CoX — Destiny Manifest

Issue Seven releases today. Key bits of stuff from the release notes, below the cut:

---

Issue 7 – Destiny ManifestCombined (CoH and CoV)
Known Issues

1. Some base configurations that were valid in Issue 6 are no longer allowed in Issue 7. If your base is invalid, you will be able to delete or move objects to make it fit the new rules.
2. Recluse’s Victory signature heroes and villains give debt when they defeat characters. This has been acting to discourage characters under level 50 from fighting them. The debt will be removed in a future patch, and the Temporal Point reward for defeating them will be increased.

   ((So if you get ganked by a SC (signature character) in that zone, no debt. Kinda cool.))
    

3. There is a rare client crash that may occur if you minimize/restore the game.

   ((Uh oh.))

New PvP Zone – Recluse’s Victory

• A new high level PvP zone set in an alternate version of Atlas Park and open to players of Level 40+.

• Alternative ‘sally port’ exits are available in both Hero and Villain bases, to help alleviate front door camping. Each base has two doors near the temporal portal on the ground floor – in the Hero base they appear as manholes, in the Villain base they appear as sewer entrances. These are connected to 5 doors inside the zone, which will be randomly chosen each time a door is used. The outside doors are not guarded, so players use them their own risk.

  ((So… it’ll be a PitA to keep your team together.))

PvP Zones

• In PvP zones, if a character is revived at the Hospital, they will respawn with 1 hit point and 1 endurance. This is to enforce a short delay on all characters before they can get back into battle.

  ((Meh.))

Powers – Players

• Modified PvE critter accuracy. Defense powers will now work equally well against critters, regardless if they have higher accuracy. For instance, your defense powers will work equally well against a Boss or any critter up to 5 levels higher than you, as it does for an equal level minion. Previously, a more accurate critter could circumvent much of your defense, but this will no longer happen.
  • This change is designed to alleviate the disparity between Defense and Damage resistance powers (for instance, a player with super reflexes will now be more effective than before against a high level critters, a boss or Arch villain).
  • This change has no effect on a player who does not have any Defense.
  • More accurate critters may have a greater chance at the extreme low end of the To Hit scale than previously due to this change. For instance, an Archvillain’s To Hit could previously be reduced (with enough Debuffs) to 5%, but will now have a 7.5% minimum.
  • This change does not affect PvP.

    ((LET’S SEE: that’s a woo-hoo for… Strategist, Pummelcite, Zero, and lil’ Kitara… and about a zillion FF defenders and Controllers.))
     

• If a character is at 100% health, they cannot be reduced to 0 HP by a single application of damage. (For example, if an uninjured character with 1000 Hit Points was hit by a Blazing Bolt for 1500 Damage, the character would be dropped to 1 HP. As soon as the DoT portion of the Blazing Bolt ticked (a second later), the character would drop to 0 and be defeated. If the character was down even 1 Hit Point below maximum when the Blazing Bolt hit them, they would immediately be dropped to 0 and be defeated.)

  ((A decent attempt at avoiding a true one-shot kill.  Maybe it does nothing, but still: kudos.))
   

• All powers which have an Endurance Drain component will now drain a percentage of a PvE target’s Endurance, rather than a set number of Endurance Points. This fixes the issues created when enemies’ Endurance Pools were increased.

  ((Electric and Kinetics players, rejoice: you just got better.))
   

• Origin Specific powers will no longer be lost after level 10. 
  Characters who already lost these powers (or who never had these powers) will be granted these powers.

  ((… and Strategist can finally pull… strategically.))
   

• All Temporary Powers will now show duration or charges in their
  info.

  ((… which is TOTALLY COOL.))
   

• Powers that put you into a self-contained state (Rest, Phase Shift, PFF, Invisibility, etc) now display "Only Affecting Self" in the mez state text below the buff bar.

  ((Again, very cool little quality of life thing.))
   

• Stealth and Phase Shift Powers will suppress (for self buffs or
  toggles) or cancel (for external buffs) when a player interacts with Interactive Objects, such as Plaques or Mission Objective Objects. Suppression of this type has a duration of 10 seconds.

