Marvel Strike Force Emma Frost Guide - Theria Games

Introduction

Emma Frost is a game-changing character in Marvel Strike Force, renowned for her powerful abilities and versatility. In this Marvel Strike Force Emma Frost Guide, we’ll explore her role as a Villain, Global, Mutant, and Controller character, highlighting the unique set of strengths she brings to the battlefield. Emma is a key member of the Astral team and also classified as a Metamorphosis character, offering dynamic synergy with various teams.

Her most notable connection is with the Marauders faction, where she serves as a cornerstone for a top-tier War Defense team. Emma’s presence can significantly enhance the Marauders’ overall performance, making them a formidable force.

However, her utility extends beyond the Marauders. Thanks to her plug-and-play value, Emma Frost can seamlessly fit into many other teams, especially due to her ability to disrupt enemy speed increases. This guide will delve into her abilities, Iso-8 recommendations, team synergies, and optimal strategies to maximize her potential in Marvel Strike Force fully.

Abilities Overview

Gleaming Strike

Level: 1

Damage: 80

Dazzling Domination

Level: 1

Damage: 100

Psychic Wrath

Level: 1

Damage: 100

Reformed Queen, Brilliant Teacher

Level: 1

Barrier Self: 10

Basic Ability: Gleaming Strike
Emma Frost’s Basic ability, Gleaming Strike, deals 270% damage to the primary target. It applies Regeneration for 2 turns and an additional Regeneration for 1 turn to the most injured ally or herself. She also provides a Barrier to that character for 10% of her Max Health. If forced to attack an ally, Emma Frost (X-Men) deals reduced damage to Astral characters. The T4 upgrade boosts the damage and grants an additional Regeneration for two turns to the most injured ally. While this upgrade improves her utility, it’s not essential unless Emma is used as a Striker.

Special Ability: Dazzling Domination
With Dazzling Domination, Emma Frost attacks the primary target for 250% damage, applies Ability Block for one turn, and Defense Down for two turns. She then Mind Controls the enemy with the highest damage to attack the primary target. The controlled character gains +50% damage for this attack, but also suffers Offense Down. Emma applies Defense Up for two turns to herself and all allies. If the ability is Awakened and used in Battleworld or War, Emma barriers herself and all Astral and X-Men allies for 20% of her Max Health. The T4 upgrade increases the damage and is crucial for the barrier, enhancing Emma’s defensive capabilities.

Ultimate Ability: Psychic Wrath
Emma Frost’s Psychic Wrath delivers 350% damage to the primary target, plus 10% of the target’s Max Health. This makes it especially effective against enemies like Null. If Emma does not have Trauma, she clears and copies all negative effects (except Stun) from all Astral and X-Men allies to herself, and then transfers those effects to the primary target.

Emma also Mind Controls all enemies adjacent to the primary target, making them attack it with +50% damage. The ability provides a Barrier for herself and all allies, equal to 30% of her Max Health, and applies Immunity to herself and all Astral and X-Men allies. The T4 upgrade increases the damage dealt by this attack and the 10% Max Health damage, making it an essential upgrade for maximizing her potential.

Passive Ability: Reformed Queen, Brilliant Teacher
Emma Frost’s Passive Ability offers significant team-wide benefits. Upon spawn, she applies Defense Up for two turns to herself and all allies in any game mode. She also barriers herself and all Astral and X-Men allies for 30% of her Max Health on spawn. The first time Emma or an Astral ally drops below 50% Health, she clears all negative effects from that character and barriers them for 30% of Emma’s Max Health.

A unique feature of her Passive is that Non-Mythic enemies cannot have their speed increased except by positive effects, a particularly valuable trait in the Null boss fight. In Battleworld and War, when Emma, an Astral, or an X-Men ally gains Disrupted, she clears the Disrupted status and applies Immunity to that character. The T4 upgrade for this Passive is not mandatory, but it’s recommended, especially for War Defense, and it’s available for free.

