Issue 27, Page 7

Patch Notes: Issue 27, Page 7

What's New in Issue 27, Page 7

Marquee Features

• Piecemeal's Personal Story - Issue 27 Finale
• Co-Op Striga Isle & New Villain / Rogue Story Arcs
• Rikti War Zone Revamp - Vanguard Base Expansion
• Advanced Mode - Lady Grey's Task Force

Powers & Gameplay Adjustments

• New Player Experience Improvements
• New Powersets: Arsenal Control & Arsenal Assault
• New Epic / Ancillary Power Pools and Epic Balancing Pass
• Arachnos Soldier / Arachnos Widow Updates & Power Customization
• Sheathed / Holstered Weapons - Now available on all weapon powersets!
• High-Level Council & Circle of Thorns Revamps
• Giant Monster Balancing Pass

Various Adjustments, Improvements & Fixes

• Aether Reward Shop Preview Images + Wave 4
• Team Badges - Task Forces
• New Costume Parts
• New Vanity Pet Invention Recipes
• New Supergroup Base Items
• Loads of bug fixes
• ...and much, much more!

Marquee Features

Piecemeal Issue 27 Finale

'A Second Chance At A First Impression' - Issue 27 Finale: Personal Story, Piecemeal

A strange, archaic and outdated device in the Rikti War Zone has been asking for you by name. If you are ready, you will step into the shoes of Paragon City's newest and most notorious villain as she comes face-to-face with a situation that (for once) she cannot handle. The amount of humble pie she consumes as a result has yet to be accurately calculated.

A new take on the Personal Story, you and your teammates will be forced to assume to the identity of Piecemeal as you navigate a reconstructed simulation of her experience trying to circumvent the protocols in the Paragon City teleport grid - an event that sends her from one place to another uncontrollably before placing you in the heart of a burgeoning apocalypse. Carefully reconstructed from her 360-degree sensor tech and optical recordings by her M.C. of Information, Bile, you will engage in a bit of banter before witnessing the horror hands-on in this Abomination Simulation.

Enjoy some of the canonical reasons for notorious changes, and a heaping bathtub full of foreshadowing!

 This Personal Story can be played together with a full team of 8 players! 

• CONTACT: Pay Phone
  • Accessing this story arc requires having completing Doc Buzzsaw's newest arc.

• LOCATION: Rikti War Zone, /thumbtack 3230.6 0.1 -513.9
• ALIGNMENT / LEVEL: Any - Level 50
• OUROBOROS / ARC: Hero of the City / Made - 27.95

Co-Op Striga Isle & New Story Arcs

• Striga Isle is now a co-op zone that villains can enter using the Smuggler's Submarine line.
• Added ability for villain characters to queue in LFG for Ernesto Hess and Moonfire's Task Forces.
• Arbiter Mudd has been deployed to just outside the Bog to assist villains in training their powers.

'Buried Secrets' - Oberst Straxt

Oberst Straxt of the 5th Column is seeking unscrupulous villains to infiltrate Striga Isle in order to collect old caches left behind by that organization when the Council took control of the island.

• CONTACT: Oberst Straxt
• LOCATION: Striga Isle, /thumbtack -293.2 -25.5 -1028.0
• ALIGNMENT / LEVEL: Villain, Rogue - Level 20-24
• OUROBOROS / ARC: Insider - 27.90
• Will offer repeatable tasks in addition to their story arc.

'Just Prototypical' - Dr. Francois

Dr. Francois, the famous roboticist, has been freed from his recent bout as a Sky Raider prisoner, working on a giant mech project. Easily intimidated, the doctor can aid an enterprising villain in a daring heist against the Sky Raiders.

• CONTACT: Dr. Francois
• LOCATION: Striga Isle, /thumbtack 104.5 -0.0 -1209.6
• ALIGNMENT / LEVEL: Villain, Rogue - Level 20-24
• OUROBOROS / ARC: Insider - 27.91
• Will offer repeatable tasks in addition to their story arc.

'Negotiations of the Living Dead' - Night Widow Ragana

With the Council in shambles there's a power vacuum on Striga. The Warriors, Family and Sky Raiders want to split the Council territory among themselves, and plan to meet to negotiate terms. Arachnos prefers to have the Council in charge and have sent a Night Widow to handle the situation. Night Widow Ragana needs some expendable and deniable resources to break up the negotiations - permanently.

• CONTACT: Night Widow Ragana
• LOCATION: Striga Isle, /thumbtack -507.2 8.0 -1079.6
• ALIGNMENT / LEVEL: Villain, Rogue - Level 20-24
• OUROBOROS / ARC: Insider - 27.92

'The Most Dangerous Prey' - Orpheus

Orpheus, a Warrior bard of some repute, has specialized in hunting the undead. He is now offering his expertise to those he deem worthy. Since you have recently contracted a mysterious ghost-related curse upon your name, you seek out his help.

• CONTACT: Orpheus
• LOCATION: Striga Isle, /thumbtack -2376.0 0.8 -1957.3
• ALIGNMENT / LEVEL: Villain, Rogue - Level 25-29
• OUROBOROS / ARC: Undesirable - Arc 27.93
• Will offer repeatable tasks in addition to their story arc.

'The Last Witch of Striga' - Mage-Killer Tatiana

Mage-Killer Tatiana is hunting a powerful witch. In order to draw out the near-mythical protector of the island, Tatiana needs someone to stir up trouble among the Banished Pantheon and deal with the local chapter of the Legacy Chain.

• CONTACT: Mage-Killer Tatiana
• LOCATION: Striga Isle, /thumbtack -2640.7 66.7 -3346.5
• ALIGNMENT / LEVEL: Villain, Rogue - Level 25-29
• OUROBOROS / ARC: Undesirable - Arc 27.94

Rikti War Zone Revamp

Vanguard Base Expansion

• The Vanguard base in the zone has been expanded and revamped with several additional new sections added and the base now directly connects to the surface from several points.
• The Architect Entertainment functionalities within the zone have been moved inside one of the Vanguard base's new areas.
• The AE building has been replaced by a Vanguard vehicle depot with lifts that connect to the base underground.
• The Rikti Pylons found throughout the zone now con as Level 54 rather than ignoring level mods.
• Added training Rikti Pylon dummies found outside the Vanguard base that match the old pylons.
• Also added four training dummies that con 50 through 54 found outside the Vanguard base on the surface.
  • The color of the lights near the dummies helps inform how they con.
• Added script to all Vanguard training dummies that reports on death how long it took to defeat them from 100% HP.
  • This includes the summonable Vanguard MDC accolade dummy.
• Vanguard Quartermaster and Combat Nurse added near the training dummies on the surface.
• Merit vendor NPC has been replaced by a merit vendor kiosk.
• Benevolabs hologram vendor has been added near the merit kiosk's location.
• Portal mission doors in the zone have been changed to use the new Portal Corp section of the Vanguard base.
• This Portal Corp section also houses connection to the new travel network for Shadow Shard access from Rikti War Zone.
• Vanguard shooting range targets are once again target-able and can be attacked by players for role playing purposes.
• Info NPC by the base exit now using a Vanguard outfit.

