Patch Notes

Patch Notes - Issue 28: Legacy, Page 1

What's New in Issue 28, Page 1?

Marquee Features

• New Raid Zone: The Labyrinth of Fog 🐄
• New Story Arc: Ashling Corlett - 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' 💙
• New Powerset: Marine Affinity 🌊
• Enemy Group Revamp: The Warriors ⚔️

Powers & Gameplay Adjustments

• New Power Customization Options

Various Adjustments, Improvements & Fixes

• New Left/Right Eye Auras
• New Aether Shop Rewards + WST Aether at all levels
• New Pocket D Friend: Blarf
• New vanity pet recipe drops
• New Badges; Four New Accolades + Powers
• Numerous bug fixes and improvements

🐄💙 Marquee Features 🌊⚔️

New Raid Zone: The Labyrinth Of Fog (Level 45-50)

The secret vault of the Midnight Club is a vast trove and holds countless artifacts, most kept locked away for the safety of the world.

One artifact the Midnighters have utilized for many years in the training of their new magicians: A pocket dimension contained within an ancient cube created by the Cimeroran inventor Daedalus known only as the Labyrinth of Fog.

This labyrinth was a place constructed by the tools of the divine, housing an endless maze filled with visages of nightmare, borne from the memories of those who entered, and hunted by a monstrous beast that roamed its endless halls. It was a place where intelligence, strength, and wit could be tested to ensure the Midnighters who make rank can control the vast magics they command.

However, with the whole of humanity's safety at risk, the Dream Doctor has vowed to strengthen Earth's defenders by any means, and to this end sought to see the Labyrinth of Fog opened to any powerful hero or villain, to allow them to test themselves against superior versions of their greatest foes with no risk of death, a metaphysical danger room sustained by the arcane.

This would be the most promising method they had in their arsenal towards quickly building champions who could defend their world, and the need had never been greater. Any risks pertaining to the Labyrinth's original purpose would have to be dismissed in favor of the benefits it could provide to the world's strongest, after all, the Dream Doctor had himself trained in this Labyrinth.

Now, with the doors to this ancient dungeon opened to all, the Midnighters are providing support to those who are willing to face the worst of themselves and humanity's nightmares. Much hope was placed on those entering the Labyrinth of Fog and conquering its dangers that they might emerge as great champions.

 "Imagine the birth of an army of heroes... Where each carried the might of Theseus, amongst history's strongest. Earth would be secure." 
 "...If you truly believe that the benefits outweigh the risks, let us test humanity's champions of today." 

 What new adventures lie in store? 

Like The Hive and The Abyss, The Labryinth of Fog is a raid zone with a low player cap (50),

therefore any multi-boxing will not be allowed within. Homecoming's CoC will be updated

to state clearly that any multi-boxing within this zone is not allowed.

An Artifact In The Midnighter Club?

• This new co-op raid zone is accessed via an artifact cube found in the Midnighter Club.
  • All players are automatically set to Level 50 while in the zone.
• An info NPC ghost found near the zone's entrance provides additional information on the specifics of the zone.

 Touch the artifact cube and enter The Labyrinth of Fog! 

• A trainer, merit vendor, nurse, and buff crafting station have been added to the Midnighter Club zone to help facilitate adventuring activities within the Labyrinth of Fog.
• The Midnighter Club has been added to Long Range Teleport unlocked by owning the  'Midnight Squad' badge.
• The Labyrinth of Fog added to the LFG queue where it's found under the 'Trials & Raids' tab if you can access the Midnighter Club and are over Level 45.
• The zone has a 50-player population cap. Additional instances will generate if one fills.

Many Floors & Corridors!

• The raid zone begins with the labyrinth's entrance lobby.
  • Reviving at the hospital while in this zone will return you to the entrance lobby.
  • Idle players are returned to the Midnighter Club after 15 minutes of inactivity.
  • Logging out while in the zone will return you to the entrance lobby upon login.
• There is no mini map in the labyrinth except for the entrance lobby.
• The entrance lobby contains four color-coded portals that each are used to enter into the labyrinth.
• Each goes to a color-coded floor. There are six floor colors total: Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Violet, Orange
• The color of the floor determines what set of grouped enemies populate that floor.
  • Violet Floors contain the most dangerous groups and Giant Monster event channel spawns.
  • Orange floors contain completely randomized enemies.
• Here is a complete list of the various enemy groups that populate the labyrinth and their floor color:
  • Arachnos
  • Council
  • Freakshow
  • Gold Brickers
  • Hydra
     
  • Devouring Earth
  • Drudges
  • Imperial Defense Force
  • Nemesis
  • Rikti
     
  • Carnival of Shadows
  • Circle Of Thorns
  • Cimeroran Traitors
  • Malta Operatives
  • Tsoo
     
  • Crey
  • The Family
  • Praetorian Resistance
  • Psychic Clockwork
  • Sky Raiders
  • Snakes
     
  • The Awakened
  • Arachnoids
  • Nictus + Void Hunters
  • Soldiers Of Rularuu
  • Talons Of Vengeance
  • Vanguard Sword

Fight For Rewards & Gain Level Shifts!