Iso-8 Recommendations

When selecting the best Iso-8 class for Emma Frost, it is important to consider her abilities and how she interacts with her team. One of the best options is the Striker class, as Emma excels at applying regeneration and dealing damage through mind control, which does not rely heavily on her stats. Her basic, special, and ultimate abilities are all single-target attacks, which synergize well with the Striker class. If you choose Striker, upgrading her basic ability to T4 is recommended to gain additional regeneration for the most injured ally. While some players suggest using other Strikers like Moon Dragon and Doctor Strange for their percent-based damage, Emma can also be an effective Striker due to her versatile abilities.

Another solid option is the Healer class, which complements her role on the Marauders team. This class helps increase the team’s already high sustain, making Emma more valuable in longer fights. Alternatively, Fortifier is another option that can enhance the barriers Emma provides to herself and her team. This class can also offer some initial protection against attacks, though it is generally not the first choice, as a Healer Iso-8 would better improve team sustain.

For players who find Emma’s focus to be a concern, the Skirmisher class can be useful to ensure she consistently lands her debuffs, such as the vulnerable debuff. However, this might not be the final option, as her high focus often makes it less necessary. On the other hand, the Raider class is not recommended for Emma, as most of her damage comes from mind control attacks, which do not benefit from Raider’s critical hit focus.

General recommendations for Emma Frost’s Iso-8 setup include boosting her damage, health, and defense. Enhancing her health and defense is crucial, especially given her +400% armor and +500% resistance when charged. While her high focus might make a Skirmisher Iso unnecessary, it remains an option for specific situations. The final Iso-8 class choice will depend on her team composition and your gameplay needs, but focusing on survivability and utility should be prioritized.

Team Synergies

Emma Frost is a highly versatile character whose synergies with various teams in Marvel Strike Force make her a valuable asset in many game modes. As a key member of the Marauders team, Emma Frost significantly boosts their performance, particularly in War Defense. She provides two turns of Defense Up on spawn, increasing the team’s durability. Additionally, her ability to clear debuffs and apply Immunity enhances the team’s resilience. Emma’s passive ability to reduce enemy speed also works well with the Marauders, giving them a crucial speed advantage.

Her inclusion in the team is especially beneficial, as she is a Mutant Villain, just like the other members, such as Mr. Sinister, Sabretooth, Mystique, and Stryfe. With Emma on the team, Sabretooth gains +5% damage per Mutant ally, while Mr. Sinister and Stryfe’s passives are enhanced to include her, boosting the overall team synergy.

In the Astral team, Emma Frost is indispensable, offering significant synergy with her allies. Her basic ability applies a Barrier to the most injured ally or herself, which is amplified when an Astral or X-Men ally is targeted. Her special ability also applies a barrier to all Astral and X-Men allies in Battleworld and War. Her ultimate ability clears negative effects from herself and all Astral and X-Men allies and applies Immunity to them.

Additionally, her passive provides a barrier to all Astral and X-Men allies on spawn, while also helping to counter enemies who use Disrupted debuffs by clearing the status and applying Immunity. If Emma is forced to attack an Astral character, her abilities deal reduced damage to her own team, making her an ally-centric character who can be strategically used to protect her teammates.

Although Emma Frost has some soft synergy with the X-Men, many of her abilities, like the barrier on spawn, benefit all X-Men and Astral allies. Her primary role on the X-Men team is to provide buffs and enhance survivability through her barrier and immunity support.

Emma Frost is also known as a plug and play character who can easily fit into nearly any team. Her speed reduction passive makes her a valuable pick in the Arena, and she’s frequently used in War and Cosmic Crucible to counter mirror matches due to her speed advantage. Additionally, she shines in Dark Dimension and high-end Arena due to her self-sustain, and her ability to reduce enemy speed makes her an effective counter to speed-based teams. Emma works well with powerful characters like Phoenix, Black Bolt, and Ebony Maw in various setups. In raids, she pairs effectively with symbiotes, as her sustain supports the team’s longevity.

