Red Star Priority
Red Stars (RS) are beneficial in the Marvel Strike Force game. They increase characters’ stats by up to 75% (if we have 7 on certain characters). Character power – flexibility, durability, usage, and effectiveness in most cases heavily depend on the number of RS they have. Upgrading those on some toons (we often use in this game) is a high priority for every player.
Red Stars boost Health, Damage, Armor, Focus, and Resistance.
- 1 Red Star – 5% boost
- 2 Red Stars -10% boost
- 3 Red Stars – 20% boost
- 4 Red Stars – 35% boost
- 5 Red Stars – 50% boost
- 6 Red Stars – 60% boost
- 7 Red Stars – 75% boost
There are 2 ways of getting them on specific toons.
One is totally random – by opening Red Star Orbs – where you can get anything (from 1 to 7) for anyone (any character). A higher number of RS has a significantly lower chance of being drawn than a smaller one when you open RS Orb. I recommend opening Red Star Orbs when there is an increased chance for more Dark Promotion Credits. Only then should they be opened and hoarded until then.
We can get Red Stars for characters from Elite Store Orbs, which you can open when using Elite Credits. But in that case, you will pull 4+, 5+, 6+, and 7 RS. All of that belongs to 1st way of getting Red Stars – the random one.
Another one is important for us. It is upgrading from Elite Store. In that part of Supplies, players can upgrade Red Stars on desired characters by spending Silver, Gold, and Dark Promotion Credits. Characters will spawn randomly and sometimes can be a real pain in the neck when waiting for a specific one. But it is how it is.
The cost of Red Stars from the Elite store is:
- 1 Red Star – 1 Silver Promotion Credit
- 2 Red Stars – 4 Silver Promotion Credits
- 3 Red Stars – 10 Silver Promotion Credits
- 4 Red Stars – 50 Silver Promotion Credits
- 5 Red Stars – 150 Silver Promotion Credits
- 6 Red Stars – 100 Gold Promotion Credits
- 7 Red Stars – 150 Gold Promotion Credits
RS for some specific characters can’t be upgraded by spending Silver or Gold Promotion Credits. Those characters are ones we get from Dark Dimension (Ultron, Doctor Doom, Dormammu), Horseman characters (MLF, Rogue, Red Hulk, Archangel), Ultimus, Zombie Iron Man, and Quicksilver. At some point, Apocalypse will probably be in that category.
Players need to spend Dark Promotion Credits to upgrade RS on those characters.
Ultimus Red Star cost:
- 5 Red Stars – complete DD3 2 times
- 6 Red Stars – 750 Dark Promotion Credits
- 7 Red Stars – 1500 Dark Promotion Credits
Ultron Red Star cost:
- 1 Red Stars – 500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 2 Red Stars – 1000 Dark Promotion Credits
- 3 Red Stars – 1500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 4 Red Stars – 1800 Dark Promotion Credits
- 5 Red Stars – 2400 Dark Promotion Credits
- 6 Red Stars – 3500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 7 Red Stars – 4500 Dark Promotion Credits
Doctor Doom Red Star cost:
- 2 Red Stars – complete DD4 once
- 4 Red Stars – complete DD4 2 times
- 5 Red Stars – 3000 Dark Promotion Credits
- 6 Red Stars – 3500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 7 Red Stars – 4500 Dark Promotion Credits
Dormammu Red Star cost:
- 2 Red Stars – complete DD5 once
- 4 Red Stars – complete DD5 2 times
- 5 Red Stars – 3000 Dark Promotion Credits
- 6 Red Stars – 3500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 7 Red Stars – 4500 Dark Promotion Credits
Iron Man Zombie Red Star cost:
- 1 Red Star – 500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 2 Red Stars – 600 Dark Promotion Credits
- 3 Red Stars – 900 Dark Promotion Credits
- 4 Red Stars – 1500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 5 Red Stars – 2500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 6 Red Stars – 3000 Dark Promotion Credits
- 7 Red Stars – 4000 Dark Promotion Credits
Horseman Red Star costs:
- 1 Red Star – 100 Dark Promotion Credits
- 2 Red Stars – 300 Dark Promotion Credits
- 3 Red Stars – 400 Dark Promotion Credits
- 4 Red Stars – 600 Dark Promotion Credits
- 5 Red Stars – 1200 Dark Promotion Credits
- 6 Red Stars – 3500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 7 Red Stars – 4500 Dark Promotion Credits
Quicksilver Red Star costs:
- 1 Red Star – 500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 2 Red Stars – 600 Dark Promotion Credits
- 3 Red Stars – 900 Dark Promotion Credits
- 4 Red Stars – 1500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 5 Red Stars – 2500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 6 Red Stars – 3000 Dark Promotion Credits
- 7 Red Stars – 4000 Dark Promotion Credits
Nova Red star costs:
- 1 Red Star – 100 Dark Promotion Credits
- 2 Red Stars – 300 Dark Promotion Credits
- 3 Red Stars – 400 Dark Promotion Credits
- 4 Red Stars – 600 Dark Promotion Credits
- 5 Red Stars – 1200 Dark Promotion Credits
- 6 Red Stars – 3500 Dark Promotion Credits
- 7 Red Stars – 4500 Dark Promotion Credits
We still have to wait and see the costs for Apocalypse. He is not available in the Elite Store right now. Same as Nova, but I am assuming cost for his Red Stars will be the same as for Horsemans.
