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Patch Notes for January 16th, 2020 - Issue 26, Page 4 (Release Candidate 2)

The Curator

By The Curator
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The Curator

The Curator

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Issue 26, Page 4 (Release Candidate 2)

This is a Release Candidate. This means that this patch contains files as they would go to the Live servers; because of this, several Pineapple features like all the Merit recipes being free and a bunch of badges being awarded at character creation are disabled. Those features will come back once the Release Candidate set of patches is done and we go back to regular Experimental or Beta patches. Commands such as levelupxp, influence and boostset should still be available.

 

The Pineapple database has been reset. Use the Beta Account Center to copy characters from the Live servers into Pineapple.

 

Changes from RC1

  • Fixed the crash handler not triggering if the install path contained any spaces.
  • Fixed a crash relating to summoning certain Lore pets.
  • Removed some experimental costume format code (to return at a later date).
  • Minor tweaks and fixes to Tanker powers and descriptions.

 

Safe Mode

This patch includes a new version of Safe Mode that is based on the 32-Bit client but with a different launch configuration. If you are unable to launch the 32-Bit client normally, try this version of Safe Mode and report the results in the relevant thread.

 

Tanker & Brute Changes

Scaling & Stats

  • Tanker:
    • Ranged damage modifier increased from 0.5 to 0.8, Melee damage modifier increased from 0.8 to 0.95,
      • Bruise has been removed in favour of a flat damage scale increase.
    • Buff modifiers increased to match Controller values.
    • Damage buff cap increased from 400% to 500%.
  • Brute:
    • Ranged and Melee damage modifiers are now equal at 0.75.
    • Damage buff cap lowered from 775% to 700%.
  • All Brute and Tanker Epic pools now use ranged damage modifiers.
    • Note that due to the above changes, Epic Pools should see no damage change at all.

 

AoEs

  • Most Tanker Melee AoE powers have had their target caps increased. 
    • Most cones now have a 10 target cap. 
    • Most PBAoEs now have a 16 target cap.
  • Tanker now gets an inherent buff to the radius of AoE attacks and arc of cones.
    • +50% for AoEs.
    • +100% for cones.
    •  Some powers are unaffected by this buff. This is noted on the power description.

 

Brute Fury Generation

  • Hitting AVs no longer gives bonus Fury, but Fury generation for attacking has been increased in a variety of ways:
  • Brute Fury generation now takes into account the cast time of the attack for successful hits.
    • Any attack slower than brawl will now generate bonus Fury if it lands a hit.
  • Brutes now get bonus fury generation in teams - the larger the team, the larger the bonus.
  • Fury now takes 10 seconds without attacking to start its accelerated decay, instead of 5 seconds.
  • The goal of these changes is to improve Fury generation in teams when the Brute is not the only brute, or is in the company of another tanking AT.


Gauntlet & PunchVoke

  • Gauntlet is now applied via a global proc.
    • Any single target power that takes accuracy enhancements will trigger an AoE taunt.
    • Every AoE power that takes accuracy enhancements will taunt the enemies it hit.
    • Radius is now the same for all attacks (10ft, 5 targets max)
    • Taunt scale is now 10% higher than the Brute's.
  • Brute PunchVoke is now also applied via a global proc.
    • Any power that either inflicts damage or takes accuracy enhancements will trigger PunchVoke.

 
Power Acquisition Levels

To improve Tanker AoE capability during level up progression, the following powers had their acquisition levels changed:

  • Battle Axe > Whirling Axe = 20, Swoop = 28
  • Martial Arts > Dragon Tail = 20, Focus Chi = 28, Crippling Axe Kick = 35
  • Stone Melee> Tremor = 28, Hurl Boulder = 35 
  • War Mace > Whirling Mace = 20, Clobber = 28


Taunt Auras

  • The following Taunt Auras now have a built-in scale 1 Taunt (approximately 13.6s at level 50), as the global Gauntlet / PunchVoke proc doesn't apply to them: 
    • Invincibility, Against All Odds, Rise to the Challenge (Brute and Tank only).
  • Brute and Tanker Ice Armor powers no longer have built-in Taunt, they are now instead covered by the inherent global proc.

 

Other Changes

  • The following tanker and brute powers should now accept regular Taunt Enhancements:
    • Oppressive Gloom, Cloak of Fear, Burn (note that burn patches don't taunt, only the up-front damage does.)
  • Spines: Spine Burst> No longer ignores Radius buffs.
  • Spines: Quills > Now ignore Radius buffs.
  • Burn for Brute and Tankers should also accept Taunt Sets (note that any proc on burn will not pass through to the patch.)
  • Brute > Martial Arts > Taunt / Crane Kick: Fixed incorrect power order.

