The best hangout spots and gifts for each hero in Marvel’s Midnight Suns

For all its tactical chops, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is just as much a game about hanging out with heroes. More Fire Emblem than XCOM, much of your time will be spent in the Abbey—the home of the Midnight Suns, where the game’s heroes unwind between fights. Each character has their own friendship level with The Hunter, and various interactions can raise—or lower—that relationship.

Why build friendships? Aside from the obvious reason—it’s nice to do—you’ll also gain the transactional benefit of better passive abilities, upgraded combo cards, increased stats, and new hero cards. Raising friendships also contributes to the global team friendship level, unlocking yet more bonuses.

How to build friendship

Throughout the game’s story you’ll have conversations that can provide a small increase in friendship XP—at least if the hero agrees with what you say. Magik sure does hate when you choose the light-side options instead of the dark ones. But to maximise your friendship gains, you’ll want to actively seek out companionship with your new hero pals. Here are a handful of things you can do to quickly raise your friendship level.

Hangouts

Most nights, one of a selection of four heroes can be invited to a hangout. Pick a hero, and you’ll be given three activities to pick from. Each hero has their own preference—younger members like Spider-Man and Ghost Rider love them some videogames; more studious characters like Doctor Strange won’t appreciate spotting you during a workout. If a hero loves your chosen hangout spot, you’ll get a +7 to your friendship. If they like it you’ll get +5. If they dislike it, you won’t earn any extra friendship.

Hangouts also feature conversations with your chosen partner. Pick the responses that vibe with their personality the most and you’ll earn +2 friendship.

Havens

As you explore the Abbey grounds, you’ll find glowing blue zones marking significant areas of the map. Each one is a Haven that you can invite a hero to during the day. Havens work almost exactly like Hangouts—each one is associated with a specific activity—but with two main differences.

1. Any conversation options picked earned double the normal friendship, up to +4 for the best options.
2. You can only use each Haven once, and you can only invite each hero to a Haven one time, so it pays to pair each hero with a Haven that matches one of their loved Hangout activities.

You can tell which activity a Haven contains based on the icon you see next to the name when inviting a hero. A bird for Birdwatching, a fish for Fishing, a paintbrush for Painting, a mushroom for Foraging for Mushrooms, a basket for a Picnic, and a flower for Meditation. As for which hero you should take, I’ve included Haven activities among the best hangouts for each hero in the list at the bottom.

Gifts

At the end of a Hangout or Haven, you get the option to give a gift. There are a number of ways to earn new gifts:

1. Bought from the Gift Shop—up to three per day depending on your overall team friendship level. The Gift Shop is unlocked when you get team friendship to level 2.
2. Crafted from Agatha’s Cauldron.
3. Collected from around the Abbey.

Gifts come in a number of rarities. Common gifts tend to be just liked—not loved—by everyone, for a +1 friendship score. Rare gifts will give +4 if a hero really loves it, epic gifts give up to +8, and legendary gifts can give +10—but only to the specific hero that gift was meant for.

Compliments

Compliments are one of Midnight Suns’ resources, earned through completing research, completing Hero Ops, or levelling up the Training Yard. You can ‘spend’ them by walking up to a hero and holding down the F key for a +4 boost to their friendship. Spread them around though: compliment the same hero too quickly, and you’ll get diminishing returns.

Sparring

Each day, you can pick a hero to spar with. This is always worth doing, as—when fully researched—sparring provides a number of benefits. Not only do you increase your friendship with that hero, but you’ll give them a permanent stat boost too.

The best gifts for each hero

As mentioned above, Legendary gifts offer a +10 to friendship if you give them to the right hero. And while they’re not quite as specific, Epic gifts give a respectable +8 to friendship with suitable heroes. Here’s a list of the Legendary and Epic gifts we’ve found so far, and the heroes who will love them.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

The best Hangouts for each hero

Naturally, each hero has a preference for how they spend their time, and you’ll get bigger bonuses for picking activities they love. Below, you’ll find a non-exhaustive list of what each hero loves, likes, and would rather not do. We’ll keep updating this list as we continue to wine and dine our heroes. Late-game additions to the roster are at the bottom, for those avoiding spoilers.