 The Vanguard are preparing! But for what? 

Shadow Shard Portal

• Now accessible via a new travel network that links: Rikti War Zone, Peregrine Island, and Firebase Zulu.
• This new travel network has a unique icon that can be found on the mini map as 'Shadow Shard Portal'.

 Look for the red icon! 

Advanced Mode - Lady Grey's Task Force

• Advanced Difficulty Mode label shortened to Advanced Mode.
• Advanced Mode added to the Lady Grey's Task Force, accessible via the Challenge Mode options found before starting the Task Force.
  • This mode significantly changes the content, adding new rewards, enemies, boss encounters, areas, and badges.

 This new Advanced Mode is out of this world! 

• Completing Lady Grey's Task Force on Advanced Mode will reward players with an added choice of 40 Reward Merits or a random Hamidon Origin enhancement from a pool including expanded combos that match the D-Sync Origin's enhancement selection.
• Enhancements are weighted so chances are higher (2:1) to receive one of the new combos:
  • Vesicle Exposure (End Mod/Rech)
  • Stereocilia Exposure (Slow/Rech/End)
  • Microtubule Exposure (End Mod/Acc)
  • Karyoplasm Exposure (Dam/End)
  • Microvillus Exposure (Acc/Range)
  • Chromatin Exposure (Dam/Rech)
  • Ectosome Exposure (Threat/Acc/Rech)
  • Amyloplast Exposure (Rech/Heal/Absorb)
  • Chloroplast Exposure (Acc/Heal/Absorb)

Team Badges - Task Forces

New Badge Checks

• New category of bonuses added to Task Forces that are always enabled by default. This automatically checks if the team meets any composition criteria to reward the earned badge.
• Team badges function by checking team members as they enter the mission, if a player does not enter any missions they are not counted for the check.
  • Teams that meet the criteria described are automatically granted the badge upon the content's completion.
  • Qualifying teams for these badges will be notified by a small icon appearing near their challenge status icons.
    • / Role Diversity - Complete the content on a team with Archetypes that fulfill all five roles.
    • Archetype Duplication - Complete the content with a team of 4 or more using only the same Archetype.

• This feature is only for associated badges and does not change any other rewards granted by the content.

 Teamwork makes the dream work! 

Powers & Gameplay Adjustments

New Player Experience (NPE) Improvements

With everything finally becoming official, we're at the beginning of a new era for the game, and it is time we become better stewards of the core game itself. The first step is to start making some improvements to the new player experience (or NPE, as the cool kids refer to it) to remove some of the small "pain points" experienced by new players (you may have noticed a large influx of them recently!).

Character Creation Guidance

We cleaned up some of the language and graphics during character creation and tutorial selection to guide new players toward creating their characters in the easier starting areas:

• Updated text to nudge new players to start in Primal Earth, not Praetoria.
• Updated text to nudge players towards Breakout or Outbreak, not Galaxy City.
• RESISTANCE and LOYALIST are now colored blue and gold in the text descriptions (in the same way HERO and VILLAIN are colored blue / red).
• "City of Heroes: Freedom" and "City of Heroes: Going Rogue" graphics replaced with "Primal Earth" and "Praetorian Earth" graphics.
• Kheldians now show stats during AT selection (instead of a series of ?s).
• EAT descriptions updated to state that they are not recommended for new players, cannot access the tutorial, and are locked to (start as) specific alignments.
• Origin selection guidance text updated to clarify that it's primarily a narrative choice with minimal gameplay significance.
• Several AT descriptions updated to correct poor grammar and remove needless gendering.
• Several AT stats updated to better reflect their abilities.
• Replaced all the ugly dashes (-) with pretty bullets (•).

Access to Travel

• New characters will automatically start with Athletic Run (players can swap this out at S.T.A.R.T, formerly P2W, for another version).
• Passport (and Long Range Teleporter) is now unlocked by acquiring any 10 exploration badges, instead of one exploration accolade. This doesn't affect characters who already own Long Range Teleporter, and the Pocket D unlock method is still present.
  • Note: For technical reasons, this only counts exploration badges collected after the patch.
• New characters are given 30 minutes of the LKT-1700 Rocket Pack when training to level 2. The description informs players how to get more.

Origin Attacks

• Damage is now more consistent during the early levels.
  • It is now scale 1.00 at levels 1 through 10. This damage declines linearly, starting at level 11, and ending at 0.30 at level 17 (previously the damage began dropping off from level 2).
• Endurance cost removed.
• Recharge reduced from 4s to 3s.
• Range increased from 45 feet to 80 feet to match most ranged attacks.
• Now added to the tray upon character creation.
• Power icon colors updated to Inherent color scheme.
  • Note: The existing icons still exist with their old file names if you were using them for macro images.

User Interface Improvements

• All three main power trays are expanded by default, and pre-set to tray 1, 2, and 3 rather than all being tray 1.

  • Additional trays added with the + button now default to tray 4, 5, 6, etc.

• The inspiration tray is in its expanded state by default.

• To avoid confusion with Sprint, Prestige Power Slide is now no longer added to the tray upon character creation.

• Fixed a bug which sometimes caused power trays to be completely emptied if a new character zoned or logged off before moving powers in or adding extra powers to the tray.

• Power trays now default to showing the first associated key binding instead of slot numbers.

Options Improvements

• Power recharge timers now default to on (Center).

  • The power tray timer defaults to shown for powers with an estimated recharge of longer than 15 seconds. This can be changed in the options menu, or a custom value may be set using the /recharge_timer_threshold command.

  • Icons of recharging powers no longer shrink when the recharge timer is enabled, to make them easier to see behind the number.

    • Veterans used to the old behavior can override this with /tray_always_shrink 1.

  • New settings added to control power tray animations and add more customization options (format options, color coding, opacity) for the recharge timer.

• The game's volume levels have been adjusted to make for a more comfortable experience.

  • The volume sliders now range from 0% - 150%.

  • The 150% setting is equivalent to the former 100% setting.

  • The slider range scales along a curve so that more of the slider results in usable volume levels.

• The "Show Pet Window Option" setting has been removed and is always enabled.

  • This just provides players with the ability to open the Pets window (by clicking "Pets" at the top of the Team window), it doesn't open the window by default.

• Added an option to control power tray labels: Can be set to Key Bindings, Slot Numbers, or None.

• The Auto-accept level changes above or below options now default to level 50 instead of 0, preventing pop-ups from appearing when teaming.

• What was formerly called "Inverted" mouse is now "Normal" and vice-versa.

• The Villain Name and Villain Health Bar UI options now include "Always" in the list of settings to cycle through.