  ((This… is gonna be interesting.  The VERY FIRST THING I’m curious about is whether or not you can swap a suppressed power for a
  non-suppressed one you weren’t using… such as having Stealth up when you click a glowy, and switching on Invis when clicking on the glowy suppresses Stealth.  Hmm. Doesn’t matter, I suppose, since activating the power would interrupt the glowy click.))
   

• The Claws Power sets for both Scrappers and Stalkers have new
  animations for the powers Swipe and Strike. The animation for Slash has been replaced with the old Strike animation in order to better match the activation, recharge and damage values.

  ((Yaaaaaay.))
   

• Reduced End costs on Claws high level powers.

  ((Yaaaaaay, part two.))
   

• Fiery Aura/Healing Flames activation time reduced.

  ((Oh, SWEET! *Damn* that thing took an age to kick off.))
   

• Improved the effectiveness of Kinetics/Increase Density. It should now be about 50% more effective at protecting from Knockback/Knockup and Repel.

  ((… and the duration is now 3 minutes instead of one? Hello? Bueller?))
   

• Resistance Inspirations (the Sturdy Line) now offer 100% resistance to Teleport. This will not prevent a player from teleporting themselves, it only applies to Teleport Foe, Wormhole and related powers.

  ((Totally a PvP thing, but still cool.))
   

• Confuse has had the delay after animation removed.

  ((Someone’s gonna be happy.))
   

• The Hyper Phase temporary power now has the same 30 second time-out that the Phase Shift power has, correcting an oversight in the original
  power design.

  ((Oh, bugger.))
   

• Modified sprint fx to only play while running. Not Flying. Not swimming. Not jumping. Just running on the ground.

  ((Sweet. And FINALLY.))
   

Powers – PvP

• All player powers with ‘Toggle Drop’ effects have lower chances for those effects to occur. The need for these effects is greatly reduced with the advent of Enhancement Diversification. No player power has a 100% chance of dropping toggles following this change.

  ((And that’s about all I’m going to mention about this, but suffice
  it to say that, barring actual MEZZING powers, the chance of a randomly dropped toggle from, say, getting brawled is vanishingly slim compared to the previous numbers.))
   

• Defense (Ranged, or AoE, as appropriate) will now apply to all Taunt powers in Player versus Player combat. This replaces the previous 50%
  chance for Taunt powers to affect a target in PvP.

  ((Ahh, so now they work if they hit, but they might not hit. Eh.  Should make the bite-me auras much better for taunting in PvP, since they’re already slotted for accuracy, and I don’t want to slot my Taunt for accuracy when it’s only necessary in PvP.))

Powers – Critters

• Arch Villains/Heroes and Giant Monsters have been significantly
  boosted. They should now require more people in order for them to be defeated, especially at higher levels.

  ((Which reminds me: Bear Claws has Maestro.))

Bases

• Several new Storage items are available that allow you to store various items in your base:
  • Inspiration Receptacle: This item allows all members of the Supergroup to store Inspirations that they may not be using, but other members can use to greater benefit. A permission set in the SG Permissions allows a character to withdraw Inspirations from the Receptacle.
  • Enhancement Container: This item allows all members of the Supergroup to store Enhancements in the Supergroup’s base. Members with the proper SG Permission will be able to withdraw Enhancements from the Container.
  • Salvage Bin: This item allows all members of the Supergroup to store salvage in the Supergroup’s base. Members with the proper SG Permission will be able to withdraw Salvage (and just ‘see’ it from the base’s worktables as well).

    ((Very cool.))

Tailor

• Players with combined City of Heroes and City of Villains accounts now have access to all costume pieces (Hero and Villain) for their characters.
• New costume pieces added.
• Several costume pieces revamped and updated.
  ((And… we’ve lost Noelle.))
   

• Fixed many geometry and clipping issues with various costume pieces.

  ((Ooh… maybe that fixes the damn lab-coat problem.))

