with a regular proc Obelisk.
Spider-Man [Back to Basics]
Spider-Man [Back to Basics]
- Acquisition
  Recruit him at 6 Stars through Legendary Battle, then use Support Shop Biometrics to level his gears.
- Uniform
  Purchase at 50% off when you do his Tier-3 Guided Quest.
- Advancement [Tier-3]
  Do the Tier-3 Guided Quest (and/or get him from the First Purchase Tier-3 Selector).
- Usefulness
  Primarily a PvP character, but he's still usable in PvE. Will likely be your PvP carry for the majority of early game.
Black Panther [Black Panther: Wakanda Forever]
Black Panther [Black Panther: Wakanda Forever]
- Acquisition
  Get her to Tier-2 through a Tier-2 Guided Quest.
- Uniform
  Purchase at 50% off when you do her Tier-3 Guided Quest.
- Advancement [Tier-3]
  A good choice for your Tier-3 Mega Advancement Ticket from the 90 Day Check-In.
  Otherwise you can advance her manually too.
- Usefulness
  Good at PvE early on, but mainly valuable as a support.
Free-Choice Selections
Pick at least two of the below characters (if you buy Crystals, you can do more).
Hulk [Titan]
Hulk [Titan]
- Acquisition
  Get him to Tier-2 through a Tier-2 Guided Quest.
  Do not buy the [Fear Itself] uniform offered in the Guided Quest.
- Uniform
  Purchase at 50% off when you do his Tier-3 Guided Quest.
- Advancement [Tier-3]
  Probably do it manually, but is a selector option in the 90 Day Check-In.
- Usefulness
  Very strong PvE character, decent in PvP, and fun to play with a simple rotation.
  Works well into late-game as a solid Alliance Battle character.
Spider-Man (Miles Morales) [Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse]
Spider-Man (Miles Morales) [Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse]
- Acquisition
  Get him to Tier-2 through a Tier-2 Guided Quest.
  Do not buy the [Anniversary Special] uniform offered in the Guided Quest.
- Uniform
  Purchase at 50% off when you do his Tier-3 Guided Quest.
- Advancement [Tier-3]
  Probably do it manually, but you could use a Tier-3 Mega Advancement Ticket from the 90 Day Check-In.
- Usefulness
  Crazy strong PvE character, but lacks usability outside World Boss in late-game.
  However, for early on when you're just trying to push through all the early-game content, he is a great choice.
Low Priority Recommendations
Low Priority Recommendations
Moon Knight is given as a free Transcended Potential character in the first 7 days. As he is outdated, it is not recommended for most people to build him.
However, if you really like the character or are happy to spend money on Crystals, it is not the worst idea to get his uniform as he comes with the 6th skill unlocked. This can either be on top of the above characters, or replacing one or both of them.
Premiums
Premium characters are considerably harder to get, so don't worry if you can't get these right away.
Enchantress [War of the Realms]
Enchantress [War of the Realms]
- Acquisition
  IMPORTANT: Only pick Enchantress from the Selector if you are not going to build Luna Snow!
  Select from the 6th day Premium Selector, which gets her to 6 Stars.
  Then use a Tier-2 Mega Advancement Ticket from the 90 Day Check-In.
- Uniform
  Regular price 1750 Crystals. Purchase during a uniform sale.
- Advancement [Tier-3]
  A good choice for your Tier-3 Mega Advancement Ticket from the 90 Day Check-In.
  Otherwise you can advance her manually too.
- Usefulness
  Not very good on her own, but an excellent support for Loki and villains in general.
  Her Leadership is also very useful for Dispatch Missions.
Valkyrie [Marvel Studios' Thor: Love and Thunder]
Valkyrie [Marvel Studios' Thor: Love and Thunder]
- Acquisition
  To recruit: easiest way is to keep re-rolling (or get really lucky with) your initial free 6-Star Premium.
  Otherwise, slowly farm her from Dimension Mission to unlock, then use Rank Up Tickets.
  To Tier-2, use a Tier-2 Mega Advancement Ticket.
  If you're willing to buy a "30 Biometrics Daily" subscription, you can just unlock and rank/Tier-2 her manually.
- Uniform
  Regular price 1750 Crystals. Purchase during a uniform sale.