• Upon closer inspection, the existing keybind profile and save/load system turns out to only be half-baked. We put it back in the oven and made the following improvements:
  • Now correctly switches the selected profile in the drop-down when you log out and switch characters, instead of incorrectly showing the profile for the first character logged in.
  • Now saves the current profile name into the keybinds.txt file when saving bindings, so that other characters which load that file will use the correct base profile.
  • No longer saves every single key into keybinds.txt, only the keys which the user has customized. This matches how it's always been handled on the server side when saving characters, and makes the behavior consistent after saving/loading key bindings.
• Keys can now be unbound by pressing Escape after clicking on a key as if to rebind it. Previously there was not a simple way to unbind a key from the options UI.
• Changes have been made to the options window to make it more intuitive to use. The various buttons have always been a source of trouble. The "Apply Now" button in particular is extremely unhelpful. Most of the time it doesn't actually do anything, because many options take effect immediately. Some options however require the Apply Now button to take effect. Worse, there is a third class of options that appear to take effect immediately, but don't actually save unless you click Apply Now, and will be lost after logging out if you simply close the window. Future updates to the window are planned to address these issues, but for now the following adjustments have been made:
  • The "Apply Now" button is now a "Close" button and simply closes the window.
  • If an option is changed which must be applied to save it, the "Close" button is replaced with an "Apply Now" button and starts flashing, making it clear to the player that the setting change they made needs to be applied. Once clicked, the settings are saved and it goes back to being a "Close" button.
  • The "Cancel Changes" button no longer closes the window, and has become an "Undo Changes" button that reverts any changes you have made since opening the options window.

Control Scheme

The game's default key bindings and mouse options have been modernized:

• The default run forward binding now turns the character to face the camera direction. This mostly affects what happens when you press forward after using free look to change the camera angle.
• Running forward with Left Button + Right Button is now a standard run and does not activate autorun.
• Left-mouse-button dragging activates Quick Look mode, which is similar to free camera look with the middle mouse button but snaps back to center when the button is released.
• The default bindings for the top tray (Alt2) changed from Control+# to Shift+# for reduced finger strain on commonly used combinations.
• The pop-up server tray now has default key bindings of Control+#.
• Team member selection bindings moved to Shift+F1 - Shift+F8.
• Default key bindings for collapsing and switching power trays removed. With more trays visible all the time and the extra added trays, having 1 of them change when pressing minus or equals isn't as useful, and it was easy to accidentally press these and cause confusion.
• The previous bindings are available under the drop-down as the "Classic" preset, and should work just like they always have.
• These changes only apply to new characters, and are overridden by customized bindings that were previously saved as the default for new characters (the "Save to default file" button).
• Applying some or all of these settings on existing characters may require either resetting to the default bindings or manually applying the changes.

In-Game Guidance

• When gaining the free Rocket Pack at level 2, you are presented with a pop-up explaining how to get more at the S.T.A.R.T. Vendor.
• Finding your first exploration badge now gives a pop-up explaining that you'll get LRT if you collect 10 in total.
• Fixed and updated the missing Invention tutorial pop-up when reaching level 10 (this pop-up will also automatically unlock the Invention tutorial contact relevant to your faction).
• Rewrote the "You got a Tip!" Pop-up to be more up-to-date and informative.

Miscellaneous

• Pay 2 Win (and Transact 4 Victory) have rebranded as S.T.A.R.T.
• Exploration badges now award a tour guide tip.
  • The very first exploration badge you pick up does not award a tip (to avoid getting two pop-ups from one badge).

• Exploration badges now grant Patrol XP instead of regular XP.

  • The amount of Patrol XP gained is dramatically higher than the previous amount of regular XP previously gained.

  • The amount scales with level, starting with 1.5 bars at level 1, down to 0.25 bars at level 50.

New Powerset - Arsenal Control

New primary for Controllers and Dominators

• Armed with a state-of-the-art multipurpose rifle, you are able to deliver a wide variety of payloads to control your enemies and render them incapable of responding.

Powers:

•   Tranquilizer Ranged, DMG(Toxic), Foe Sleep, -SPD

  • The Tranquilizing Dart is the perfect tool to sideline a single foe. It deals some toxic damage and can render the target unconscious, allowing you to focus on more important targets. The target remains asleep for some time, but will awaken if attacked.

  • The Sleep component of this power is Auto Hit against regular enemies, but a To Hit check is required to against AVs and players, as well as to make secondary effects apply

•   Cryo Freeze Ray  Ranged, DMG(Cold), Foe Hold, -Recharge, -SPD, -Fly
  • The Cryo Freeze Ray encases your foe in a block of ice, holding him helpless in place for a while and dealing some cold damage.
•   Sleep Grenade Ranged (Location AoE), DMG(Smashing), Foe Sleep, -Recharge, -SPD, -Fly
  • The Sleep Grenade can be launched at long range from beneath the barrel of your Assault Rifle. It releases a cloud of gas that will make enemies drowsy, slow, and fall asleep.
•   Liquid Nitrogen  Ranged (Location AoE), DoT(Cold), Knockdown, -SPD

  • The Liquid Nitrogen dispenser can spray a target location with liquid nitrogen creating a large patch of ice. Those caught in the patch of ice are dramatically slowed, tend to fall down taking damage, and will be unable to jump.

•   Cloaking Device  Toggle: Self Stealth, +DEF(All)

  • This Cloaking Device is the ultimate in infiltration technology. It uses an LCD body coating to become all but impossible to detect. While concealed you can only be seen at very close range. If you attack while concealed, you will be discovered. Even if discovered, you are hard to see but will retain some of your Defense bonus to all attacks.

•   Smoke Canister Ranged (Location AoE), Foe -Perception, -To Hit, Confuse
  • The Smoke Canister is a powerful infiltration tool. Fling it at a target location and it will quickly cover the area in smoke. While engulfed within this smoke, most enemies will not be able to see past normal melee range, although some may have better perception. If the foes are attacked, they will become confused and might attack their allies.
•   Flash Bang  Ranged (Targeted AoE), DMG(Energy), Disorient, -To Hit
  • The Flash Bang Grenade is ideal to disorient a group of enemies. Even enemies that are not disoriented will have their chance ot hit reduced.
•   Tear Gas  Ranged (Targeted AoE), Foe Hold, -DMG
  • The Tear Gas canister serves as the ultimate crowd control tool, rendering enemies incapacitated and choking, thereby preventing them from taking any action while also debuffing their damage output.
•   Tri-Cannon  Build Tri-Cannon: Ranged, DMG(Lethal)
  • The Tri-Cannon is the perfect companion in the field. It has an extremely fast fire rate and is equipped with a customized tracking system. Once locked on, it will continue to unload a volley of lead into the target until it is destroyed. Enemies hit by the Tri-Cannon, as well as those near it, will prioritize attacking it over it's owner. It is armored and can take significant amounts of damage.

New Powerset - Arsenal Assault

New secondary for Dominators

• You use your cutting edge rifle to not only devastate foes from range, but also wield it and other advanced munitions at short range to incapacitate anyone who gets too close.

