City of Heroes (0)
Overview
City of Heroes (often referred to as CoH or CoX) launched as a subscription based on April 27th 2004. Since it's release, it saw two boxed expansions, on October 28th 2005, and on August 10th 2010. It also had 23 free content updates (aka "Issues"), and eventually switched to the popular model as City of Heroes: Freedom. On August 31st 2012, announced the immediate closure of developer , and began preparations to "sunset" the game by not allowing any new accounts to be made, and discontinuing subscriptions and the Paragon Market in game shop. On November 30th 2012, the City of Heroes servers were shut off.
Getting Started
Character Creation
Arguably the best known feature of City of Heroes was it's character creator. For it's time, it was one of the deepest MMORPG character creators, you start out by choosing your character's Origin (Magic, Natural, Mutant, Technology, and Science), and pick from one of three body types, Male, Female, or Huge. Then go to work with hundreds of costume pieces to mix and match to make a character that was truly your own.
Archetypes and Powersets
in City Of Heroes are known as Archetypes, and fill the traditional roles seen in MMOs such as , , and . Depending on their Archetype, players had access to different Powersets for their character. Each character chooses a Primary and Secondary Powerset, and as they gain experience and level up, they choose new powers in each, or they could draw from Power Pools, smaller sets available to all Archetypes that were usually for utility or travel powers such as Leadership or Flight.
Archetype | Role | Primary Powersets | Secondary Powersets |
---|---|---|---|
Blaster | Ranged DPS | Archery, Assault Rifle, Beam Rifle*, Dark Blast, Dual Pistols*, Electrical Blast, Energy Blast, Fire Blast, Ice Blast, Psychic Blast, Radiation Blast, Sonic Attack, Water Blast* | Darkness Manipulation, Devices, Electricity Manipulation, Energy Manipulation, Fire Manipulation, Ice Manipulation, Mental Manipulation |
Brute | Melee DPS/Tank | Battle Axe, Broad Sword, Claws, Dark Melee, Dual Blades, Electrical Melee, Energy Melee, Fiery Melee, Katana, Kinetic Melee*, Staff Fighting*, Stone Melee, Street Justice*, Super Strength, Titan Weapons*, War Mace | Dark Armor, Electric Armor, Energy Aura, Fiery Aura, Invulnerability, Regeneration, Shield Defense, Stone Armor, Super Reflexes, Willpower |
Corruptor | Ranged DPS/Support | Archery, Assault Rifle, Beam Rifle*, Dark Blast, Dual Pistols*, Electrical Blast, Energy Blast, Fire Blast, Ice Blast, Psychic Blast, Radiation Blast, Sonic Attack, Water Blast* | Cold Domination, Dark Miasma, Kinetics, Nature Affinity*, Pain Domination, Poison, Radiation Emission, Sonic Resonance, Storm Summoning, Thermal Radiation, Time Manipulation *, Traps, Trick Arrow |
Defender | Support/Ranged DPS | Cold Domination, Dark Miasma, Empathy, Force Field, Kinetics, Nature Affinity*, Radiation Emission, Sonic Resonance, Storm Summoning, Thermal Radiation, Time Manipulation *, Traps, Trick Arrow | Archery, Assault Rifle, Beam Rifle*, Dark Blast, Dual Pistols*, Electrical Blast, Energy Blast, Fire Blast, Ice Blast, Psychic Blast, Radiation Blast, Sonic Attack, Water Blast* |
Dominator | Control/DPS | Darkness Control*, Earth Control, Electric Control*, Fire Control, Gravity Control, Ice Control, Mind Control, Plant Control | Dark Assault*, Earth Assault, Electric Assault, Energy Assault, Fiery Assault, Icy Assault, Psionic Assault, Thorny Assault |
Scrapper | Melee DPS | Battle Axe, Broad Sword, Claws, Dark Melee, Dual Blades, Electrical Melee, Energy Melee, Fiery Melee, Katana, Kinetic Melee*, Martial Arts, Spines, Staff Fighting*, Street Justice*, Titan Weapons*, War Mace | Dark Armor, Electric Armor, Energy Aura, Fiery Aura, Invulnerability, Regeneration, Shield Defense, Super Reflexes, Willpower |
