As with most massive multiplayer online games, Marvel Heroes is a game with a lot of systems piled onto it over the years. Coming up on its second anniversary, Marvel Heroes has had a lot of time to add various currencies and gear slots to keep players busy. While I talked about both the Avengers and the various game modes previously, I didn’t touch on what a player who has completed story mode and leveled their favorite couple of heroes to level 60 is looking for and where to find those pieces of gear or that currency.

To that end, I’ve put together a gear checklist to help newer players determine what a “completely geared” character might look like. To help us with this, I’ve got my buddy Spider-Man here to help us out as we look at his gear choices.

Spider-Man Sample Build

Collect unique items for slots 1 thru 5.

For Spider-Man, we’re using three of his regular hero-specific unique items that we found throughout the game. Midtown Madness on Mondays (where Midtown Madness chests drop from bosses) and the Age of Ultron gameplay mode are great places to get item level 63 unique items. His slot 1, though, is the Overseer’s Mace, a raid unique, which was crafted from a recipe acquired from the Raid Token Vendor that was bought with Commendations, which can be acquired by completing daily and weekly shared quests or influence missions, by defeating bosses in one-shots daily, and by doing weekly raids. The slot 4, and the final unique, is a boss-specific any-hero unique, which was dropped by Batroc in Industry City. These can also be acquired by completing the Takedown achievements.

Add an enchantment to each unique item.

Enchantments are small buffs to items that can be placed on an item using runes that drop throughout the game. Runes can also be acquired by trading in duplicate unique items via the Crafter. Enchantments are placed on an item by the Enchanter, but be sure to level him to level 20 to gain access to all the enchantments. Some may also be acquired from the Gear and Weapon vendors if they have been leveled to level 20. Spider-Man has a physical damage enchantment on his slots 1 and 5, as all his moves do physical damage, and we’ve opted for the health enchantment on his slots 2 thru 4, though the defense enchantment is another excellent option there.

Upgrade all unique items to level 66.

The highest level of a unique item drop in the game is level 63. However, the Raid Token Vendor in Asgard sells recipes for Commendations that can upgrade an item to level 66. Doing so increases the potency of its rolls, making these recipes one of the most sought after gear upgrades for end-game characters.

Upgrade all unique items to level 69.

The highest level of a unique item drop in the game is level 63. However, the Raid Token Vendor in Asgard sells recipes for Commendations that can upgrade a level 66 item to level 69. Doing so increases the potency of its rolls, making these recipes one of the most sought after gear upgrades for end-game characters. Level 69 is the current maximum gear rank.

Add a challenge bonus to each unique item.

Challenge bonuses are similar to enchantments, but provide a plus one rating to one of the game’s core stats. As these are potent increases, they require Challenge Bonus Tokens available through the Raid Token Vendor for Commendations. Spider-Man is using +1 Fighting on all of his unique items, though +1 Strength is also viable, if power cost reduction is needed.

Add costume affixes, grade 1 thru 4.

Each costume can have four affixes ascribed to it by the Crafter. These affixes can either be offensive or defensive, though most players prefer to use the offensive affixes. Spider-Man is using the best offensive affix, critical damage rating, on all four levels of affix. Health is the strongest defensive affix. No other affixes are ever used.

Add a level 60 costume core with “Regenerate 25% of your health (up to 3000) and +100 Spirit when you use a medkit” and “Become invulnerable for 2s when you use a medkit.”

A costume core is a droppable item that comes in various types, with each character using a particular kind of core, which can be added to a costume. The costume core has a level assigned to it, which is then used to scale the costume affixes above. As such, a costume core should be level 60 to ensure the strongest affixes possible. Spider-Man uses the Radioactive Isotype. The costume core is one of the most essential items to find, particularly one that has both the improved health and spirit regeneration on medkit use and the invulnerability on medkit use attributes. These two effects on medkit use are seen as essential components to raid and other endgame survivability situations with high burst damage. Spider-Man is using an even stronger core with an additional +1 Fighting, but 400 life on hit, physical damage rating, and health are other good bonuses for the third attribute.

Get an Insignia. (And upgrade it to cosmic.)

An insignia is a piece of gear with a lot of flexibility. Spider-Man is using his own insignia, with bonuses to health and +1 to all powers, with the latter being the strongest affix for an insignia. Spider-Man’s insignia has also been boosted to a cosmic insignia using a recipe available from Moondragon. The important thing with the insignia is that it is relevant to the character, as Spider-Man’s is, and that is boosts any of the good stats with its affixes: critical hit rating, critical damage rating, the relevant damage type rating, health, or additional power ranks.

Vacuum stuff with your pet.

Pets vacuum up unwanted loot to provide an extra statistical bonus. Free pets can be found via daily login gifts, fortune cards, or Doop can be bought from Moondragon. Spider-Man’s HERBIE is using all of the best affixes. 8% health, 50 spirit, and +3 Fighting are universal (though +1 to all and either +3 Strength/+3 Energy are often acceptable), while the percentage damage and plus ranks to powers are character-dependent. Spider-Man is using physical damage and melee powers, but brutal damage is a viable choice for the pet, as well.

Acquire a legendary item.