Powers:

•   Burst Ranged, DMG(Lethal), Foe -DEF

  • Quickly fires a Burst of rounds at a single target at very long range. Damage is average, but the fire rate is fast. Can also reduce the target's defense.

•   Buttstroke Melee, DMG(Smash), Foe Disorient
  • A smash with the butt of your rifle with a high chance of disorienting. 
•   Buckshot  Ranged (Cone), DMG(Lethal), Foe Knockback
  • Good at close range. Fires a cone of Buckshot pellets and can knock some foes down.
•   Elbow Strike  Melee, DMG(Smash), Foe Knockback

  • You strike your foe with a powerful punch dealing Smashing damage and knocking the target back.

•   Power Up  Self +Special, +DMG(All)

  • Boosts the damage and secondary effects of your powers. Your powers' effects like Heals, Defense Buffs, Endurance Drains, Disorients, Holds, Immobilizes and more, are all improved. The effects of Power Up last a short while, and only the next couple of attacks will be boosted.

•   Trip Mine Place Mine: PBAoE, DMG(Fire), Foe Knockback
  • You can place a Trip Mine on the ground. Any villains that pass near the Trip Mine will cause it to explode, damaging all nearby foes and sending them flying.
•   Targeting Drone  Toggle: Self +To Hit, +Perception, Res(DeBuff To Hit)
  • When this device is activated, the small Targeting Drone hovers around your head and emits targeting laser sights. The lasers can dramatically improve your chance to hit, and increase your perception, allowing you to better see stealthy foes. Targeting Drone also grants you resistance to powers that debuff your chance to hit.
•   Sniper Rifle  Sniper, DMG(Lethal), Foe Knockback
  • Sniper Rifle is a powerful piece of hardware. It is very accurate and has a very long range. The impressive round can knock down its target. Like most sniper attacks, you must take your time to aim, so this attack can be interrupted. If you are engaged in battle this attack becomes instant-cast. If you are not engaged, it will do bonus damage.
•   Ignite  Range, DoT(Fire)
  • Sprays a target with accelerant from your flamethrower, igniting it and causing extreme damage over time. Also sets the location on fire if the target is grounded, inflicting damage to additional foes that step in the area.

Character Customization Improvements

Costumes

New Costume Parts

• Added 'Gold Bricker' preset to the costume menu set offerings.

Male / Female / Huge:

• Patterns > Chest, Gloves, Hips, Boots > "Bars" (Contribution by @Marbing)
• Patterns > Chest, Gloves, Hips, Boots > "Technopath" (Contribution by @Marbing)
• Patterns > Chest, Gloves, Hips, Boots > "Paragon Protector"
• Head > Full Helmet > "Paragon Protector"
• Head > Hats > "Plague Doctor 1"
• Head > Hats > "Plague Doctor 2"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Plague Doctor"
• Head > Half Helmets > Helmets > "Modern Beret"
• Head > Half Helmets > Helmets > "ACH Helmet Tintable 1"
• Head > Half Helmets > Helmets > "ACH Helmet Tintable 2"
• Head > Half Helmets > Helmets > "ACH Helmet 1-8"
• Head > Half Helmets > Helmet Detail 1 > "Modern Beret Flash"
• Head > Half Helmets > Helmet Detail 2 > "Modern Beret Detail 1-13"
• Head > Floating Heads > Eyeball > "Basic"
• Head > Floating Heads > Eyeball > "Glowing"
• Head > Floating Heads > Eyeball > "Evil"
• Head > Floating Heads > Skull 1 > "Glowing"
• Head > Floating Heads > Skull 1 > "Evil"
• Head > Floating Heads > Skull 2 > "Glowing"
• Head > Floating Heads > Skull 2 > "Evil"
• Head > Floating Heads > Skull 3 > "Glowing"
• Head > Floating Heads > Skull 3 > "Evil"
• Head > Think Tank > Eyeball > "Basic"
• Head > Think Tank > Eyeball > "Glowing"
• Head > Think Tank > Eyeball > "Evil"
• Head > Think Tank > Skull 1 > "Basic"
• Head > Think Tank > Skull 1 > "Glowing"
• Head > Think Tank > Skull 1 > "Evil"
• Head > Think Tank > Skull 2 > "Basic"
• Head > Think Tank > Skull 2 > "Glowing"
• Head > Think Tank > Skull 2 > "Evil"
• Head > Think Tank > Skull 3 > "Basic"
• Head > Think Tank > Skull 3 > "Glowing"
• Head > Think Tank > Skull 3 > "Evil"
• Head > Think Tank > Skull 4 > "Basic"
• Head > Think Tank > Rubber Duck > "Friendly"
• Head > Think Tank > Rubber Duck > "Evil"
• Shoulders > Ornate Skulls > "Glow"
• Shoulders > Ornate Skulls > "Metallic Glow"
• Shoulders > Half Skulls > "Glow"
• Shoulders > Half Skulls > "Metallic Glow"
• Shoulders > Fanged Skulls > "Glow"
• Shoulders > Fanged Skulls > "Metallic Glow"
• Shoulders > Large Fanged Skull > "Glow"
• Shoulders > Large Fanged Skull > "Metallic Glow"
• Shoulders > Large Skull > "Glow"
• Shoulders > Large Skull > "Metallic Glow"
• Shoulders > Ribs + Skulls > "Glow"
• Shoulders > Ribs + Skulls > "Metallic Glow"
• Shoulders > Spines + Skulls > "Glow"
• Shoulders > Spines + Skulls > "Metallic Glow"
• Shoulders > Ilium + Skulls > "Glow"
• Shoulders > Ilium + Skulls > "Metallic Glow"
• Belt > Skull > "Glow"
• Belt > Skull > "Metallic Glow"
• Belt > Fanged Skull > "Glow"
• Belt > Fanged Skull > "Metallic Glow"
• Belt > Lone Skull > "Glow"
• Belt > Lone Skull > "Metallic Glow"
• Belt > Headhunter > "Glow"
• Belt > Headhunter > "Metallic Glow"
• Gloves > "Advanced Clockwork Blaster"
• Various > Clockwork > "Rusted Clockwork" - Texture added to all existing Praetorian Clockwork parts except faces.
• Backpacks > "Tech Knight Quiver 2" - Offset to the right to allow for a holstered bow to rest on the left shoulder alongside it.
• Backpacks > "Clockwork"
• Backpacks > "Rusted Clockwork"
• Backpacks > "Clockwork Winder"

Male:

• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1 (High)"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1 (Low)"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1S"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1S (High)"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1S (Low)"
• Head > Detail 2 > "Plague Doctor"

Female:

• Upper Body > Roman Sybil > "Roman Sybil 1"
• Upper Body > Roman Sybil > "Roman Sybil 2"
• Head > Detail 2 > "Plague Doctor"

Huge:

• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1 (High)"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1 (Low)"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1S"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1S (High)"
• Head > Detail 1 > "Sweetheart 1S (Low)"

Snakeskin Capes:

These are available for all body types after earning the Mongoose badge (for defeating 50 Snakes).