Badges

• Added many new badges to the game, Villains now have access to their very own Accolade badges as well, with equivalent powers to the Hero Accolades.
• Defeat Badges now require that you or your team do 10% or more damage to the entity to receive credit for the badge. (The former system required that you deal 25% or more damage to get credit).
• All exploration badges now give a small amount of XP when you find them (based on your level).
• Troll Task Force badge is now given out for spending time in The Hollows.

  ((Wonder how many guys of mine already have the TTF badge and don’t know it? 🙂 ))

Quality of Life

• Several new options have been added to the display of Buff/Debuff icons in the Status Window (beneath the HP/END/XP bars), the Group Window and the Pet Window. The options for the different windows can be
  accessed either by right-clicking on an icon in the appropriate window, or from the ‘General’ tab of the in-game Options:
  • Hide Auto Powers: The icons for ‘automatic’ powers (those that are always on) can be set to be displayed as usual or hidden.
  • Disable Blinking: Set whether the icons for powers that are near the end of their duration should start blinking or not.
  • Icon Stacking: Icons for multiple versions of the same power can
    be set to stack on top of other, to display a single icon with a number showing how many versions of the power are affecting you, or not to stack.

    ((Very cool.  I swear, quality of life enhancements to the game are often the best.))
     

• In combat, attacks avoided due to Defense powers will now show text messages such as "Avoid!" or "Eluded!" instead of simple "Miss!"
• A ‘Do Not Allow Invites’ option has been added to the Looking For Group flags.

  ((SWEET MONKEY DANCE!!!))
   

• Several new emotes have been added to the game.
• If you receive a tell while AFK, an automatic reply will be sent to the tell sender with your AFK message.

  ((Oh MAN — they have SO needed that for SO long.  The funny thing is that when you’re using the AFK message to tell people you’re typing something IC, and you get a tell, that’s what will go to the tell-person. Cool.))

UI

• In PvP zones, if a player views the Info window of another player’s character, the Powers tab will not be available.

  ((Smart.))
   

• Added Recluse’s Victory and Pocket D to map search list. 

City of Heroes
Powers – Players

• The Slow Tables for Controllers and Defenders were reversed, with Defenders having a lower modifier than intended. Rather than correct this by switching the values, we’ve opted to increase Defenders Slow modifier by 25% to 125% value. This puts them on equal footing with Controllers when using Slow powers.

  ((So… good for ice and rad defenders, I guess.))
   

• Illusion Control/Deceive has had the long pause after cast removed.

  ((Good for Psi-Clone))
   

• Fixed Electricity Blaster power Zapp so it now has a windup f/x and sound.

  ((Oh. Nifty.  Can’t wait to hear it. 🙂 ))

Powers – PvP

• Tanker’s Inherent Power, Gauntlet, now works in PvP. Single target powers have a chance of Taunting the target hit, while Area of Effect powers have a much smaller chance of Taunting all targets in the radius.

  ((Mutter mutter. should have worked that way anyway 😛   This just annoys me — every other frelling Archetype Inherent Power works just FINE in PvP… except tanks. :P))

Tasks

• Mary Macomber (on the Katie Hannon Task Force) no longer offers a Single Origin Enhancement with each defeat. She now provides the SO after her 10th defeat.

  ((Oh… wow. Didn’t know she did that 🙂 ))

Badges

• The Task Force Commander badge is a new Accolade added for Heroes.

Graphics

• Updated and improved many textures and visual effects throughout the game.

 
City of Villains
Level Cap Increased

• Levels 41-50 are now open to Villains
• New missions, story arcs and enemies added for high level villains.

New Zone – Grandville

• The black heart of the Rogue Isles is a dangerous place for even the strongest villains to venture into.

New Strike Force – The Future of Freedom

• In order to truly prove yourself the greatest of villains you must
  take on the greatest of heroes? Statesman!

• Villains who think they are up to the ultimate challenge should
  contact Lord Recluse directly in Grandville.

• Be warned – many have tried to challenge Statesman, and most failed without even getting close to him. Until now, none have succeeded. Only
  a group of the very strongest villains should attempt this.

Mayhem Missions

• Mayhem missions allow villains to enter a large instanced outdoor mission map and create chaos. The eventual goal is to rob a bank – but
  there are lots of other things going on, too. Mayhem missions are set up for single players and teams. Extra mission time is awarded for destroying property and defeating police. Side missions that appear within the mission map award more extra time and other rewards.