Emma Frost is particularly useful against the Null boss in Battleworld due to her percentile damage, which is especially effective against high-health targets. Her passive also counters enemies that rely on speed buffs, such as Man-Thing, Northstar, and other non-mythic characters. Pairing Emma with characters like The Ancient One can extend the positive status effects on the team, while pairing with Doctor Strange and Moon Dragon maximizes their percent-based damage potential. Lastly, Emma’s ability to counter the speed meta makes her a strong choice against symbiote-based teams.

In summary, Emma Frost’s adaptability and her ability to enhance teams through speed reduction, defense, and survivability make her an essential character in many game modes. Her synergies with the Marauders and Astral teams are particularly strong, but she can also be a great plug-and-play option for any team needing a versatile support character.

T4 Ability Upgrades

When considering T4 ability upgrades for Emma Frost, several abilities stand out as essential, while others can be considered optional depending on her role within your team.

The Basic Ability: Gleaming Strike upgrade adds increased damage and an additional regeneration to the most injured ally for two turns. This upgrade is particularly beneficial if Emma is being used as a Striker, as the extra regeneration provides additional value. If you are running her as a Striker, this upgrade becomes recommended, though it is generally considered nice but not essential for other roles.

The Special Ability: Dazzling Domination T4 upgrade increases the damage and, if Awakened, applies a barrier to self and all Astral and X-Men allies for 20% of Emma’s Max Health in Battleworld and War. This upgrade is considered essential, especially for the barrier effect. If you plan to use Emma on the Marauders or Astral teams, this upgrade is a must-have, as it significantly strengthens the team’s defensive capabilities. Spending T4 on this ability is crucial for War, whether Emma is used as a core team member or as a plug-and-play character.

The Ultimate Ability: Psychic Wrath T4 upgrade increases the damage and adds 10% percentile damage of the target’s Max Health, which is the only way Emma gets percentile damage. It also applies Immunity to self and all Astral and X-Men allies. This upgrade is considered essential, particularly in Battleworld, due to the added percentile damage and Immunity benefits. The additional percent damage against Null makes this upgrade highly valuable, and spending T4 on her ultimate ability is important for maximizing Emma’s effectiveness in high-stakes battles.

The Passive Ability: Reformed Queen, Brilliant Teacher T4 upgrade allows Emma to clear all Disrupted and apply Immunity to the affected character in both War and Battleworld. While this upgrade is not mandatory, it is recommended, particularly for War Defense, as it enhances her ability to protect allies from harmful debuffs. The T4 upgrade for the passive is also being given out for free in Battleworld, making it a good value. Additionally, this passive is important because it prevents non-mythic enemies from gaining speed from positive effects, which is particularly useful in countering certain speed-based teams.

In summary, the most essential T4 upgrades for Emma Frost are her Special and Ultimate abilities. The Passive ability upgrade is highly beneficial, especially in War Defense, but not strictly necessary. The Basic Ability upgrade is recommended if she is used as a Striker, but it is not crucial for other roles. Focus on upgrading her special and ultimate abilities to maximize her potential in various game modes.

How to Obtain

Emma Frost can be obtained through various methods in Marvel Strike Force, allowing both free-to-play players and those willing to spend to unlock her. A common way to earn Emma Frost shards is through milestone events, which often run over a few weeks and feature multiple rounds of milestones. These events typically consist of three categories:

High Roller, where players earn shards by spending gold, Save the World, which rewards players for spending campaign energy, and World Warrior, where players contribute points as part of an Alliance by participating in Blitz battles, raids, arena, and war attacks. To maximize your progress in these categories, it’s essential to hoard gold for the High Roller event, spend 50 cores daily to refresh campaign energy for Save the World, and be active in Alliance activities to contribute to the World Warrior category.

Emma Frost is also available through free-to-play events, like the Ice Queen Gala, where players can collect snow globes to earn shards. These events often include web milestones similar to past events, providing opportunities for free-to-play players to earn her shards. Additionally, she has been made available through milestone campaigns, offering newer players the chance to unlock her.