• Experience & Influence earned in the zone increased by 25%
  • This stacks with other power such as Experience Boosters or Windfall.
• Labyrinth of Fog is an extremely vast (40+ floors) mission-style zone filled with Level 54+1 enemies to battle for increased rewards.
  • It is intended this zone be tackled with a Team or League.
• All enemies in the zone are Rank Shifted (Minion -> Lieutenant, etc.) up to a maximum rank of Elite Boss.
• Enemies behave identically to standard content and drop all the same rewards they would normally.
• As Elite Bosses are defeated, a meter on your navigation will fill up, eventually granting a zone-wide Level Shift buff!
  • Elite Bosses have a foggy aura to make them easier to identify as the targets in the zone.
  • Elite Bosses increase in Level Shifts alongside the players.
  • Pets (including Mastermind and Lore) also receive the zone-wide Level Shift buffs.

Fear The Minotaur!

 Avoid the Minotaur until you've got a team or league that can coordinate gathering Level Shifts to take him down! 

• While in The Labyrinth of Fog, players are hunted continuously by The Minotaur In The Fog, a Monster that's Level 54+(5 to 10) and periodically (every 2-3 minutes) moves to the location of a player on the map (higher odds for the zone's oldest occupants, excludes those in the entrance lobby which is always safe), navigating the labyrinth's maze at inhuman speeds to find prey.
• For every 8 players in the zone after the first, the Minotaur will gain another +1 Level Shift (min +5, max +10).
• The navigation window will display the Minotaur's current level, or, if they're currently dead, will show a timer to their next respawn time:

1-8 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+5)

9-16 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+6)

17-24 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+7)

25-32 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+8)

33-40 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+9)

41+ players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+10)

• Defeating the Minotaur will award the new  'Slayer of the Minotaur' badge and the Minotaur will vanish from the zone for one hour, allowing people to adventure and battle enemies within without danger.
  • The Minotaur rewards a choice table with 5 Prismatic Aether + 10 Monstrous Aether to all who participated in the defeat on an 18 hour cool-down. Additional defeats within that time will only reward half the payout.
  • Alternatively, can select 3 Draught of Fog inspirations with no cool-down.
• The Minotaur will spawn with one of five different weapon power sets; All weapon powers deal 100% Negative Energy damage exclusively.
  • All variants of the Minotaur come with the Unholy Plague Howl, Netted Pilums, Hoof Stomp, Trial By Combat, and Fog Given Form powers.

Search for Malevolent Fog!

• Special 'Malevolent Fog' pinata enemies (no attacks, no regeneration) can be found in the labyrinth that, when defeated, increases the zone's Level Shift navigation bar meter by 50 points and grants 1 Reward Merit to all players in the zone who meet the following conditions:
  • Cannot be dead.
  • Cannot be in the entrance lobby, the Core, or a secret area.
• A single player who participated in the defeat will receive a 'Draught of Fog' inspiration.
  • These special inspirations provide the user with 15 minutes of a single Level Shift stack exclusive to them and their pets, as well as immunity to the Diseased debuff.
  • These Inspirations are not bound and can be freely traded or stored in Super Group bases.
• Malevolent Fog are most commonly found in rooms that are dead ends, and their FX makes them stands out in the foggy environment.
  • Once defeated, another Malevolent Fog will spawn somewhere else in the labyrinth to take its place. This should naturally filter them down to lesser visited places over time while ensuring there is always some to be found.

 Find & defeat Malevolent Fog to earn Reward Merits + Level Shifts! 

• The zone-wide buff grants +1 Level Shift, +DMG/ToHit/Recharge/Recovery for each stack. It can be stacked up to ten times from either Malevolent Fog defeats or cumulative Elite Boss defeats. The current Level Shift total can be seen on your buff bar as a black icon with a white number:

 The Labyrinth's Level Shifts stack up to a max of 10! 

• The Level Shift buffs decay at a rate of once per 5 minutes, each decay will reduce the total stack of Level Shifts by 1.

But Not Without Assistance!

• Players are given two pop-tray powers while in the labyrinth to assist them:
  • Escape From Fog: Teleports yourself back to the entrance lobby of the labyrinth. 1 second cool-down.
  • Follow Through Fog: Teleport yourself to a target Team or League mate. May fail if the target does not have space nearby or is going through a door. Intended to help teams stick together. 1 second cool-down.

Gladiators In The Fog?

• Throughout the colored floors, players can encounter Gladiators In The Fog.
• Standing next to one will prompt the Gladiator to respond.
• Depending on how many badges from the Labyrinth you currently have, the Gladiator will do one of the following:
  • Respond with hints/tips/lore dialog about the Labyrinth.
  • Gift a Draught of Fog inspiration.
  • Become hostile and attack the player. (More Labyrinth badges = higher chance of attack)
• Each Gladiator will only interact with the same player once ever.
• Defeated Gladiators drop a single Draught of Fog inspiration to one participating player.

 Blood and strength unseen, Gladiator! 

Explore the Labyrinth!

• There are many secrets and prizes to be discovered within the Labyrinth of Fog.
  • Including many not detailed at all in the patch notes!
• Finding a secret area will reward the  'Hidden In Fog' exploration badge.
  • Secret area doors have a confirmation box when clicked to enter them.
• Some secret areas are easy to find, others more difficult. All secret areas reward the same exploration badge.
• The secret areas show up as '???' locations and immediately grant the badge upon discovery.

New Story Arc

'Only Love Can Hurt Like this' - Ashling Corlett (Level 41-49)

Ashling Corlett is a veteran of Paragon City, even if you've never heard of her.

When the Shivan attack hit Galaxy City she was in the thick of the Hero Corps rescue detail, only leaving after directly ordered to despite suffering serious injury. As a result she moved to the Hero Corps reserves, but she hasn't been idle.

