Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign Walkthrough [Guide]

Marvel is one of the last to get into the match-three puzzle game boat, but don’t expect the same type of gameplay. Here, you can play as different heroes as you try to stop Norman Osborn – aided by the H.A.M.M.E.R. organization – from his plans to take national security in his hands, as well as stop the wrong people from getting control of the powerful ISO-8. Players will be able to activate some amazing superpowers that will blast away enemies in this exciting battle and card collection game. Save the world and read up on this guide before you head on out.

Gameplay
Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign is a match three and card collection game where players can recruit and train heroes so that they can complete missions against different enemies. Gameplay consists of matching three or more gems from the tile which would then cause damage to enemies. Special powers may also be activated to give you an edge in battle. Of course, enemies can also attack players in the form of gems that must be eliminated from the grid before the timer runs out. Players will win battles once all enemies have been dropped.

Heroes can be recruited as well as trained so that their strength, HP, and abilities can be increased. Forming a formidable team of three is required so that you will be able to beat more difficult missions and tougher enemies.

Currency
ISO-8 and Hero Bucks are the currencies at play within Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign. These two currencies are awarded by completing missions and by winning against other players in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Simulator. ISO-8 is required to train and raise your heroes’ levels. This currency is also required to purchase lower level heroes so that you may recruit them.

Hero Bucks, however, are used to purchase healing items should you run out. It will also allow players to purchase better heroes to recruit. Both Hero Bucks and ISO-8 may be purchased using real money as well.

Health
Each hero has HP stats that will absorb damage from enemy attacks. This will regenerate over time, but players may also use Healing Items to restore health automatically. Healing restores over time, but this can also be refilled automatically using Hero Bucks. Unless Healing Items are used, players would have to wait for heroes to recover if they are low on health or are knocked out before they can be put into action under top conditions again.

Battle
Players can form teams of up to three heroes, and they must battle against one or more enemies per mission. Players will deal damage depending on the matches that they have made. Making more matches will not only deal more damage, but matching more than three tiles will have beneficial effects such as eliminating an entire column of gems, giving you critical attack gems that deal extra damage when matched with any color gems, or giving you an extra turn.

Eliminating gems will also add onto that particular color’ AP, or Ability Points, which players can use to trigger a specific hero’s special attack. These attacks do not use up turns, and can be effectively used to turn the tide of battle in your favor. Gems that are blinking indicate that there are abilities that can be triggered. Different abilities for two different superheroes may be represented by a single colored gem, and players can choose as to which skill they would like to activate for as long as they have accumulated the necessary number of Ability Points.

Like you, enemies can also attack you. This comes in the form of attack gems that will count down each turn. If the counter reaches zero, then the enemy’s ability or attack will activate. Thus, it is recommended that players try and eliminate these tiles from the grid once they appear. Also, special tiles such as defense tiles may be placed which would have heroes absorb lees damage from attacks. Defense tiles appear once heroes activate an ability that contains such a function. Also, environmental tiles are neutrally colored gems that can also be activated to benefit the player’s team.

Should a hero get knocked out, they can no longer be used. Also, the last player who performed an attack will be the one bearing the brunt of an enemy’s attack, so this must be kept in mind especially if a particular hero is already low on health. The hero that will do the attacking will depend on the gem combination that was matched. The icon on the gem will signify which hero is being represented.

Heroes
Heroes within the game are represented by cards. These can be purchased in the store via either ISO-8 or Hero Bucks, and may also be awarded during missions. Heroes can be trained so that they will gain access to more abilities as well as make these abilities better in battle. In order to do this, players must whether find cover cards of that particular hero with a new or existing ability to add on to your stats. Alternatively, players may also use ISO-8 to upgrade abilities even without cover cards.

Players may also raise the level of a hero by spending ISO-8. Raising a hero’s level will increase his attacks and HP. Unused heroes may also be sold for ISO-8. There is only a limited number of cards that a player may have in his inventory, but players may opt to spend currency in order to expand his capacity.

Simulator
The Simulator is where players can pick other opponents online to do battle with. Players will take turns making matches within the same grid, and the winner will, be eligible to win prizes such as currency and new cards. There are also a lot of new content promised within the game, so stay tuned for new updates such as tournament and special events featuring more heroes and new enemies.