- Advancement [Transcended Potential]
  You can use the Advanced Potential Transcendence Ticket from the 90 Day Check-In.
  Most players would not have her unlocked by that time - so manual advancement is fine too.
- Usefulness
  Good on her own for ABX, but primarily a support character.
  She has been one of the best PvE supports in the game ever since she released.
Build Order
The rough priority order of how well you should build these characters (you can ignore the ones you can't / have chosen not to build).

Characters - Freebies
These are characters (and uniforms) that all new characters get for free by completing some starter content.
Tier-3 and Transcended
These characters are given at Tier-3 (Iron Man, Loki) or Transcended Potential (Spider-Gwen, Moon Knight) status in days 2-5 for new players.
Progression
You unlock these through various beginner tasks, such as completing Story Mode (Normal difficulty) and S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy tasks.
Tier-2 Captain America (Sharon Rogers)
Tier-2 Captain America (Sharon Rogers)
From S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy.
Tier-2 Captain America [Avengers 3099]
Tier-2 Captain America [Avengers 3099]
From Story Missions, uniform included.
Tier-2 Black Widow [Avengers 3099]
Tier-2 Black Widow [Avengers 3099]
From Story Missions, uniform included.
Tier-2 Iron Man [Avengers 3099]
Tier-2 Iron Man [Avengers 3099]
From Story Missions, uniform included.
Tier-2 Thor [Herald of Thunder]
Tier-2 Thor [Herald of Thunder]
From S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, uniform included.
Tier-2 Sersi
Tier-2 Sersi
From "The Fate of Mankind" Epic Quest - granted when starting the "A Modern Crisis" story.
You need to complete the Prologue missions before you can select Sersi's story and unlock her.
Legendary Battle
You can unlock these just by going into the respective Legendary Battle and unlocking them for free.
The following unlock at 6 Stars. They are mostly not great but can be levelled to Lv.60 for 60 Crystals through Achievements.
The following unlock at 1-Star as they are Premium characters. Recommended to leave them there for now.

Characters - Selectors
As a new player, you will get a variety of Tier-2 Character Selectors, 6-Star Character Selectors, and Biometrics Selectors. You can use combinations of these to build up "free Selector" characters, as well as the type-specific Biometrics Selectors you get from the Daily Hero Chest (if you pull a character you already own).
Note that the characters in this section are generally less powerful than "The Main Cast" (unless they are also in that section), but they do not require uniforms to be playable, making them valuable for early on.
Priority 1
Try to get these to Tier-2 quickly, either with Tier-2 Selectors or a combination of other Selectors (e.g. 6-Star + Biometrics Selectors for manual Tier-2).
Ikon
Ikon
Speed Hero that deals Energy Damage. Deals high damage due to being the current newest free character.
Man-Thing
Man-Thing
Combat Hero that deals Physical Damage. Deals relatively high damage due to being newer than most others in this section.
Scarlet Spider
Scarlet Spider
Somewhat lacking in survivability, but has excellent damage and a good support passive at Tier-2.
Scales pretty well in late-game - able to one-shot World Boss Ultimates, and a great option for floor 32 in Shadowland.
His Chasm [Dark Web] uniform is not recommended.
Kid Omega
Kid Omega
Mutant character - only available in rare Mutant Selectors / X-Gene Selectors.
The best free option for passing the Phoenix Force stage in Shadowland (Floor 34), needs to be Lv.66 to do it easily.
Priority 2
These are quite good and worth building at least to 6 Stars for starters. Tier-2 will help, but is not a high priority.
Iron Hammer
Iron Hammer
Universal Hero that deals Energy/Lightning Damage. A solid starter character with a skill cooldown reduction lead, but doesn't scale too well into late-game.
Katy
Katy
Speed Hero that deals Physical Damage. Another overall solid character with a pretty basic (but still useful) team support passive that unlocks just at 4-Stars.
Scorpion
Scorpion
A decent Speed Villain with a satisfying rotation and decent damage.
Not the best character overall, but is capable of one-shotting mid-level WBU which provides some longevity into midgame.
Kingo
Kingo
Speed Hero that deals Energy Damage. An easy-to-play, proc-friendly character.
