Hey everyone! I’m Jake Solomon, creative director of Firaxis Games and the good guys at PlayStation asked me to share some of my top tips for Marvel’s Midnight Suns, which comes out tomorrow, December 2.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is the latest upcoming title from Firaxis Games, who you may know as the creator of Civilization and XCOM. This is a deep strategy RPG set in the dark side of the Marvel Universe, where you are led and lived among Marvel legends from The Avengers, Runaways, X-Men, etc. You will play as the Hunter, the first customizable original Marvel hero and take on Lilith, the Devil’s Mother (and your real mother in the game). Now, jump right in!
Build your perfect squad
There are three things to think about when building a team: what kind of task am I doing? Who is required in that mission? And who do I want to improve and level up?
In Marvel’s Midnight Suns, we have several types of quests that each have different goals. Some missions you will be tasked with protecting a VIP being guarded by a tough enemy that you need to defeat first. Other missions may require you to defend targets from Hydra and Lilith’s forces. The type of mission can help you determine if you need powerful single-target damage dealers like Captain Marvel or someone who can really spread the love for Blade.
Second, every mission in Marvel’s Midnight Suns has a required hero that you need to take on. All story quests require a Hunter, while general quests can require anyone on the list. Depending on who is required, you can change your strategy around that. For example, if a quest requires Doctor Strange – you will know that you have no trouble making Heroism but you may have a little trouble dealing damage. Understanding each hero’s strengths and weaknesses can help you build that ideal squad.
Ultimately, you’ll want to consider which heroes you want to be stronger. In Marvel’s Midnight Suns, all abilities are represented as cards, and the only way to earn more cards to further enhance your abilities is through quests. The more you play as a hero, the more abilities you unlock – so sticking with your favorite team has definite benefits!
The power of friendship
Marvel’s Midnight Suns has a Friendship system where discussions off the battlefield and Hang Out with your fellow heroes have great rewards for you on the battlefield. You earn Friendship through a number of activities – choose the right dialogue when talking to heroes, hanging out with them, giving them favorite gifts and even complimenting them. The better you get to know a Hero, the better your chances of gaining those precious Friendship points.
What is not well known is that in addition to the individual Friendship level with each Hero, there is also a Team Friendship level which you will increase as you gain Friendship with everyone. Improving Friendship with your fellow Heroes can help increase your Team Friendship, unlock combo abilities, improve the power of your compliments, etc.
And those battlefield rewards can be real game-changers. One of my favorites includes Iron Man’s I’ll Handle This passive, which allows Withdraw when you use multiple Iron Man skills in one turn. Iron Man can use those redraws to power up his skills… and you’ll want to play those buffed abilities, which means you’ll be constantly re-activating content his presence during the battle. He can snowball really fast if you play your cards right!
Take your time and have fun
With Marvel’s Midnight Suns, we set out to create a game that you can really play at your own pace, with your own difficulty. We want this to be something anyone can pick up and play, whether you’re just looking for a good Marvel story if you want to really try your hand at Ultimate III difficulty. There is no limit on the time when you need to complete the quests and no limit on the number of general quests you can do.
Don’t forget to explore the grounds of the Monastery – around your supernatural secret base there are even more mysteries for you to solve. Expect to earn abilities, find materials to craft, and even you to be the one to unlock all the secrets of the Mysterious Blood.
Hopefully these tips both prepare you for what you’ll be playing when the game launches, and get you excited with all the combat and story possibilities for you to explore. Marvel’s Midnight Suns will be available on PlayStation 5 on December 2.
