Marvel Strike Force Ancient One Guide - Theria Games

Introduction

Ancient One, the wise and powerful Sorceress Supreme, has arrived in Marvel Strike Force, stepping out of the shadows to become a pivotal member of the newly introduced Astral team. As a durable Brawler, she boasts impressive health and armor stats, making her resilient on the battlefield.

In addition to her durability, Ancient One packs a potent damage output that rivals some of the game’s heavy hitters, such as Agatha and Sentinel. Her ability to consistently generate energy for her team is one of her standout traits, allowing her allies to unleash powerful attacks and harness mystic abilities. For a detailed overview of her abilities and how to maximize her potential, check out the Marvel Strike Force Ancient One Guide.

While her Focus stat may not be as high as some other characters, Ancient One’s true strength lies in her versatility. She offers a balanced mix of offensive power, healing, and control, allowing her to perform well in a variety of scenarios. This combination makes her a valuable asset in multiple game modes, including challenging Elite missions and Alliance War. With the introduction of the Astral team, players now have the opportunity to explore new strategies and synergies, with Ancient One playing a crucial role in guiding them toward victory.

As a new force in Battleworld, Ancient One is poised to change the way battles are fought. Whether you’re an experienced player or just starting to build your roster, her abilities offer great potential. Building a strong Astral team around her will be key to unlocking her full potential and achieving new levels of strategic success in the game. Prepare to embrace the mystic arts and let Ancient One lead you to victory!

Character Breakdown

Ancient One’s kit in Marvel Strike Force combines a strong mix of damage, support, and unique mechanics, making her a highly versatile and powerful character. As a durable Brawler, she possesses impressive health, ranking 14th in the game alongside Lady Deathstrike and Omega Sentinel. This high health allows her to withstand substantial damage, making her a resilient front-line fighter. Her damage output ranks 9th, on par with heavy hitters like Agatha and Sentinel, and she can deal significant damage with her piercing attacks that bypass enemy armor. Additionally, Ancient One boasts the 5th highest armor rating, which enhances her survivability and makes her unusually durable for a Brawler.

While her Focus stat ranks lower at 20th, Ancient One compensates for this by generating energy through critical hits, ensuring she can still effectively support her team. Her resistance, placed at 13th, provides decent protection against debuffs. Although her speed is on the slower side at 122, her kit includes Speed Up for her team in Battleworld, mitigating this weakness in specific game modes.

Abilities: Offense, Support, and Unique Mechanics

Basic – Soul Strike

Level: 1

Piercing Damage: 75

Special – Serene Devastation

Level: 1

Piercing Damage: 60

Ultimate – Arcane Reign

Level: 1

Piercing Damage: 100

Passive – Master of the Mystic Arts

Level: 100

Chance to Counterattack: 100

Basic – Soul Strike allows her to attack the primary target and adjacent enemies with piercing damage, applying Bleed effects. On critical hits, she applies additional Bleed effects, making this attack highly effective against high-health targets. When forced to attack an ally, such as from an enemy ability, she deals reduced damage to Astral allies, which can be beneficial in certain scenarios.

Special – Serene Devastation is an AOE piercing attack that applies a 2-turn Heal Block to all enemies, boosts crit damage, and applies Counter to all allies, enhancing her energy generation and providing damage reduction. In Battleworld, it also applies Speed Up to her and her allies, improving turn order and frequency of actions. The attack is unavoidable and unblockable, guaranteeing its effectiveness.

Ultimate – Arcane Reign deals high piercing damage to the primary target, with rebounds to multiple enemies and additional damage to the most injured enemy, applying Stun and reducing their Speed Bar. It also applies Safeguard to Ancient One and all Astral allies, protecting them from negative effects. Counterattacks can interrupt the rebound chain, reducing the overall damage.

Passive – Master of the Mystic Arts flips Heal Block debuffs into positive effects, enabling healing for herself and her allies. It also generates energy for Astral allies on critical hits, fueling team attacks. Her passive includes Counter mechanics, reducing enemy Crit Chance by 50%, and granting a 100% chance to Counterattack. She also provides a 25% Crit Damage boost, enhancing her damage output. Her Focus is only reduced by Offense Down debuffs, protecting against Focus manipulation. In Battleworld (and War, if awakened), she and her Astral allies start with Safeguard, preventing negative effects. Additionally, she prevents enemies from spawning with Taunt and prolongs the duration of positive effects on her team, making buffs more potent.