Stalker | Melee Burst/DPS | Broad Sword, Claws, Dark Melee, Dual Blades, Electric Melee, Energy Melee, Kinetic Melee*, Martial Arts, Ninja Blade, Spines, Staff Fighting*, Street Justice* | Dark Armor, Electric Armor, Energy Aura, Ice Armor, Ninjitsu, Regeneration, Super Reflexes, Willpower |
Tanker | Tank | Dark Armor, Electric Armor, Fiery Aura, Ice Armor, Invulnerability, Shield Defense, Stone Armor, Super Reflexes, Willpower | Battle Axe, Dark Melee, Dual Blades, Electrical Melee, Energy Melee, Fiery Melee, Ice Melee, Kinetic Melee*, Martial Arts, Staff Fighting*, Stone Melee, Street Justice*, Super Strength, Titan Weapons*, War Mace |
Controller ** | Control/Support | Darkness Control*, Earth Control, Electric Control*, Fire Control, Gravity Control, Ice Control, Illusion Control, Mind Control, Plant Control | Cold Domination, Darkness Affinity*, Empathy, Force Field, Kinetics, Nature Affinity*, Poison, Radiation Emission, Sonic Resonance, Storm Summoning, Thermal Radiation, Time Manipulation *, Trick Arrow |
Mastermind ** | Pets/Support | Beast Mastery*, Demon Summoning*, Mercenaries, Necromancy, Ninjas, Robotics, Thugs | Dark Miasma, Force Field, Nature Affinity*, Pain Domination, Poison, Sonic Resonance, Storm Summoning, Thermal Radiation, Time Manipulation*, Traps, Trick Arrow |
Peacebringer *** | Tank/Ranged DPS | Luminous Blast | Luminous Aura |
Warshade *** | Tank/Ranged DPS | Umbral Blast | Umbral Aura |
Arachnos Soldier **** | Pets/Ranged DPS/Melee DPS | Arachnos Soldier, Crab Spider Soldier, Bane Spider Soldier | Training and Gadgets, Crab Spider Training, Bane Spider Training |
Arachnos Widow **** | Ranged DPS/Melee DPS/Control | Widow Training, Night Widow Training, Fortunata Training | Teamwork, Widow Teamwork, Fortunata Teamwork |
* - Requires Paragon Market Purchase
** - Requires Paragon Market Purchase, VIP Subscription, or Tier 5 Paragon Rewards
*** - Requires a Hero at level 20 AND Paragon Market Purchase, or VIP Subscription
**** - Requires a Villain at level 20 AND Paragon Market Purchase, or VIP Subscription
Gameplay
Heroes and Villains start in the Galaxy City Tutorial and split into Atlas Park or Mercy Island once they have decided which side they want to join. Advanced players with the Going Rogue expansion have the additional option of starting in Praetoria, where they will choose to become a Loyalist or a member of the Resistance, until ultimately deciding to become a Hero or Villain much later down the line.
Characters start at level 1 and gain levels by earning by killing enemies and completing Missions, Task Forces, Raids, and Trials until the level cap of 50. At level 50 characters unlock Incarnate content, where they can do Incarnate Missions and Trials to become even more powerful.
Missions are taken from a character's Contacts, the Police Band (randomly generated missions for Heroes), the Newspaper (the police band for Villains) or Tips (used to change character Alignment with the Going Rogue Expansion). They can be simple "kill x enemy" tasks on the streets, or will take players to a mission instance (sometimes referred to as "door missions") where they must complete objectives inside to finish the mission such as rescuing NPCs, defeating named bosses, or finding glowing objective items to interact with. Missions come in two types, filler missions, and story arcs. can be completed solo, or with a team of up to 8 players. Any story arc missions can be played again in Ouroboros as a Flashback Mission, in this mode you are scaled down to the level range of the story arc for the duration, much like a Task Force.