Priority 3
These are less good, but having more characters always helps. These are provided with no descriptions - on the web version you can click the portraits for more details.
Priority 4
Similar to Priority 3 but a little bit worse. Good for Shadowland.

Characters - Guided Quest
Guided Quests are a system that allow you to clear a series of challenges to rank up a character faster. There are 6 Tier-2 Guided Quests, and 2 Tier-3 Guided Quests, that are offered to players.
Tier-2 Guided Quests allow you to pick 6 characters from a pool of 21 characters. As the Guided Quest handles the Tier-2 rank up, you shouldn't rank up any of the below characters manually, as you'll want to let the Guided Quest do that for you.
You are given a sequence of three Tier-2 Guided Quests to complete, then you will unlock one Tier-3 Guided Quest (see Part 2 of the Beginner's Guide). Once you finish that, you will get three more Tier-2 Guided Quests, then a second and final Tier-3 Guided Quest.
Tier-3 Guided Quests have a much more restricted pool. Importantly, The Tier-3 Guided Quest allows you to select the Guided Quest for a character you already have Tier-3. This is actually the way to go, as the Guided Quest does not upgrade the character automatically, but rather gives you resources to do so yourself. Thus, picking a character that is already Tier-3 will just give you bonus materials.
Additionally, the Guided Quest offers a specific uniform for the character you've chosen at a 50% discount. This is a good way to get pretty decent uniforms when a uniform sale is not currently active, but if you're a F2P or low spender, don't get tricked into buying unideal uniforms just because they are 50% off.
Tier-2 Guided Quest - Character Pool
Listed below are the 21 possible characters you can choose. They are listed with the uniforms that are offered with the Guided Quest (again, not worth for most).
There are more than 6 recommendations provided below, so there is some leeway for personal preference. It is recommended you get all of the "Strong Recommendations", pick which ones (if any) you want from "Optional Uniforms", and fill out the rest with "No Uniform" or "Futureproofing" choices.
Strong Recommendations
These should be your first choices, recommended for everyone.
Loki [Marvel Studios' Loki]
Loki [Marvel Studios' Loki]
Part of The Main Cast. Start this quest ASAP so you can buy the uniform at 50% off.
Once Loki is given for free at Tier-3 on Day 4, you will no longer be able to select him for Tier-2 Guided Quest.
This means you will have to buy the uniform on a regular uniform sale.
Hulk [Titan]
Hulk [Titan]
Part of The Main Cast. Buy the uniform.
Black Panther [Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever]
Black Panther [Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever]
Part of The Main Cast. Buy the uniform.
Note that this is a Shuri uniform, which renames her to Black Panther.
Spider-Man (Miles Morales) [Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse]
Spider-Man (Miles Morales) [Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse]
Part of The Main Cast. Buy the uniform.
Optional Uniforms
Below are characters who are not highly recommended (and thus not part of the rest of the guide), but if you like them and have Crystals to spare, buying these uniforms is not the worst choice. Generally, this would only be recommended for players who are subscribing to the Stark Stash at the very least (if not buying more Crystals on top).
(Note: Currently no characters fit this section!)
Doctor Octopus [Ends of the Earth]
Doctor Octopus [Ends of the Earth]
Quite a strong Combat Villain, but has a lot of overlap with Hulk, and is more difficult to play.
You can get him instead of Titan Hulk if you are a big fan, or in addition to him (but note that there will be redundancy).
Hulk is still recommended over Ock, as Hulk is easier to use and more likely to get future uniforms.
No Uniform
These are characters you can pick, but shouldn't buy the uniform for as they have value just in their base forms.
Vision
Vision
A rare character that's somewhat decent without a uniform, good enough for some Shadowland floors.
Grab his "Avengers: Age of Ultron" uniform, which costs Gold, to turn him Universal.
Wasp
Wasp
Get her to Tier-2 for her debuff removal support passive, which is very handy in Timeline.
Her uniform doesn't really add much.
Groot
Groot
Get the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 uniform (which costs Gold, not Crystals) and use him as a Striker in World Boss.
When he strikes, he will leave behind healing pods, which are useful if you are struggling to stay alive.
Thor
Thor
A decent choice to build up if you like the character.
Don't buy the Love and Thunder uniform offered, get [All-Father Reborn] if you choose to build him.
