Illuminati | Marvel Church (2024)

Introduction

Illuminati is a Hero team that was made to conquer Cosmic Crucible, being effective on both Defense and Offense. One of the unique aspects of this team is that there are 2 official versions of it. The strongest lineup includes Captain Britain, the first character to have the Epic trait, while the weaker version will feature Iron Man instead.

The reason this team has 2 versions is because Captain Britain was not available to free-to-play players when he was released. He could only be unlocked by players who spent money on offers. Captain Britain is an essential character for the team and makes it much more effective in all game modes. This caused controversy because, for the first time in the game’s history, a character could not be recruited using the free-to-play means.

The team is composed of Black Bolt, Mister Fantastic, Black Panther (Shuri), Hank Pym, and Captain Britain. If players do not have access to Captain Britain, they will have to settle for a weaker version of the team with Iron Man instead.

Team Members

(left to right)

• Captain Britain
• Black Bolt
• Black Panther (Shuri)
• Mister Fantastic
• Hank Pym

Utility

• Cosmic Crucible
• one of the future Trials

The Illuminati is a team that excels in the Crucible, making them the best team in that game mode as of now. However, they didn’t have a lot of value in other game modes until they underwent several changes shortly after their release. Now, they’ve become a formidable team in War as well, especially the version with Captain Britain.

The newer members can be a good option for Dark Dimensions; Cap Britain and Hank are 2-item characters, which means they only need 2 items of the most current gear tier to upgrade (excluding the unique gear piece). On the other hand, Shuri is a 3-item character, meaning that Cap Britain and Hank are cheaper to upgrade and have excellent sustain, making them a solid option for Global nodes.

Team Placement & Turn Order

Captain Britain is a protector and should be in one of the corners, while Hank Pym can stand in the other. Black Panther Shuri can either take the center spot or the spot next to Hank, and the 2 others can be arranged to your liking, although Black Bolt has more health so he will be able to take more splash damage if he’s next to Cap Britain.

If you don’t have Captain Britain, place Iron Man between Shuri and Black Bolt. This will allow Shuri and Black Bolt to use their Ultimate abilities as soon as possible, as Iron Man provides Ability Energy to adjacent Hero and Illuminati allies in Cosmic Crucible.

Turn Order:

1. Black Panther (Shuri)
2. Hank Pym
3. Captain Britain
4. Mister Fantastic
5. Iron Man
6. Black Bolt

Iso-8 Classes

• Captain Britain – Fortifier/Striker
• Black Bolt – Striker/Raider
• Black Panther (Shuri) – Raider
• Mister Fantastic – Skrimisher
• Hank Pym – Striker
• Iron Man – Raider

Captain Britain is an excellent Fortifier, especially if he doesn’t have many Yellow/Red Stars. This will greatly strengthen his sustain and mitigation. If you have him at 6+ Yellow/Red, then he can be an excellent Striker.

Black Bolt is a pure damage dealer, so it is best to further increase that damage by giving him Striker or Raider Iso-8 Class. BP (Shuri) attacks multiple targets with all of her abilities and she deals piercing damage, so the Raider Class will allow her to deal even more damage.

Hank Pym is a Striker due to his fantastic Iso-8 attack, which will strengthen the team’s mitigation by applying Barrier.

Iron Man, like Shuri, hits multiple targets with most of his attacks, so Raider is the right class for him, especially when we know he has increased Crit Chance and Crit Damage.

Mister Fantastic is a Skirmisher mainly to help the team by supplying Vulnerabilities.

Team T4’s

Essential

• Captain Britain – Special, Ultimate, and Passive
• Black Panther (Shuri) – Ultimate and Passive
• Hank Pym – Passive and Ultimate
• Black Bolt – Passive
• Mister Fantastic – Passive and Special
• Iron Man – Special and Passive

All of Captain Britain’s abilities can become Empowered, so it’s useful to max all four of his Abilities, but that’s only if you already have the Empowered Materials for those abilities. Those materials will eventually be added to the Raid supply store.