Task Forces are longer strings of Missions to be completed with a locked team (if a member quits they cannot rejoin, and new members cannot be added after starting) with minimum member and level requirements to start (usually 4 to 8 members) with 8 being the maximum amount, and each having a different level range (20-25 for example). If you are too low level you cannot join the Task Force, but if you are too high level, you will be scaled down to the maximum level for that Task Force for the duration. Task Forces each tell a specific story and usually contain a lot of custom maps and powerful archvillains for teams to overcome.
Trials are shorter and more focused versions of Task Forces that offer special rewards such as the ability to Respec your character, special types of enhancements, or temporary buffs.
Raids are huge zone wide events for players to team up and take on. There are only two raids, and both are intended for level 50 characters.
Hamidon, the original end game raid, has a Hero version in The Hive and Villain version in The Abyss. Defeating the Hamidon awards Hamidon Origin Enhancements to evey character participating, or the option of Reward Merits.
In the Rikti War Zone, Heroes and Villains can cooperate to Raid the crashed Rikti Ship by taking out the Pylons powering it's shields and then assaulting it head on. Characters are pretty much guaranteed a ton of Vanguard Merits, and will earn progress towards badges as they participate.
Enhancements and Inventions
Enhancements are the City of Heroes alternative to having traditional Gear seen in most MMORPGs. Since the game is so focused on character customization, Enhancements have no visual effect on your character model or costume, they simply raise the stats of the powers they are slotted in. Each individual power can have up to six slots added to it as a character levels up, and Enhancements are used in these slots.
Enhancements come in many flavors, when a character is just starting out they will see a lot of Training Enhancements (TOs), upon hitting level 12, characters are able to slot Dual-Origin Enhancements (DOs), slightly more powerful still, at 22 characters can start slotting Single Origin Enhancements (SOs). Special Enhancements such as Hamidon Origin Ehnancements (HOs) are usable by all Archetypes and Origins, but are locked at the range you recieve them. DOs and SOs are tied to a character's origin, so a Technology Blaster can't use Mutant SOs and so on. TOs, DOs, and SOs all expire, and need to be upgraded frequently to remain effective.
Invention Origin Enhancements (IOs) are Enhancements that are crafted by combining recipes and salvage dropped by enemies or purchased from the auction house. IOs can be used by any Archetype and Origin, and will never expire once slotted, they remain the same level of effectiveness as when you first slot them into a power. In addition to common IOs, there also exist IO sets, which will grant the character bonuses for slotting more pieces of that set into the same power, like armor sets popular in other MMORPGS. There is no level restriction or skill requirements on crafting Inventions, though IOs themselves start at level 10, there are also costume pieces and temporary powers which can be crafted as Inventions at level 1.
Archetype Enhancements (ATOs) are unique, attuned enhancements that characters can use starting at level 10, and they will level up with the character. Each Archetype has one set of ATOs, and only that Archetype can use them. Each set has a special bonus proc as the 6th enhancement in the set, such as the Tanker ATO proc, which will increase damage resistance each time it hits. When a character hits level 50, they can apply Enhancement Catalysts to their slotted ATOs to make them Superior ATOs, which raise the minimum level requirement to 50, but also increase the effectiveness of the ATO and it's set bonuses.
Incarnates
The Incarnate System is the name of the new post 50 endgame progression for capped characters. It was introduced in Issue 19 Alpha Strike, and required players to have a VIP Subscription to the game to participate. The Incarnate system is 10 additional power slots that can be unlocked and filled with Incarnate Abilities that players craft from the salvage and materials gained by doing Incarnate Missions and Trials.
Incarnate Abilities are laid out in a tree with six tiers. The first tier is the Alpha slot, a universal enhancement that boosts all applicable powers. Rare and Very Rare versions of the Alpha Ability will grant the player a +1 Level Shift, making them fight at level 51, effectively. The second tier contains the Judgement slot, a powerful area of effect "nuke" attack, and the Interface slot, which adds a permanent proc effect to each attack.