There's things left undone and she means to finish them, even if it means crossing a few lines to do it.

 Reach out to Ashling and her Hero Corps reserves, there's work to be done!  

• CONTACT: Ashling Corlett

• LOCATION: Steel Canyon (/thumbtack -4736.0 0.0 395.4)
• ALIGNMENT / LEVEL: Hero - Level 41+
• OUROBOROS / ARC: Captain (40-49) - 28.01

New Support Powerset - Marine Affinity - Defender, Controller, Corruptor, Mastermind

• Marine Affinity allows players to command the power of the Oceans to buff their friends and wash away their enemies. This set focuses on turning the tides of battle with several area-based buffs and debuffs, specifically bolstering ally damage while dampening enemy damage potential. Thematically, the set's area coverage allows you to either spread out areas of effect in a wide but shallow pool, or dive deep in one spot to bowl over enemies.

 Surf & Turf is on the menu this Page! 

Powers:

Shoal Rush - By sensing the water in an area, you can direct a shoal of marine life to harass your foes. This lowers the defense and  movement speeds of all enemies struck.

Soothing Wave - Send forth a calming wave of water, washing over friend and foe alike. Allies will be healed by this power, while enemies will have their offensive power watered down.

Toroidal Bubble - You create a ring of Bubbles that encase your allies, constantly hydrating them to replenish endurance and reducing the effects of endurance drain. The bubble also reduces all incoming damage, providing extra resistance to Fire and Smashing damage, and also increases jump height thanks to added buoyancy.

Whitecap - Summon and ride a wave of water towards your target, crashing down to knock over all enemies in the radius and staggering them, lowering their damage resistance! Enemies close to where you crash will receive harsher debuffs and damage.

Tide Pool - Create a large pool of water at a targeted location to swell the damage that your allies deal, while reducing the damage , movement speeds, and stealth of enemies within the Tide Pool. If an enemy is defeated in the pool, or they are targeted by Shoal Rush or Whitecap, the marine life present will be thrown into a frenzy!

While frenzied, the Tide Pool has a chance to knock over enemies and the damage buff and debuff is stronger.

Brine - You coat an enemy in an extremely salinated layer of deep-sea brine that reduces your foe's maximum hit points, and resistance to damage. This power may consume up to 3 stacks of Shifting Tide's buff in order to recharge much faster per stack.

Shifting Tides - Select a target to create a field of shifting waters around them. Enemies within the shifting waters have a chance take bonus damage when any power hits them, as well as provide you and your allies a stacking Rising Tide buff that increases ToHit, Damage, and Recharge time. The more stacks of Rising Tide, the higher the odds to proc bonus damage!

Barrier Reef - Create a Barrier Reef teeming with life at your target location. The Barrier Reef will emit an aura that washes over allies in range, providing them with a defensive cover of water that will absorb and deflect some damage.

Power of the Depths - Becoming a conduit of the ocean itself, you boost the max hit points and endurance of allies within range. This power will also increase the Regeneration rate of all nearby allies, while also increasing the Range of all of their powers. A portion of these effects will decay over time. 

 Unleash the power of the ocean! 

Enemy Group Revamp: The Warriors

 Warriors, come out and play! 

All

• New costumes and visuals for all Warrior enemies except Odysseus.
• Standardized melee range to 7ft.
• Base accuracy for weapon attacks increased from 1.0x to 1.05x.
• Base accuracy for Bow/Crossbow attacks increased to 1.2x.
• Warriors with Hand Crossbows levels 20-39 replaced with Aimed Shot at 40+.
• Warriors with Bow levels 20-39 replaced with Blazing Arrow at 40+.
• Warriors with Crossbow levels 20-39 replaced with Crystal Arrow at 40+.
• Warriors with Exploding Bolt levels 20-39 replaced with Explosive Arrow at 40+.
• Updated critter names to follow traditional Warrior naming conventions.
• Added Archery minion/lieutenant/boss critters.
• Created new base Warrior resistance scaling by critter rank.
• Updated descriptions and help text for all new Warriors powers.
• Updated legacy missions and spawndefs with Warriors to use New Warriors.
• Created new custom spawndefs for Warriors.

Crushers

• Bash animation reduced from 1.37s to 1.33s, disorient increased from 5% chance to 10%.
• Pulverize animation reduced from 1.83s to 1.5s.
• Clobber animation reduced from 1.83s to 1.23s, damage scale increased from 0.25 to 2.92, recharge decreased from 20s to 16s, disorient decreased from scale 10 duration to scale 5.0.
• Shatter damage scale increased from 1.96 to 2.28, increased arc from 10 to 45 degrees.
• Crowd Control added to bosses levels 40+.
• Custom Willpower auto power added to minions/lieutenants/bosses levels 40+, custom Willpower toggle for lieutenants/bosses levels 40+.

Hewers

• Gash animation reduced from 1.83s to 1s, damage scale decreased from 1.16 to 1.0, recharge decreased from 5s to 4s.
• Chop animation reduced from 1.83s to 1.2s, damage scale decreased from 1.96 to 1.64, recharge decreased from 10s to 8s.
• Beheader animation reduced from 1.37s to 1.27s, damage scale decreased from 2.28 to 1.96, recharge decreased from 12s to 10s.
• Pendulum converted from 5ft radius/180 degree cone to 7ft radius melee TAoE, animation reduced from 2.27s to 2s, damage scale decreased from 1.9 to 1.35.
• Swoop added to bosses levels 40+.
• Custom Willpower auto power added to minions/lieutenants/bosses levels 40+, custom Willpower toggle for lieutenants/bosses levels 40+.

