Marvel Strike Force developments are happening at a breakneck pace these days. Last week, we were discussing three new characters coming to the game and this week FoxNext dropped update 2.0 adding a fourth previously unrevealed character along with some major new features.
Venom and Ultron were indeed added with this update as we discussed last week and I’m disappointed to say that Venom’s datamined kit was mostly accurate. Venom’s a controller all about spreading debuffs and flipping buffs, so he’ll fit well into a team with characters like Mordo, Scarlet Witch and Vision. But he’s definitely on the slow side, so it’s hard to say how he’ll stack up just yet.
Also, as I suspected, Venom will be unlocked through a new special raid, but he’ll also get an event campaign. FoxNext is splitting Venom shard opportunities between the two modes this time, which just ends up making the whole thing doubly annoying.
Ultron, on the other hand, is looking absolutely insane. This is fitting, because he’ll be unlocked through the new Dark Dimension mode, which is a piece of content targeted specifically at endgame players. So while he’s technically playable once Dark Dimension is activated, it’s not likely anyone will have him for a long time.
Ultron will be able to clear taunts with his basic attack (as well as copy and clear other buffs), summon a trio of buffed up minions (and all Defense Up to himself and minions for two turns), deliver an insane single target nuke that negates Defense Up, self-revive and prolong buff durations for Villain allies. His kit is no joke and I’ll be terrified once players are able to actually field him.
As usual, FoxNext neglected to re-tune campaign/raid nodes which feature the character, making for some pretty frustrating play post-update. I’ve basically hit a wall in the Cosmic campaign due to how powerful Ultron and friends are now.
The surprise since last week was the announcement that we’d be getting more Mutants, specifically, a Legendary Event for Magneto slated for later this year. Unlocking Magneto will require a team of Brotherhood of Mutants characters and the first one to be revealed and added to the game with update 2.0 is Mystique. Mystique will be farmable in the Villains campaign and while no official information is available for her kit just yet, she has been datamined and I’m inclined to believe what I’ve read given how close she is to release.
If this datamine is accurate, Mystique will be a Controller with the ability to copy buffs and apply them to herself, extend buffs on herself and Magneto (if present) and gain Stealth and Speed Up for herself. Her kit sounds mostly straightforward, except for one aspect of her special ability that is basically an AoE De-Stealth. It doesn’t sound like it’s unavoidable, so I’m hesitant to say she’ll be a hard counter for Hand Sentry since he also applies Evade, but anyone else (especially Black Widow) is in trouble.
Finally, the biggest new feature to come to MSF with update 2.0 is something called Stark Tech. This is an Alliance based system where players donate currency (Gold or Power Cores) daily to unlock tickets that can be spent on upgrades for all characters of a particular origin. This system allows you to layer some additional progression for the types of characters you like to play most. Are you mostly fielding Bio characters such as Quake, Spider-Man and Captain America? Upgrade your Bio Origin! Are you fielding a full Tech team? Upgrade Tech! Etc. Upgrades are flat % bonuses to a variety of attributes, such as Health, Damage, Armor, Focus and Resistance. My thinking is that Health will probably give you the most bang for your buck right now since health pools tend to be largest, but we’ll have to see how it plays out. I appreciate the ability to focus in on the sorts of characters I like, but the upgrades are pretty uninspired. It would’ve been nice to see some more flavorful and meaningful bonuses here.
What’s your take on update 2.0 so far? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