• The old Heists (Bank and Casino) are now available as normal
  Newspaper missions.

  ((Ahh, so where you used to get Heists you get Mayhem Missions. Sweet. 🙂  ))

New Power Sets

• Mastermind Primary ? Thugs
• Brute Primary ? Electric Melee
• Brute Secondary ? Electric Shields
• Stalker Primary ? Dark Melee
• Stalker Secondary ? Dark Armor

Patron Powers

• High level villains may complete a series of missions to gain favour with one of the faction leaders of Arachnos, gaining access to a new
  power pool. A villain may only have one patron during their career, so
  choose carefully.

• Level 40+ villains should talk to Arbiter Rein in Grandville to learn about and unlock Patron Powers.
  ((All of which are cool, and which I’m not going into.)) 

Powers – Players

• Mastermind Bodyguards: You can set any Mastermind pet to Bodyguard by selecting the Defensive Stance and the Follow Orders. Your pets must be within Supremacy range for this function to work.
• Bodyguard Damage Mitigation: When set to Bodyguard mode, the Mastermind and his pets share damage from any attack that the Mastermind takes damage from. Each pet takes one ‘share’ of the damage, and the Mastermind himself takes two ‘shares’. This is in addition to any damage
  that the pets themselves might incur from Area attacks.
  • Example: If a Mastermind has 3 pets set to Def/Fol, and he gets hit with a 100 point attack, each pet will take 20 points of the damage, and he himself will take 40 points.
  • Example 2: If a Mastermind has 3 pets set to Def/Fol, and he gets hit with an Area Effect attack for 10 points of damage, then each pet will take 2 points of damage, and he himself will take 4 points. Pets that were also in the Area of Effect will take an additional 10 points each, as normal.
• Decreased the recharge time for Mastermind Minion Henchmen summon powers.
• Increased the recharge time for Mastermind Boss Henchmen summon powers.
• Dramatically decreased the recharge time for Mastermind Second Tier Upgrade powers.
   

• Masterminds will no longer be able to issue commands to their
  henchmen while under effects that only allow them to affect themselves – Personal Force Field, Phase Shift, and so on.

  ((HA! DAMN that frigging annoyed me when the Robotics folks did that.))
   

• Mastermind Pets have had their movement rates increased.
• Fixed bug where a Mastermind’s pets would sometimes end up under the control of another Mastermind.
• Reduced the Recharge of Dominator’s Inherent Power, Domination, from 300 to 200.
  ((That’s really cool))

• Increased Dominator Melee damage modifier to 0.75 – this increases their melee damage by 7.1%
• Dominator Psionic Assault Drain Psyche now accepts Accuracy
  enhancements. The power was intended to accept them originally, but they
  were left out by mistake.
   

• Assassin Attacks are no longer interrupted by Debuffs. Damage and movement are the only interrupt mechanisms that apply.

  ((Cool.))
   

• Stalker/Claws/Placate no longer costs Endurance to activate,
  bringing it in line with the placate power in other Stalker Power Sets.

• Visual f/x for Brute Invulnerability powers changed. They are now darker and more villainous.

  ((Hmmm… I need to see this… I think I have a Freak Tank clone with Invul sitting out there somewhere.))
   

Powers – PvP

• Dominators Domination inherent ability will charge much more quickly when fighting PvP targets. Each successful attack from the Assault secondary power sets adds a bonus of 8 points toward filling the Domination bar over the normal value.

Powers – Critters

• Circle of Thorns Vines are now immune to teleportation effects.

City Zones

• Nerva: Fixed several graphics bugs in the zone.
• St. Martial: Fixed several graphics bugs in the zone.

Tasks

• Fixed many typos and grammar errors in missions.
• Fix for inaccessible elevators on some Arachnos maps.
• Changed Naylor’s ‘Mini-Arc’ of Shadow Shard missions to prevent them from becoming impossible to complete – made the two hostages in Mission
  2 optional, added a Boss battle that is required.

Tailor

• Many new costume pieces are available.