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How to assemble the best squad in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3

Steven Petite
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Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is all about complimentary heroes. After the release of numerous DLC expansions through 2020, there are now 46 playable characters in-game. Each comes with unique skills and attributes that will govern their effectiveness on the team. Disney+‘s hit show WandaVision has Marvel fans diving back into the franchise they fell in love with over the past decade. Ultimate Alliance 3 keeps players on Nintendo Switch entertained, while Marvel’s Avengers, on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, continues on an up-and-down trend with its fans.

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The “best” heroes

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As mentioned, none of the 46 heroes are inherently better than the rest. They’re just different. That said, once you play through chapter two, you’ll have 20 of the heroes unlocked. That means you have a surplus of heroes to choose from. At this point, all of the unlocked heroes are around the same level. This is your time to start building a squad to level throughout the remaining eight chapters. Here are a handful of heroes you’ll unlock in chapter two that we think you should strongly consider adding to your squad.

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Hulk: Our favorite tank in the game, Hulk is unparalleled when it comes to physical damage. He may move slower than some nimble heroes, but he can take a beating and deliver an even stronger one with his fists. Plus, it’s really fun to smash and throw enemies around as Hulk.

Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, Miles Morales: All three Spidey heroes have similar attacks and abilities. You unlock Spider-Man first but the teens will be unlocked shortly after. All three are fast, nimble, and can play largely above ground. In terms of the three, Spider-Man is the most traditional. Spider-Gwen has the best defense due to her warping abilities, while Miles Morales deals electric elemental damage with his abilities. You can’t go wrong with any of the three, but it’s smart to have one in your squad.

Scarlet Witch: As a support hero, Scarlet Witch can create areas that slow enemies down. She’ll also learn a useful healing ability when she levels up enough, so if you find yourself using up those three revives, a healer is a great option.

If you go with our recommendations, that leaves you with one slot to fill by the time you reach the end of chapter two. Hulk, a Spidey hero, and Scarlet Witch will cover your bases. For the fourth hero, perhaps choose an all-around solid character like Captain America or Thor.

Add new heroes into the mix

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After chapter two, you won’t add new heroes to the Alliance as often, but you’ll stick pick up a couple in each level through chapter eight. If you’ve been sticking with the same team of heroes from the early going, chances are they are at or around the recommended level. But if you’ve been testing heroes out, you might have one or two that aren’t where they should be level-wise. If you’re struggling, your best bet is to add the most recently acquired hero to your squad. In every instance, newly recruited heroes were at least a level or two higher than our highest level hero.

If you’re going to swap out heroes a lot throughout the campaign, we recommend keeping at least two constants in your squad. The reason for this is because if you’re swapping out your entire team at every checkpoint, all of your characters will be under-leveled.

Use XP Cubes/Infinity Trials to level heroes

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You can combat the under-leveled hero problem by using XP Cubes found throughout the campaign to instantly level heroes. Additionally, if you decide later in the game that you’d like to play as a hero that is seriously under-leveled, you can do that. It will just require more than just XP Cubes to get them combat-ready. Completing Infinity Trials — challenges that unlock midway through the campaign — can quickly level heroes. Plus you can play scenarios that more closely match their level and go from there.

Team bonuses

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There are 29 team affiliations in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, with as little as two members to as high as 12 members. Each character has four team affiliations. In the hero selection menu, you can check out all of the team bonuses as well as your team’s active bonuses. Having two to four characters from one affiliation in your team provides stat boosts. Our current team of Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, and Iron Man is getting four bonuses across the six stat categories. These stat boosts go all the way up to 10 percent with some affiliations.

While we don’t recommend building your team based on these stat bonuses, if you find yourself struggling against a boss, check your bonuses, tinker with your team to get more bonuses and try again. Sometimes you just need a little extra strength or vitality to get over the hump.

Once you complete the campaign and spend time leveling all of your heroes to the max, the stat boosts provided by team affiliations will matter more when it comes to building the absolute best team possible to wade through Superior difficulty.

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Steven Petite
Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
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