For players who prefer a more direct approach, Emma Frost shards can sometimes be obtained through orbs, which can be purchased with power cores. The drop rates in her orbs have varied, but some players have had success with significant shard drops, allowing them to unlock Emma with fewer power cores. In some cases, shards are also available for purchase in the store, with premium offers such as 50 shards for a set price, like $35.

Once you’ve unlocked Emma Frost, you can access a showcase campaign that provides bonus missions and rewards. Additionally, the Astral story missions unlock after obtaining Emma Frost and the other Astral team members, allowing further progression within the game.

To increase your chances of obtaining Emma Frost, it’s crucial to participate actively in events, maximize your gold and energy spending to hit milestones, and save power cores for purchasing orbs. Strategic spending during gold or orb events can also help you maximize your rewards. With careful planning and participation, you can unlock Emma Frost through free-to-play methods or supplement your progress with purchases as needed.

Gameplay Strategies

Emma Frost is a versatile character who excels in a variety of game modes, including Arena, War, Raids, Dark Dimension, and Cosmic Crucible. As a “plug and play” character, she can fit into almost any team, contributing effectively both offensively and defensively. Her primary role is that of a controller, manipulating enemies through her abilities. To maximize her effectiveness, it is important to boost her damage, health, and defense, particularly her health and defense due to her high armor and resistance when charged.

One of Emma’s key strengths is her ability to control speed. Her passive reduces enemy speed by 10%, which provides a significant advantage, especially in situations where speed is crucial. This flat speed reduction can help your team take the first turn in Arena and Cosmic Crucible mirror matches. Additionally, she is highly effective against enemies who gain speed through positive effects, such as Man-Thing and Northstar, and can stop non-Mythic enemies from gaining speed except through positive effects. While her own speed is somewhat low, her speed control is valuable against speed-based teams, including symbiotes.

As part of the Marauders team, Emma Frost is a key member, especially for war defense. She helps the team become more durable by applying defense up for two turns on spawn and clearing debuffs while applying immunity. Her passive speed reduction further enhances the team’s performance. Being a mutant villain also provides additional synergy with other Marauders, boosting their effectiveness in battle.

Emma is also essential in the Astral team, where she provides strong support. Her passive grants a barrier to herself and Astral allies on spawn, while her special ability can clear negative effects from allies. She is also helpful in Battleworld, particularly against the Null boss, due to her percentile damage and ability to clear disruptions and apply immunity. Emma’s basic ability can help maintain the health of Astral and X-Men allies by providing regeneration and barriers.

Emma Frost’s mind control abilities are a game-changer. Her special allows her to mind control the enemy with the highest damage, forcing them to attack the primary target, and her ultimate allows her to mind control up to two enemies, dealing high damage and forcing adjacent enemies to attack the target as well. This is especially useful against Null and symbiote characters, as it turns their power against them. Her ultimate ability also provides percentile damage and clears debuffs from herself to the target, which is valuable in many scenarios.

Regarding ISO-8, Emma Frost can be used as a Striker, particularly if you’re focusing on maximizing her regeneration and mind control damage. She can also be used as a Skirmisher if her focus is too low, or as a Fortifier to protect against initial attacks. While a Raider ISO-8 is not recommended, a Healer ISO-8 is a good choice to enhance the sustenance of her team.

Emma is indispensable in Battleworld, especially when facing Null, where her ability to control speed and apply percentile damage proves crucial. Her special barrier also contributes to the survivability of the team in this mode. For war defense, Emma’s passive defense up and immunity application make her a top-tier character, as she strengthens the team against debuffs and high-damage attackers.

However, Emma is not recommended for Dark Dimension due to her slow speed and lack of sustain in that mode.

In summary, Emma Frost’s speed control, mind control, and strong team synergies make her a powerful asset in multiple game modes, particularly when paired with the Marauders and Astral teams. Her ability to manipulate enemies, apply defensive buffs, and clear debuffs provides crucial support, making her a valuable character in your lineup.