Dark Promotion Credit Priority
Firstly, I suggest players raise their Horsemen: MLF, Rogue, Red Hulk, and Archangel to 5 Red Stars. That should be the first priority, as Horsmens are extremely useful (along with their teams) in all game modes.
You can always pick up up to 5 RS for each of them for free if you score well enough in their Scourge, but even if you can’t, Dark Promotion Credits won’t be wasted if you use them on their Red Stars.
After that, you can raise some of them to 6 or even 7 RS, depending on who you use the most. Archangel can do everything he needs in Raids with 5 RS, and he doesn’t have that much use in the Arena, so I don’t suggest that you raise him more than 5. Of the other three, Red Hulk is the most useful (in my opinion), but MLF and Rogue are not far behind.
For Doctor Doom and Dormammu, RS obtained after the second completion of Dark Dimension (4) are enough to do everything they need. However, if you want to raise them (or have already) to 5, that is not a mistake. Anything over 5 I don’t recommend for now unless you have Dark Promotion Credits to throw around.
With Ultron, the story is somewhat different. Some time ago, there was an Event where players could win 5 RS for it, and everyone who did it did great. There is practically no need to spend Dark Promotion Credits on Ultron. Those who (for whatever reasons) missed that Event should upgrade Ultron to at least 4 RS.
As for Ultimus, totally ignore him for now. After completing Dark Dimension III, you get 5 RS for it (among other rewards), and that’s more than enough. Ultimus is a character that currently has no use value in this game. If that changes, we will be the first to advise investing in his RS. Until then – don’t spend Dark Promotion Credits on the Ultimus Red Stars upgrade.
Quicksilver and Zombie Iron Man should be upgraded to 5 RS, but don’t rush them. They certainly shouldn’t be ignored like Ultimus, but you should focus on the Horsemen first and then on them.
We don’t suggest raising any of them to 7 RS (for now) until we see what Nova will be like and how important he will be.
Overall, this is how Dark Promotion characters should be raised:
- MLF, Rogue, Red Hulk, Archangel to 5 RS (the order is not so important – raise them as you wish, all must be at 5 RS)
- Ultron to 4 if you do not have 5 RS from the Event
- Doctor Doom and Dormammu to 5 if you want, but we are not suggesting
- Red Hulk and Rogue to 6 (7 if you have enough Dark Promotion Credits)
- Zombie Iron Man and Quicksilver to 5
We are presenting you our list of RS priority upgrades. As you can see, we have 5 categories:
Those are characters we benefit most from, and using them daily in every game mode. So they need to be upgraded asap.
Similar to the previous category, those are among the most powerful characters in the game, with high usage in multiple game modes. But in our opinion a bit less dominant than characters from the category above. They can go on 7 RS but after characters from the “7 ASAP” category.
Those are primarily new characters, but at the same time powerful enough and deserve to have a higher RS than 5. Most players have those characters on 3, 4, and 5 Yellow Stars, so upgrading more than 5 RS would be a waste. When you have more than 5 Yellow Stars, be free to upgrade additional Red Stars on them.
Characters in this category work well with 5 RS. They do not need additional RS to do their job. But of course, if you get more than 5 by opening RS Orbs, or from Elite Store Orbs – great. Most of these characters are a bit older, and their use in everyday play is declining, but they can still be extremely useful. Some of them are characters needed to unlock Apocalypse.
Characters in this category are currently of little or no use at all. So they should be ignored (for now). Unnecessary investments in them can slow down progress on crucial characters. However, with each new update, there is a chance that some of these toons will be reworked. And that their usability will increase. In that case, we will update our categories.
Important:
With each new character or rework of a character, we will update this list.