 

Pets & Henchmen Updates

  • Mastermind pets which have been commanded to Stay or to Go To a location will hold that position and will not chase after targets or move closer to use powers that are out of range. Be aware this also means they will not move out of damage patches on their own.
  • Mastermind pets in Follow mode will now always stay within a 100' radius of their owner, regardless if they are in Defensive or Aggressive stance. Pets that are primarily ranged attackers will try to stay in the Supremacy radius.
  • The pet AI now ignores the aggro cap. This should prevent pets from standing around twiddling their thumbs in Incarnate Trials and other situations where many pets are attacking the same target.
  • Pets now give a strong preference to selecting targets that are within 50' of the pet's owner. This helps melee-oriented Mastermind pets stay in Supremacy range more often, while still allowing them to move and effectively engage targets outside the range.
  • A number of pets have been classified as "Ranged Only" pets. The AI for these pets will no longer change position in order to use melee powers such as Brawl. They still possess these powers and will use them opportunistically if a target is in range, but will not move in order to do so.
  • The pets that no longer move in to use melee attacks are:
    • Mercenaries > Soldiers
    • Mercenaries > Medic
    • Mercenaries > Spec Ops
    • Mercenaries > Commando
    • Necromancy > Lich
    • Robotics > Battle Drones
    • Robotics > Protector Bots
    • Robotics > Assault Bot
    • Thugs > Thugs
    • Thugs > Arsonist
    • Thugs > Enforcers

 

Powers

Combat Log

  • Combat log output has been standardized. Many powers used to report the wrong damage type and effects in the combat log, this process has fixed that, in addition to making the combat log a lot easier to parse.

 

Phantom Army

  • Added new customisation options for Phantom Army
    • Mirror (copy of current character costume)
    • Phantom Mirror (copy of current character costume with Phantom Army VFX)


Other

  • Pool > Teleportation > Long Range Teleport: This power now grants a popup tray power that allows a second chance at teleporting should you fail to teleport the first time. The Second Chance power will remain for 2 minutes or until you zone.
  • Lowered Weaken Resolve's -res debuff from scale -1.5 to scale -1.0.

 

PvP Powers Changes

  • Global Damage Procs like Hybrid Double Hit, Plant Manipulation's Toxins and  Bio Armor's Offensive Adaptation should now use PvP damage formula in PvP instead of the PvE damage formula.
  • Misc power changes:
  Reveal hidden contents
  • Mez Duration and Suppression rules have been enforced for the following enhancements:
  Reveal hidden contents
  • Mez Duration and Suppression rules have been enforced for the following powers:
  Reveal hidden contents
  • Mez Duration and Suppression rules have been enforced for the following player pet powers:
  Reveal hidden contents
  • Knockback Suppression rules have been enforced for the following powers:
  Reveal hidden contents
  • Knockback Suppression rules have been enforced for the following enhancements:
  Reveal hidden contents

 

Bases

  • Renamed "Bathroom" tab to "Bath & Kitchen"
  • Added 38 new base items created by @Naomi:
  Reveal hidden contents

 

User Interface

  • Switch to a different method of hooking the Print Screen key. This should fix the issues with using modifier keys in conjunction with it, as well as allow it to pass through to the OS so the traditional "copy to clipboard" functionality works again.
  • Resynchronize modifier key state in certain edge cases (mostly involving the numeric keypad) to try and resolve issues of the shift key rarely getting stuck.

 

Bug Fixes

  • Fix the team window showing "On mission map" when a teammate is in their Supergroup Base and vice versa.
  • Prevent immediate crash when passing a -patchdir parameter to a nonexistent directory. This seems to be happening on certain Macs.
  • Fixes for many Mapserver crashes unearthed by the new crash handler
  • Various fixes and stability improvements to the client
    • This should allow some users that were previously stuck on the Safe Mode client to now use the new client
  • Fixed a bug that allowed players to inadvertently delete the geometry of entire zones

 