• Capes > Collars > "Mongoose: Snakeman"
• Capes > Collars > "Mongoose: Snakeskin"
• Capes > Collars > "Mongoose: Stheno"
• Capes > "Mongoose: Snakeman (Viper)"
• Capes > "Mongoose: Snakeman (Mamba)"
• Capes > "Mongoose: Snakeman (Cobra)"
• Capes > "Mongoose: Snakeskin (Viper)"
• Capes > "Mongoose: Snakeskin (Mamba)"
• Capes > "Mongoose: Snakeskin (Cobra)"
• Capes > "Mongoose: Stheno (Viper)"
• Capes > "Mongoose: Stheno (Mamba)"
• Capes > "Mongoose: Stheno (Cobra)"
• VEATS > Capes > "Mongoose: Snakeman (Arachnos)"
• VEATS > Capes > "Mongoose: Snakeskin (Arachnos)"
• VEATS > Capes > "Mongoose: Stheno (Arachnos)"

Quote

Our intent is that all legacy costume parts are available from the outset, including any previously unavailable parts (like the Sybil outfit). Occasionally we will opt for new content to be unlockable. There's absolutely a benefit to having a (very small) portion of content discoverable and acquirable in the game, instead of available from the outset. The game is full of things that get unlocked in differing ways - Accolade powers, Aether costumes, and (new in this update) the Giant Monster minipets. This was the case during the live era too, we're just starting again with a blank slate.

 

For the Snakeskin capes specifically, it's our intent to make it an account-wide unlock eventually, but there are some underlying technical issues preventing it at the moment. It's not a simple problem though, so it may take some to overcome.

Costume Bug Fixes:

Female:

• Upper Body > Jackets/Sleeveless Jackets > Chest > "Spectrum" was missing and has been added.
• Upper Body > Jackets > Gloves > "Gold Bricker" can now be used with jacket sleeves and trench coat.
• Widow > Pants > "Blood Widow" adjusted texture around inner knee.

Male:

• Upper Body > Shirts > Asymmetric Gloves > "Aeon Tech" right glove should now display properly.

Male, Huge:

• Lower Body > Boots (All) > "Victorian Steampunk (Legacy)" was added to restore previous tinting appearance.
• Upper Body > Baggy > Chest Details > "Resistance Strap" was removed from baggy category as it uses the tights version by mistake (a baggy version does not exist).

Male, Female, Huge:

• Head > Full Helmets > Chitin Helm > "Masks" should now work properly.
  • If you have a lot of Chitin helmet costumes (for those that reported this issue), you can open your .costume files and update the texture path to include '!face_' before the pattern name so it passes validation when loading.
• Upper Body > Tight > Chest Details > "Resistance Strap" fixed 2 color tint for leather and metal detail.
• Upper Body > Jackets/Sleeveless Jackets > Chest Detail > Under > "Void Sanction" was missing and has been added.
• Fixed capitalization typo in "Chaos LEather" pattern name.

Custom Weapons

• All weapon sets currently in the game now have sheathed/holstered weapon support. Yay! 🎉

Holstered Bows

• Holstered Bows toggle option now available.

Holstered Beam Rifles

•  Holstered Beam Rifles toggle option now available.

Holstered Pulse Rifles

• Pulse Rifle has been folded into the Assault Rifle/Munition Rifle FX and it now has access to all of the same weapon models as those sets.
• Holstered Pulse Rifles toggle option now available.

Holstered Dual Pistols

• Holstered Dual Pistols toggle option now available.

New Custom Weapons

• The following weapon models have been added as custom weapon options:

Arachnos Mace

• Rikti Bladerifle

Arachnos / Assault / Munitions / Pulse Rifles

• Devastator
• Shard Cannon
• Shock Rifle

Broadsword

• Red Cap Dagger
• Thorn Blade 2
• Circle of Thorns Sword

Beam Rifle

• Legacy Assault Rifle
• Assault Rifle
• Legacy Merc. Assault Weapon
• Merc. Assault Weapon
• Silenced Merc. Assault Weapon
• Mk. II Merc. Assault Weapon
• Military Assault Rifle
• Sniper Rifle
• Malta Sniper Rifle
• Tommy Gun
• Council Assault Weapon
• Council Sub-Machine Gun
• Nemesis Rifle
• Nemesis Rifle 2
• Vanguard Rifle w/Bayonet
• Elite Vanguard Rifle w/Bayonet
• Crey Laser Rifle
• Crey Pulse Blaster
• Rikti Blaster
• Rikti Cannon

Dual Pistols

• Praetorian Resistance Blaster
• Rikti Blaster
• Crey Pistol
• Circle of Thorns Crossbow
• Hand Crossbow

Customization Options

• The two accolade powers that have weapon models can now be customized from the Power Customization menu.

Crey CBX-9 Pistol

• Original (Default)
• Tintable
• Semi-Automatic Pistol
• Revolver
• Malta Sidearm
• Arachnos Pistol
• Rikti Blaster

Stolen Immobilizer Ray

• Original (Default)
• Tintable
• Shotgun
• Canister Gun
• Malta Launcher
• Orestes Rifle
• Rikti Entangler

Claws & Spines

• Legacy Spines > Barb Swipe and Claws > Swipe flail animations added as alternative animations for Spines > Ripper and Claws > Eviscerate.

Teleport & Combat Teleport

• Several new alternate Teleport customization options added:
  • Murder of Crows
  • Rikti
  • Smoke Bomb
  • Tornado

Customization Fixes

• Teleport: Restored original colors for "Power Customization > Teleport > Original"

Various Additions, Enhancements, & Fixes

Badges

New Badges

Accolade

• Stowaway - Complete all villain-alignment story arcs on Striga Isle.

Accomplishment

•   Doesn't Look At Explosions - Successfully complete the ending sequence of Advanced Mode of the Lady Grey's Task Force.
• Face Turn - Complete Piecemeal's Personal Story.

Achievement

• Mirror Image - Complete Task Force content on a team that qualifies for Archetype Duplication.
• / Variety Act - Complete Task Force content on a team that qualifies for Role Diversity.

Defeat

•   Zookeeper Omega - Defeat the new boss encounter in the Advanced Mode of the Lady Grey's Task Force.

Exploration

• Party Animal - Visit Pocket D, Studio 55, and the Paragon Dance Party.

