The Marvel’s Avengers XP changes may have added more grind to what many already consider to be a pretty bare in content experience, but in the grander picture of things it really didn’t.
Announced ahead of the DLC release last week, Crystal Dynamic confirmed that there would be some rework in how much XP a player needs in order to level up.
The current XP “curve” isn’t really a curve at all. In most RPGs, the amount of XP you need to level up increases as you gain levels in a curve, but our system is a straight line. This has led to pacing issues, such as skill points currently being rewarded too fast, which may be confusing and overwhelming to newer players. We want each decision to invest in a skill or Heroic to be more meaningful.
Based on these issues, we’ll be increasing the amount of XP needed to level up, starting from around level 25. This amount will increase the closer you get to level 50 so that it will take longer to reach higher levels, and will only affect character level, not power level. If you already have level 50 characters, which is the current maximum, this won’t affect you. If you have a character who isn’t level 50 and want to speed up their progress, take this time to do so before the update on March 18.
Understandably, this news didn’t sit too well with many of it’s current players, with some seeing it as a way to pad the game with more things to do than what there currently was. However, after playing the recent Hawkeye DLC and “grinding” my character up to level 50, the change actually isn’t as bad as bad as many had perceived.
Does Leveling Up in Marvel’s Avengers Really Matter?
First off, lets talk about leveling up in Marvel’s Avengers and why it’s “important.” While leveling up doesn’t provide any kind of stat boost (that’s all in gear level) it does open up players to unlocking new characters skills. For every level you reach, you’ll receive one skill point, which in turn can be used to unlock a skill (duh). By the time you reach level 50 you’ll find yourself with all the skills unlocked for a given character.
These skills are rather important as they can offer quite a bit in build varieties with certain skills having different selectable within their unlocks. Honestly they can make all the difference when it comes to creating a build, with some skills being geared towards one playstyle over another. Plus, a lot of the fun lies in some of the unique skills that offer different attacks. Captain America for example doesn’t really feel like he hits his full potential until you unlock some of his heavier hitting skills later on.
So yes, you could say that leveling up in Marvel’s Avengers is very important, though when you look at where the game’s real grind comes in, you could argue that it really doesn’t. In fact both prior to and after the update, players are likely to hit max level well before coming close to reaching max gear level in Avengers.
So What Changed?
Crystal Dynamic explained it well enough, but most were too busy with them “upping the grind” to even take notice. As explained by the team, the leveling system is now on a curve, rather than a straight line. This means that as you level up, your power gear is now more than likely going to be in line with progression of your level. So someone hitting level 50 in the latest update should have a far higher gear level than someone who hits 50 pre-patch.
Admittedly, there is a bit more of a grind in leveling up. Instead of leveling up 3-5 times in a single mission (the lengthy ones), you’ll see that drop 2 to 4 times. Looking at that, it really isn’t that big of a change. Hitting level 50 with Hawkeye was still 4-7 hours of game time with the character. Albeit a boring one, but the ultimate goal of hitting max gear in the end really had no major effect other than it feeling more “natural” to your current level.
So What Really Is the Issue?
While I’m “defending” the XP changes, make no mistake, I still find Marvel’s Avengers to be hugely lacking in real content despite just receiving a decent story update. I may have hit level 50 with Hawkeye, but I am still quite a ways from hitting max gear level, and chances are I won’t. The road to 150 gear level is a long and boring one in Avengers, one I’ve already went through the motion of doing with previous characters like Iron Man and Hulk.
Content is simply rinse and repeat of the same missions over and over again for gear that is purely stat based rather than actual cosmetic. There’s no real reward or accomplishment for hitting the max gear, because all it does it prepare you to play through a series of missions (Mega Hives) that are recycled from their solo versions. A very unsatisfying experience if you ask me.
I can understand why many were actually upset, and it’s not really the added “grind” but more of the fact that it was an area people didn’t have an issue with. It’s a change that didn’t need to happen, especially when the endgame greets players with the same missions they were already playing. These bite size DLC releases may show potential, but they’re so short and rather lackluster that it’s hard to justify any reason to keep playing afterwards. I won’t harp on people who enjoy it, because not everyone likes and dislike the same thing, but it is clear that Crystal Dynamics still has a long way to go. The XP change may not be a big one, but perhaps it’s one that should have just gone unannounced as most probably wouldn’t notice the change. I’ll say it definitely is one that is coming pretty late in the game, but perhaps it will play a major role when the Gear 2.0 system launches later this year. Who knows.
Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely of the author’s and does not represent MP1st’s staff in its entirety.