There are two kinds of legendary items. One set is sold by the Legendary Weapons vendor in Asgard, who sells level 70 legendaries for 300 Odin Marks, while the other set is level 80 and sold by the GLF Vendor in Hammer Bay when you’ve acquired enough influence with the GLF. Level 80 items cost 1000 Odin Marks. Odin Marks are acquired by completing Legendary and Shared Quests. Spider-Man is using a level 80 Excalibur, though he was previously using a level 70 Gugnir.

Level up your legendary item.

The legendary item must be leveled to reach its maximum potential, maxing out at Rank 5. Rank 4 on a level 70 legendary is a minimum requirement for the hardest (Red Raid) endgame content and a legendary item is one of the most powerful ways, even with a level 70 item, to improve a character’s power.

Acquire a ring.

For most characters, the Industry City Signet, which drops in Industry City Patrol, is the best ring. Spider-Man is using the Physical variant, as all of his powers are physical. Prior to getting the right type of Industry City Signet, a Cosmic ring is a viable alternative, with some Cosmics (ones that feature critical, health, brutal, and damage stats) being viable at endgame themselves.

Acquire 1000 relics.

Relics are a collectible item that drop in game and can stack up to 1000 on a given character. Use whatever relics you have available, though the best three are Atlantis (damage), Lemuria (survivability), and Gibborim (spirit). Spider-Man is using an Atlantis for damage here. A stack of duplicate unique items can be traded for relics.

Equip a level 50 Uru-Forged.

Uru-Forged drop at level 25 and level 50. Often players will drop unwanted Uru-Forged around the STASH. The most universal Uru-Forged is the +800 defense rating Uru-Forged, which is particular useful at endgame content like Cosmic Midtown and is what Spider-Man is using.

Add a runeword to your level 50 Uru-Forged.

The Enchanter can add a runeword to your Uru-Forged. Level up your enchanter for access to additional runewords, while others can be bought from other Vendors, notably Moondragon. Spider-Man is using the Power Doop, which is typically used by hybrids, but the physical component of the runeword is quite strong and it does not use any of the incredibly rare runes (such as Tyr or Loki). River of the Soul is another strong alternative for newer players who do not have access to any of the days-of-the-week runes, which are some of the rarest drops in the game, or for an alternate character who needs a runeword.

Find a Cosmic medallion.

Each villain, when defeated, drops their medallion, with a small chance that the medallion will be cosmic. Cosmic medallions are often preferred, as they provide an additional +1 to all powers. Spider-Man is using a Grim Reaper medallion, but there are numerous options for every character depending on what you find.

Find artifacts.

Artifacts are the most diverse item set in the game, alongside the slots 1 thru 5. Nearly every boss in the game has their own, special artifact which can be obtained by defeating them in red or cosmic terminals or by completing their Takedown achievements. Spider-Man is using two such items, supplied by Kurse and Doctor Doom, along with the always-useful Adv. Metasensory Array and the physical damage boosting Adv. Crimson Crystal.

Bless your artifacts.

For 100 Odin Marks, the Enchanter can provide a blessing to each of your artifacts. Blessings are swappable, so bless artifacts with aplomb (unless you’re saving 1000 Odin Marks for a level 80 legendary). The Blessing of Hela is the strongest blessing for nearly every situation. Spider-Man is using four Blessings of Hela.

Find Starktech Cubes.

Once you’ve got the four best artifacts for your character (which Spider-Man doesn’t even have yet… curse you, Sacred White Gorilla Necklace!), you’ll want to start adding the StarkTech Power Cubes that you find. Spider-Man is using one each for Spider Brawl, Leaping Assault, Amazing Smash, and Constrictive Webbing, providing extra ranks to powers his gear couldn’t get to level 50. Power Cubes are one of the last bits of itemization, as they only drop in Cosmic levels.

And that’s it. That’s every piece of gear that you’ll need to complete a character. Some of them, like Challenge Bonuses and buying and leveling a level 80 Legendary, take hours and hours to complete, but others—like costume affixes or enchants—are good, quick ways to get yourself a power boost. And you may have been overlooking them all this time, simply because the sheer volume of systems and gearing options in Marvel Heroes.

To make things even simpler, I’ve included the checklist one last time below, along with the link to Spider-Man’s build right now.

Gear Checklist

Collect unique items for slots 1 thru 5. Add an enchantment to each unique item. Upgrade all unique items to level 66. Upgrade all unique items to level 69. Add a challenge bonus to each unique item. Add costume affixes, grade 1 thru 4. Add a level 60 costume core with “Regenerate 25% of your health (up to 3000) and +100 Spirit when you use a medkit” and “Become invulnerable for 2s when you use a medkit.” Get an Insignia. (And upgrade it to cosmic.) Vacuum stuff with your pet. (Slots 1 thru 5) Acquire a legendary item. Level up your legendary item. Acquire a ring. Acquire 1000 relics. Equip a level 50 Uru-Forged. Add a runeword to your level 50 Uru-Forged. Find a Cosmic medallion. Find four artifacts. Bless your artifacts. Find four Starktech Cubes.

http://marvelheroes.info/build/16583/ (In case you don’t want to scroll up.)

P.S. I don’t have an Overseer’s Mace yet, either, but it was good to make a point about Raid unique items. You’re welcome.