The third tier contains the Lore slot, NPC pets that can be summoned on a long recharge, and the Destiny slot, a huge League wide buff power. Slotting a Rare or Very Rare Lore and Destiny Ability will also grant the character Incarnate Shifts, Level Shifts that only work in Incarnate content, allowing players to reach the effective level of 53 in Incarnate Content.
The fourth and final tier available only has the Hybrid slot released, a toggle ability that grants various buffs to the character for a short period of time. More Incarnate slots and abilities were never released before the game's closure, but the menu elements existed in game for the rest of the slots, Genesis, Mind, Vitae, and Omega.
Incarnate Missions are Missions restricted to level 50 characters who have unlocked the Alpha Slot of the Incarnate system. The enemies defeated in these missions will award Incarnate XP (Psychic for Judgement and Lore, and Physical for Interface and Destiny) and Incarnate Threads.
Incarnate Trials are intended to be done by multiple teams of Incarnates forming a League (8 to 24 members). Like regular Trials, they are designed to be shorter than Task Forces, but they take place on unique multi-part maps with interesting encounters designed for large groups of players and multiple powerful enemies. Completing objectives in these Trials awards Astral Merits, and the entire Trial awards an Incarnate Component and one or two Empyrean Merits per every 20 hours. Incarnate Trials will also award Incarnate XP for enemies defeated, and the Magisterium Trial is the only source of Advanced Psychic Incarnate XP, needed to unlock the Hybrid Slot.
Annual Events
Anniversary Event: In May, there would be invasions going on and special Badges to be collected for the entire month to celebrate the anniversary of CoH. There were 8 of these events in the game's lifetime.
Halloween Event: In October, things got a bit spooky as characters lined up at doors around the city to go trick or treating. As years went on, the developers added to the event, and most recently, Halloween got it's own special trial event called Dr. Kane's House of Horror (HH) which could be accessed from the LFG menu. There were 8 of these events in the game's lifetime.
Summer Blockbuster Event: In July of 2012, the Summer Blockbuster event was introduced through the LFG menu, players would team up in groups of 4 and play through a double feature of movies, Time Gladiator and Casino Heist. This event was new in 2012 and only ran once in the game's lifetime.
Winter Event: In December, things get a bit chilly as the Lord of Winter rolls into town, in earlier years, the game's bodies of water would turn to ice, and players could slide around on them. Eventually that stopped, but a Ski Chalet opened up in Pocket D, where players could ski the slopes and compete for the fastest time, and stop Snaptooth from trying to kidnap Baby New Year. A recent addition was Lord Winter's Realm to the LFG menu, where 12-36 players could enter the realm to try to stop Lord Winter from turning the city into an icy wasteland. All the while, presents are scattered around the city for all to open. There were 8 of these events in the game's lifetime.
Valentine's Event: In February, Heroes and Villains put their differences aside and had to work together to stop Snaptooth from destroying DJ Zero's dimensional portal. In 2008, Manticore and Sister Psyche were getting married, and it was up to players to help collect their stolen wedding gifts. In years following, it was for their anniversary. In 2012 Valentines Tips were introduced which had players delivering love letters to NPCs, and also new missions to help resurrect Lord Recluse's long lost love, Red Widow. This event ran 7 times in the game's lifetime.
Free to Play/Subscription Model
There are three tiers to City of Heroes: Freedom's Free to Play model. Free, Premium, and VIP.
Free Players can play the entire game from level 1-50 as a Hero or a Villain, with 2 character slots, and access to 8 Archetypes and the Paragon Market.
Premium Players are returning players from before the switch to Free to Play, or Free Players who have spent money in the Paragon Market. Returning players retain nearly everything they bought before the switch to Free to Play, and all of their Veteran Rewards, but have the same restrictions as Free players unless they've earned or purchased otherwise.
VIP Players are Free or returning players who decide to pay the $15 a month subscription, the same as before the game went Free to Play. VIPs get bonuses like a monthly Paragon Points stipend to spend in the Paragon Market, free access to select new powerset, access to new zones and missions, and access to the Incarnate system. VIP Players get at least 12 character slots per server, and free access to the Going Rogue expansion.