Powers Fixes

  • Archery > Ranged Shot Fixed a bug where would not animate in the character customization screen.
  • Blaster Ranged > Electric Blast > Corrected an FXGEO feedback error with this power's FX.
  • Blaster Support > Atomic Manipulation > Beta Decay: Text should no longer state it taunts enemies.
  • Blaster Support > Atomic Manipulation > Electron Shackles: Should no longer accept Endurance Modification enhancements or sets.
  • Blaster Support > Psoinic Manipulation > Drain Psych: -Regeneration effect should no longer be enhanceable.
  • Dark Control > Umbra Beast: Should now accept Fear Enhancement and Sets.
  • Devices > Targeting Drone: The power description for Targeting Drone has been fixed.
  • Dominator > Fire Control > Fire Imps: Should now always summon 3 imps.
  • Dominator > Psionic Assault > Drain Psych: -Regeneration effect should no longer be enhanceable.
  • Dominator > Savage Assault > Call hawk & Feral Charge: Should no longer accept Dominator Archetype Enhancement sets.
  • Pool > Force of Will > Mighty Leap > Takeoff effect can now be cancelled.
  • Pool > Force of Will > Weaken Resolve: Fixed typos. Now accepts Accurate ToHit Debuff enhancements.
  • Gravity Control > Singularity should now apply and take advantage of the Impact mechanic.
  • Ice Melee > Frozen Fists (Brute/Stalker/Scrapper) Power Description should no longer say it adds -res.
  • Incarnate > Hybrid : Should no longer fail to shut down after zoning.
  • Martial Arts > Crippling Axe Kick: now accepts defense debuff enhancements and sets.
  • Poison Weaken and Cold Domination -Special powers should no longer be boosted by +Special powers like Power Boost. As a rule, Str effects should not be affected by other Str effects.
  • Pool > Concealment > Stealth and Invisibility: translucency issues should now, FINALLY be fixed.
  • Pool > Leaping > Spring Attack: should now do damage when used by Sentinels
  • Proton Volley's Fast-Snipe sphere FX should now tint properly.
  • Radiation Armor > Beta Decay: Taunt magnitude should now always be Mag 4
  • Radiation Melee > Contamination AoE should now reliably trigger when hitting a contaminated target.
  • Sentinel > Bio Armor > Athletic Regulation: Should no longer accept travel enhancement sets.
  • Sentinel > Energy Aura > Power Armor:  Should now accept Healing Enhancement Sets
  • Sentinel > Fire Blast > Blazing Blast: Should now do 13 ticks of damage over time.
  • Tanker Melee > Psionic Melee > Greater Psi Blade: Should no longer do AoE insight damage.
  • Temporary Powers > Ethereal Shift should shut down automatically as other Phase Shift powers.
  • Boosts > Performance Shifter > Chance for +Endurance: Should now have a chance to grant the caster Endurance if used on an offensive attack.
  • Arachnos Soldiers > Summoned Spiders should no longer play a teleport fx every 10 seconds.
  • AE Critter > Sonic Resonance > Liquefy: This power had a range of zero. It has been changed to 60ft.
  • AE Critter > Pain Domination > Soothing Aura: This power is now an Auto, as most AE versions of Toggle powers.
  • AE Critter > Force Fields > Personal Force Fields now lasts 30 seconds instead of 0.75 seconds.
  • AE Critter > Assault Rifle > Ignite: Should now properly do damage.
Edited by The Curator
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Troo

Troo

Posted
Posted

Thanks.

Quick question (maybe I missed it) - Why the Release Candidate 1 and Release Candidate 2?

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GM Korvin

GM Korvin

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Posted
  On 1/17/2020 at 1:09 AM, Troo said:

Thanks.

Quick question (maybe I missed it) - Why the Release Candidate 1 and Release Candidate 2?

Expand  

As follows:

  On 1/16/2020 at 11:27 PM, The Curator said:

This is a Release Candidate. This means that this patch contains files as they would go to the Live servers; because of this, several Pineapple features like all the Merit recipes being free and a bunch of badges being awarded at character creation are disabled. Those features will come back once the Release Candidate set of patches is done and we go back to regular Experimental or Beta patches. Commands such as levelupxp, influence and boostset should still be available.

Expand  

The '2' just denotes that it's the next version of it, due to the changes in this patch from the previous Release Candidate.

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Biosphere

Biosphere

Posted
Posted
  On 1/16/2020 at 11:27 PM, The Curator said:

Gauntlet & PunchVoke

  • Gauntlet is now applied via a global proc.
    • Any single target power that takes accuracy enhancements will trigger an AoE taunt.
    • Every AoE power that takes accuracy enhancements will taunt the enemies it hit.
    • Radius is now the same for all attacks (10ft, 5 targets max)
    • Taunt scale is now 10% higher than the Brute's.


Taunt Auras

  • Brute and Tanker Ice Armor powers no longer have built-in Taunt, they are now instead covered by the inherent global proc.

Other Changes

  • The following tanker and brute powers should now accept regular Taunt Enhancements:
    • Oppressive Gloom, Cloak of Fear, Burn (note that burn patches don't taunt, only the up-front damage does.)

 

Expand  

 

I have some questions about all of this. The first is about that little note regarding Ice Armor. If Ice Armor no longer has built in Taunt and relies on the proc, why was this done? Is it because they get Chilling Embrace and Icicles? I just don't understand why that would be done when other sets can have multiple auras that would draw attention. 