Futureproofing
Listed below are characters in the pool who are only worth picking up in anticipation of new uniforms for movie/TV tie-in updates in the future. So don't get their currently-offered uniforms.
Daredevil
Daredevil
Daredevil: Born Again (TBA)
Will definitely get a uniform for his new show.
Tier-3 Guided Quest
These are not discussed in any detail here to avoid redundancy. See "Characters - The Main Cast" for justifications on picking these.
Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Iron Man
Iron Man

Characters - Support Shop
The following characters' Biometrics or X-Genes can be purchased from the Support Shop in Dimension Missions. Note that you should finish building whatever characters you can get from the Support Shop in the "Characters - The Main Cast" section before working through the ones below.
High Priority
These characters are a step above the rest. It is highly recommended to bring them to Tier-2 first.
She-Hulk
She-Hulk
Leadership that increases damage dealt to Male characters by 48% (scales up with uniforms).
Damage leaderships are usually much better than attack-based ones.
She also has a Tier-3 Advancement, allowing her to remain a useful lead into late-game content.
Phil Coulson
Phil Coulson
Increases Guaranteed Critical Rate by 20% and Damage to Villains by 45% for Heroes at Tier-2.
An incredibly useful passive for a character so cheap.
Ronan
Ronan
Leadership that increases All Attacks and All Defenses by 36% for Universals.
Also has a support that increases Ignore Dodge by 20% at Tier-2.
His uniform, [Annihilators], gives him an even better support (see Part 2 of this guide).
Shadowland Clearers
Build these up to Tier-2, but don't expect them to be as good as "The Main Cast" in the section above. Their main purpose would be soloing lower floors of Shadowland, as they are cheap to build and don't require a uniform to be usable.
Angel
Angel
Darkhawk lite. Really good all-around with a fantastic uptime on damage immunity, but his damage is dated.
Also has a debuff immunity leadership, so he's a good choice for a PvP leader early-game.
Bishop
Bishop
Decent character in both PvE and PvP, but not amazing in any regard.
Warpath
Warpath
Good damage, but squishy. Very nice in Shadowland rumbles.
Mysterio
Mysterio
You are already given him at 6-Star through Legendary Battle, so it's worth getting him to Tier-2 for Shadowland, which he is decent in.
Crystal
Crystal
Excellent crowd control character, making her useful for low levels of Shadowland even without a uniform.
Leads and Supports
These characters aren't great as mains, but have useful Leaderships or Support Passives that make them worth building. Leads and Supports are a very important part of the game - see the "Team Building" section of Part 4 of the guide for more information.
Destroyer
Destroyer
An excellent off-meta PvP character that scales well even into late-game.
Not much of a "main" but you let him sit there and most Energy Damage opponents melt themselves.
Warwolf
Warwolf
Support that increases Guaranteed Critical Rate by 20% and Critical Damage by 30% at Tier-2.
Decently useful passive for characters with low Crit stats.
Hela
Hela
Leadership that increases Energy Attack by 45%.
Gorgon
Gorgon
Leadership that increases Physical Attack by 45%.
Ancient One
Ancient One
Leadership that increases Energy Attack by 45% for Blasts.
Also has a support that increases Elemental Damage and Ignore Dodge by +25% at Tier-2.
Additionally, a good Shadowland Rumble clearer, and a solid Striker for World Boss.
Star-Lord
Star-Lord
Leadership that increases Energy Attack by 45% for Blasts.
His "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" uniform costs 500k Gold, and increases the lead to +50%.
He is also required at Tier-2 for "The Galactic Imperative" Epic Quest, so he should be built to Tier-2 eventually.
Moon Girl
Moon Girl
Leadership that increases All Attacks by 36%.
Medusa
Medusa
Leadership that increases All Attacks by 36% for Universals.
Decent on her own in Shadowland.
Mantis
Mantis
Support that increases Critical Damage by 20% and Ignore Defense by 15% for all allies at Tier-2.
A nice early-game support, and a valuable Shadowland Rumble character due to her ability to keep enemies AoE fear-locked.
Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes)
Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes)
Leadership that increases Ignore Dodge by 50%.
Useful for World Bosses or Shadowland floors with high Dodge, and may be somewhat useful in Dispatch.
