Marvel's Avengers is now here for everyone to enjoy! The new game from Marvel, Square Enix, and Crystal Dynamics that's been years in the making can now be played by people all around the world. But if you're already feeling like you're playing catch-up thanks to some folks who had Early Access to the game, don't worry. Not only is Marvel's Avengers a game for the long haul that will continue well after the initial story campaign, we've also got some pro tips for you to help make your leveling-up process more efficient.

Courtesy of Philippe Therien, the War Zone Director of Marvel’s Avengers who guest-wrote a PlayStation blog post, we've got some handy tips for newcomers who are about to start their own superhero journey. They follow below:

First, as Therien reminds players: "Don’t forget to level up your AI companions. They are important allies to aid you in the fight against AIM and future threats to come."

Even if you play mostly multiplayer co-op with your friends, you’ll find that you’ll still need them later on. And if solo is more your style, you’ll benefit from having your companions be well-outfitted with the skills, outfits, and gear of your choice for your personal Avengers team playstyle. After all, each of your AI companions will use the abilities and gear you set for them. If you reach a difficult point in the game, try improving the gear of your companions so they can help your team.

Additionally, whether you find the experience too easy or too hard, a difficulty change is an easy way to customize your experience. Loot might be better at higher difficulties, but it'll also be more crucial to have the right gear outfitted; choose wisely.

Difficulty Selection

• Easy: Decreases enemy attack and health and enables easier countering. For those interested in the story with little challenge.
• Normal: A balanced combat experience. The recommended difficulty for most players.
• Hard: Increases enemy attack and health and makes attacks harder to counter.
• Brutal: Significantly increases enemy attack and health and demands precision timing for countering attacks.

Note that Heroes retain their Skills/Gear/Power Level throughout the campaign and Avengers Initiative, so you can always come back to tackle harder difficulties after spending time doing War Table missions.

And speaking of gear...

War Zones will offer up plenty of challenges that come with their own rewards. But they're not all created equal and, except for the ones highlighted with a Question Mark, aren't always in plain sight:

Some treasures are hidden and will only show up when you’re nearby. Explore high and low through all the caves and buildings you can, because you never know where and what you might find like powerful gear that was right under your nose the entire time.

With gear comes upgrades, but with upgrades comes consumable materials. Should you upgrade that new tech now or save your materials for a better version?

You’ll need to find a balance between the two. In doing so, consider if you’re planning to keep the gear for a while, or if you are progressing fast enough to find something more powerful soon. Alternatively, keep an eye on the Perks of gear you find so that it fits your playstyle. If you want a more powerful version of gear with your desired Perk, you may need to go searching for it, which is where War Zones come into play. A general gear tip: don’t be afraid to dismantle gear early on as you’ll undoubtedly run across more powerful gear as you progress.

So! Much! Gear! Here's what you can do to maximize the gear your equip, the ones you power boost, and which ones you carry with you into battle:

Once you know your personal playstyle, try to focus on equipping gear that strengthens and synergizes with how you like to battle. That said, it’s never a bad idea to carry around a different toolkit for a different job. For example, if you typically use damage enhancing gear but have a set of defensive gear you can equip, a tough fight can become a lot easier! You can store gear in the helicarrier so it doesn’t take up space and can also access this gear once you’re in the Quinjet awaiting to launch a mission. Always keep an eye on mission modifiers to know what gear to take with you and when.

Now, from Marvel themselves, here are general combat tips, followed by some character-specific tips:

Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel

Tip: Even if you can't dispatch every enemy you face, you can yeet them off the map (at least temporarily) with Kamala's super-stretchy powers.

Steve Rogers / Captain America:

Not just a brawler, Cap can also send incoming ranged attacks back at the enemies themselves. Look for that unique upgrade in the Skill tree!

Tony Stark / Iron Man:

Use Iron Man's diverse arsenal and flying ability to support grounded superheroes, changing up your weapons and Heroic attacks as needed.

Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow:

Black Widow not only moves about the arena quicker than most heroes, her grappling ability gives her superior melee skills. But you can also use her zipline to make a quick escape or run combo attacks on even airborne enemies.

Thor Odinson / Thor

You don't always need to wield Mjolnir to deal damage; Thor's fists do plenty of that on their own. But cue up his Heroic Odinforce to add some lightning power to those punches!

Bruce Banner / Hulk

Hulk is your typical taunting tank, but he's got ranged attacks, too. These can be upgraded to deal more damage by throwing bigger chunks of ripped-up asphalt. But Hulk can also grab enemies and use them as weapons themselves! The stronger the foe, the more durable they are.

Got all that? Cool. So what's up next?

Kate Bishop joins our expanding roster in Marvel’s Avengers: Kate Bishop – Taking AIM, a post-launch Operation in the Avengers Initiative.

Dave Trumbore is Collider's Senior Editor overseeing Games, Animation, and all those weird Saturday-morning cartoons no one else remembers. Test his trivia IQ on Twitter @DrClawMD