History

•   Bicentennial - Celebrate the 200 year history of Paragon City with this history badge spanning 20 plaques scattered around the various zones:
  • 1. 200 Years of Paragon - Kings' Row
  • 2. South End Rail Riot - Independence Port
  • 3. World War 2 - Independence Port
  • 4. Statesman - Kings' Row
  • 5. The Great Depression - Kings' Row
  • 6. Terra Volta - Terra Volta
  • 7. Paragon Times - Steel Canyon
  • 8. Rudolph Augustus Seifert - Atlas Park
  • 9. Cold War Paragon - Brickstown
  • 10. Paragon Pride - Kallisti Wharf
  • 11. The Spirit of Freedom - Atlas Park
  • 12. Hamidon - Founders' Falls
  • 13. The Outbreak - The Hollows
  • 14. The Ferry - Peregrine Island
  • 15. Vietnam War - Atlas Park
  • 16. Brass Monday - Steel Canyon
  • 17. Humanitarian Activities - Skyway City
  • 18. Rikti War - Founders' Falls
  • 19. Galaxy City - Perez Park
  • 20. Dark Astoria - Talos Island

Badge Fixes & Adjustments

Accolades

• Born in Battle - Fixed badge meter not tracking progress correctly.
• High Pain Threshold - Fixed accolade referencing needing Relentless badge instead of The Unbroken Spirit.

Defeats

• Spider Smasher - Fixed female Wolf Spider Huntsmen not counting towards badge progress.
• Cap Buster - Now properly displays the badge's hint after a single Red Cap defeat, instead of after 20.
• Believer - Now only requires a single Sally defeat, instead of two.
• Weed Whacker - Badge hint now properly states to defeat 50 Succubus or Hellfrost.
• Infiltrator - Fixed to count defeats of radiation and psychic Paragon Protector Elites.
• Hellspawned - Fixed to count the minion Damned in the Dr. Aeon Strike Force.
• Gravedigger - Fixed to count the Zoombie Bomb Cadavers found in Agent Watkin's Story Arc.
• Fixed female Skulls not counting towards various Skulls defeat badge progress.

Exploration

• Rookie - Moved from Echo: Atlas Park to Atlas Park (128.5 16.4 -233.0)
• Silent Sentinel - Moved from Atlas Park to Echo: Atlas Park (-608, 70, -1890)

Emotes

New Emotes

• /e donut6
  • (Drenched Donuts has partnered with Choco Mints candy to produce a minty chocolate crumble variety of donut, adding to their line of flavors.)
• /e PocketDog (/e PocketHotDog, /e JumboDeluxePocketDog).
  • (Dancing the night away requires lots of calories. This juicy, grilled-to-perfection 'Deluxe' Pocket Dog is DJ Zero's latest offering on the Pocket D menu!)
• /e JumboDog (/e JumboHotDog)
• /e Onigiri
• /e PumpkinMug (/e pumpkinmug1)
• /e Smartphone
• /e Cameraphone
• /e Text
• /e Smartphone2 (legacy model)
• /e Cameraphone2 (legacy model)
• /e Text2 (legacy model)

Emote Fixes

• (/e sitchair) alias added for /e Sitchair1
• Fixed the right lower leg position on the drinking mug animation, which caused some tall boots to clip into the leg.

Vanity Rewards - Aether Vendor Preview Images & Wave 4

• The name of the Prismatic Aether Particles salvage shortened down to Prismatic Aether.
• All Aether costume rewards now display a preview picture in the BenevoLabs vendor menu to help customers decide on which costume is best for them.

 Hmm, might get hunted if I wore these... 

Tier 1 Reward Additions

• New NPC costumes added to the Tier 1 Aether reward vendor offerings:
  • Costume: Council Zenith Warcry
  • Costume: Council Zenith MekMan
  • Costume: PPD Assault Suit
  • Costume: PPD Enforcer
  • Costume: Longbow Cataphract
  • Costume: Rularuu Honored Brute
  • Costume: Rularuu Bull Natterling
  • Costume: Rularuu Wisp Overlord
  • Costume: Shivan Destroyer

Tier 2 Reward Additions

• New NPC costumes added to the Tier 2 Aether reward vendor offerings:
  • Costume: Prototype FreedomCorp Heracles
  • Costume: Prototype FreedomCorp Phalanx Suit

 Sleek & shiny! 

Tier 3 Reward Additions

• New cosmetic effects added to the Tier 3 Aether reward vendor offerings:
  • Effect: Luminous (Peacebringer FX, original and tintable)
  • Effect: Umbral (Warshade FX, original and tintable)
  • Effect: Drone (Targetting Drone FX, original and tintable)
  • Effect: Reflection (Shadow Shard Reflection FX, original, tintable, and no transparency)
  • Effect: Entropic (Energy Aura FX, original and tintable)
  • Effect: Darkness (Dark Armor FX; Dark Embrace, Murky Cloud, and Cloak of Fear, originals and tintables)
  • Effect: Organic: (Bio-Armor geometry FX, original and tintable)
  • Effect: Puncture: (Spines geometry FX, original, tintable, thorns, spikes, crystal, and slate)
• All Tier 3 rewards except for Mini Mode can now be used in PvP.

Aether Reward Fixes

• Fixed incorrect coloration on the right arm and right leg of the Legacy Rikti Chief Soldier costume.
• Increased the size of several of the larger Aether costumes to match their critters: Fake Nemesis, Prototype Fake Nemesis, Warhulk

Supergroup Bases

 Lots of fun, new things for base builders! 

New Supergroup Base Items: (318)

• Significantly increased the precision which base item positions and rotations are persisted in the database. This solves the issue of items "drifting" from the position they appeared in the editor after the base mapserver has shut down and restarted.

Task Forces

Apex's Task Force - 'Alpha Strike'

Mission 2

• This mission's entry text says you arrive via a helicopter, but the mission door was a portal. This has been corrected and now this mission uses the same door as Apex's first mission.

Barracuda's Strike Force - 'Thus Spoke The Reichsman'

Mission 3

• Fixed door leading into the 5th Column base from being unselectable while open.

Dr. Aeon's Strike Force - 'Chasing Fool's Gold'

Rewards

• The weighting on the drop table for the D-Sync Origin enhancements has been adjusted; Players should see the new enhancement combinations drop with more frequency (2:1 or 66% chance).

Mission 4

• Fixed manhole doors from being unselectable when open.

Mission 5

• Emperor Requiem has shaken off his mental fog and will now properly try and destroy anybody ambitious enough to disturb his meditations.
• Mini map added to the Devouring Earth ripple section of this mission.
• Fixed warehouse doors from being unselectable while open.

Mission 7

• Increased Battle Becky's follow detection radius and gave her no collision to promote cooperative movement pathing.

Advanced Mode - Imperious Task Force - 'Time's Arrow'

Mission 4

• Romulus' Barrier Novas should now be visible and render from farther away.

Rewards

• The total count of Prismatic Aether salvage awarded by this content has been increased by :
  • Tenacious (1-Star): 4 from 2
  • Rugged (2-Star): 11 from 7
  • Unyielding (3-Star): 17 from 13
  • Invincible (4-Star): 24 from 20

Imperious Task Force - 'Time's Arrow'

Mission 3

• Fixed a bug that was causing the Romulus Phalanx computer to have a +1 Level Shift applied at all times.

Lady Grey's Task Force

• Fixed issue with most missions in this Task Force displaying all mission objectives immediately at start instead of appearing sequentially as the mission progresses.