Captain Britain

Special will apply Trauma in Crucible (2 turns) to the primary target if this character has 2 or more Illuminati allies.
An Empowered Special (Level 8) will always apply Stun, regardless of whether the target has Barrier or not.

Ultimate at maximum level applies Immunity to himself for 2 turns (increased from 1 turn).
Empowered Ultimate will removes all negative effects, regardless of whether Captain Britain’s HP is below 50% or not.

When Captain Britain’s Passive ability is at maximum level, he removes all negative effects from himself whenever he or any Illuminati ally falls below 50% health. Additionally, this ability increases passive damage on his turn. When his Passive ability is Empowered, the passive attack on turn gains 20% Drain, which dramatically enhances Captain Britain’s sustainability.

Black Panther (Shuri)

Ultimate ability will apply Trauma to the primary target outside Cosmic Crucible. In Cosmic Crucible it will apply Trauma to the primary target and all adjacent targets.

Fully upgraded Passive will mostly have an effect in Cosmic Crucible, but it will make a significant contribution. Specifically, it will reduce the Max Barrier of all opponents and greatly increase the Focus of Black Panther and all Hero allies.

Hank Pym

Passive increases Max Health of the entire team by +50% (up from +25%) and in Crucible grants +25% Drain to himself and all Hero allies.

While his Ultimate deals more damage and in Crucible applies Trauma to each enemy.

Black Bolt

Passive adds damage to enemies when they drop below 25% health and increases his own Max Health. In Crucible, it also increases the Illuminati allies’ Max Health.

Mr. Fantastic

Passive ability will now clear one positive effect from three random enemies, up from one positive effect from two random enemies. Additionally, it will increase Focus and Resistance for him and Illuminati allies by an extra 10%.

His Special ability will always apply Stun outside Crucible, instead of having a 50% chance.

Iron Man

Special ability now extends the duration of all negative effects by an additional 1 turn on each target, up from 3 negative effects, and deals increased damage.

With a maxed Passive, Iron Man now gains +25% Crit Chance (previously +10%) and +40% Crit Damage (previously +20%). In Cosmic Crucible, Illuminati allies now receive a bonus of +20% Crit Chance and +20% Crit Damage, up from +10% for both Crit Chance and Crit Damage.

Recommended

• Captain Britain – Basic
• Hank Pym – Special, Basic
• Black Panther (Shuri) – Special
• Black Bolt – Ultimate

Captain Britain

Basic now applies Defense Up for 2 turns to self and all Hero allies (up from 1 turn), and does more damage.
Empowered Basic clears all positive effects on the primary target (up from 2 positive effects).

Hank Pym

Maxed Special ability will flip all negative effects into positive ones on himself and all Illuminati allies. This upgrade is not essential since Hank will usually play before most opponents, but it can be very useful if the Illuminati are debuffed before he takes his turn or if the fight drags on.

Basic will call for 2 Assists (instead of 1), one from a Hero ally and one from an Illuminati ally. Considering that all Illuminati characters are Heroes, this means that after Hank uses his Basic attack, he will gain 3 Assists (2 from maxed Basic and 1 from Mister Fantastic’s Passive). This is a significant improvement to the damage output of this ability and while not essential, is a good one to have.

Black Panther (Shuri)

Special will deal more Piercing damage and will apply Ability and Heal Block to the primary target for 2 turns instead of 1.

Black Bolt

Ultimate we will gain more damage and a higher crit chance. He will always crit and deal more damage. Considering his Ultimate attacks all opponents and is unavoidable, it’s useful to upgrade it.

Red Stars and Diamonds

Getting 7 Red Stars on newer characters (Shuri and Hank) shouldn’t be complicated, as long as you open Elite Red Star Orbs when they are featured there. Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, and Iron Man are older characters so plenty of players might have them at high Red Stars already.