Ancient One is a multifaceted character, combining offensive power, energy generation, and protection for her allies. She is especially effective in Battleworld and can significantly impact game modes that require synergy and sustain.

T4 Priority

Strategically prioritizing Ancient One’s T4 upgrades is essential to maximizing her potential in Marvel Strike Force.

Passive (P) – Master of the Mystic Arts: This is Ancient One’s most critical T4 upgrade. It unlocks the ability for her and all Astral allies to generate 1 Ability Energy whenever any of them land a critical hit. This energy generation is vital for her team’s ability to unleash powerful abilities, particularly in longer battles like those against Null in Battleworld.

The T4 upgrade also grants Ancient One and her team Safeguard on spawn in Battleworld, protecting them from negative effects at the start of a match. Additionally, it activates the Taunt prevention mechanic in Battleworld, ensuring enemies cannot spawn with Taunt if Ancient One has 3 or more Astral allies, improving strategic targeting and reducing enemy disruption. The Awakened version extends these benefits to Alliance War, boosting her team’s performance significantly in that mode.

Special (S) – Serene Devastation: Highly recommended for the T4 upgrade, this boosts Ancient One’s counter application from 1 to 3 counters for herself and all allies. This works well with her passive energy generation and Crit Chance reduction, making her a more effective support character. The upgrade also increases the attack’s piercing damage, improving her overall damage output. The Awakened ability extends the Speed Up effect to Alliance War, giving the Astral team better turn order and speed, although this is slightly less essential than the benefits of the passive’s Awakened ability.

Ultimate (U) – Arcane Reign: This T4 upgrade increases the Speed Bar reduction for the most injured enemy from 50% to 100%, effectively stunning them for a turn. While this upgrade enhances her ultimate attack, it is generally considered less impactful than the Passive and Special upgrades, as the most injured enemy is often near defeat. The upgrade also adds extra damage to the Ultimate, increasing its overall effectiveness, but it’s not as critical as the other upgrades.

Basic (B) – Soul Strike: This T4 upgrade boosts Ancient One’s damage output and adds a Bleed effect on critical hits. However, it is the lowest priority for upgrades since Ancient One primarily excels in support and control through her Special, Ultimate, and Passive abilities. Damage from her Basic attack is secondary to her core functions.

Overall, the Passive is the most important T4 upgrade, followed by the Special, then the Ultimate, with the Basic upgrade being optional. This upgrade prioritization focuses on enhancing her core strengths—energy generation, survivability, and supporting her team—first, ensuring she performs at her best in various game modes.

ISO-8 Class

We strongly recommend the Raider class as the optimal choice for Ancient One, as it aligns seamlessly with her kit and playstyle. Ancient One’s passive ability, Master of the Mystic Arts, revolves around critical hits, and the Raider class enhances both her critical hit chance and damage, maximizing the effectiveness of her energy generation mechanic. Every time she or an Astral ally critically strikes an enemy, the entire team gains Ability Energy, and the Raider class amplifies this by increasing her Crit Damage, making her attacks even more devastating.

Ancient One already ranks 9th in damage output, and the Raider class further boosts her damage potential. The added Crit Damage, combined with her Serene Devastation special ability, increases her offensive strength significantly. Additionally, since all of Ancient One’s abilities hit multiple targets, the Raider class provides more opportunities to trigger her energy generation and apply Vulnerable, maximizing the damage output across the team.

The energy generation from critical hits, fueled by the Raider class, creates a cycle of frequent ability usage, leading to sustained offense. While the Striker class could be considered due to its damage boost, it doesn’t complement Ancient One’s crit-focused abilities or energy generation mechanics as well as the Raider class does.

Ultimately, the Raider class is the ideal choice for Ancient One, enabling her to excel as both a damage dealer and support character, especially within the Astral team composition. This class optimizes her synergy with critical hits and energy generation, ensuring that she can provide powerful and sustained offensive support to her team.

Team Synergies

Ancient One plays a pivotal role within the Astral team in Battleworld, where her synergies greatly enhance the team’s effectiveness. Her ability to generate Ability Energy for all Astral allies on any critical hit is a key aspect of her support role. This constant flow of energy allows the team to use their abilities more frequently, keeping the offensive pressure high and overwhelming opponents.

The Astral team’s mechanics are built around critical hits, and Ancient One’s passive energy generation and increased Crit Damage make her an ideal fit for a team with high Crit Chance and Crit Damage stats. Characters like Moon Dragon and Doctor Strange, who have high crit potential, complement Ancient One’s abilities, maximizing her support and enhancing the team’s damage output.

