Marvel Strike Force Guessation(?)!: Spiderverse

With the introduction of Squirrel Girl and the Young Avengers allegiance trait, we see Spider-man (Miles Morales) potentially leaving the Spiderverse team of spider totems in order to participate in this new grouping of young super heroes.

This, thus, creates a void in the Spider team.

Wow, our article title really has a lot of punctuation all cramped next to the same word! But, we digress!

Who are the Spiders Right Now?

Truly, this allows imaginations to run wild and free as to whether the gap will be filled in and by whom. The void in the Spider team, not the crowded punctuation. Let’s see first what roles have been fulfilled by the current spider totems:

• Spider-man is single-target nuker, with some control.
• Venom is a pure controller.
• Carnage is also a single-target nuker with a bit of control as well.
• Miles is defined in the game as a Brawler type, but we find him more of a controller instead.
• Spider-man (Symbiote) is a good mix of control plus AOE, and he’s the reason the team can heal so much in raids.

Carnage’s healing buff hardly provides much healing unless you’re up against a summoning-heavy team, so let’s go for a more generic approach.

What is the Team Good For?

In characters’ worth, this team will consist of:

• Control: 4 (Spidey and Carnage would be 0.5 each)
• Nuke: 2
• AOE: 1
• Buff: 0.5
• Heal: 0.5
  (Nope, SSM can’t heal the same way as Mantis or even S.H.I.E.L.D. Medic. Venom and Miles can cause healing more than SSM himself, if you think about it! See our Spider-man (Symbiote) Character Guide on using him at his best!)

The team is pretty much lacking:

• Tank
• Heal
• Buff

Given how the release of Ironheart flunked, it seems unlikely the next Spider-totem Spiderverse character will be a replacement of Miles Morales. Ironheart seemed to be intended as a replacement for Vision, probably so that Vision can be transferred to another team, or perhaps back to the Avengers team and remade. But that’s another discussion for another article. Let us know if you’d like to hear about it!

From what we understand of the trending of skills in MSF, it’s possible this new character could play the role of:

• Buff
• Heal
• Buff + heal combo

What? Not Tank?

Of all the Spiderverse characters in the game, only Rhino fills that role, while anyone Spider-ish is pretty much about avoiding damage. That’s what the spider-sense is for!

How About Just a Little Bit Tank-Like?

With the release of Invisible Woman, who is a legendary character but is a tank that doesn’t taunt, it was quite a risk to take! Few Protectors in this game do not have self-taunting skills, like the Hand Sentry, or require other characters to activate Taunt on him, like Blob. Yet, Invisible Woman’s kit seems to have hit the perfect pitch, thus becoming a runaway success and can possibly inspire the release of more unique tank kits, like the other highly-demanded Inhuman tank, Yo-Yo.

So, yes, we do think it’s possible the new Spiderverse character might take a leaf from Yo-Yo’s book and be a tank that doesn’t taunt too.

Well… even if the character doesn’t end up as a Protector, the trend seems to say, “That’s fine!” Look at the X-Force team, comprising of new Blasters and Brawler, and relying on Domino to provide some Evasion to the team and removal of debuffs to keep them alive. Who needs a Protector!

There’s one typical pattern that the MSF design team tries to adhere to when creating new characters – they try to create skills that fit the personality, story, etc., of the character in the comics. That’s why Venom’s basic attacks cannot be Dodged, because he doesn’t set off Spider-man’s spider-sense. That’s also why Miles’ Special and Ultimate skills deliver debuffs, because his electric shock attacks disrupt his target’s nervous system.

Who’s that Poke–err–Character?

Wow, there’s got to be a whole pile of them to choose from! But if we want the tank/heal role above to match the character, it’s gonna narrow the guesses down a lot!

And of all the spider totems that fill the spaces of the Spiderverse, from Spider Woman, to Scarlet Spider, to Scream, there seems to only one character that fits the bill:

Agent Venom

Flash Thompson, the football star of Peter Parker’s school, lost his legs, but in a way, restored them by combining with the Venom symbiote. Due to his loss, Flash probably understands most the desire and need to restore life and limp, and was able to provide emergency aid, like in The Amazing Spider-Man (2014), Volume 1, where he dressed the guard’s arm, so that he can try to reattach back his severed hand. Plus, Agent Venom will definitely be classified under the Symbiote trait, perfectly complementing the other three characters’ Symbiote-related skills.

What Could this Agent Venom be Like?

Let’s consider what could be the kit for this potential, new Spiderverse character:

Web ‘n Gun
Basic Skill
Attacks primary target and chains to 3 other targets. Counterattacks will not break this chain, but will still trigger them.