Game Updates and Expansions
Issue Number: Title | Release Date | Description |
---|---|---|
Issue 1: Through the Looking Glass | June 29, 2004 | Level cap raised from 40 to 50, Peregrine Island and Rikti Crash Site zones added, Prisons added as a feature to some maps, new trial in the Abandoned Sewer Network, 3 extra costume slots, the ICON store for costume changes, instanced outdoor "Board Train" missions, Hamidon raised to level 50, New villain groups: Malta, Carnival of Shadows, Praetorians. |
Issue 2: Shadows of the Past | September 16, 2004 | Badges, Capes, and Auras were added, Character respecs were added, New Zones: The Hollows, Eden, The Shadow Shard (Firebase Zulu, Cascade Archipelago, The Chantry, The Storm Palace), Paragon Dance Party, New Trials: Cavern of Transcendence, Eden, and Terra Volta (Respec), New villain groups: Rularuu, Minions of Igneous, revamped chat UI. |
Issue 3: A Council of War | January 4, 2005 | Epic Archetypes added: Kheldians (Peacebringers and Warshades), Epic Power Pools added (level 40-50), New Zone: Striga Isle, New Zone Events: Lusca, Ghost Ship, Clockwork Paladin, Global Chat and Chat Handles added, Mission difficulty adjustments added, Calvin Scott Task Force added temporarily, New Task Forces: Moonfire, Ernesto Hess, New villain group: Council (replaced 5th Column). |
Issue 4: Colosseum | May 4, 2005 | Arenas added, introducing Player vs Player combat, New costume pieces, Height and Body sliders added to character creation/ICON, Supergroup Coalitions added, Peacebringer and Warshade exclusive contacts and story arcs added, Calvin Scott Task Force Removed. |
Issue 5: Forest of Dread | August 31, 2005 | New Powersets: Archery, Trick Arrow, Sonic Blast, Sonic Resonance, New Zone: Croatoa, New villain groups: Red Caps, Tuatha de Dannan, Fir Bolg, The Cabal, New Zone Events: Hellion Arson and Troll Rave, New Giant Monsters: Eochai and Jack in Irons, reduced debt from in mission deaths. |
Issue 6: Along Came a Spider | October 27, 2005 | Companion Issue to new expansion: , New PvP Zones: Bloody Bay, Siren's Call, Warburg, New Arena Match Type: Gladiators, Supergroup Bases, Enhancement Diversification, Paragon Dance Party changed to Pocket D, New costume items. |
Issue 7: Destiny Manifest | June 6, 2006 | Villain Level Cap raised to 50, New Villain Zones: Grandville and Recluse's Victory (PvP), Added Patron Power Pools (Villain Epic Pools), New Mission Type: Mayhem Missions (Villain), Added new Supergroup storage items, New Task Force: Lord Recluse (Villain), New Powersets: Electric Melee, Electric Armor, Thugs, |
Issue 8: To Protect and Serve | November 28, 2006 | Veteran Rewards System launched, New Mission Type: Safeguard Missions (Hero), Revamped Zone: Faultline, New costume items, Changes to how Dominators build Domination (Villain). |
Issue 9: Breakthrough | May 1, 2007 | Invention System added, Auction Houses (Wentworth's and Black Market) added, Hamidon encounter revamped (Hero), New Task Force: Statesman (Hero), New Zone: The Abyss (Villain), New Raid: Hamidon (Villain), Additional stops added to tram lines. |
Issue 10: Invasion | July 4, 2007 | The second Rikti Invasion. Rikti Crash Site is now Rikti War Zone (Co-Op), New Raid: Rikti Ship (Co-Op), New Task Force: Lady Grey (Co-Op), Rikti Villain group revamped. |
Issue 11: A Stitch in Time | November 28, 2007 | New Zone: Ouroboros, New Mission Type: Flashback Missions, New Powersets: Willpower and Dual Blades, Weapon Customization, New Invention Sets, New costume items. |
Issue 12: The Midnight Hour | May 8, 2008 | Villain Epic Archetypes Added: Soldiers of Arachnos (Spiders and Widows), New Zone: Cimerora (Co-Op), New Task Force: Imperious (Co-Op), Revamped Zone: The Hollows, Powerset Proliferation begins, Configurable power trays, Combat Attributes menu expanded, Item Linking in chat, Level Up Boost Inspirations added. |