Slashers

• Hack animation reduced from 1.83s to 1.33s, damage scale increased from 0.84 to 1.64, recharge increased from 3s to 8s, defense debuff duration increased from 6s to 10s.
• Slash animation reduced from 2.27s to 1.33s, damage scale decreased from 1.32 to 1.0, recharge decreased from 6s to 4s, defense debuff duration decreased from 10s to 6s.
• Parry animation reduced from 2s to 1.33s, added lethal defense to self defense buff.
• Whirling Sword animation reduced from 2.87s to 2.67s.
• Minion Hack replaced with Slash.
• Head Splitter added to bosses levels 40+.
• Custom Willpower auto power added to minions/lieutenants/bosses levels 40+, custom Willpower toggle for lieutenants/bosses levels 40+.

Brawlers

• Added 10% chance for recharge and tohit debuff to Brawl.
• Boxing damage scale increased from 0.76 to 0.874, disorient increased from 5% chance mag 2 to 35% chance mag 3.
• Kick damage scale increased from 0.84 to 0.966, knockdown chance increased from 20% to 40%.
• Added Lieutenant and Boss critters with Street Justice attacks.
• Minions levels 40+ have Fighting suite replaced with Street Justice.
• Bosses levels 40+ gain Crushing Uppercut.
• Custom Super Reflexes auto power added to minions/lieutenants/bosses levels 40+, custom Super Reflexes toggle for lieutenants/bosses levels 40+.

Staff Fighting

• Created new class for Staff Fighting users with Pilum ranged attacks; use Super Reflexes at high levels.

Powers & Gameplay Adjustments

Power Customization

Energy Mastery:

• Laser Beam Sweep alt animation/fx for Energy Torrent (only applies to versions of Energy Mastery with Laser Beam Eyes).

Teleport:

• The following customization options have been added to the Teleport / Combat Teleport customization offerings:
  • Goop (Tintable)

Customization Adjustments

• Added ability to color the power customization of the following Teleport / Combat Teleport options:
  • Smoke Bomb (Tintable)
  • Rikti (Original + Tintable)
  • Tornado (Tintable)
  • Murder of Crows (Tintable)

Character Customization Improvements

New Costume Parts

Auras

• The following customization options have been added to costume aura offerings:
  • Alpha (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Atomic (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Battle Fury (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Beastly Rage (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Binary (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Cryo (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Electricity (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Fairy Dust (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Fire (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Fire Flies (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Gaseous (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Glow (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Omega (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Pixels (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Smouldering (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Snow (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Sparkle (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Sparks (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Starburst Glow (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Tendrils (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Thunderhead (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)
  • Volcanic (Right Eye, Left Eye, +Combat)

Aether Shop Rewards

• Prismatic Aether salvage now drops from the Weekly Strike Target at all levels, no longer requires being Level 50. 🎉

Tier 1 Reward Additions

• New NPC costumes added to the Tier 1 Aether reward vendor offerings:
  •  Costume: Banished Pantheon Totem
  •  Costume: Luddite
  •  Costume: Luddite Crusader
  •  Costume: Malta Tac Ops Commander
  •  Costume: Malta Hercules Titan
  •  Costume: Rikti Ambassador
  •  Costume: Rikti Scientist
  •  Costume: Rikti Specialist
  •  Costume: Talons Sibyl (Earth)
  •  Costume: Talons Sibyl (Fire)
  •  Costume: Talons Sibyl (Ice)
  •  Costume: Talons Sibyl (Shadow)
  •  Costume: Talons Sibyl (Storm)
  •  Costume: Rogue Arachnos Blood Widow
  •  Costume: Warrior Hewer Gladiator
  •  Costume: Warrior Hoplite Gladiator
  •  Costume: Warrior Pankratiast Gladiator

Tier 2 Reward Adjustment

• The following costume power is being moved from Tier 1 to Tier 2:
  •  Costume: Legacy Warrior Thug

Tier 3 Reward Additions

• New cosmetic effects added to the Tier 3 Aether reward vendor offerings:
  • Effect: Vision Filter (Monochrome and Sepia Tone screen filters)
  • This power requires the game client's 'Desaturation Effects' graphic option be enabled in order to function!
  • Applies a screen filter to your game client:

 Just like the old days... Wait, that doesn't seem right... 

Tier 4 Reward Additions

• New premium costume added to the Tier 4 Aether reward vendor offerings:
  •  Costume: Block Mode + Costume: Block Mini Mode
  • Grants both power regular and mini versions with singular purchase!
  • This power has five customization options:

 Cutting-edge high-definition costumes, quality assured by GM_Bot itself! 

Vanguard Merit Reward Additions

• New NPC costumes added to the Vanguard Merit worktable offerings:
  •  Costume: Vanguard Shield HVAS
  • Costume: Vanguard Sword HVAS

Various Additions, Enhancements, & Fixes

New Pocket D Friend: Blarf

 Abnormal or adorable? You decide! 