Agent Venom charges into his targets with the character randomizing between physical assault and gun-toting animations. He’s a fierce fighter armed with military-grade weapons after all! What we enjoyed from multi-hit attacks like Rhino’s Ultimate is that they complete their attacks uninterrupted by Counterattacks, while being fair and allowing all they attacked to counterattack. There’s a tactic to this when the one triggering Counterattacks is a tank, but so far, such attacks are pretty much AOE types instead of chained types.

Alien Regeneration
Special Skill
Clears debuffs from all allies, then heal all Symbiote allies. During the first 5 turns, this skill applies 3 counts of Rejuvenation to all allies (Heals a small amount of Health on every ally and enemy’s turn).

We thought we would take advantage of this character designing session to include a new buff of our own – Rejuvenation! One issue about healing in this game is its infrequency. When you think you’ve finally healed sufficiently, the enemy piles on another nuke or AOE attack, and you desperately need another heal. But your healer will, more often than not, require another 3 or 4 turns before he/she can use that healing skill again. That’s why we introduce an over-time regeneration that has a lesser healing effect, but occurs more frequently, on every character’s turn. That way, when there are more enemies, such as in raid battles that consist as many as 20 targets, your character can pretty much be fully healed by his next turn.

Would it be too OP? We believe not. For one, the healed amount is small and most likely won’t help survive a nuke attack or combined attacks from multiple characters. Plus, as a buff, it can be removed. This makes Rejuvenation very similar to Regeneration. We know that in our Gamepleton Tier List-616 we pretty much condemned the Kree Oracle for being a healer that can only use Regeneration instead of direct healing. However, with the frequency in which Rejuvenation heals, the accumulated HP restored more than makes up the risk of delayed healing. Regeneration executes a one-time heal, which is very dependent on the caster’s stats, and ends up healing just enough or insufficiently. It benefits fast characters more. Rejuvenation gives your character a chance to heal multiple times, and is more effective when the character has the Speed Down debuff. This makes Rejuvenation best for tanks, especially when slowed.

No Bullet to Spare
Ultimate Skill
Attack primary target 10 times. If primary target is killed, attack adjacent targets until Agent Venom has attacked 10 times or 5 enemies are killed. All attacks ignore Defense Up and Block (Block will still be consumed.) This attack ignores Stealth for adjacent targets.

When you combined the insane prowess of a Symbiote and the expertise of military combat, you get the ultimate fighter! That’s why we think it’ll do Flash proud that his Ultimate skill can ignore some buffs, better than Piercing that requires an additional programming code. This type of attack is something we quite enjoy seeing in other games, where the skill is pretty much a nuke against one single target, like a boss, or the attack can be distributed amongst a group of weakened targets. The Green Goblin’s Ultimate skill uses this style of attack, but we find it pretty lacking in sophistication, doing mere damage. Agent Venom’s Ultimate skill shall be an improvement!

Lethal Protector
Passive Skill
Taunts and increases Def for 1 turn upon spawning. For the first 5 turns, whenever an ally Venom drops below 75% Health, gain Taunt, then heal and change that ally’s speed bar by 20%. On this character’s 6th turn, this character and all ally Symbiotes reduce Defense by 50% and increase Offense by 50% until the end of battle. If non-Symbiote allies do not have Bleed, apply Bleed. Whenever non-Symbiote allies lose Bleed, apply Bleed.

Agent Venom is part of a military strike team, and he usually leads the charge because he knows the Symbiote will protect him against any unexpected explosions and traps. That means he would make a good early tank in battle. However, even he has limits to controlling a crazed alien life-form, and if in battle too long, or Flash loses control, the Symbiote starts to take over its host and begins its rampage, attacking enemies and allies alike.

Wouldn’t that finally balance out this glass-cannon of a team? (At least for the first 5 turns!) But, you know what…? Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Gwen Stacy and pretty much most of the Spiderverse characters have not really been much about healing, but more about dishing out the damage and putting villains in their place. This ends up brutally damaging them in parts of the comics, which is pretty much what MSF’s Spiderverse team is about (with just minimal, along-the-way healing).

We did mention that the Spiderverse team is like a glass cannon, didn’t we? :3
It wouldn’t be tradition if it becomes so balanced with a dedicated healer cum tanker in the party, no?

That is why… …

This is the Character We Honestly Think Might Fill the Gap

Kaine Parker, Scarlet Spider

Not Ben Reilly’s version of the red-suited and blue-vested spider, but the red and black beast of a man, who can literally turn into a beast of a spider!

Why Kaine, instead of a lady Spider which has never been introduced yet? Or maybe even Cosmic Spider-man or Spider-man 2099?