Bullseye
Bullseye
Leadership that increases Ignore Dodge by 50%.
Useful for World Bosses or Shadowland floors with high Dodge, and may be somewhat useful in Dispatch.

Characters - Free Premiums
Random Chest
Immediately upon finishing the tutorial, you get a 6-Star Premium Hero Chest. While a nice gift, it's also very random and you could get stuck with a shitty Premium that doesn't do much for your roster.
It is an option to "reroll" your account to get a good first Premium - this will be pretty helpful but it's very annoying and it's understandable if you choose not to. If you are willing to spend a bit of money on the game, the starter Premium you get is not so important.
The easiest way to "reroll" an account is to click on your username in the top left of the home page, go to the "ACCOUNT" tab, and click "DELETE GAME ACCOUNT" in the bottom right. This allows you to start a new account without having to uninstall and reinstall the game.
Listed below are some of the most desirable premiums below with brief descriptions - if you do choose to reroll, settle if you got any of these (though they are roughly in order of quality).
Valkyrie
Valkyrie
Combat Hero, another solid support character that supports all characters.
Also obtainable for 2500 Crystals via Legendary Battle, but this likely isn't worth it for most players.
If you do unlock her, consider getting her Love and Thunder uniform (elaborated on in the First Uniforms section below).
Polaris
Polaris
Blast Hero that does solid damage with an excellent dual Lead + Support for Mutants.
A good option for Alliance Battle Legend for players without Storm's seasonal uniform.
Dazzler
Dazzler
Blast Hero that deals Energy Damage, a support character for Mutants.
Pairs well with Polaris as a support for Mutants, useful into late-game.
Ghost Panther
Ghost Panther
Universal Hero that deals Physical/Fire Damage. Primarily used for support, though he will be useful on his own early on.
Nick Fury
Nick Fury
Speed Hero that deals Physical Damage, a great dual Lead+Support character, but lacks versatility due to his attributes.
Also obtainable for 2500 Crystals via Legendary Battle, but this is not worth it for the majority of players.
Uniform helps, but not required.
Note that the characters below here are much less useful than the five above. If you really want to reroll for a good start, it is advised to go for the ones above. If you don't care too much, the ones below will be fine too.
Crescent
Crescent
Combat Hero that deals Physical Damage, another original character, has a Tier-3 option.
Explained more in the "Selector" section to avoid redundancy.
Ironheart
Ironheart
Blast Hero that deals Energy Damage, a great leader and support with her uniform.
Great effects, but not much versatility as a Blast Female Human.
Selector
On the 7th day new players get to select a 6-Star Premium character. This selector only has a limited pool of characters and includes no Mutants.
The recommendation(s) are below.
Enchantress
Enchantress
Useful Blast Villain support with her [War of the Realms] uniform.
Great early-game pair with Loki, and has usefulness into late-game as a Blast Villain support.
Crescent
Crescent
Decent on her own, but has a really nice leadership that can be a huge help in lategame content.
Like Luna, she is an original character who is likely to get future uniforms (and her current ones aren't recommended).
Ironheart
Ironheart
An excellent dual lead/support, but being a Blast Female Hero, she does not have that much use overall.
Don't get Carnage
Don't get Carnage. He is not good.
Carnage
Carnage
Hi guys, Carnage here. Don't get me, I am not good. Even with my new uniform.
(He may be listed relatively high up in the Tier List, but do not use the Tier List for new player guidance. The Tier List considers a character at their highest potential (Tier-4, Artifact, ideal C.T.P.) and misses a lot of nuance. For a new player, this guide should take precedence over the Tier List when deciding who to build / not to build.)

Characters - Gold Uniforms
Strong Recommendations
Some old uniforms are available for 500k Gold. Below are the "must-have" Gold uniforms.
Sharon Rogers [Star Light Armor]
Sharon Rogers [Star Light Armor]
Not as good as her newer uniforms, but much better than her base outfit.
It's best to get this and wait for her to get another new uniform.
Groot [Guardians of the Galaxy 2]
Groot [Guardians of the Galaxy 2]
An excellent support character, providing a team heal passive at Tier-2.
Also extremely valuable as a World Boss Striker, as he leaves healing pods behind when he appears.
