As we all know, sometimes the only hacks that work in pvp are animation speed and AoE (area of effect). Everything else produces CVE, forcing us to actually play. The most effective strategy to use in these cases is the Corned Beef Scroll tactic, but seeing as how it relies on having a limited edition item set that can't be obtained outside of expensive gold sales, it's not an option everyone has the luxury of falling back on.
So what then?
My advice? Get yo asses farming those sweet new Free Action items from the daily missions. Some of them are highly underrated, and become really powerful when used with the AoE hacks. I have 3 alternate accounts that don't have the Corned Beef, so I've been hunting free action items for pvp setups a lot. I'll give some pointers on how to best farm them, and which ones you'll wanna go for.
Primary Missions to Farm
* E- and A-iso days with 20-30 energy cost are your best friends in the world. They are fast to do and have low energy cost. But most important, the roulette has a VERY HIGH CHANCE of dropping Quick and Free action items. Usually these roulettes will look like either one of these:
1) - 9x E- or A-isos.
0% chance of gadget.
2) - 8x E- or A-isos and 1x consumable OR gadget/weapon
50% (at least) chance of getting whichever item is not an iso. So if there is a gadget and no consumable, you will almost certainly get the gadget since it has the highest dropchance.
3) - 7x E- or A-isos and 1x consumable and 1x gadget/weapon
25% (or lower) of getting the gadget, since the shitty consumable item will always have the highest dropchance, with the gadget being the second-highest and the isos being the lowest.
With a little dedication and time on these missions, you can farm 10+ quick/free action gadgets in a few hours.
All other daily missions aren't really worth spending time and energy on unless you are bored. The drop chance vs. time/energy cost is too ineffective.
The Gear you Want
Keep in mind that many of these items are designed to be single-target and therefor not overly effective if used legit, but can become truly devastating when used as an AoE item. Here are some of the best ones, in my experience:
Combat Acceleration Initiative
http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Combat_Acceleration_Initiative
This baby is already an "all allies" without hacks and it is truly amazing. A free action that gives your entire team a free follow up attack on their next single target attack? Yes please. Team it up with really hard hitting mofo like Hulk or Thor, or heroes that normally depend on double-attack moves to reach full potential, like Gambit or Angela. This item is a monster when used right, I can't believe they made it free action.
Radiation Transmitter or Concentrated Gamma Emitter
http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Radiation_Transmitter / http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Concentrated_Gamma_Emitter
Use these puppies together with energy-based attack heroes (Havok, Karolna, etc), or heroes that exploit attrition. Or use them as part of a PBeast DoT team for extra hurt. Try grabbing one of these emitters, pair it up with the Combat Acceleration Initiative and put Sabretooth with his Frenzy e-iso on your team along with Pestilence beast. You're going to see some pretty fucking insane damage coming out of that guy right from round 1. He can wipe an entire team with superior stats instantly if your agent goes before him to set the debuffs up.
Cursed Cup
http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Cursed_Cup
It's not a free action (quick), but a 100% chance to apply doom to all enemies with AoE hack, you can set up some pretty insane combos with this baby. Use it along with other items or heroes that can trigger doom, like Gamora or the LE axe from the vampire spec ops, and the entire enemy team will be at instant 33% health right in the first round. Cool stuff.
Goblin Visage
http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Goblin_Visage
A lesser version of the epic boss reward from chapter 2. Except with hacks it's far more powerful. Playdom done fucked up. The original goblin mask only has 30% chance to apply cower, but targets the entire enemy team. Goblin visage has double that chance at 60%, but only targets 1 enemy. Except we make it hit all enemies with AoE hack. As a free action. Holy fucking fuck, get this! Trust me, you want this.
Gamma Augmentation / Heroic Charge
http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Gamma_Augmentation / http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Heroic_Charge
Free action buff gadgets that gives some nice stat boosts to your entire team. And yes, they stack. If you have a free slot, these can be very worth picking up.
Jade Prism
http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Jade_Prism
In line with the above buff gadgets, the Jade Prism can be an immesnly powerful buff item with the Ally AoE hack, since the effect then applies to your whole team instead of just 1. Read the effect of that thing, it's pretty fucking good. Get it.
Impending Doom
http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Impending_Doom/Gear
Another heavily situational item, but with AoE hack and as a free action, this sucker can severily cripple your enemy after a few rounds. If you wanna go yolo mode, farm several of them + the regular Doombringer. They don't share cooldowns. With 5 item slots and Pest Beast on your team, you can effectively shred your enemy team's stats by firing off 5 of these bad boys in a single turn. Not a very sound strategy, but hilariously fun.
Magic Mirror / Magnetic Field Dynamo
http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Mirror / http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Magnetic_Field_Dynamo
Both of these can be very useful if you have a spare slot for an optional item. Free action that can potentially turn the tide of battle are always nice backups to have lying around.
Tony's Heart Tickler
http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Tony%27s_Heart_Tickler
I only have this crazy ass weapon on one of my accounts, but I want it on all of them. Seriously. It's that good. It's a fucking quick action WEAPON that deals very decent damage, causes bleeding and REMOVES ALL BUFFS ON TARGET HIT... wtf? AoE hack that shit and cripple your enemy again and again. And again. Slap on some of the free action buffs from above gadgets and I've had this insane weapon critting for 15k+ damage per attack against teams with higher stats than me. And as a QA you can attack twice per turn. Sometimes I don't know what the fuck Playdom is doing.
Quantum Entanglement
http://avengersalliance.wikia.com/wiki/Quantum_Entanglement
If you build your team specifically around this item, it can be pretty gg. Load your agent up on Free Action buff/debuff items and then use this baby as the last one, then watch your two other heroes destroy the enemy with double turns and massive buffs. It's a viable tactic if done right, but very risk/reward stylish.
There are a ton more of these new powerhouse items, but many of them are pve-oriented and not overly effective in pvp. Add your own suggestions if you got em'.
Either way, keep an eye on those dailies, and when you see the low-energy cost E- and A-iso missions come up, strap yourself in and start farming.