Issue 13: Power and Responsibility | December 2, 2008 | Day Jobs System Added (Offline Character Progression), Multiple Builds now possible, New Powersets: Shield Defense and Pain Domination, Leveling Pacts introduced, New Story Arcs in Cimerora, New Invention Sets, Merit Rewards System introduced. |
Issue 14: Architect | April 8, 2009 | Mission Architect System introduced, Players can now create and share their own custom missions, New Arena Options added, PvP IO Sets added, Buttcapes for Widows. |
Issue 15: Anniversary | June 29, 2009 | New Task Forces: Barracuda (Villain) and Dr. Kahn (Hero), New costume items, Mission Architect updates, Dominator Archetype Revamped, Costume Change Emotes added. |
Issue 16: Power Spectrum | September 15, 2009 | Revamped Character Creator, Power Customization (Colors, Animations), More Powerset Proliferation, Enhanced Mission Difficulty Settings, Super Sidekicking (All players on team now auto-adjust up or down to team leader/mission holder's level), Players can now earn experience while Exemplared (sidekicked down to a lower level), Level restrictions for most zones removed. |
Issue 17: Dark Mirror | April 28, 2010 | Ultra Graphics Mode Released, Positron Task Force split into two New Task Forces, Silver Mantis Task Force now available to all villains not just supergroups, New emotes, Auction House UI Revamped, Mission Architect Improvements, New Costume Tech: Animated tails and Reflective pieces, In Game Email now accepts attachments, Defender Inherent power Vigilance buffed. |
Issue 18: Shades of Gray | August 17, 2010 | Companion Issue to new expansion: , Alignment System Introduced, New Mission Type: Tip Missions, New Level 1-20 Experience/Zones: Nova Praetoria, Imperial City, Neutropolis, New Character Alignments: Resistance, Loyalist, Rogue, Vigilante, Epic/Patron Pools Proliferated, New Powersets: Dual Pistols, Demon Summoning, Kinetic Melee, Electric Control, New costume items, Cathedral of Pain Trial brought (back) online, Auction Houses Merged, New villain groups: Praetorian Police, T.E.S.T., The Syndicate, Destroyers, Praetorian Clockwork, Ghouls, Seers, Doppelgangers added to Mission Architect. |
Issue 19: Alpha Strike! | November 30, 2010 | Incarnate System Introduced, Alpha Slot added, New Incarnate Task Forces: Apex and Tin Mage, All Rail/Ferry/Helicopter Systems Merged, Calvin Scott Task Force added to Flashback Missions, New Praetorian Zone Events: The Protest, Syndicate Takedown, The Great Escape, Repeatable Mission Contacts added for Praetorians, New Maps and Enemy groups for Mission Architect, Fitness Power Pool made Inherent to all characters, More Alternate animations added to Power Customization, New villain group: Imperial Defense Force. |
Issue 19.5: Strike Pack | February 1, 2011 | Rare and Very Rare Alpha Abilities added, Weekly Strike Target System introduced. |
Issue 20: Incarnates | April 5, 2011 | New Incarnate Slots: Interface, Judgement, Lore, and Destiny, Incarnate Trials introduced: Behavioral Adjustment Facility (BAF) and Lambda Sector (LAM), New Task Forces: Admiral Sutter and Mortimer Kal, Leagues (a team of multiple teams) added, LFG (looking for group) System added, New Team/League UI. |
Issue 20.5: Incarnates Ascend | June 28, 2011 | New Incarnate Trial: Keyes Island Reactor (Keyes), New Lore Pet options added, Astral and Empyrean Merits/Vendors introduced, New costume items. |
Issue 21: Convergence | September 27, 2011 | City of Heroes goes free to play as City of Heroes: Freedom, New Incarnate Trial: The Underground (UG), New Zone: First Ward, 5th Power added to Travel Power Pools, New Trial: Death From Below, Visual Revamps: Circle of Thorns and Atlas Park, New Co-Op Tutorial: Destroyed Galaxy City, Revamped Character Creator UI, New Powersets: Time Manipulation and Beam Rifle, Epic/Patron Pools lowered to 35 from 40, Veteran Rewards converted into Paragon Rewards Program, Paragon Market launched, More Powerset Proliferation, Signature Story Arcs Introduced. |