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Kaine has been portrayed as particularly violent, which fits the trending pattern of aggressiveness seen in Symbiote Spider-man and his merciless attack movements. Plus, there’s one thing few Spiders would do that Kaine has been doing since his escape from the Jackal’s lab – killing. This would easily appeal to a higher-than-average attack stat in the game, making him the possible spearhead of the team.

At the same time, Kaine’s suit can self-regenerate just by wearing and thinking it. He will not have the Symbiote trait, but he will have his own healing factor for sure. Besides, Kaine was slated for death, but somehow overcame it. Perhaps his cloned genes will provide the Deathproof buff to his team, or at the very least, to himself!

Let’s not forget one more ability that Kaine has, which isn’t all that new, in case there are those who think Miles Morales’ invisibility is brand new. That’s right! Kaine can turn invisible as well! This should set him up as the invisible member of the team, as a replacement for Miles, the invisible spider. Perhaps, this time, Kaine can share the invisibility buff!

The Spiderverse team has mainly been much of a glass-cannon, except in raids and Dark Dimension, so it would actually make more sense to continue this tradition and simply make them more powerful. This could even pave the way for a fourth Dark Dimension! X-Force is designed to be a War Offense team, and the Black Order is an Arena team. Before them was the Mercenary update that focused on War Defense. The team that’s lacking for the past few months is a raid team!

Granted, the new Young Avengers team might be that raid team, seeing how Miles Morales was part of the raid-dominating Spiderverse, and Ms. Marvel’s frequent taunts make her essential in raid battles that can face double digits of enemies, all non-summoned. Squirrel Girl provides Drain to her team, so it’s possible that the Young Avengers could be designed as the latest raid team. Plus, we expect another two brand new characters to form up the team.

However! You can never have too many teams dedicated to raids! That’s why we broke down detailed info on raiding and how specific characters and teams are best for them. Besides, with Miles Morales out of the Spiderverse, you’ll need a fifth character, otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to start the battle, no?

What Skills Shall Kaine Have?

So, with all these considerations, here is what we believe the potential, new Spiderverse character’s kit should be:

Brash Assault
Basic Skill
Attack primary target and a secondary target with the lowest health. This attack cannot be Blocked and is Unavoidable for the primary target, and ignores Taunt and Stealth for the secondary target.

Kaine turns invisible, dashes behind the primary target and grabs him, lifting him up into the air and throwing him against the secondary target. Damage is dealt upon impact. If Kaine misses or the secondary target dodges, the primary target crashes into the ground and is the only one to take damage.

Web Wallop
Special Attack
Attack primary target a number of times equal to the number of other targets, multiplied by two. Attack all other targets two times. Then, attack all targets once.

Kaine webs up the primary target, and swings him around in a circle twice, using him like a ball-and-chain against all other targets, and then smashing the primary target against the ground, dealing one last damage to all targets.

Killer & Murderer
Ultimate Attack
Launches attacks five times, randomly selecting either:
– the primary target
– a random target (ignores Stealth)
– the primary target and targets next to it
– a random target (ignores Stealth) and targets next to it
– all targets

When a character attacks, the target type is always pre-determined: primary target only, or all targets. We decided to change it around with Kaine because his attack style tends to be unpredictable, plus, with the possibility of five attacks, there’s a chance to hit all targets five incredible times! How’s that for damage?

Kaine enters a rage, turns invisible first, then launches his five attacks. Enemies can hide, but so can Kaine. Their only hope is to dodge, else, it’s a bombardment of attacks on one or all of the team, which is too devastating in Arena!

Houston’s Super Hero
Passive Ability
For every one Kill, Spiderverse heroes and Symbiotes gain increases in Attack and Focus by 3% until the end of battle.
For every application of Offense Up and Defense Down, increase their effects by 100%
On every Spiderverse hero and Symbiote ally’s turn, 50% chance to gain Stealth and Offense Up.

Houston was known to be without any superheroes, and thus, vulnerable, until Kaine came along and filled in that void – albeit unwillingly. This passive skill kit should give him and the Spiderverse team a great boost to offense, but they cannot be without a weakness, else they’d be too OP. That’s why they should have an equally debilitating effect should they ever be debuffed.

This should be it! This should help the Spiderverse team grow closer to completion! Or at least, for the non-Symbiote spider totem team, since Spider-man and Miles Morales are the only Spiderverse characters that are heroes and don’t have Symbiotes.

Who do you think should be the new Spiderverse addition? Maybe Silk, Spider-Ham or the Superior Spider-man? If you agree with me that it should be Kaine Parker, a.k.a. Scarlet Spider, should the above be his kit? Should there even be yet another Spiderverse character?