• Blarf is a for-fun zone mini pet that spawns near the unique wet floor sign on the red-side ground floor where the former nauseous man used to be.
• Clicking on Blarf will engage in affection-giving physical contact.
  • WARNING: DJ ZERO & POCKET D ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INCIDENTS RELATED TO HEALTH DEGRADATION FROM CONTACT WITH UNIDENTIFIED MATTER, PLEASE EXERCISE CAUTION AND RESTRAINT WHEN ENGAGING WITH BLARF! DO NOT FEED BLARF UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
• Blarf's location within Pocket D is tracked on the mini-map with a blue-green dot, and updated in real-time.
• Blarf will become friends with the first person who clicks them, becoming attached and following them around anywhere they go within Pocket D for a while.
• Blarf has a short attention span. After 3-minutes it can be distracted and become attached to a new person who clicks on them.
• If you move too far away from Blarf for too long (>20ft, for 5 seconds), they will lose interest in their current friend.
• Blarf does not have any collision, but is fast and affectionate.
• Blarf doesn't like to go to the certain locations, and will return to their spawn if their current friend goes into any of the following places:
  • Architect Entertainment
  • Ski Chalet
  • VIP Lounge
  • Hospitals
  • Elevator Entrance Hallways
  • Blue-side Upstairs Bar
• Blarf can fly! Airborne friends are supported by Blarf.
• Blarf will give a "gift" to anybody who clicks them, even if they don't become their next friend.
  • These "gifts" are on a 10-minute cool-down timer.

Vanity Pets

New Pets Recipes

• The following Very Rare recipes have been added and have a 0.1% (1 in 1000) chance to drop one from any Nictus or Void Hunter group Boss rank defeat:
  •  Pet: Mini Kheldian Black Dwarf
  •  Pet: Mini Kheldian Bright Nova
  • Pet: Mini Kheldian Dark Nova
  • Pet: Mini Kheldian White Dwarf
• Like other pet recipes, these can be traded or sold on the Auction House.

Pet Adjustments

• Giant Monster's Mini Pet Recipes (Rare quality) can now be sold to vendors for 100,000 Influence each.
• Peacebringers and Warshades can now use vanity pets while transformed.

New Badges (15)

Accolade

• 'Conqueror of the Labyrinth' - Collect the following badges in order to unlock this accolade:
• Grants: 'Core Attunement' - Self: Teleport between the Labyrinth of Fog's lobby and the Core of the Labyrinth. (Only available from those locations)
• Collect the following badges in order to unlock this accolade:
  • Slayer of the Minotaur (New, The Minotaur In The Fog defeat)
  • Malevolent Intoxication (New, 5 Malevolent Fog defeats)
  •  Greek Philosopher (New, History)
  •  Hidden In Fog (New, Labyrinth of Fog exploration)

• 'Between Realities' - Collect the following badges in order to unlock this accolade:
• Grants: 'Mark' & 'Recall' - Instant cast. First usage records your current position as the Mark. Second usage return teleports caster to the location they originally set their Mark. Mark is not consumed until used or the owner leaves the zone. 10 minute cool-down. Unable to be activated on missions where it could cause soft locks.
• Collect the following badges in order to unlock this accolade:
  • Germinator Terminator (Seed of Hamidon defeat)
  • Full Spectrum (Seedling defeats)
  • Show's Over (Carnival defeats)
  •   Lawbreaker (Drudge defeats)
  • Multifacted (New, 25 Alignment Tip missions)
  • The Last Word (History)
  • Eye of the Vortex (First Ward exploration)
  • Stargazer (Night Ward exploration)
  • Dead but Dreaming (Night Ward exploration)

• 'Protector of Paragon City / Traitor to Paragon City'
• Grants: 'Sheer Willpower' - Self: Resist Mez Effects for 30 seconds, 10 minute cool-down.
• Collect the following badges in order to unlock this accolade:
  •  'Force of Justice' (Safeguard Mission accolade)
  • Safeguard Mission side missions have been made to grant credit team-wide.
  • 'Guardian of Forever' (Laura Lockhart story arc)
  • 'The Greater Good' (Agent Watkins story arc)
  •   'Beyond Reasonable Doubt' (Shauna Braun story arc)
  • 'Gallant' (Hero Morality Mission)
  • 'Bicentennial' (History)

•   'Strike Force Commander / Deep Strike Agent'
• Grants: 'Sheer Willpower' - Self: Resist Mez Effects for 30 seconds, 10 minute cool-down.
• Collect the following badges in order to unlock this accolade:
  •  'Binder of Beasts' (Tarikoss Strike Force)
  •  'Leviathan' (Operative Renault Strike Force)
  •  'Air Pirate' (Silver Mantis Strike Force)
  •  'Crystal Keeper' (Ice Mistral Strike Force)
  •  'Gold Standard' (Dr. Aeon Strike Force)

Accomplishment

• 'Bound By NDA' - Complete Ashling Corlette's story arc to earn this badge.
• 'Nutrient-Rich' - Feed Blarf to earn this badge.

Achievement

•  'Uncommitted' - Complete 5 Alignment Tip missions to earn this badge.
  • Alignment Tip mission complete credit is team-wide for all three badges.
•  'Adept' - Complete 10 Alignment Tip missions to earn this badge.
•  'Multifaceted' - Complete 25 Alignment Tip missions to earn this badge.

Defeat

• 'Slayer of the Minotaur' - Defeat The Minotaur In The Fog to earn this badge.
• 'Malevolent Intoxication' - Defeat 5 of the Malevolent Fog pinatas to earn this badge.
• 'Phantom Gladiator' - Defeat 25 Gladiators In The Fog to earn this badge.

