Piecing Together Marvel Puzzle Quest: Star-Lord

Are you pumped for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” dropping in theaters just two short weeks from now? Well D3 Go! wants to prep you for all the awesome cosmic madness coming up by introducing “Marvel Puzzle Quest” players to new 3 and 5-Star Peter Quill variations!

We talked to Senior Producer Josh Austin about Peter’s new upgrades and what they bring to the board.

Marvel.com: Let’s talk Star-Lord! We have 3 and 5-Star versions of the dashing cosmic outlaw blasting into “Marvel Puzzle Quest” to coincide with his return to the silver screen in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” on May 5. Are these versions more closely tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe Peter Quill?

Josh Austin: With the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie coming out, we decided to focus more on the MCU version of Peter Quill, Star-Lord (Awesome Mix Volume 2) for the 5-Star; [the] 3-Star Star-Lord (Peter Quill) sports a look [artist] Kris Anka gave him for the [recent STAR-LORD] comic.

Marvel.com: And what about this Star-Lord makes him different from his 4-Star variant? What did the team choose to focus on to make these variants feel unique?

Josh Austin: The new 5-Star and 3-Star Star-Lord variations are more heroic for one. Instead of trying to sucker punch and steal from the bad guys, now he heals and steals! He swoops in heroically, uses the Milano to unleash blasters on the battlefield, and while everyone’s distracted by the chaos he quietly pockets some loot.

Marvel.com: Let’s talk a little about his kit. What’s going on under his hood?

Josh Austin: Star-Lord’s first power is called Something Good. Star-Lord swoops in with a last-minute rescue, looking surprisingly heroic in the process of course! For 10 Yellow AP, Star-Lord converts tiles of the enemy’s strongest color to Green Charged tiles. If one of Star-Lord’s teammates has less than 50% health, Star-Lord burst heals the team. The difference between the 3-Star and 5-Star is the amount this power boost heals; the 3-Star heals less than the 5-Star.

The next power is called Something Bad and it costs eight Purple AP. As mentioned above, here’s where Peter pockets some loot. Star-Lord steals random enemy Strike, Attack, or Protect tiles and if there aren’t any, Peter steals random enemy AP instead. The difference between 3-Star and 5-Star is the amount of tiles/AP being stolen.

The third power for both versions of Star-Lord is called Bit of Both and costs 12 Green AP. Star-Lord cranks up the volume in the Milano to complement its blasters as they unleash devastation on the battlefield. It destroys three random columns of tiles, leaving any friendly tiles and deals damage to the enemy team. Destroyed tiles do not generate AP or deal damage. The difference between 3-Star and 5-Star versions is the amount of damage that is dealt to the enemy team.

Marvel.com: Sounds like he’s going to be an awesome Green AP battery and force teams to rethink when and how they put special tiles on the board. That being said, when does Star-Lord really shine?

Josh Austin: Star-Lord is great against players that create Attack, Protect and/or Strike tiles; these variations really focus on changing the state of the board to change the tide of battle.

Marvel.com: And I can’t think of a better character to pair him with than Thor (Goddess of Thunder). Green Charged tiles help pump up her Smite, they both can dish out team damage, maybe throw in Cyclops (Uncanny) to keep her Smite up and let loose with the occasional Full Blast…who are you thinking for teammates?

Josh Austin: Star-Lord (Peter Quill) and Star-Lord (Awesome Mix Volume 2) with The Hulk (Totally Awesome) as he creates green—or blue—charged tiles to complement Star-Lord’s Charged tile ability. Iron Fist (Danny Rand) with his ability to generate Green AP and fortify friendly tiles. Also Hawkeye (Hawkguy) is a good choice with his ability to create Strike tiles and remove them.

Marvel.com: When do we get to add Star-Lord to our rosters?

Josh Austin: Both versions of Star-Lord are going to be available on Thursday, April 27 and will be featured in the event Come and Get Me that debuts that day. Come and Get Me is a new Thanos boss event similar to Galactus and Ultron and the final progression rewards a token to a 5-Star cover store featuring Star-Lord (Awesome Mix Volume 2).

There is also a new three-part Guardians themed event starting on Sunday, April 30 that features Peter Quill that runs until May 5 and puts the Guardians hot on the trail of a powerful relic. Star-Lord’s Versus Tournament is called Hooked on a Feeling and starts on May 4.

Marvel.com: Anything else we need to know about? Any cool new characters coming down the pipeline?

Josh Austin: In such a short amount of time after Star-Lord launches we will be sharing more info about our new 4-Star Rocket and Groot (Awesome Mix Vol. 2) coming to the game that pairs awesomely with the fun of the “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” so yes we have tiny Groot! Rocket & Groot are part two of the Guardians themed event and our new 4-Star Gamora (Awesome Mix Vol.2) will be part three. The events are written by Marvel writer Alex Irvine and each part of the event ties with the launch of a new character starting with Star-Lord this week and concluding with Gamora later in May.

And before I forget I wanted to mention some cool things about the Come and Get Me event featuring Thanos, just to give players a taste of what they’ll be up against and can prepare accordingly. At the start of the battle in Come and Get Me, Thanos creates six Infinity gem Countdown tiles that do different things when they are matched, like heal the player’s team or disable the powers of the player’s team depending on the color of the gem. Thanos can also create Infinity Gauntlet Countdown tiles that can’t be matched and won’t fall; the player will have to destroy them via abilities or match four otherwise the player will receive massive damage if the Countdown ends. There’s more for players to discover but needless to say Thanos is truly a force to be reckoned with.

Marvel.com: And last but not least, has the team prepared any cool promotions for Marvel Insiders?

Josh Austin: Yes, fans should also join or check out Marvel Insider in the coming days for ways to rack up points doing “Marvel Puzzle Quest” related activities! Then, use all points to redeem an awesome in-game reward.

Pick up Star-Lord and take on Thanos here and stay tuned to Marvel.com for more “Marvel Puzzle Quest” news and interviews.