Doctor Strange [Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange]
Doctor Strange [Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange]
Adds some stats and a heal to his 2nd skill. Very useful, since Strange is usable in Shadowland even at low ranks.
Ancient One [Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange]
Ancient One [Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange]
A very nice Lead/Support character and Shadowland clearer.
This uniform changes her to Female, allowing her to enter various content gated from Males.
Vision [Avengers: Age of Ultron]
Vision [Avengers: Age of Ultron]
Changes Vision to Universal type.
Destroyer [Prometheus]
Destroyer [Prometheus]
Adds some bonus stats and Crowd Control. Any amount helps.
She-Hulk [All-New]
She-Hulk [All-New]
Adds 5% more damage to her excellent leadership.
Star-Lord [Guardians of the Galaxy 2]
Star-Lord [Guardians of the Galaxy 2]
Boosts his lead from 45% to 50% as well as adding a nice 4th skill and smooth rotation.
Optional Uniforms
Additionally, a number of Gold-cost uniforms are less necessary, but still very nice for Shadowland clears - and 500k Gold isn't much at all. They are listed below with no descriptions.

Characters - Minor Build Priorities
This section lists the better cheap mains discussed earlier in the guide, in the order you should build them. Remember that the best few characters should be prioritised as per "The Main Cast" section above. For more information on how to build characters look at Part 3 of this guide.
If you picked any Tier-2 "Optional Uniforms" from the "Characters - Guided Quest" section above, consider them to be a step above any of the characters listed here.
Decent Builds
Build these with decent (but not great) resources, as they are quite useful early-game. Don't put too much into them as most of them don't scale too well late-game (e.g. some of them have no 6th skills, so they cannot even enter World Boss Legend), so after a certain point you will have little use for them anymore.
Low-Level Builds
These are mostly just Shadowland characters for now. Put some kind of proc obelisk on them so they deal more damage, but don't worry too much about them.

Items - Descriptions
Below are some items that will be discussed later on - refer back here for what they are actually used for. A lot of these can be found in the various new player check-in events.
Basic Items
These items are distributed through regular weekly to monthly check-ins.
New Player 6-Star Premium Chest
New Player 6-Star Premium Chest
Gives a random 6-Star Premium Character.
You get 1 of these in your Inbox upon completing the tutorial.
6-Star Character Selector
6-Star Character Selector
Brings a character straight to 6-Stars, though they will be Level 1 with no mastery.
You get 4 of these through new player login events.
Premium 6-Star Character Selector
Premium 6-Star Character Selector
Like the previous, but allows you to pick from a limited selection of Premium/Paywall characters.
You get 1 of these through a new player login event.
Tier-2 Character Selector
Tier-2 Character Selector
Brings a character striaght to Tier-2, which includes upgrading them to 6-Stars, maxing their Mastery, levelling them to 60 and upgrading gears to 20.
You get 1 of these through a new player login event.
6-Star Mega Mastery Ticket
6-Star Mega Mastery Ticket
Upgrades a character's Mastery to 6-Stars instantly.
Less crucial who you use these on, as you can get Norn Stones relatively easily, but still use them wisely.
Tier-2 Advancement Ticket
Tier-2 Advancement Ticket
Upgrades a character to Tier-2, skipping the cost of the upgrade only.
You still need the character to be Lv.60, max Mastery, and gears at +20.
You get these every 28 days through the regular monthly check-in event.
As these are relatively common, you can use them on basically any character eligible.
Tier-2 Mega Advancement Ticket
Tier-2 Mega Advancement Ticket
Upgrades any 6-Star character to Tier-2, regardless of Level, Mastery and Gear progress.
The character is automatically levelled to 60, fully Mastered and gears upgraded to +20 upon using a Mega Tier-2 Ticket.
Shortly after each update there is an event where you can get these, so you can get one in approximately every 5 weeks.
As these are much rarer, you should save them for Premium characters.

Items - 90 Day Special Check-In
The 90 Day Special Check-In for new players was added in update 8.5, giving some very rare items and plenty of Gold (about 50 million total). This section details recommendations on who to use these items on - but consider that over the span of 90 days the guide will update multiple times. What is recommended here when you first start may not be what is recommended when you reach the later rewards.