Exploration

•   'Hidden In Fog' - Locate any of the Labyrinth of Fog's secret areas to earn this badge.
•   'Lab Rat' - Cross the maze found in the Endless Colonnade to earn this badge.

History

• 'Greek Philosopher' - Discover all five history plaques found in the Core of the Labyrinth to earn this badge.

Badge Changes

Day Jobs

• 'Arachnos Official / Arachnos Traitor' - Fixed this badge using the hero version text when on a villain character.

Defeats

• 'Mythical' - Incarnate Nictus Minotaurs and The Minotaur In The Fog now also count for this badge.
• 'Gear Smasher' - Psychic Clockwork Gears now count for this badge.

Zones

Contacts

Mercedes Sheldon (Midnighter Club)

• Moved from her confusing position in one of the duplicate entrance hallways, now found in the main Midnighter Club hall.

Mercedes Sheldon (Pocket D)

• Corrected the event version of Mercedes Sheldon from appearing in contact introductions.

Tasks

Mission Maps

Enemies

Miscellaneous

• Remove /emailsend, /emailsendattachment, /gmailclaim, and /gmailreturn slash commands.
  • These commands were intended for internal use by the UI and correct usage depends on knowing internal character state that is not visible to the player. Incorrect usage can leave the player's mailbox in a corrupt state that renders it unusable without manual administrator intervention to fix the database records.

Enemies

Rikti

• Fixed a few Rikti Portal objects in missions that were not intended to spawn enemies.

Zones

Peregrine Island

• Fixed a scene error that caused the wrong hospital and dock signs to display.

Sharkhead Isle

• Fixed Operative Luong having no dialog.

Rewards

Pet Recipes

• Fixed lower than intended Giant Monster mini pet invention recipe drops. Now drops 10% to each player participant properly.

Missions

Praetor Sinclair - 'The Power to Control'

• Fixed Belladona Vetrano becoming hostile and untargetable in the 'Take down Cockatrice!' mission.

Other

Server Stability

• Security & stability updates.

Events

City of Heroes Anniversary Event

• May is now the annual City of Heroes Anniversary Event!
• Time Capsule glowies have been hidden around city zones! Open them for prizes and nostalgic enemy encounters; You might even see rare enemies from the distant past!
• New salvage for this event: Anniversary Token
  • Each capsule will always reward one Anniversary Token.
  • Capsules always award a prize, even if you are ambushed by enemies.
  • These can be traded to Luna in Ouroboros in exchange for the new Anniversary Event rewards.
  • All event rewards purchasable with Anniversary Tokens can also be found just by opening Time Capsules.
  • Anniversary Tokens can be traded to other players or sold on the Auction House.
• New event vanity pets! These drop from Time Capsules at a lower rate:
  • Pet: Legacy Rikti Chief Soldier
  • Pet: Legacy Rikti Infantry
  • Pet: Legacy Circle of Thorns Guide
  • Pet: Legacy Thorn Wielder
  • Pet: Hellions Thug
  • Pet: Legacy Skulls Thug
  • Pet: Trolls Thug
  • Pet: Freakshow Tank
• New fun temporary powers & inspirations! These drop from Time Capsules at a higher rate:
  •  Anniversary Inspirations - Use them to get a surprise boost!
  • Anniversary Signature Summons - The past lends a hand!
  • Effect: Old School Vision & Retro Vision - See things in a whole new way!
  • Old School Temporary Costumes - Dress up in rare, retro looks!
  • Enchanted Toy Bat (Hero)
  • Enchanted Toy Bat (Villain)

Badges

New Badges - Event

•  'Reunited' - Log into the game during the month of May in 2024.
• 'Time Keeper' - Open 25 time capsules during the City of Heroes Anniversary Event to earn this badge.
• 'Gardener' - Defeat 25 old school Circle of Thorns during the City of Heroes Anniversary Event to earn this badge.
• 'Zeta Reticulan' - Defeat 25 old school Rikti during the City of Heroes Anniversary Event to earn this badge.

Powers

Fixes

• Tanker / Brute > Fiery Aura > Fiery Embrace: Added Fiery Embrace effects to Psionic Mastery.
• Tanker / Brute > Epic > Psionic Mastery: Fixed PvP Damage to use the correct tables.
• Stalker > Patron > Soul Mastery > Moonbeam: Fixed 100% chance to crit from Hide.
• Peacebringer / Warshade > Dwarf Form: Now accepts outside recharge buffs.
• Corrected typo in Hamidon Ectosome enhancement's description.

Task Forces

Advanced Mode - Lady Grey's Task Force

General

• The values of the -Defense and -Resistance inflicted by the Neural Nullification debuff bubbles now scale with difficulty star count, up to the original value at 4* difficulty:
  • 1-Star: -30% Defense, -75% Resistance
  • 2-Star: -45% Defense, -100% Resistance
  • 3-Star: -60% Defense, -125% Resistance
  • 4-Star: -75% Defense, -150% Resistance
• This will make the debuff weaker on lower difficulties, allowing players to better form counter-play before the failure penalty is steep at the highest difficulty.

NPC Enemies

Council

• Fixed all Council Vortex Cor Leonis bosses spawning outside their level ranges.

Custom Weapons

Staff Fighting

• Fixed an issue that caused NPCs using sheathed staves to have their weapon flicker between hand and back in-between attacks.

