11.6 Update Recap - Mighty Machines

Introduction

The run of comic-inspired updates continues with the somewhat anticipated Marvel Cosmic Invasion collaboration in the mid-month. This was a huge update for neglected characters, with all 6 uniforms coming alongside Tier-4 Upgrades. This is tied for most Tier-4s in a full update, alongside the Daredevil: Born Again (10.8) update. Every single character is also Universal, which might be a first (at least at this volume).

The main update theme also may be a reference to the "Created Ones" team up bonus that dominated the early months of the game. Sadly this update does not bring those characters anywhere near the status they once were.

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• Characters

  Characters

  Well-Oiled

  Despite the "Plight of the Transcended Shitter" hit piece casting doubt on the likelihood of these two getting Tier-4s, both these must-awaited characters are out of jail with these new collaboration uniforms.

  The Plight of the Transcended Shitter

  Nova (Richard Rider) [Marvel Cosmic Invasion]

  Nova (Richard Rider) [Marvel Cosmic Invasion]

  Nova finally gets an upgrade and it is genuinely horrific to look at. You think it looks bad from the front then you swivel it around and are greeted by that hair. Why does he looks that way?

  In spite of this, he is a very useful support in a pretty stacked field (sharing tags with Ghost Panther, Ronan, and Doctor Voodoo). He has very similar passive buffs to Doctor Voodoo but an Artifact that pushes him over the edge as the meta choice for a few Universal Hero (Male) restrictions in ABX/L.

  It is worth keeping in mind the cost of maxing him out though. If you don't already have him recruited through the Deluxe Pack, it is a lot of work to recruit him and then get his Artifact to have him outperform Voodoo. Still, a nice uniform for those pushing higher scores and/or already have the character.

  Phyla-Vell [Marvel Cosmic Invasion]

  Phyla-Vell [Marvel Cosmic Invasion]

  Phyla-Vell's new uniform is a visual treat and swaps her outdated "Skill Damage / Bonus Damage" support (which didn't stack with other characters' buffs) with a significant 45% Damage to Bosses.

  She is eligible for a few ABX/L restrictions, but is really only useful for Female Alien ABX (if you don't have Gamora) where she can score a decent amount as a main too. This is mainly due to a lacking selection of Female Alien DPS Tier-4s, but does have relatively high DPS for a support Tier-4.

  Overall a good uniform despite the ABX/L limitations, useful for WBL+ if you need supports for that mode, and helps that she is easier to acquire and rank up than some of the supports with similar tags (e.g. Morgan, Nova, Proxima).

  Running on Empty

  Sentinel [Stark Sentinels Mk II]

  Sentinel [Stark Sentinels Mk II]

  Another sick looking uniform for Sentinel, and it retains its summons that copy its skill animations which is always a treat in the Skill Preview. As expected this is not a PvE focused uniform and summon characters have been awful at that forever anyway.

  PvP performance is the more interesting bit, as the Mutant-targeting passive gets a significant buff to 100% damage dealt and -60% damage received. Clearly designed to hard counter Mutants in PvP and actually does a very good job of it, especially against the slightly off-meta ones. He does require a full build and high-rank Artifact to stack up against the beefier ones like Madelyne / Wolverine / even Deadpool though.

  A fun PvP character that you can deploy in certain situations in AC/TBA but also isn't really useful in general. Worth a build if you hate Mutants and like PvP - if this sounds good to you, please be aware you should not be in either circle of this venn diagram much less the intersection.

  Destroyer [The Mighty Thor]

  Destroyer [The Mighty Thor]

  Destroyer has always had an interesting place in the meta, often proving useful here and there in PvP with no new uniforms required. With the recent madness with Sentry/Knull/Kang and the Reflect Reduction on the C.T.P. of Conquest it has dropped off quite a bit, with this uniform giving it a chance at a resurgence.

  We can get PvE out of the way immediately: a huge improvement of course, but still no good since it literally does not have enough skills. With the 5th skill missing and skills 1/2 being useless like most characters, you are looking at a character with 2 effective skills and a 30s cooldown on the stinky Awakened Skill. They also don't charge its Tier-4 fast with barely 50% charge out of a single rotation. Unironically its most useful property in PvE might be the fact that you can throw it in any Shadowland floor and it'll likely be advantaged due to being Universal + Gender and Side Neutral. Unfortunately the Creature and Neutral tags have the opposite effect in ABX/L and WBL restrictions, locking it out of a large amount of content.

  Its PvP value is interesting - while it won't be breaking into Timeline meta anymore, this is certainly a big upgrade for its passives with a 20% higher Energy Damage Received Decrease and a 55% HP support for Machines. Its Tier-4 also provides some buffs if you can ever charge it enough in a PvP mode, though the main use of the Tier-4 would be for the stat bump.

  All in all this isn't the best upgrade ever (Immortality + a long i-frame ignore skill could have been huge for supplementing its Reflect) but certainly will have its uses in the roster-heavy modes if you are invested into PvP. At worst it's a crazy HP support for Machine teams (e.g. with Sentinel) that may be able to take out some "opps" with its Reflect as a bonus.

  Manufacturing Defect

  Ultron [All-Father Ultron]

  Ultron [All-Father Ultron]

  Important Historical Context

  The first big MCU tie in for the game was Age of Ultron, and it focused hard on Ultron, giving him three uniforms for the one update which is still unprecedented. In many ways he seemed like the main character of the game for a time, and was an early-game must have along with Vision.

  Fans of this character then waited 7 years before the next uniform, [Infinity Ultron], was added. With the time between the two uniforms, and the fact that the Infinity Ultron WBL had been released prior to the actual uniform dropping, hopes were high that this uniform would be stupidly strong to match his appearance in the show and the WBL stage. There was also speculation that there would be a special way to unlock the uniform, as it was the first WBL that was not a new Native Tier-3 unlockable character.

  We now know this was not the case. It was a regular cost uniform with lame animations and did not move the needle whatsoever. Another four years pass by and he gets another shot at greatness.

  The Verdict

  It's an improvement over his previous uniform but still very bad!

  Vision [Ultimate Vision]

  Vision [Ultimate Vision]

  Vision also gets a long-awaited upgrade as one of the final MCU Avengers to receive a Tier-4. Some nice skill visuals and a swap to Female is a good start but that is also where it ends for her.

  Despite the visuals, her skill design is awful with her 4th and 5th skills being impossible to cancel into one another. On top of this her skills just don't deal acceptable damage for a character that is not a support and has barely any PvP effects to speak of.

  You read her skill descriptions and ask "why?". You take her into Skill Preview and ask "why?". You try to use her in any content and ask "why?". But this time it's to yourself for expecting anything different.

  The only things you might find useful are her debuff removal passive and solid Heal on her Artifact, but come on now.

  Lash

  Lash

  Gorgon

  Gorgon

  There is absolutely no value to be gained here.