7 As soon as possible
Nova
Apocalypse
Kang the Conqueror
Spider-Weaver
6 or 7
Red Hulk
Rogue
Cloak
Dagger
Deathpool
Gamora
Archangel
Black Panther
Black Panther (1MM)
Captain America
Gambit
Hela
Ikaris
Kestrel
Morgan Le Fay
Nick Fury
Okoye
Omega Red
Sersi
Shang-Chi
Spider-Man 2099
Winter Soldier
5 Until you have more yellow stars
Bucky Barnes
Captain America (WW II)
Firestar
Iron Fist (WW II)
Quicksilver
Union Jack
Absorbing Man
Agent Venom
Captain Carter
Dark Beast
U.S. Agent
Moonstone
Nakia
Titania
5 Is enough
Abomination
America Chavez
Agatha Harkness
Baron Zemo
Brawn
Cable
Captain America (SAM)
Dazzler
Doctor Doom
Dormammu
Green Goblin
Echo
Emma Frost
Fantomex
Adam Warlock
Iron Man
Kate Bishop
Kingpin
M’Baku
Magneto
Mister Negative
Moondragon
MS. Marvel
Nebula
Nemesis
Phyla-Vell
Psylocke
Scarlet Witch
She-Hulk
Shuri
Spider-Man (Noir)
Squirrel Girl
Strange (Heartless)
Sunfire
Taskmaster
Thor
Hulk
Ultron
Wong
Hulkbuster
Vision
Viv Vision
Deathlok
Ignore for now
S.H.I.E.L.D. Operative
S.H.I.E.L.D. Security
A.I.M. Assaulter
A.I.M. Infector
A.I.M. Monstrosity
A.I.M. Researcher
A.I.M. Security
Agent Coulson
Ant-Man
Anti-Venom
Beast
Bishop
Black Bolt
Black Widow
Blob
Bullseye
Captain Marvel
Carnage
Coleen Wing
Colossus
Corvus Glaive
Crossbones
Crystal
Cull Obsidian
Cyclops
Daredevil
Deadpool
Doctor Octopus
Doctor Strange
Doctor Voodoo
Domino
Drax
Ebony Maw
Electro
Elektra
Elsa Bloodstone
Falcon
Ghost
Ghost Rider
Ghost-Spider
Graviton
Groot
Hand Archer
Hand Assassin
Hand Blademaster
Hand Sentry
Hand Sorceress
Hawkeye
Heimdall
Human Torch
Hydra Armored Guard
Hydra Grenadier
Hydra Rifle Trooper
Hydra Scientist
Hydra Sniper
Iceman
Invisible Woman
Iron Fist
Iron Man (Zombie)
Ironheart
Loki
Jessica Jones
Jubilee
Juggernaut
Karnak
Killmonger
Kitty Pryde
Korath the Pursuer
Kree Cyborg
Kree Noble
Kree Oracle
Kree Reaper
Kree Royal Guard
Lady Deathstrike
Longshot
Luke Cage
Madelyne Pryor
Multiple Man
Mysterio
Mystique
Magik
Mantis
Maria Hill
Mercenary Lieutenant
Mercenary Riot Guard
Mercenary Sniper
Mercenary Soldier
Mighty Thor
Minn-Erva
Mister Fantastic
Mister Sinister
Misty Knight
Moon Knight
Morbius
Mordo
Namor
Negasonic
Nico Minoru
Night Nurse
Nobu
Phoenix
Polaris
Proxima Midnight
Punisher
Pyro
Quake
Ravager Boomer
Ravager Bruiser
Ravager Stitcher
Red Guardian
Red Skull
Rescue
Rhino
Rocker Raccoon
Ronan the Accuser
S.H.I.E.L.D. Assault
S.H.I.E.L.D. Medic
S.H.I.E.L.D. Trooper
Sabretooth
Scarlet Spider
Scientist Supreme
Scream
Sharon Carter
Shatterstar
Shocker
Sif
Silver Samurai
Silver Surfer
Spider-Man
Spider-Man (Miles)
Spider-Man (Symbiote)
Spider-Punk
Spider-Woman
Star-Lord
Star-Lord (T’Challa)
Stature
Storm
Stryfe
Swarm
Thanos
The Thing
Toad
Ultimus
Valkyrie
Venom
Vulture
War Machine
Wasp
White Tiger
Wolverine
X-23
Yelena Belova
Yellow Jacket
Yo-Yo
Yondu
conclusion
You may be surprised but some of our decisions (especially regarding some members of Horsemen teams). However, this list presents RS priority for the current game META and the fact that some of the teams and characters that are META atm, will not be META in the future. Having that in mind, we considered that you are starting from scratch and we gave you RS priority according to what you will need in the future (not what you need at the moment).
Investing the Gold Promotion Credits in some characters that will be soon outdated is not smart in our opinion. Also, some characters like Gamora or Shang Chi are the foundation of their teams, so they need to be maximized if you wanna use those teams (Infinity Watch and different kinds of Shang Chi synergies will still be important for different game mods).
This list will be updated like all MC articles. If you have questions or suggestions, be free to contact us on MC Discord – we are always at your service.