With this in mind, these tips will put you on the hero's path to victory.
How do I unlock characters in the game?
You obtain new characters in Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign by winning certain battles. You'll see which hero you can unlock by winning the battle, and by meeting conditions - mainly surviving in general - you'll add him or her to your deck. There are only a few available with the game's short Prologue campaign, but more will unlock as this title opens up over the next few months.
The second is through direct purchase. There are two types of currency systems in the game - coins and Iso (glowing purple gems). The game requires you to hand over a good amount of these to access stronger characters in the game, like classic Spider-Man.
How do I earn more coins and Iso?
You obtain Iso one of two ways. You can earn it in certain battles, some of which are multiplayer oriented with specific conditions. The second way, being a freemium title, is through direct purchase. Depending how much you need, you can put down anywhere from $.99 to $49.99. We recommend holding off on this particular purchase until the complete game is available.
As for coins, you can only increase your stockpile through in-game purchases. It's a pain, but at the moment, only required for certain upgrades or characters in the game. We suggest holding off on any in-app purchases until the full game is available.
How does the battle system work?
You can attack an enemy one of two ways. The first is the most basic, by matching up three or more colored gems on the board and attempting to create a chain reaction. The more matches you get in a turn, the more damage you achieve.
The second is through direct attacks. Once you make enough matches, you'll be able to execute a super move that does critical damage. We suggest using Iron Man the most, as his plasma blasts will take 50 energy from an opponent - a few shots with this and they'll be done in no time.
Other characters are good on the tactical front, however. Hawkeye, for instance, can eliminate a whole row of gems with one shot, which is good if you're trying to get rid of an enemy piece. Black Widow is also novel when it comes to lowering an enemy's gem count, so they'll have less counter-attacks to unleash.
Mix up your characters and see what they do for you.
How do I power up my characters?
That's easy. Once you store enough energy - mainly through Iso, though sometimes coins are necessary - head into the Train section, located on the bottom of the main screen. Here, you can level up your character by powering up certain abilities or raising their class level.
We recommend going with the class leveling first, because that will make them more powerful in general. If you have a favorite attack of theirs that you like using, however, feel free to making it stronger.
How do I jump into multiplayer?
The general thing you'll need to do for multiplayer is sign up for a PvP account. It's free, and allows you to access both general versus battles and tournaments that D3 holds in Marvel Puzzle Quest.
You'll find S.H.I.E.L.D. Versus battles under the Prologue tab, and any active tournaments under the Featured tab. Once you're logged in, you can simply hop in and play. We highly suggest doing so, as you can earn additional Iso that you can then turn around for certain characters and upgrades.
Keep in mind, though, that some multiplayer battles are limited. You'll only have three attempts to defeat an opponent, and if you can't, you'll need to find a new one.
More multiplayer options should open up with the full game.
When is the full release available?
No date yet, but it should be available sometime in the next few months. Perhaps even sooner.