On the web version, you can click the item images to view descriptions of what they do.
6-Star Mega Rank Up Ticket
6-Star Mega Rank Up Ticket
Hold on to this for now. You can use it on a good Premium character if you unlock them at 1-Star (e.g. Valkyrie from Dimension Mission).
Mega Tier-2 Advancement Ticket
Mega Tier-2 Advancement Ticket
Use this on your pick from Enchantress or Luna to get her to Tier-2.
Do not work on her gears or levels after this point if you intend to use the Tier-3 Mega Advancement on her.
Level 6 Advanced Potential Enhancement Ticket
Level 6 Advanced Potential Enhancement Ticket
Use this on anyone you have at Lv.60 that is listed in "The Main Cast" above.
Advanced Potential Transcendence Ticket
Advanced Potential Transcendence Ticket
You can use this on a paywall support (e.g. Valkyrie or Ghost Panther), but it might be hard to get them to Tier-2. Save the ticket for later if they are not available.
Tier-3 Mega Advancement Ticket
Tier-3 Mega Advancement Ticket
This is best used on a Lead or Support character that is not available in standard Tier-3 Selectors.
This is because mains should be built up before you get this ticket, so using it on a main will be wasteful.
It is also more exciting to manually build up a main than a Lead/Support.
Selector: Potential Transcended Character (Special Check-In)
Selector: Potential Transcended Character (Special Check-In)
Use this on Sif, and get her [Asgard Invasion] uniform.
This dips into Mid-Game territory so she is covered in Part 2 of the guide.
2nd Potential Realisation Ticket
2nd Potential Realisation Ticket
Use this on any of "The Main Cast" with a Tier-4 available (as this means they can go past Lv.70).
Levelling any of them over 70 will allow them to stomp Dispatch, Dimension Rifts and World Boss Legend due to level advantage mechanics.
Selector: Tier-3 Character (Special Check-In)
Selector: Tier-3 Character (Special Check-In)
Pretty slim pickings. Cyclops is a decent Lead and Support (improves with latest uniform), but also isn't that necessary.
If you don't have Sharon Rogers Tier-3 (or near there) already, she is probably the obvious pick.

Items - Paid Selectors
This section is for Selectors that you can only obtain through real-money purchases (though they aren't very expensive).
First Purchase Tier-3 Selector
You get this selector from buying anything with real money value in the Store. It only has four options: Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor and Iron Man.
The recommendation here is to use the selector on Spider-Man, as you will use the Tier-3 Guided Quest on him. Then when you get to the Tier-3 Guided Quest, pick him again. The Quest will then give you free materials that you can use to upgrade other characters.
Spider-Man
Spider-Man
If you only get this selector after Spider-Man is already Tier-3, just pick your favourite or whoever is least built out of Thor and Captain America (as Iron Man is a free Tier-3).
6-Star Premium Selector
You may get this selector from a pop-up deal alongside a Tier-2 Mega Advancement Ticket.
Reasonings are not given for the character selections below: just refer to the "Characters - Free Premiums" section above.
30 Biometrics / X-Genes Daily
It is recommended to first unlock a bunch of Premiums. This is so that they are available to use Rank Up Tickets on in the future, if they get good upgrades and become worth building.
(If you are happy to just purchase the sub again if a character gets a good uniform, or if you intend to keep it running, there is no need to do this.)
However, some Premiums (e.g. Epic Quest Shifters like Colossus and Phyla-Vell) are much easier to unlock, so it is not advisable to waste a day selecting theirs.
The best way at the moment to check is, for each of your not-unlocked characters, open their popup on THANO$VIB$ and check the "Acquisition" section. If the "30 Biometrics Daily" or "30 X-Genes Daily" icon (which is highlighted red) is **first**, then you should unlock them. If it is not first, then there is an easier way to unlock that character for free.
Recommendations for the "30 Biometrics Daily" Selectors are below. This is mostly similar to the "Characters - Free Premiums" section above, but has less of a focus on futureproofing and less detail.
Recommendations for the "30 X-Genes Daily" Selectors are below.

Items - Comic Cards
Comic Cards are boring and very RNG-dependent but still remains the most important part of roster building as they affect your entire roster.
