The Lilith is knocking at the Abbey‘s door with her demonic forces – it‘s going to take master strategists to drive her back. As both a passionate Marvel fan and combat tactics aficionado, I was intrigued by the gift-giving system in Marvel‘s Midnight Suns. At first, I thought it was just a side activity for some bonus upgrades. But after digging into the gift mechanics and friendship benefits, it quickly became apparent that gifts are instrumental to unlocking your squad‘s maximum potential.
Gifts Directly Translate to Combat Upgrades
Let me be clear about the tangible combat impacts of high friendship levels from consistent gift-giving:
- Ability Unlocks: New combat abilities for heroes, including rare skills only accessible through gift bonuses
- Stat Boosts: +5% to damage dealt and healing at Friendship Level 5, up to +30% by Level 15!
- Affinity Bonuses: More cards and abilities to choose from during tactical battles
- Outfits: Cosmetic only, but cool bonus skins to show off your dedication
Below is the "Armor Breaker" ability I unlocked for Blade at Friendship Level 8 – a bonus strictly from Blade liking my gifts! Without it, this climactic battle against Sabretooth could have gone very differently…
So consistently delivering gifts that heroes love can determine life or death battles down the line. Now let‘s break down gift strategies…
Not All Gifts Are Created Equal
I crafted the table below to compare and contrast gifts from different sources:
| Gift Source | Friendship XP Gains | Cost | Effort to Obtain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchased (Shop) | High | High (Gloss currency) | Low (Buy from shop menu) |
| Found (Abbey) | Low | None | Moderate (Searching the Abbey) |
| Crafted (Cauldron) | Very High | Ingredient farming time | High |
As expected, the rare crafted Cauldron gifts provided the most XP for maxing those friendships. But I found spreading my early gifts across Shop, Found, and lower-level Crafted sources let me make the most efficient use of resources. There‘s no need to bankrupt your Gloss reserves gunning for Cauldron gifts too early!
Optimal Gift Prioritization
Based on the developers‘ XP formulas for each rarity type, I devised an optimal hero gift prioritization strategy:
- Get everyone to Friendship Level 2 first – Unlocks the Hangout and gift mechanics itself! No favorites yet.
- Push 1-2 "frontline" combat heroes to Level 5 – Getting that initial +5% damage and healing boost is crucial
- Keep everyone roughly within 2 Levels until postgame – Prevent severely underleveled heroes
- Max out favorites in endgame – Bring your top squad up to big perks like +30% damage at Level 15!
This balanced approach allowed me to maximize collective squad ability upgrades through gifts without overinvesting in one hero. It takes some spreadsheet analysis, but leading these heroes by optimizing gifts is rewarding!
My Most Epic Gift-Fueled Comeback
I‘ll close with an anecdote that cemented my appreciation for the gift system. After barely squeaking through the Snow Valley boss fight, I realized Doctor Strange was underleveled from me neglecting gifts. So I focused gifts on getting him catching up to squad Friendship Levels.
Just two missions later, a surprise ambush put my party on the back foot quickly. But with Strange‘s upgraded Astral Projection via new friendship abilities, he clutched the win by shielding us long enough for Captain Marvel to unleash her Ultimate!
That gift-fueled comeback proved you can‘t afford to ignore the Abbey and hero relationships. So get out there and start befriending, commander – the Lilith waits for no one!
Let me know which heroes you‘re prioritizing gifts for down below!