Ancient One also brings Safeguard to the table, providing consistent protection for her allies against negative effects. This is crucial in Battleworld, where her passive extends the duration of positive effects like Speed Up, Defense Up, and Offense Up, helping her team maintain momentum and resist enemy control.

Her synergy is particularly valuable against Null, the challenging boss in Battleworld. With her energy generation, Safeguard, and positive effect prolongation, Ancient One plays a key role in surviving Null’s attacks while chipping away at his massive health pool.

While Battleworld is where Ancient One shines most, her Awakened abilities extend her Safeguard, Taunt prevention, and positive effect prolongation to Alliance War, making her a strong contender for War offense, though more testing is needed to fully assess her performance in that mode.

Beyond the Astral team, Ancient One has potential synergies with other characters. As a Hero Brawler, she could pair well with other characters with this trait, such as America Chavez, boosting her team’s survivability. There’s also potential for synergy with the Illuminati team in Dark Dimension, where her ability to provide Counters could complement Captain Britain’s defense up and Shang-Chi’s debuffs, though further testing is required. Additionally, her Counter application through her Special could provide synergy with Secret Defenders, but this is another area for potential exploration.

In conclusion, Ancient One is a powerful and versatile character, excelling in Battleworld and showing promise in other game modes. Her energy generation, Safeguard, and Focus protection make her a valuable asset, especially when paired with high-crit allies. As more synergies are tested and explored, Ancient One is set to become a dominant force in Marvel Strike Force.

Unlocking and Building

To unlock and power up Ancient One efficiently, there are several key methods to consider, including both direct purchase and more budget-friendly options.

The Galactic Awakening Event is a recurring event that offers Ancient One shards as a reward. This is a great way to collect shards without spending power cores, with players typically earning around 100 shards during the event.

The Stellar Conquest Web Milestone event runs alongside Galactic Awakening, contributing to Ancient One’s unlocking process. By spending turkeys in the in-game store, players can earn points towards milestones that reward additional Ancient One shards as well as other valuable rewards.

An Alliance Milestone Event also rewards Ancient One orbs, which can help unlock her or increase her star rank. Though details on this event and the orb drop rates are unclear, it remains a useful resource for progressing with her.

While not officially confirmed, likely, Ancient One will eventually be farmable in the Battleworld Store, following the trend of other newly introduced characters. This would provide a steady way to gather her shards over time.

Additionally, Alliance War rewards have been updated to include Ancient One’s passive awakening materials, which can be useful for players actively participating in this mode.

Building Ancient One: Powering Up the Mystic Arts

Once unlocked, prioritizing Ancient One’s development is essential to maximize her potential. The T4 upgrades should focus on her Passive ability first, followed by her Special, and then the Ultimate. The Basic upgrade is optional and can be done later if resources allow, ensuring that her energy generation, survivability, and damage mitigation are prioritized.

For her ISO-8 Class, the Raider class is the most recommended. It synergizes well with her critical hit-focused kit, boosting her damage output and accelerating energy generation for her team.

In terms of Gear Tier, Tier 19 is highly recommended to unlock her full potential. This investment ensures that Ancient One can reach her maximum effectiveness, with many players suggesting that Gear Tier 19 should be a priority alongside equipping a purple Raider ISO-8 class.

Team Synergy

Ancient One’s primary role is within the Astral team, where her energy generation, Safeguard, and positive effect prolongation are crucial for maximizing the team’s performance. These abilities are particularly helpful against powerful bosses like Null in Battleworld. While she has potential synergies with other teams, her main value is within the Astral team composition.

Beyond the Basics: Additional Insights

As for acquiring Ancient One’s Awakened Special ability, details on how to unlock it remain unclear, and it could potentially be available through future events or other offers.

While Ancient One may have synergies with teams like Hero Brawlers, Illuminati, and Secret Defenders, these synergies are still being explored and require more testing. As players experiment with different team compositions, more insights into her versatility outside of the Astral team will emerge.

By focusing on these methods for unlocking, powering up, and building Ancient One, you can fully unlock her potential and make her a powerful asset to your roster.