Hamidon Essence

• This temporary power is now a Toggle and can now be traded if the leader wants give the Advanced Mode danger immunity to another player.
  • Otherwise this power continues to only be a visual effect on normal mode.
• This power now has a unique power icon:

Mission 1

• Removed an invisible map object found near the elevators on the second level that had collision but could not be seen.

Mission 2

• Rider: Famine's aura and blast attacks changed from Special to Toxic damage.
• All four Riders now have unique individually colored costumes:

 How well do you know your Riders? 

Mission 3

• Infernia and Glacia are now found in set locations. Infernia is encountered near the entrance and Glacia at a set position further within the mission, rather than both appearing anywhere randomly which often led to backtracking to find Glacia.
• This mission now requires at least 2 of the 6 hostages be saved.

Mission 4

• Weakened Hamidon, Mitochondria Electrolyte, and Mitochondria Antibody attacks changed from Special to Toxic damage.
• This mission's map now uses the Rikti Invasion skybox.
• Taking the hospital on this mission will return you to the Vanguard helicopter instead of back to the zone.

Mission 5

• The Injured Vanguard Soldier at the beginning of this mission will now only say his dialog lines once instead of spamming the chat log for the entire mission's duration.

Silver Mantis' Strike Force - 'Pirates of the Sky'

Mission 1

• Updated Tsoo Artists to better see stealth and increased their leash range.

Tin Mage's Task Force - 'The Praetorian Offensive'

Mission 1

• This mission's door now always defaults to the Vanguard helicopter located next to Tin Mage.

Mission 2

• Mini map added to Peregrine Island section of this mission.
• Fixed this mission using the Cimeroran compass on the minimap.

Mission 3

• This mission's entry text says you arrive via a helicopter, but the mission door was a portal. This has been corrected and now this mission uses the same door as Tin Mage's first mission.
• Fixed several of the doors in this mission being unselectable while open.

Story Arcs

Agent G.'s Story Arc - 'A Faultline in the Sands of Time'

• Fixed Penelope Yin not playing the Disable PCM Device emote in the arc finale.

Viridian's Story Arc - 'The Conference of Evil'

• Sebastian Frost is now using his correct model in all appearances in this arc.
• Fixed a map issue that caused the finale map Arachnos floors to not have the correct fog.

NPC Enemies & Factions

Arachnos

• Incarnate-level Arachnos were missed for the gender parity update, this has been adjusted and now Bane Spiders, Crab Spiders, Night Widows, and Arbiters should have the opposite gender costumes at 1/8th chance.
• Fixed Scirocco lightning attacks missing animations.
• Red Widow given a proper description.
• New costume added for Red Widow's appearances post-revival.
• Fixed Ghost Widow Etherealise not properly targeting.
• General adjustments to Wolf Spiders, Bane Spiders, Crab Spiders, Widows, and Fortunatas to more closely mirror their VEAT counterparts 
• High level Crab Spider Webmasters now have access to Venom Grenades in their arsenal.
• NPC Fortunatas/Widows have had their Mental Training base resistances replaced with Combat Training and Foresight.
• Fortunata Mistresses' Will Domination replaced with Dominate.
• High level Blood Widows added to levels 35-54, with new costumes.
• High level Night Widows now have an Assassins Slash.
• Fate Sealed added to Kalinda.
• Pain Tolerance added to Night Widow Nocturne.
• Tarantula Mistress/Queen claw attacks now deal toxic DoT and slow.
• Tarantula Mistress Mental Scramble is no longer autohit.
• Tarantula Queen Scramble Thoughts is no longer autohit.

Axis America

• Restored original costumes to all enemies in this faction to visually distinguish it from Council Empire mobs.

 Yep, definitely bad guys. 

Cimeroran Traitors

• Incarnate-level Minotaurs and Cyclopes re-tuned to make them more manageable in non-Advanced Mode content.

Circle of Thorns

• High-level mobs revamped.
• Various crossbow-using Circle of Thorns mobs now use the wooden arcane crossbow model.
• Fixed Madness Mage Scramble Thoughts being level locked outside critter's level range.
• Master of Ruin / Ruin Mage's defense buff from Dispersion Bubble reduced by 10%.

Clockwork

• Fixed Tesla Clockwork refusing to toggle Lightning Field.
• Glow mask applied to all Clockwork eye textures to enhance their visual presentation:

 Those glowing eyes are much more imposing! 

Council

• High-level mobs revamped.
• Restored Maestro's cape which had been missing for some time.
• Dark Equinox Archons now have purple gloves to make them more identifiable in a group.

Crey

• Elite Paragon Protector variants that use psionic & radiation have had their reward scale decreased to match the Longbow Wardens that use identical power definitions.
• Crey Gamma Tank minion's spawn limit reduced from 2 per group to 1.
• Fixed high-level Crey Ice Tank mobs not spawning.
• Fixed high-level Crey Protector lieutenants not set to spawn limit 1 as intended.
• Fixed high-level Crey Protector lieutenant from dropping boss rank rewards.

Devouring Earth

• Fixed Cairn, Fungi, Quartz summon pets not affecting Praetorian Devouring Earth.
• Fixed Cairn not excluding other Cairns from damage resistance.
• Hamidon, Mitochondria Antibodies, and Mitochondria Electrolytes now have subtle geometry elements that make them always visible even when the game client's particle cap is reached.
  • This will prevent them from ever being completely invisible due to local particle limitations:

 No more invisible mitos! 

Dr. Kane's House of Horrors - Black Whip

• Black Whip is now using a much spooky-scarier unique costume instead of using a generic preset.

Freakshow

• Fixed names for Freakshow Wing Swiper and Wing Smasher critters.

Nemesis

• Glow mask applied to Fake Nemesis and Warhulk's eye textures to enhance their visual presentation.

Outcasts

• Fixed Frostfire not properly freezing his loudmouthed goon during cutscene.
• Tweaked Frostfire’s AI to ensure he properly uses his full power suite.

Psychic Clockwork

• Now have purple glowing eyes that sets them apart from standard Clockwork.

Rikti

• Fixed an FX error that was causing Guardian mobs force field bubbles to not render their FX geometry.
• Fixed a definition error that was causing a pre-revamp Rikti boss to sometimes spawn amongst Level 38 groups.
• Magus mobs are now named Chief Magus to properly adhere to high-ranking Rikti naming schemes.
• Priest mobs are now named War Priest as they occupy a number of different ranks depending on content context.

Vanguard

• Renamed Hero 1's 'Rune of Protection' to 'Aid From The Fae'.
• Fixed Hero 1 lightning attacks missing animations.
• Fixed the boots on Huge Vanguard mobs having the plate version on the wrong classes.

Giant Monster Rewards

Adamastor

• Adamastor now only drops Rewards Merits to the same character once every eighteen hours; Amount of merits earned remains the same as before.

Lusca

• Each of Lusca's eight tentacles now drop 2 Reward Merits each, bringing the total merit count for a complete Lusca clear up to 22.

Zones

'The Abyss'

• Guard drones added nearby the hospital and zone entrance.