You could also get Red Stars for them from the Incursion Campaign:

• 7 Red Stars for Black Bolt – Incursion 3-2
• 7 Red Stars for Iron Man – Incursion 3-6

Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, and Iron Man can also benefit from having Diamonds on them since they should be maxed out for all of the long-time players. But we do not recommend spending Silver Diamond Credits on more than 1 Diamond for them. If you have a lot of spare Silver Diamond Credits and you use the team often, Black Bolt can be upgraded further to 2 or even 3 Diamonds. That will increase the chance that he deals the finishing blow, which will prevent enemies from Reviving.

When Shuri and Hank are at 7 Yellow and Red Stars, you can increase each of them up to 2 Diamonds. This investment will pay off.

Captain Britain is a Dark Promotion Credit character, so he will require spending Dark Promotion and Dark Diamond Credits. General advice: try to always have at least as many Red Stars as you have Yellow Stars.

Farming Locations

• Mister Fantastic – Nexus 3-6, Blitz Store, Milestone III Orbs
• Black Bolt – Unite The Kingdoms Legendary Event
• Iron Man – I Am Iron Man Legendary Event

On Spawn Buffs

Team:
In all game modes– Defense Up (2 turns), Speed Up (2 turns), Barrier for 25% of Hank Pym Max Health

Black Panther (Shuri): +1 Charged (in all game modes)

Team Mechanics

Captain Britain

Captain Britain is the most crucial member of the Illuminati, and without him, it is almost a completely different team. He is an Epic Protector, which prevents any Illuminati member’s Speed from being reduced (except with Slow). While in the Crucible, the Speed Bar cannot be filled or reduced by any character for themselves, allies, or enemies. For example, if the Illuminati are fighting against Apocalypse and Apocalypse uses his Ultimate, he cannot immediately use Empowered Basic but has to wait the whole turn, similarly, Super Skrull won’t be able to gain bonus Speed Bar, so he will “feel” much slower when he’s against Captain Britain.

Captain Britain has a Passive ability that allows him to attack all opponents at once, flip Immunity, and apply Defense Down to each target (on his turn). In addition, this attack also helps Captain Britain to fill his Health because it includes a +20% Drain, as long as the Passive is Awakened.

When Captain Britain or any Illuminati ally drops below 50% health, Captain Britain will remove all negative effects from himself. If his health is over 50%, he will gain Taunt and apply +2 Deflect (up to a maximum of 5) to himself and all Hero allies. When his health drops below 30%, he will switch Taunt to Stealth and gain Defense Up for 2 turns.

While he has Taunt, Captain Britain lowers the Crit Chance for all enemies by 100%. If his Health is over 50%, he gets +50% Damage and +1000% Focus. If his Health is below 50%, he gets an additional +100% Armor and +1000% Resistance.

With the Basic, Britain attacks the primary target and clears 2 positive effects (all positive effects if Empowered). If the target has no Barrier, it deals additional damage. After the attack, Cap applies 2 Deflect and Defense Up (2 turns) to self and all Hero allies.

Special attack: Hits the primary target, applying Offense Down and Stun for 1 turn. Then, rebound chains to 4 adjacent targets and applies Offense Down. Cap Britain then applies Defense Up and Immunity for himself and all Illuminati allies. If his HP is above 50%, he also gains Taunt; if it’s below 50%, he will apply Speed Up to all Hero Support allies.

In Crucible, this ability will also remove Revive Once from the primary and secondary targets, and this attack gains +1500% extra Focus. If Britain has 2 or more Illuminati allies, he will apply Trauma for 2 turns to the primary target.

With Ultimate, Captain Britain attacks the primary target, dealing massive damage and applying Stun (1 turn), Disrupted (1 turn), and Trauma (2 turns). If his health is more than 50%, he gains Taunt (1 turn) and Immunity (2 turns) after using this ability, if it’s below 50% – he removes all negative effects from himself. With both Special and Ultimate abilities, Captain Britain can Taunt and protect the rest of his team, but only if he has enough Health to do that.

In Crucible, if Captain Britain has more than 50% health after using his Ultimate ability, he applies Immunity (2 turns) to all Hero allies too. And on CC Defense, this attack targets the Bio Brawler with the highest Damage, ignoring Taunt and Stealth (Super Skrull, Red Hulk, Spider-Man (Pavitr), etc.)

