Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is out today exclusively for Nintendo Switch, and players from around the world are busy taking the fight to Thanos and his Black Order in order to recover the Infinity Stones, just like the movies. For many players, however, stopping the Snap and the Blip from happening are secondary goals, and their real objective is to find and play every classic Marvel character in the game. But what about the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 secret characters?
The game boasts a huge roster of Marvel characters from across the comics, including many obscure names who’ll never get a chance for a movie, not even with Sony. Ever hear of Elsa Bloodstone? She’s awesome, and she’s in the game. Getting most of the game’s playable characters is easy, but there’s a handful of secret characters that need to be properly unlocked. Who are they? How many secret characters are there, and who are they? What is the way to unlock all of them? We’ve got all the answers.
How many Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 characters are there?
The character roster for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, just like the previous games in the series, is pretty sizeable. In total there are 36 characters in the base game, and will expand by a further six names to 42 with the first DLC pack, with a further two DLC packs to go. In other words, don’t panic if your favorite Marvel characters aren’t in the initial list of playable heroes and villains.
The roster boasts a mix of good guys and bad guys, and includes famous names such as Captain America, Spider-Man, Hulk, and Wolverine, and slightly more obscure names who haven’t been in the movies, such as Elsa Bloodstone, Crystal, and Moon Knight. All are fun to play, however.
How do you unlock most of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 characters?
The good news is that the vast majority of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 roster can be unlocked by simply playing through the game’s story mode, with no strings attached. Sometimes you’ll have to beat the characters before they’ll join you, other times you’ll just need to complete a level or finish off a boss. Either way, as long as you’re playing the game, you’ll get all the characters in no time. While some are obviously DLC characters that’ll be available later, most are just available in time for you to enjoy them. However, there are a few exceptions…
Who are the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 secret characters?
There are a total of four Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 secret characters who have to be unlocked as the game goes on, but cannot be accessed by “just” playing through the game, the way you do with the other 32 Marvel heroes and villains. They are playable, but need a little bit more effort. These four secret unlockable characters are Daredevil’s ninja girlfriend Elektra, the X-Men’s metal-controlling nemesis Magneto, Thor’s deceptive god of mischief step-brother Loki, and the Mad Titan and ultimate Marvel Cinematic Universe threat Thanos.
How to unlock Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Elektra
Elektra’s rather an odd-one-out in the secret characters roster, as she’s the only one who’s not a primary villain from a major Marvel movie. You meet her and defeat her in a battle at the end of the game’s chapter 3, Shadowland, at which point she becomes the first character not to be unlocked after beating her boss fight that way.
Instead, Elektra is unlocked as part of the Infinity Trials. Complete the first Infinity Trial rift, Gamma, and then continue playing through the story until you beat chapter 5. Head to the Infinity Trials menu and go to the far right, where you’ll find a level 30 trial called “Bad Business”. You’ll see Elektra’s portrait on it, so it’s fairly obvious.
In this “Ultimate” trial, which is pretty hard unfortunately, you’ll have to face the Kingpin, the Juggernaut, and Ronan the Accuser all at the same time. These types of trial are always boss rushes, incidentally. Bring your best team, all armed with ISO-8s, and do your best. Juggernaut and Ronan only appear in the second phase, so build up your Extreme meter. Try and stagger the bosses to prevent them from launching their best attacks. Once you’ve won, Elektra will be added to your roster at level 30.
How to unlock Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Magneto
Magneto is unlocked in a similar fashion to Elektra. The first thing you’ll have to do is beat chapter 5, Xavier Institute, which will end in a Magneto boss battle. Afterwards he’ll join you for the story, but isn’t playable. However, beating him will unlock the second Infinity Trial rift, Psi. On the top right is an icon of Magneto attached to a level 38 mission called “Boss Wave”. As you can probably guess, it involves a wave of bosses. You’ll need to play a few others and complete chapter 7 of the story first, however.
The mission tasks you with taking down Klaw, Kingpin and Doctor Strange in quick succession, and is pretty difficult. Bring your best characters along, equipped with ISO-8s, and expect a tough battle. Magneto is one of the more fun characters to play as, so it’s a bit of a shame that he’s so difficult to unlock. Nevertheless, you’ve done so now, so enjoy.
How to unlock Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Loki
Loki was a late reveal for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, and he torments the player throughout the story, but cannot be unlocked by playing through the campaign. Well, not directly, but you do have to have completed chapter 7 to unlock the Sigma Infinity Trial rift tree, and then have completed the entire story and beaten the final boss to unlock Loki’s battle at the top of the rift.
It’s another Boss Wave mission, we’re afraid, and it’s an extremely difficult level 45 one at that. You’ll have to face the whole of the Black Order at once, so this is one of the toughest fights in the game. Fortunately by this point you should have a decent set of characters and ISO-8s, so just try and use heroes with good Synergy attacks and keep at it. Beat them all, and you’ll unlock Loki at level 45.
How to unlock Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Thanos
The final unlockable character of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is the ultimate villain of the MCU himself, Thanos. To unlock him, first you’ll need to have completely beaten the story mode and gained access to the next Infinity Trial rift tree, Lambda. You’ll see Thanos at the top, and it’s another Ultimate battle, once again against the entire Black Order, as well as a few additional bosses because they’re not hard enough. You’ll have to make your way up the trials, which we might add are some of the toughest in the game.
The Black Order Ultimate mission is level 65, and we’re not going to sugar-coat it here, it’s the toughest fight in the game. That said, the reward is just as great. You’ll unlock Thanos at level 65, he’s easily the most powerful character on the roster. As such, he’s a lot of fun to play as. If you haven’t finished the other trials, or not completed the story on Supreme difficulty, now would be the time to give it a go. It’ll almost be too easy now, with the power of the Infinity Gauntlet. In fact, it’ll be a snap.