User Interface

• Key bindings saved through the options menu and slash commands now create a file that properly reproduces the binds exactly when loaded.
  • This is accomplished through an optional UnbindAll keyword that may be included in a bind file, which causes any existing binds to be reset before loading the file.
  • Files which do not have this keyword work the same as currently and just create or replace bindings only for the keys listed in them.
• Added two commands to restore the ability to export a list of the default keybindings for offline editing:
  • /show_bind_all - Prints a list of all apparent key bindings (defaults with per-character saved binds applied on top).
  • /show_bind_all_file [filename] - Same as /show_bind_all but saves the results to a file.

Powers

Bug Fixes

• Arsenal Control > Sleep Grenade: Fixed issue that required the target to be held for it to do damage.

• Arsenal Control > Tri-Cannon: The aura on this power should now taunt non-raid tagged foes. Changed the power description for clarity.

• Devices > Gun Drone: The aura on this power should now taunt non-raid tagged foes.

• Epic > Web Envelope (Defender): Damage in this power should no longer spam Scourge messages.

• Super Reflexes > Elude: Corrected Set IO slotting for various Elude powers. All Elude powers now take Defense, EndMod, Running, and Universal Travel sets.
• Sonic Resonance > Sonic Replusion: This power can now slot Accuracy boosts.

Task Forces

Advanced Mode - Lady Grey's Task Force

General

• Special Assault Suits now change costume and play an FX at 25% HP to provide 'near death' visual cues to players for informing them of imminent incoming on-defeat debuffs.

Moonfire's Task Force

• Removed leftover references to Dr. Engles.

Missions

Dr. Francois

• Changed Portal Tech to Portal Corp in Dr. Francois clues.

Enemy NPCs

Council

• Fixed Council Sonic Blast, Heavy Sonic Blast, and Cannon Heavy Sonic Blast rifle FX.
• Fixed another high level Council mob spawning outside their level range.

Circle of Thorns

• Fixed AI for Ruin Possessed Scientists.

Luddites

• Fixed Luddite minions all using same name.

Rikti

• Fixed Rikti Portals objects found in specific missions from infinitely spawning Rikti enemies.

Tsoo

• Fixed Ice Wind bosses' Storm Kick dealing 0 damage.

Giant Monsters

• Added scaling HP to Giant Monsters when in the presence of more than 8 players.

Jack In Irons

• Improved odds of multiple Red Cap reinforcements spawning per player from Ambush.
• Ambushing Red Caps now correctly Ignore Combat Mods.

Eochai

• Separated Pumpkin Patch behavior against players and critters; Lowered player damage scale to 0.22 from 0.3, and critter to 0.11 from 0.3.

Miscellaneous

• Fixed various typos in descriptions, powers, and strings.

Events

Spring Fling

• The Spring Fling Event has now ended.

Powers

Arsenal Control

• Liquid Nitrogen: Now properly inherits slow enhancements.
• Tri-Cannon: This pet can now taunt Raid Tagged targets. Can now proc Containment damage.
• Tear Gas: This pseudopet now does damage against held targets. Now takes damage enhancements and sets.

Task Forces

Advanced Mode - Lady Grey's Task Force

Mission 5

• Added safety measure to prevent a bug caused by simultaneous cut scenes triggers.
• The Honoree's arrival cut scene mentions 'Damage Neutralizer' specifically to hint to players that he's invincible at first.
• Some adjustments to Ruin's room to better communicate that he can't be saved nor fought.

Missions

Striga Isle

• Fixed two missions in Mage-Killer Tatiana's arc where certain bosses would not activate their combat AI at the correct time.

Mission Architect

• Removed interrupt time from the NPC versions of Trip Mine and Time Bomb.

Consignment House

• Fixed a bug that could cause the auction server to return sale history for the wrong item.

Enemies

Nictus

• Standardized taunt values and removed -Range on Dark Dwarf Alpha mobs.

Psychic Clockwork

• Standardized taunt values and removed -Range on Cannon Rook mobs.
• Cannon Rook's Sprocket companion weapon now mourns upon their Rook's defeat.
• Cannon Rook's back key now stops turning on death like other Clockwork.
• Assembler Lord's back key now stops turning on death like other Clockwork.

Aether Rewards

• Corrected Benevolab vendor dialog to the now shortened 'Prismatic Aether' salvage name.

Looking For Group

Rikti Mothership

• Fixed an issue that was preventing queuing for this event with lower level characters.

HOTFIX -- No Restart

Powers

• Fixed an issue where players afflicted with the Mutation: Devolution effect from the Secondary Mutation power could get stuck as a monkey for 33 minutes and 20 seconds if they crossed to a different zone before the effect wore off.

Costumes

Fixes

• Fixed Female top with skin using the Huge geometry for Illium + Skull shoulder.