Your aim should be to as quickly as possible build a deck of cards that brings your Skill Cooldown (also known as Cooldown Duration) stat to the 28-32% range - combined with a 14% max Alliance bonus and you can effectively cut all your characters' cooldowns in half. This is essential as characters are designed with capped (50%) Skill Cooldown in mind.
Fixed Selections
These are Cards that are given for free, and so every account should equip them. It is generally only feasible to get 2 of the ideal Desired Stats on a 6* Card.
DOCTOR STRANGE (2018) #10
DOCTOR STRANGE (2018) #10
Given for free in Day 7.
Fixed Stats: Pierce Damage, Skill Cooldown.
Desired Stats: Ignore Defense on Stat 3, All Attacks Proc on Stat 4, Energy Attack on Stat 5, All Attacks on Stat 6.
DOCTOR STRANGE: DAMNATION (2018) #4
DOCTOR STRANGE: DAMNATION (2018) #4
Given for free in Day 7.
Fixed Stats: Ignore Defense, Pierce Damage.
Desired Stats: All Basic Attacks on Stat 3, Physical Attack Proc on Stat 4, Physical Attack on Stat 6.
If you have played over the 8 Year Anniversary (April 2023), you should have the exclusive Anniversary Card. This is an excellent card and should definitely be equipped for early-to-mid game.
Event Cards
These are Cards given at specific times of year. These are generally also very good and should be equipped if you have them.
MARVEL'S VOICES INFINITY COMIC (2022) #33
MARVEL'S VOICES INFINITY COMIC (2022) #33
Obtainable from 9 Year Anniversary event only.
Fixed Stats: Physical Attack, Energy Attack.
Desired Stats: All Basic Attacks on Stat 3, Ignore Defense on Stat 4, Skill Cooldown on Stat 6.
TIGER DIVISION (2022) #1 (ARTGERM VARIANT)
TIGER DIVISION (2022) #1 (ARTGERM VARIANT)
Obtainable from 8 Year Anniversary event only.
Fixed Stats: Skill Cooldown, Ignore Defense.
Desired Stats: Physical/Energy Attack on Stat 3, Energy Attack Proc on Stat 4, and/or All Basic Attacks on Stat 6.
Free-Choice Selections
For the remaining 2-3 Card slots create a bunch of the Cards below at 4-Stars. They are roughly in priority order, but all of them are good. If the stats aren't right, make another 4-Star copy and repeat until it's good enough to equip. You can only equip one of each Card at once.
WHAT IF? MAGIK (2018) #1
WHAT IF? MAGIK (2018) #1
Obtainable from Card Chests, which can be purchased in the Dimension Mission Support Shop.
Fixed Stats: Energy Attack, Ignore Defense.
Desired 3-Star and 4-Star Stats: All/Physical Attacks, Energy Attack Proc respectively.
LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD #17
LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD #17
Obtainable from Dimension Missions.
Fixed Stats: All Basic Attacks, Skill Cooldown.
Desired 3-Star and 4-Star Stats: Ignore Defense, Attack Speed respectively.
MARVEL ZOMBIES #2
MARVEL ZOMBIES #2
Obtainable from Dimension Missions.
Fixed Stats: Dodge, Skill Cooldown.
Desired 3-Star and 4-Star Stats: Critical Damage, Ignore Defense respectively.
AVENGERS (1963) #318
AVENGERS (1963) #318
Obtainable from Dimension Missions.
Fixed Stats: Max HP, Ignore Defense.
Desired 3-Star and 4-Star Stats: All Basic Attacks, Skill Cooldown respectively.
GROOT (2015) #5
GROOT (2015) #5
Obtainable from Dimension Missions.
Fixed Stats: Critical Damage, Ignore Defense.
Desired 3-Star and 4-Star Stats: Energy Attack, Skill Cooldown respectively.
THE PUNISHER #19
THE PUNISHER #19
Obtainable from Card Chests, which can be purchased in the Dimension Mission Support Shop.
Fixed Stats: Ignore Defense, Attack Speed.
Desired 3-Star and 4-Star Stats: Critical Damage, Skill Cooldown respectively.
This is quite a scrappy deck but once you have the baseline of 28-32% Skill Cooldown, you can work on optimising them.