Stats

Emma Frost is a durable character with a solid mix of offense, defense, and utility. She has a strong health stat, ranking 8th among characters, comparable to others like Blade and Ares. Her health is important because it also scales with her barrier ability, providing her and her team with extra survivability. While damage is not her primary role, Emma Frost still has a decent damage stat, ranked 11th. Her damage is similar to Moon Dragon and Shadow King, and slightly higher than Scarlet Witch Zombie, making her effective in certain offensive situations.

Her armor stat is not exceptional, ranked 30th overall, and it is similar to Sasquatch, sitting between Gwenpool and Corvus Glaive. However, her armor significantly increases when she is charged, receiving a +400% boost, making her much more resilient in battle. Emma Frost also boasts a high focus stat, ranking 5th among characters, which allows her to land debuffs more reliably without needing a Skirmisher ISO. This makes her a formidable debuffer on the battlefield. Additionally, her resistance is impressive, with an A rating, placing her 17th among characters. When charged, her resistance increases by +500%, further improving her durability and making her less susceptible to negative effects.

Her speed stat is somewhat lower, earning a B/C rating, but this is balanced by her passive ability to reduce the enemy’s speed. Her passive reduces the enemy’s speed by 10%, allowing her team to act first in many situations. This speed control is a key part of her utility, particularly in modes where speed is crucial.

In summary, Emma Frost excels at being a durable character with high health, resistance, and focus, and her increased armor and resistance when charged make her even tougher. While her damage is respectable, her true strength lies in her utility as a debuffer and controller. Her lower speed is mitigated by her ability to reduce enemy speed, ensuring she can still provide valuable support to her team.

Additional Tips

Emma Frost is a highly versatile character who can fit into numerous team compositions, thanks to her strong synergies with other characters. Pairing her with Mr. Sinister allows you to take advantage of her ability to boost his health. She also significantly enhances the Marauders team, especially in War defense, thanks to her mutant villain tag.

As a core member of the Astral team, she plays a critical role in Battleworld and works well with the other members of that team. Emma is also a solid plug-and-play character who can be added to nearly any team. Her abilities further synergize with the X-Men, where some of her powers benefit X-Men allies. She can also pair effectively with characters who deal passive damage.

When it comes to T4 upgrades, prioritize her special and ultimate abilities. The ultimate upgrade is particularly important for its increased damage, percentile damage attack, and the immunity it provides to both Emma and Astral/X-Men allies. Upgrading her special ability is also key, as it guarantees the clearing of all negative effects and applies immunity to mutant villain allies. Her passive ability is valuable, especially its effect of preventing non-Mythic enemies from gaining speed unless through positive effects.

While her basic ability upgrade provides additional regeneration, it is considered a luxury upgrade. For War defense, it’s essential to upgrade the Sabertooth and Mystique passives, and Strife’s passive as well. Additionally, upgrading the Sinister special ensures all five mutant allies get offense up, further bolstering the Marauders’ War defense. Her awakened ability, which clears disrupted debuffs in War, is a free addition and is extremely useful.

In terms of Iso-8, Emma Frost works well as a Striker due to her regenerative abilities and the damage derived from her mind control attacks. A Raider ISO is not recommended for her, but you can consider a Skirmisher ISO if you need her to land debuffs and vulnerabilities, or if her focus is not high enough for certain content. A Healer ISO can boost the sustain of your team, and a Fortifier ISO can help protect her from initial attacks. If she’s not a Raider, it’s a good idea to include at least three to five Raider ISOs on the team she is part of.

For resource management, it’s important to hoard gold in preparation for events that require spending to earn shards. Spending 50 cores daily to refresh campaign energy will help maximize your progress in events. Also, be strategic with your spending during events where you can “double dip” by spending gold and opening orbs to earn additional rewards.

