Marvel’s Avengers features a battle pass system, earned cosmetics, vendors
Crystal Dynamics has outlined how cosmetics, Challenge Cards, and other items will work Marvel's Avengers.
Marvel's Avengers will feature a battle pass style system, but only on cosmetic items, and in a breakdown on the official website, Crystal Dynamics outlined how it will work.
Any content purchasable with real money in the game will be "aesthetic-only additions," which the studio says will help "keep the game fresh for years to come."
The real-world currency in Marvel's Avengers was implemented due to future playable updates being free. These updates will include new characters, story content, missions, and regions.
"Our in-game economy is built on a player-first approach where you can earn outfits, emotes, nameplates, and amazing gear through play, as well as tailor your style with store cosmetics purchased using Credits obtained by exchanging real-world currency," reads the post.
Some of these items will cost Credits which are purchased with real money and will be used to purchase said items in the Marketplace as well as Hero Challenge Cards.
The Marketplace exists outside the game’s narrative and is accessible via the main or cosmetic menu. Here you can buy purchasable outfits, emotes, takedowns, and nameplates. Uncommon, Rare, Epic and Legendary items will rotate on a weekly basis.
Credits come in packs of 500, 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000 with bonus credits for bigger packs. A 500 credit pack is $5.
Hero Challenge Cards for post-launch heroes will be 1,000 Credits, or basically $10 per hero card.
These cards will allow you to earn Resources, Units, Credits, and Cosmetics for completing in-game challenges.
Each Hero Challenge Card has 40 tiers of free and premium rewards. Rewards are earned via Challenge Points by completing daily and weekly challenges. These rewards include:
- Rare Resource Bundle: Nanotubes, Nanites, Plasma, Catalyst
- Resource Bundle: Fragments & Upgrade Modules
- Upgrade Module Bundles: Upgrade Modules
- Exotic Resource Bundle: Polychoron & Uru
- Units
- Credits
- Hero Nameplates
- Team Nameplates
- Emotes
- Takedowns
- Outfits
Premium Hero Challenge Card rewards for the six starting heroes will be unlocked for free at launch and will make up 40 tiers.
Once you activate the premium rewards of Hero Challenge Card you can also earn more Credits. If you complete all challenges on your Hero Challenge Card, you will earn back your 1,000 Credit activation cost and all the content you’ll earn has a value of over 12,500 Credits. Again, these are just in-game cosmetic enhancements and effects, and will not provide a gameplay advantage.
Hero Challenge Cards do not rotate and won’t be retired. This means as you try to unlock the premium rewards, there will be no time limit, but you can also buy “skips” to get through tiers faster.
An example of a Hero Card is below.
Some cosmetics can be unlocked during gameplay. There will be "several ways" to earn, craft, or purchase these additional cosmetics.
One way is through Vendors who are "narrative-based store operators" found in various locations. They will be selling cosmetics, gear, and rare resources in exchange for what are called Units as well as common Resources.
Here's a breakdown:
- Resources: Resources come in Common (ex: Fragments), Rare (ex: Plasma), and Exotic varieties (ex: Uru) – and are traded with Vendors or used to upgrade gear. Resources can be found in Resource Crates, dropped by enemies, gained through dismantling Artifacts, received as Faction assignment rewards, and via Hero Challenge Cards.
- Patterns: Patterns are earned through high-level crates, activities, Faction Missions, and increasing your Faction level. They can be used at Fabrication Machines to create an Outfit or Nameplate.
- Units: Units are our soft-currency – in-game digital currency with no real-world value – which can be spent with Vendors. Units can be found in strongboxes or earned as rewards for increasing your Faction Level.
Gear Vendors will sell you character-specific Gear and Resources in exchange for Fragments gained through play.
Collecting and dismantling Gear will also provide Fragments and other resources, with Gear rotating daily and weekly.
Cosmetic Vendors accept Units gained through play to purchase items and Legendary Outfits will rotate weekly, while Nameplates, Emotes, and Epic and Rare Outfits rotate daily.
You should give the link to the blog post a read for additional information if you plan on playing the game.
Marvel’s Avengers is out on September 4 for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.