Before a few months ago, the time that I spent in Marvel Heroes was largely uninformed and aimless. I figured it was just a Diablo click-fest that required very little knowledge other than how to work my index finger. That led me to meandering through the story mode and experiencing leveling that was so painfully slow that it almost drove me away from the game.
This all changed when I decided to buckle down and do some actual research into how Marvel Heroes was set up and its different systems functioned. After a few days of this, everything started to “click” for me, and I found my excitement and enjoyment of subsequent game sessions skyrocket.
Since I ended up bookmarking half of the internet in this journey to get my Marvel Heroes diploma (I imagine that Mr. Fantastic is the one who gives it to me), I wanted to share those resources with you in the hopes of passing along some great information that could take you from zero to hero in no time at all.
1. New player’s guide for Marvel Heroes 2015 (simplified)
Anyone who’s spent any good amount of time in the game could skip this guide, but I’m including it because it’s a quick primer that could be quite useful to the true neophyte. Most of the points that he lists require a lot more explanation — think of them as topic headers — but it’s a starting point to wrap your head around the layers of this game.
2. “Should I keep this gear?” database
One of the big recurring questions that players have — especially new ones feeling overwhelmed by loot drops and inventory limitations — is “What gear should I keep and what should I sell/donate?” There’s really nothing worse than discovering long after the fact that you trashed an incredibly rare unique or artifact without knowing it at the time.
This database is a terrific resource to cross-reference gear with how important it is for various characters, giving you a rough idea of what’s valuable and what’s vendor trash. Trust me, your STASH space will thank you for using it.
To go along with the last entry, here’s an exhaustive database of pretty much everything you’ll find in the game. It’s invaluable to use when you want to cross-reference gear to builds or to see if you’ve rolled the best numbers on an item.
4. A Mostly Comprehensive Guide for New Players
The above video is what I used to help break down the walls of my Marvel Heroes ignorance. It’s quite long (3.5 hours!), but he breaks it down into topics that makes it easy to devour in smaller sessions. If you can stand how many times he says “essentially,” then you’ll come out of his course feeling ready to tackle the game entire. Highly recommended.
Like the Marvel Heroes Item Base, the Compendium is an insanely deep resource designed for those researching builds or specific pieces of gear. It’s the spreadsheet to end all spreadsheets. I don’t use it a lot, but I’m glad to have it there when I do need it.
Leveling is one of the easier to understand parts of Marvel Heroes. But what do you do when you reach that final ding? A lot, as it turns out, but the game isn’t always the best at clearly pointing you at what to do. This guide is. It takes you step-by-step through gearing up your character at the endgame and provides some options for fun with your newfound powerhouse.
7. Introduction to Marvel Heroes 2015
This is (at the time of this writing) a seven-video series designed to get players in the game and give them solid footing. I really liked his three quick tips videos (one, two, three), even though some of the information is a little outdated.
I mentioned this last time, but it belongs here too. Orcz has an ongoing updated list of promo codes that you can use to get free stuff in the game. Check it regularly because there always seems to be new codes every few weeks!
9. What the tutorial doesn’t tell you
Another short and sweet guide touching on some subjects that the game isn’t as great about explaining.
This collaborative thread is full of extremely useful (if disorganized) tips and tricks for those just getting into Marvel Heroes. My favorite piece of advice? “Savor the gameplay. Slow down and smell the explosions.”