In terms of game modes, Emma Frost is incredibly useful in Battleworld, particularly against Null, where her speed control and percent-based damage shine. She is also highly valuable in War defense, thanks to the buffs she provides at the start of a match, along with her disruptive abilities. While she is not recommended for Dark Dimension due to her lower speed and lack of sustain, she is effective in Arena and Cosmic Crucible, where her speed reduction can help ensure her team takes the first turn.

For general gameplay, Emma’s mind control ability allows you to turn high-damage enemies against their own team. Her ultimate can be used as early as turn 2, and with characters like Ancient One or Shadow King, she may even use it on turn 1. Her special applies ability block and defense down to the primary target, while her basic ability provides regeneration and a barrier to the most injured ally, helping to protect them.

Emma Frost unlocks at 100 shards, and she may be available in milestone campaigns or through orbs. Her orb drop rates may be better than those of other characters, making it a viable method for acquiring her shards.

Finally, while her character model has seen significant improvements, it’s worth noting that her portrait does not fully reflect the updated model. By considering these tips, you’ll be able to maximize Emma Frost’s potential in Marvel Strike Force across various game modes and team compositions.

Conclusion

Emma Frost is a powerful and versatile character in Marvel Strike Force, known for her strong blend of offense, defense, and control abilities. Her skill set makes her a valuable asset in various game modes, especially Battle World and War, where her utility shines. Her speed control is one of her key strengths, as she can reduce the speed of non-Mythic enemies, making her a formidable counter to characters that rely on passive speed increases.

Additionally, her mind control abilities allow her to turn enemies against each other, dealing substantial damage while disrupting enemy strategies. She can also manage buffs and debuffs, flipping buffs from enemies and applying immunity and defense up to allies. Her barrier and regeneration abilities increase the survivability of her team, while her ultimate ability deals percentile damage, making her especially effective against high-health enemies, such as Null in Battle World. Emma’s versatility as a plug-and-play character means she can improve almost any team composition.

When it comes to team synergies, Emma Frost is a vital part of the Astral team, where she excels due to the team’s unique synergies in Battle World. She also enhances the Marauders team, particularly for War defense, and fits well with X-Men allies, as several of her abilities benefit them. In terms of T4 prioritization, her ultimate ability should be the top priority due to its high damage, control, and ability to boost survivability.

The special ability is another key upgrade, as it cleanses negative effects and applies important buffs like defense up and barriers. Her passive ability provides a crucial speed reduction and makes her an effective counter against specific characters. The basic ability is a luxury upgrade, best considered after the more essential abilities are maxed out.

For ISO-8 recommendations, Emma works best as a Striker because of her single-target attacks and regeneration abilities. If her focus needs a boost, a Skirmisher ISO can be considered. A Raider ISO is not ideal for her, as her kit does not rely on critical damage. In terms of game mode performance, Emma Frost excels in Battle World, where her speed control, percentile-based damage, and ability to clear disruptions make her a top choice, particularly against high-health targets like Null.

She also performs well in War Defense, where her buffs and debuff clearing abilities provide significant disruption to enemies. In the Arena, her speed reduction makes her an asset, while in Cosmic Crucible, her speed control can help her team take the first turn. However, she is not recommended for Dark Dimension due to her lower speed and lack of sustain.

When managing resources, it’s crucial to hoard gold for events and milestone rewards that offer Emma Frost shards. Additionally, use power cores strategically and take advantage of events where you can double dip by spending gold and opening orbs. Emma Frost is unlocked at 100 shards and was released in a free-to-play milestone campaign in December. Her orbs may also offer better drop rates compared to other character orbs, making it easier to acquire her shards.

Finally, Emma Frost’s character model has seen significant improvement over her previous version, though her portrait does not fully reflect the updated model. The effectiveness of her abilities will depend on the team composition she’s part of, so it’s important to choose the right Iso-8 class to complement her kit.

In conclusion, Emma Frost is a powerful and versatile character in Marvel Strike Force who enhances many team compositions. By understanding her strengths, synergies, and the best ways to upgrade her abilities, players can fully utilize her potential across various game modes.