Alliance War Considerations

Ancient One and the Astral team have strong synergies that are highly effective in Battleworld, but their potential in Alliance War requires careful consideration. One of the key advantages of Ancient One in War comes from her Awakened abilities, particularly her passive, which extends several critical benefits from Battleworld to Alliance War. These include Safeguard on spawn for all Astral allies, offering immediate protection against enemy attacks at the start of a match; Prevention of enemy Taunt on spawn, which neutralizes strategies reliant on Taunt to control the battle; and the Prolongation of positive effects, which makes buffs like Speed Up and Defense Up last longer, increasing the team’s resilience and potency.

Despite these advantages, the Astral team is generally considered slow, and this could pose a significant disadvantage in Alliance War, where speed is often a decisive factor. While the Awakened Special ability extends Ancient One’s speed boost to Alliance War, it’s uncertain how much this can compensate for the team’s natural speed deficiencies. Further testing and player experience will be crucial in determining how well the Astral team can perform in this mode.

On the offensive side, Ancient One’s Special ability applies three counters to all allies, which could potentially synergize well with certain War Offense teams. However, it’s important to consider the specific enemy team compositions and counter strategies when deploying the Astral team in War. Strategic decision-making will be key to leveraging their strengths effectively.

Defensively, while Ancient One’s Awakened passive offers Safeguard and Taunt prevention, the team’s lack of speed might make them vulnerable to faster, more offensive-heavy teams in War Defense. Some players have suggested pairing Ancient One with American Chavez on War Defense for additional health boosts and potential speed manipulation. However, the effectiveness of this strategy remains uncertain and requires further exploration.

The Astral team does have some unique advantages for Alliance War, including a limited roster, which means fewer characters are affected by Spec Ops restrictions. This allows for greater flexibility in team composition. However, Alliance War is not the most critical game mode in the game compared to Battleworld and raids, so investing heavily in the Astral team for War might not be the most efficient use of resources if other priorities take precedence.

In conclusion, while Ancient One and the Astral team show promise for Alliance War, their effectiveness still needs to be fully tested. The Awakened abilities, especially the extensions of Safeguard and speed up, provide a solid foundation for their role in War, but the team’s speed limitations and the need for strategic team compositions could pose challenges. As the community gains more experience, clearer strategies and optimal roles for the Astral team in Alliance War will emerge.

Conclusion

Ancient One is a powerful character who excels in various roles, particularly within the Astral team, and her abilities significantly impact multiple game modes in Marvel Strike Force. To unlock her, players can participate in events like Galactic Awakening, Stellar Conquest Web Milestone, and Alliance Milestone Events, with the potential for her shards to be available in the Battleworld Store. When building Ancient One, prioritize upgrading her Passive and Special abilities first, followed by her Ultimate. Equipping her with the Raider ISO-8 class and aiming for at least Gear Tier 19 will maximize her potential and performance.

Within the Astral team, Ancient One plays a crucial support role by providing energy generation, applying Safeguard, and prolonging positive effects, which are essential for the team’s effectiveness, especially in longer battles. While Hero Brawlers and Illuminati teams are potential synergies, their full effectiveness is still to be explored.

In terms of game modes, Ancient One’s role is most prominent in Battleworld, where her synergy with the Astral team makes them a formidable force, especially against Null. Her energy generation and Safeguard abilities are vital in ensuring the team’s survivability and offensive capabilities in this challenging mode. In Alliance War, the Astral team’s effectiveness is less certain due to their natural lack of speed.

However, Ancient One’s Awakened abilities, including speed boosts, provide some hope for improving their performance. More testing and community feedback will help define their optimal role in War. While not explicitly stated, Ancient One’s kit suggests that she could also be valuable in raids, particularly in scenarios that require sustain and consistent damage output, thanks to her energy generation and ability to counter Heal Block.

The upcoming Astral Showcase event provides players with an opportunity to earn turkeys, a valuable in-game currency, and Ancient One’s star level will likely play a role in unlocking higher-level chapters with better rewards. There are also hints of future content involving the Astral team, such as a potential legendary event for Shadow King, which could further enhance their value in the game.

Strategically, players should carefully assess their priorities when investing in Ancient One and the Astral team. Those focused on Battleworld should prioritize building this team to unlock its full potential. For players focused on Alliance War, a more cautious approach is recommended, as more insights and testing are needed to determine the best strategy. Staying informed about future updates, events, and character releases is key to adapting strategies and ensuring that the Astral team remains a powerful force.

Overall, Ancient One and the Astral team represent a significant addition to Marvel Strike Force, offering unique synergies and abilities that make them highly effective in Battleworld and potentially other game modes. Their success depends on careful planning, resource allocation, and an understanding of their strengths and limitations within the dynamic landscape of the game.