Powers

• Arsenal Control > Auto Turret: This pet should no longer have teleport protection
• Arsenal Control > Cloaking Device: No Fade option should now work as expected
• Arsenal Control > Flash Bang: Typo fix
• Arsenal Control > Liquid Nitrogen: Fixed power info while right clicking on its icon in the buff bar. Power now accepts slow enhancements and sets. Addressed an issue that was making power info exaggerate the amount of damage generated
• Dark Melee > Touch of Fear: This power should now grant Assassin's Focus
• Devices > Remote Bomb: Should now display power attributes in the power info window
• Earth Manipulation > Mud Bath: Fixed a bug where this power would continue to affect enemies even while mezzed
• Fire Manipulation > Cauterizing Aura: Fixed a bug where this power would not properly display all its attributes in the power info
• Ice Manipulation > Chilling Embrace: Fixed a bug where this power would not properly display all its attributes in the power info
• Ice Melee > Assassin's Ice Sword: Fixed power description
• Martial Combat > Reaction Time: Fixed a bug where this power would not properly display all its attributes in the power info
• Savage Melee > Rending Flurry: This power should now grant Assassin's Focus
• Seismic Blast > Gravestone: Fixed a bug where the hit debris would ignore customization
• Seismic Blast > Tombstone: Fixed a bug where the hit debris would ignore customization
• Sonic Resonance > Liquefy: Fixed a bug where this power would not inherit tinting correctly
• Super Strength > Foot Stomp: Fixed a bug that locked the player in animation until another power was used if executed while flying
• Traps > Force Field Generator: Fixed pet's text description
• Traps > Poison Trap: This power now accepts accuracy enhancements
• Traps > Temporal Bubble: Should now display power attributes in the power info window
• Epic > Arsenal Mastery > LRM: Quick form range reduced from 150ft to 80ft
• Epic > Dark Mastery > Murky Cloud: MinimalFX theme renamed No Fade
• Epic > Dark Mastery > Posses: Power can now stack with itself, now also apply a -special effect to confused targets
• Epic > Dark Mastery > Spirit Drain: Fixed power description (for realsies this time)
• Epic > Psionic Mastery > Harmonic Mind (Scrapper/Stalker) Fixed text description's level of availability.
• Inherent > Domination: Should no longer continue to replay the deactivation effect every 90 seconds
• Secondary Mutation > Devolution: This effect should now properly expire if the affected player dies. Temporary power icons have been adjusted.
• Potential fix for not being able to train after activating long range teleport until zoning.
• Thunder Strike (all versions but dominators): Fixed a bug where the knockback was not using the full radius (removed all inner/outer radius since its using primary/secondary only flags)
   

Task Forces

Advanced Mode - General

• Standardized all hard mode non-AV critter taunts: 1.4x Acc, 30s Rech, 5 Targets, No -Range, Mag 5 w/ 6.5s on players, ~35s on critters.
• Standardized all hard mode AV critter taunts: Autohit, 40s Rech, 16 Targets, No -Range, Mag 5 w/ 6.5s on players, ~40s on critters.

Advanced Mode - Lady Grey's Task Force

Mission 5

• Fixed a marginal scenario where one might be dead, have escaped the LGTF finale, die and take the hospital, and miss mission complete rewards.

Advanced Mode - Imperious Task Force

• Removed Antagonize from boss-class Dark Dwarves in HM ITF.

Advanced Mode - Dr. Aeon's Strike Force

• Removed one stack of Tactics from Hero 1 and Assault from Lady Grey.

Trials

Incarnate Trials

• Fixed a long-standing bug in Incarnate trials that prevented random selection of enemies for spawn variety from working properly, causing every group in the trial to contain the same enemies.
• This bug resulted in different enemies appearing after Page 7 released due to changes in the RNG algorithm, but the root of the bug was that it should have been random selection all along, not always the same one.

Missions

Striga Island

• Striga storyarcs are now only playable by the correct alignments in Ouroboros.

Giant Monsters

Adamastor

• Adamastor's Monstrous Aether now shares cooldown with their merit rewards.

Enemy Factions

Vanguard

• Vanguard faction's normal mode auto Leadership powers now only stack up to once on allies.

Circle of Thorns

• Fixed Master of Death not being granted high level powers at correct level.
• Updated Master of Death and Master of Ruin AI to only cast one Tar Patch or Earthquake per spawn.

Clockwork

• Fixed Tesla Clockwork having improper AI flag to activate Lightning Field.

Council

• Fixed some Council bosses spawning at the wrong level ranges in the mid-20s.

Various

• Miscellaneous description/short help text fixes, some icon bug fixes, some AI fixes.

Rewards

Badges

• Clarified wording on AT Duplication challenge instructions.

Vanity Pets

• Add Mini Jurassik to the accolade hologram pop menu.

User Interface

• Fix some lingering issues with the options window:
  • Fix changes being lost when zoning quickly after changing options.
  • Options that have serverside effects (like Disable XP or Team Mission Completion) always send immediately when they are changed rather than being batched.
  • Slash commands that change options always send immediately rather than being batched.
• Fix an issue with character creation where certain options could "bleed over" from the last character that was logged in rather than being set to their defaults. This does not affect overrides from the saved options.txt file -- those are always applied after the defaults are reset.
• Adjust the tooltip delay slider to show the actual number of milliseconds rather than an ambiguous percentage.
• Fix consignment house UI to not show "No History" if the server sends an empty history response after it has already sent the item history. Make it a bit more aggressive about requesting updates.
  • This does not (yet) solve the issue with wrong history sometimes being displayed but gave us insight into a larger scope of work that needs to be done on the backend.

System

• Switch memory allocator on 32-bit build back to a less performant one but with somewhat less aggressive use of virtual address space. This isn't an issue on 64-bit, but especially when running on 32-bit operating systems with the 2GB process hard limit we need every bit of it we can get.
• This by itself may not be enough to solve the out of memory issues on 32-bit operating systems as the data that needs to be loaded into memory at all times was already well over 1GB. Future work to optimize some in-memory structures is planned but must be done carefully for stability reasons.