Blade

Loves (+7)

• Fishing
• Having a Drink
• Meditation
• Working Out

Likes (+5)

• Bird Watching
• Exploring the Grounds
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Painting
• Picnic
• Playing Cards
• Playing Video Games
• Pool Lounging
• Reading by the Fire

Dislikes (0)

• Deep Conversation
• Stargazing
• Watching a Movie

Captain Marvel

Loves (+7)

• Picnic
• Playing Cards
• Reading by the Fire
• Stargazing
• Working Out

Likes (+5)

• Bird Watching
• Deep Conversation
• Exploring the Grounds
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Having a Drink
• Painting
• Playing Video Games
• Pool Lounging

Dislikes (+0)

• Fishing
• Meditation
• Watching a Movie

Deadpool

Loves (+7)

• Painting
• Playing Cards

Likes (+5)

• Exploring the Grounds

Dislikes (+0)

• Pool Lounging

Doctor Strange

Loves (+7)

• Deep Conversation
• Exploring the Grounds
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Meditation
• Reading by the Fire

Likes (+5)

• Bird Watching
• Fishing
• Having a Drink
• Painting
• Picnic
• Playing Cards
• Stargazing
• Watching a Movie

Dislikes (+0)

• Playing Video Games
• Pool Lounging
• Working Out

Ghost Rider

Loves (+7)

• Fishing
• Playing Video Games
• Pool Lounging
• Watching a Movie

Likes (+5)

• Bird Watching
• Deep Conversation
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Having a Drink
• Painting
• Picnic
• Playing Cards
• Stargazing
• Working Out

Dislikes (+0)

• Exploring the Grounds
• Meditation
• Reading by the Fire

Hulk

Loves (+7)

• Birdwatching
• Mushroom Picking

Likes (+5)

• Painting
• Picnic

Dislikes (+0)

• None

Iron Man

Loves (+7)

• Picnic
• Playing Cards
• Playing Video Games
• Pool Lounging
• Reading by the Fire

Likes (+5)

• Bird Watching
• Deep Conversation
• Fishing
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Painting
• Stargazing
• Watching a Movie
• Working Out

Dislikes (+0)

• Exploring the Grounds
• Having a Drink
• Meditation

Magik

Loves (+7)

• Having a Drink
• Meditation
• Painting
• Reading by the Fire
• Stargazing

Likes (+5)

• Bird Watching
• Exploring the Grounds
• Fishing
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Picnic
• Playing Cards
• Pool Lounging
• Watching a Movie

Dislikes (+0)

• Deep Conversation
• Playing Video Games
• Working Out

Nico

Loves (+7)

• Deep Conversation
• Picnic
• Pool Lounging
• Stargazing
• Watching a Movie

Likes (+5)

• Bird Watching
• Exploring the Grounds
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Having a Drink
• Meditation
• Painting
• Playing Cards
• Reading by the Fire

Dislikes (+0)

• Fishing
• Playing Video Games
• Working Out

Spider-Man

Loves (+7)

• Bird Watching
• Deep Conversation
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Painting
• Picnic
• Playing Video Games
• Stargazing
• Watching a Movie

Likes (+5)

• Fishing
• Having a Drink
• Pool Lounging
• Reading by the Fire
• Working Out

Dislikes (+0)

• Exploring the Grounds
• Meditation
• Playing Cards

Captain America

Loves (+7)

• Deep Conversation
• Painting
• Playing Cards
• Reading by the Fire
• Working Out

Likes (+5)

• Birdwatching
• Exploring the Grounds
• Fishing
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Meditation
• Picnic
• Stargazing
• Watching a Movie

Dislikes (+0)

• Having a Drink
• Pool Lounging
• Playing Video Games

Scarlet Witch

Loves (+7)

• Deep Conversation
• Exploring the Grounds
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Meditation
• Pool Lounging
• Reading by the Fire

Likes (+5)

• Bird Watching
• Fishing
• Having a Drink
• Painting
• Picnic
• Playing Cards
• Stargazing
• Watching a Movie

Dislikes (+0)

• Playing Video Games
• Working Out

Wolverine

Loves (+7)

• Bird Watching
• Exploring the Grounds
• Foraging for Mushrooms
• Fishing
• Having a Drink
• Playing Cards
• Pool Lounging

Likes (+5)

• Painting
• Picnic
• Playing Video Games
• Watching a Movie
• Working Out

Dislikes (+0)

• Deep Conversation
• Meditation
• Reading by the Fire
• Stargazing