Black Bolt

Black Bolt is a Blaster with only one focus in any fight, which is to deal a lot of damage. He supplies his team with bonus Max Health, and any character that is eliminated by him cannot be revived, which is especially useful considering his passive attack.

Passive – When an enemy drops below 25% Max Health, Black Bolt will passively attack that enemy and deal notable damage. If the enemy is a Villain Tech, the damage is doubled. When an enemy summons an ally, Black Bolt will apply Disrupted and remove 3 positive effects from the summoner.

Basic – attacks the primary target and flips 2 negative effects from himself before removing 2 positive effects from the target. His Special ability is Unavoidable and cannot be blocked. With it, he attacks the primary target and deals a lot of damage. In Crucible, this attack will instead hit the primary and adjacent targets.

Ultimate ability will hit all opponents, dealing significant damage. This attack gains +20% Crit Chance for each Illuminati ally. When Black Bolt is with the full Illuminati team, the Crit Chance could reach +80%. Equipping him with the Raider Iso-8 Class ensures he always Crits with this ability. Additionally, if there are 2 or more Illuminati allies, this attack becomes Unavoidable.

Black Panther (Shuri)

Black Panther (Shuri) is a Controller with high damage capabilities who can cause chaos among opponents. Shuri has a Charged mechanic. On spawn, before other characters’ spawn effects trigger, she gains +1 Charged (up to a maximum of 5). This ensures that her Passive ability will work correctly and will prevent Villain enemies from gaining Speed Up, as well as lower the Assist Chance of all enemies (only in Crucible). Additionally, every time someone attacks her, she gains +1 Charged. In Cosmic Crucible, when the Illuminati ally is attacked, she also gains Charge. She can have a maximum of 5 Charges and spend them with her Ultimate ability.

With her Basic attack, she targets the primary and adjacent enemies with Piercing damage (all her attacks deal Piercing damage). She also applies Slow, Defense Down, and Heal Block. In Crucible, if Shuri is Ability Blocked, she will also apply Ability Block to the primary target.

With her Special attack, Shuri attacks the primary target and applies Ability Block and Heal Block for 2 turns. Then, the attack rebounds to 3 adjacent targets, applying Slow and Heal Block for 2 turns. However, the chain is broken if Shuri is counterattacked. This attack can also chain to Stealth targets, gaining +500% Extra Focus, and cannot be blocked. If Shuri has 2 or more Illuminati allies, this attack gains +100% Crit Chance and is Unavoidable.

Additionally, when using her Special attack in Cosmic Crucible, Shuri clears all Charged (on primary target) and generates 1 Ability Energy for herself and all Illuminati allies. On Cosmic Crucible Defense, this attack targets the enemy Controller with the highest Speed Bar, ignoring Taunt and Stealth.

With her Ultimate, Shuri attacks the primary and adjacent targets, applying Ability Block and Trauma to the primary target. In Crucible, she applies Ability Block and Trauma to all adjacent targets as well. For each Charged on her, she repeats this attack one time (up to a maximum of 5) and loses all Charged.

Passive any time Shuri gains Defense Up, she will passively apply 2 Bleed to all enemies. Additionally, on Kill, she clears 2 random positive effects from all enemies. Shuri also lowers the maximum Barrier of all enemies by 10% (20% in Crucible). In Cosmic Crucible, she provides an additional 100% Focus for herself and all Hero allies. While she has Charged, she lowers the Assist Chance for all enemies by 100%, and Villain enemies cannot gain Speed Up.

Mister Fantastic

Mister Fantastic is a Controller character on the Illuminati team who supports them by passively applying Assist Now to a random ally or himself on any Illuminati turn. This ensures that the Illuminati characters always have an assist when Mister Fantastic is there. If the targeted ally is blinded, Mister Fantastic will clear the Blind status from that ally. Additionally, on his turn, he can remove one random positive effect from three random enemies that have positive effects.