Issue 21.5: Media Blitz | December 6, 2011 | New Incarnate Trials: TPN Campus (TPN) and Minds of Mayhem (MoM), New Incarnate Abilities for Alpha, Interface, Judgement, and Destiny Slots |
Issue 22: Death Incarnate | March 6, 2012 | New Incarnate Trial: Dilemma Diabolique (DD), Zone Revamp: Dark Astoria (Incarnate), New Trial: Drowning In Blood, New Zone Event: Adamastor, New Powersets: Darkness Control, Darkness Affinity, Dark Assault, Stalker Archetype Revamped, Gravity Control Powerset Revamped, New costume items, Incarnate Missions added in Dark Astoria. |
Issue 23: Where Shadows Lie | May 31, 2012 | New Incarnate Trial: The Magisterium (MAGI), New Incarnate Slot: Hybrid, New Zone: Night Ward, New Incarnate Missions in Night Ward, Signature Story Arc 1 Concluded, Statesman and Sister Psyche removed from the game, New Task Force: Penelope Yin (replaces Sister Psyche), Ms. Miberty now gives out Statesman's Task Force, TUNNEL System added for ease of travel to new zones, Mission Architect Updates, New costume items. |
Issue 24 and Beyond
was available for testing on the VIP Beta server when the announcement was made that the game would be closing down in November. Issue 24 would focus on tying up loose ends in the aftermath of the Praetorian War and the defeat of Emperor Cole. Many surviving Praetorian characters were moving into Paragon City to help Heroes rebuild after the war, while Villains were taking the opportunity to move in on Praetoria and replace their fallen Emperor themselves.
Mechanically, some of the largest changes Issue 24 would introduce were to how Blasters worked. Snipe powers would fire instantly after a certain tohit threshold was reached, ranges on short range high damage blasts were increased, powers in their secondary powersets were changed to include more utility, and endurance crashes were removed from tier 9 nuke powers.
Power Pools were also being revamped, almost every non-travel based pool had a fifth power added, and also might have had other powers changed around to be more useful and attractive, as a lot of pool powers were for very niche builds and saw very little use. Power Pools would also be customizable like primary/secondary/incarnate powers, with coloring and minimal effect options.
Four new Invention Sets were added, resistance set bonuses were buffed to be a viable alternative to defense bonuses, and Invention Procs were changed to the PPM (Proc Per Minute) system used by ATOs instead of a flat rate like they used to be. Additionally, for Incarnates, more Lore pet NPC options were added, such as Knives of Vengeance and Banished Pantheon.
As far as whole new powersets, Bio Armor was available for testing, though it's unsure if it would have launched before, with, or after Issue 24, in the Paragon Market. Included as sets that would have been free to VIP subscribers in Issue 24 were the Martial Combat Secondary Powerset for Blasters and the Martial Assault Secondary Powerset for Dominators. Both of these Secondary Powersets focused on a natural theme, using martial arts kicks and ranged weapons such as shurikens, with a mix of all new powers like a 3 step teleport attack called Burst of Speed.
Beyond Issue 24 were plans for Issue 25, which would introduce the start of the next threat for Incarnates, the long awaited Battalion enemy group. Other concrete details are scarce, but a new co-op zone, , was shown as a mix of Paragon City with Praetoria's influence since their migration to Primal Earth in Issue 24. Players poked around in the game's .pigg files to find many more new powersets being worked on, but Paragon Studios could not comment on anything dug out of piggs and not announced yet. Powersets included Wind Control, Psychic Melee, Radiation Armor, Savage Melee, new Origin Pools like Gadgets and Utility Belt, and the Genesis Ability for Incarnates.