Atlas Park

• Added a planter to a tree that was missing it at its base.
• Added tree to a planter that was missing one.

Cap Au Diable

• Fixed geometry gaps that allowed for getting under the map.

Dark Astoria

• Fixed geometry gaps that allowed for getting under the map.

'Eden'

• Fixed some forest segments that had escaped gravity and were floating in the air.
• Fixed the Eden Trial door from being unselectable while open.

Firebase Zulu

• Fixed some floating rocks and plants at Point Sierra.

Grandville

• Grandville enhancements that bring the Arachnos seat of power up to modern story contexts.
• Central Hold Block added below Grandville's main tower, accessed via new hall at the intersection between the Patron elevators and the Recluse's Victory portal chamber.
• D-Rifter Installation added which is accessed via an elevator in the Central Holding Block
  • A player must own the Gold Standard badge from completing the Dr. Aeon's Strike Force to access the D-Rifter area.
• L.R.S. Selenops added south of The Fab.
• Red Widow added next to Lord Recluse in the Patron chamber.

Kallisti Wharf

• Hundreds of minor zone errors have been corrected.
• Zone now has a proper height cap and you can no longer fly over the War Walls.
  • The height cap is slightly higher above Statesman One Plaza's tower to allow players to still stand on top of it.
• Guard drones added to several points of interest in the zone that should be no-mob areas.
• Detail work in various locations.
• City backdrop geometry and details added outside the War Walls.
• Boat gates added to the water-facing parts of the north & south War Walls.

Ouroboros

• Mender Holly added to the zone and provides super tailor services, found under the Tailor mini map icon.
• Added mini map icons to Luna and Mender Roebuck.

Paragon Dance Party

• Mini map added to zone.

Pocket D

• Moved the stools in the Ski Chalet a little away from the bar so players can sit on them.
• Fixed a flickering texture near the second floor blueside bar that connects to the AE block.
• Fixed a flickering texture above the window facing the Ski Chalet on the blueside bar.

Port Oakes

• Fixed both Mayhem Mission submarine hatch doors from being unselectable while open.

Skyway City

• Fixed underside of Synapse's platform exposing back-facing textures.

Steel Canyon

• Deleted a tree clipping into a building at the zone's university.

Striga Isle

• Fixed the volcano-top door from being unclickable while open.

Architect Entertainment

New Custom Enemy Options

• Added Bio Armor as Secondary option
• Added Electrical Affinity as Secondary option
• Added Martial Assault as Attack and Secondary options
• Added Nature Affinity as Secondary option
• Added Ninja Training as Secondary option
• Added Plant Manipulation as Secondary option
• Added Psionic Melee as Attack and Secondary options
• Added Radiation Armor as Secondary option
• Added Radiation Melee as Attack and Secondary options
• Added Radioactive Assault as Attack and Secondary options
• Added Savage Melee as Secondary option
• Added Savage Assault as Secondary option
• Added Sonic Assault as Secondary option
• Added Sonic Manipulation as Secondary option
• Added Tactical Arrow as Secondary option
• Added Temporal Manipulation as Secondary option
• Added Traps as Secondary option
• Added Water Blast as Attack and Secondary options

New NPC Enemy Options

• Freedom Phalanx Penelope Yin added to available AE critter offerings.

Mission Maps

• Fixed pathing beacon issues with all Arachnoid Warehouse map's second floors.
• Fixed four glowies that were inside geometry in the AE version of the Smelting Cauldron warehouse map.

Miscellaneous

Looking For Group

Rikti Mothership Raid

• The LFG version of this raid is no longer restricted to Level 35-50 and is now open to all levels, identical to the zone version.
  • You cannot queue for this raid from any of the starting zones (Atlas Park, Mercy Island, Nova Praetoria).
• No longer requires the Member of the Vanguard badge, however the ability to earn Vanguard Merits from defeated Rikti enemies in the raid is still tied to owning that badge.

Client

• Fixed a client crash in Ultra Mode when the costume window was opened on a character with all 10 costume slots unlocked while standing close enough to a building with window reflections, while a player or NPC with a reflective costume part was close enough and a water surface was rendering water reflections.

Gamma Correction

• The game now implements gamma correction in the shader programs rather than using the legacy hardware gamma API.
  • The hardware gamma API has been very unreliable since Windows 10 and only works with certain GPU and monitor configurations.
  • The legacy API, when it works, changes the gamma correction for the entire monitor, which may be undesirable when running the game in a window.
  • By moving it to the shader programs that run on the GPU, we can guarantee that the option always works consistently across platforms.
• The gamma correction slider in the graphics options window has been adjusted so that most useful range of values (100% - 200%) occupies a much larger part of the slider bar, in order to allow for finer control when setting it.

Doors

• Helicopter mission door NPCs have been fixed and should no longer cause long delays before the player starts entering the helicopter.
• Fixed arched wooden double doors opening inward instead of outwards. Seen at the Midnight Mansion and other locations.
• Smuggler Ship doors that had NPCs standing nearby should no longer cause long delays before the player starts entering the ship.

Error Messages

• Improved wording on the error message that displayed when attempting to invite an opposite alignment character to a co-op zone team when the current active task is an alignment-locked mission.
  • OLD: "FACTION Only: Currently, you cannot add members to your team who are not in the same faction as you."
  • NEW: "You cannot invite characters from an opposite alignment to the team while the current active task is an alignment-locked mission."

Geometry

• Fixed pixel thin halo around warehouse light cones.

Tip System

• When a tip drops and you are at the maximum number of tips, under certain conditions your oldest tip will be automatically dismissed to make room for the new tip.
  • This currently only applies to alignment tips, exploration tips, and spring fling valentines tips.
  • Morality tips will never be dismissed automatically, nor will Halloween or special mission-related tips such as Wizard's Weakness.
  • Alignment tips can be dismissed to make room for a morality tip, otherwise only tips of the same type that dropped can be dismissed.
  • Any tips for which you have begun investigation and obtained a mission from will not be automatically dismissed.

User Interface

• Fixed some small issues with UI scaling not being properly applied a few places.
  • Arrows on extra power trays were not scaling horizontally and would get tall and skinny at high UI scales
  • Scrollbar grip handles that appear when dragging were sometimes extending out of the bottom of the scrollbar thumb at high UI scales
• Fixed the primary and secondary power tabs on the character creation screen not scaling their hitboxes correctly to screen resolution.
• Fixed some minor scaling issues on the badge tab of the info window.

Other

• Fixed PVP enhancement recipes in auction house and inventory using enhancement display names instead of recipe display names.
• Office Telephones (e.g. Atlas Park Tailor) should ring less frequently (every 4-7 mins over the previous 12-30s).
• Fixed neighborhood music not playing after logging in or zoning.
• Fixed an AI issue causing certain teleporting or summoning enemies to not utilize their full power suite.
• Fixed an issue with name filtering incorrectly blocking the creation of characters with an apostrophe or question mark in their name.