With the Basic ability, Mister Fantastic attacks the primary target and then rebounds to 3 adjacent targets if the Ability is maxed. If Mister Fantastic is counterattacked, the chain is broken. However, in Crucible, this attack cannot be counterattacked if he has 2 or more Illuminati allies. His Special Ability aims to control the opponent by applying Stun.

When Mister Fantastic uses his Ultimate, he clears Defense Up on the primary target and the most injured enemy and then attacks both targets. If he has one Illuminati ally, instead of clearing Defense Up on the primary and most injured enemy, he clears Defense Up on all enemies and attacks them all. If Mister Fantastic has 2 or more Illuminati allies, this attack does Piercing damage. This attack gains +100,000 Extra Focus, cannot be Blocked, and in Crucible mode, it is Unavoidable.

Hank Pym

Hank Pym is a Support character who, after Captain Britain, is the most important member of the Illuminati team. He attacks the primary target and applies Barrier to himself and all Hero allies for 15% of his Max Health with his Basic Ability. This attack cannot be dodged, and Hank gets an Assist from a random Illuminati ally plus a random Hero ally.

During his Special ability, Hank applies Barrier to himself and all Illuminati allies, which amounts to 25% of his Max Health. Furthermore, he flips all negative effects to positive effects on himself and all Illuminati allies. After this, he proceeds to attack the primary target, remove all Vulnerable effects from himself and all Hero allies, heal himself and all Hero allies for 35% of his Max Health, and apply Safeguard (lasting for 2 turns) on the entire Illuminati team. This Special attack is Unavoidable.

With his Ultimate, Hank attacks all enemies, removing their Immunity, and applying Slow and Offense Down for 2 turns. He also heals himself and all Hero allies for 15% of his Max Health. In Crucible, this attack applies Trauma to all enemies and Hank Pym gains +100% Extra Focus per Hero ally (+400% total when with the full Illuminati team). This attack is Unavoidable and cannot be blocked or counterattacked.

Passive is crucial for Hank and the entire Illuminati team. On Spawn, he applies Barrier to himself and all Hero allies, equal to 25% of his Max Health, and also applies Speed Up to himself and all Illuminati allies, giving the team a significant speed advantage. On his turn, Hank passively attacks all enemies with Piercing and flips Stealth. If he has 2 or more Hero allies, he repeats this attack once, and in Crucible, he repeats this attack an additional time. Moreover, this passive attack will also apply Offense Down to all enemies on his turn.

When Hank Pym or a Hero ally drops below 40% Max Health, he provides Barrier for that character, equal to 40% of his Max Health. The first time Hank or a Hero ally drops below 40% of Max Health (if Hank is not Exhausted), he clears all negative effects from that character and heals them for 35% of his Max Health. If there are 2 or more Illuminati allies, Hank prevents opponents from gaining Regeneration, while Hero allies cannot gain Slow. With Hank, the Illuminati team is extremely defensive and fast, making them very dangerous.

Iron Man

Iron Man can be used as a substitute for Captain Britain until we can unlock Captain FTP. Iron Man can provide support to his allies by supplying them with Ability Energy (especially in Crucible) and increasing their Crit Chance and Crit Damage.

When using a Basic attack, he targets one enemy and chains to two adjacent targets, applying Defense Down to all of them. He also gains an assist from a random Illuminati ally. Enemy counterattack does not interrupt this chain, and in Cosmic Crucible, this attack cannot be countered or blocked.

Iron Man attacks all opponents with his Special and extends the duration of all negative effects by 1 on each target. This attack is Unavoidable and cannot be blocked. In Crucible, he generates 1 Ability Energy for adjacent Hero allies and an additional +1 Ability Energy for adjacent Illuminati allies. This means that Illuminati characters standing next to Iron Man receive +2 Ability Energy after he uses his Special.

Ultimate: Iron Man deals massive damage to the main target and generates 1 Ability Energy for 2 random Illuminati allies. In Crucible, he generates 1 Ability Energy for himself and all Illuminati allies instead. If Iron Man has 3 or more Illuminati allies, this attack cannot be Blocked or Dodged.

Iron Man, like Captain Britain, applies Defense Up (2 turns) to himself and all Illuminati allies when he spawns. Additionally, he passively gains +5% Damage for each Illuminati ally (+20% in total if he is in the full Illuminati team). He also gains +25% Crit Chance, and his allies gain +10% Crit Chance. Furthermore, Illuminati allies gain an extra +5% Crit Chance. Iron Man gains +40% Crit Damage, while Illuminati allies gain +20% Crit Damage. In Cosmic Crucible, he gets an additional +15% Crit Chance, and Illuminati allies get an extra +20% Crit Chance and +20% Crit Damage.

Captain Britain provides +50% Resistance and +50% Armor to the team.

Black Bolt provides +40% Resistance (in Crucible) and +50% Max Health (in Crucible) to the team.

Black Panther (Shuri) provides +50% Damage and +50% Focus (+100% additional Focus in Crucible) to the team.

Mister Fantastic provides +60% Focus and +60% Resistance to the team.

Hank Pym provides +15% Max Barrier, +50% Max Health, and +25% Drain (in Crucible) to the team.

Iron Man provides +25% Crit Chance (+15% additional Crit Chance in Crucible) and +40% Crit Damage for self. He also provides +15% Crit Chance (+20% additional Crit Chance in Crucible) and +20% Crit Damage (+20% additional Crit Damage in Crucible) for Illuminati allies.

Combat Tips & Tricks

The Illuminati is currently the top team in the Cosmic Crucible game mode and is expected to remain dominant for a long time. Captain Britain and Hank Pym allow them to be excellent in War as well. Captain Britain prevents their speed from being reduced (except with Slow), while Hank Pym makes them immune to Slow and gives the team Speed Up at the start of the battle. This gives them a crucial advantage in taking action before most opponents, and their control and sustaining abilities allow them to effectively dominate fights.

Captain Britain has two abilities that allow him to stun opponents – his Special and Ultimate. Similarly, Mister Fantastic can stun one opponent with his Special ability. Shuri, on the other hand, can apply Ability Block with both her Special and Ultimate abilities. In Crucible, her Ultimate ability applies Ability Block to multiple targets. Additionally, if Shuri is under Ability Block, her Basic ability will apply Ability Block to the primary target. This also applies if she assists another character. Their control abilities are excellent.

Hank Pym can apply Safeguard to the team very early in the fight, ensuring they maintain their crucial buffs, like Speed Up. They also have Defense Up, Safeguard, and Immunity, along with huge barriers, excellent healing, and the ability to flip negatives into positives. Their damage, as well as all other stats, are very good if not excellent.

The key is to have Hank Pym use his special ability. Once he does that, everything becomes much easier. Captain Britain receives a significant focus bonus if his health is above 50%, allowing him to apply debuffs effortlessly. Black Bolt boosts the team’s health passively and with his active and passive damage abilities, he can take down opponents easily. Additionally, assists and Mister Fantastic’s passives further enhance the Illuminati team’s offense and defense.

In Cosmic Crucible, the Illuminati can defeat every opposing team, including some Mephisto team variations, but for that, you will need Captain Britain at high Yellow/Red stars. As for War, they became one of the top War teams, capable of defeating a bevy of teams, including some of the strongest defenses. That’s mainly because a lot of their abilities are not locked behind Crucible. And while enemies will be able to manipulate Speed Bar (that part of Cap Britain is locked to Crucible), Illuminati still can Spawn with Speed Up for 2 turns, then they can gain Safeguard shortly after, and with their excellent damage output and stellar sustain they can thrive, even against toughest teams. Visit our War/Crucible Counters pages for more information regarding counters.

The main downside is that Captain Britain (the most crucial team member) isn’t accessible to free-to-play players unless they spent tens of thousands of Power Cores on Orbs for Shuri and Hank. Without him, the team is still potent, but significantly weaker compared to when he’s included. Iron Man is a decent substitute as the fifth member and with him the team will be decently strong, better than average teams. But the inclusion of Captain Britain will propel this team to the top.

If you have any questions about Illuminati or need any help with MSF feel free to reach out to us via our Discord:

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