 

The second is about allowing taunt enhancements in Oppressive Gloom and Cloak of Fear. Why was this done? Why not allow all the taunt aura powers to allow taunt enhancement slotting again? I remember that used to be how it was, and then was changed. So if we bring it back for a few powers let's bring it back for all of them.

 

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Captain Powerhouse

Captain Powerhouse

Posted
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Posted

All auras will still taunt as they always have. The only difference between doing so via the proc or via attribs in the powers is how it displays in the power info.

 

An ice tank or brute can still rub multiple auras and have all of them taunt via the 100% chance global taunt inherent proc. 

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Biosphere

Biosphere

Posted
Posted

That doesn't answer my question on why Ice Armor was specifically targeted in this regard.

 

So are you saying it's because they have multiple auras they can use to apply the taunt? The advantage of the auras having taunt naturally was that I didn't need to hit successfully to make it work. The changes listed suggest that for my Ice Armor to apply that through its armor set I'd have to use Energy Absorption or Icicles and have it successfully hit to make the taunt trigger via the proc, versus just running in there with Chilling Embrace.

 

Also, what about my second question?

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Biosphere

Biosphere

Posted
Posted
  On 1/16/2020 at 11:27 PM, The Curator said:

Buff modifiers increased to match Controller values.

Expand  

Can we get a list of what powers this actually affected? I went on the test server and the only powers that I noticed had Controller values were Maneuvers and Assault. Tactics has the same to-hit but doesn't have the same perception radius or perception resistance between Tankers and Controllers. Vengeance also doesn't heal for the same amount (can't be sure about the other numbers on it too since I could only see the heal.) 

 

If this is how it's supposed to be, then I think powers like Grant Invisibility should have the same value. For Tankers they actually can apply a 2.5% suppressed defense buff, while Controllers only get 2.25% so the Tanker version is actually slightly stronger.

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Captain Powerhouse

Captain Powerhouse

Posted
  • Developer
Posted (edited)
  On 1/17/2020 at 5:03 AM, Biosphere said:

That doesn't answer my question on why Ice Armor was specifically targeted in this regard.

Expand  


It was not targeted, the same applies to all auras that are not self-buffing scale auras like invincibility. Raw damage or debuff auras rely on the global proc.

 

The powers all still take taunt enhancements.

Edited by Captain Powerhouse
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Myrmidon

Myrmidon

Posted
Posted
  On 1/17/2020 at 4:53 AM, Biosphere said:

The second is about allowing taunt enhancements in Oppressive Gloom and Cloak of Fear. Why was this done? Why not allow all the taunt aura powers to allow taunt enhancement slotting again? I remember that used to be how it was, and then was changed. So if we bring it back for a few powers let's bring it back for all of them.

Expand  


To clarify. Those powers always took Taunt enhancements, the ability to take Taunt sets was removed.

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Biosphere

Biosphere

Posted
Posted
  On 1/17/2020 at 5:37 AM, Captain Powerhouse said:

It was not targeted, the same applies to all auras that are not self-buffing scale auras like invincibility. Raw damage or debuff auras rely on the global proc.

Expand  

 

That's fair, but what about stuff like Beta Decay? It scales adding more recharge per enemy and I noticed its taunt is gone. Same thing with Against all Odds which scales for more damage buff

  On 1/17/2020 at 5:49 AM, Myrmidon said:


To clarify. Those powers always took Taunt enhancements, the ability to take Taunt sets was removed.

Expand  

Thank you for the clarification. However I still hold to my point, because Chilling Embrace for example can be slotted with regular Taunt enhancements, but not Taunt sets. Why not if the other powers which have the same concept can? Cloak of Fear is a -to-hit, and Chilling Embrace is a -damage.  

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Myrmidon

Myrmidon

Posted
Posted (edited)
  On 1/17/2020 at 5:54 AM, Biosphere said:

Thank you for the clarification. However I still hold to my point, because Chilling Embrace for example can be slotted with regular Taunt enhancements, but not Taunt sets. Why not if the other powers which have the same concept can? Cloak of Fear is a -to-hit, and Chilling Embrace is a -damage.

Expand  


As I recall, they were removed from Taunt auras because of the set Procs.

 

if they work in Chilling Embrace, my Ice Tanker may move to the playlist much sooner than anticipated.

Edited by Myrmidon

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Chronicler J

Chronicler J

Posted
Posted
  On 1/17/2020 at 5:37 AM, Captain Powerhouse said:


It was not targeted, the same applies to all auras that are not self-buffing scale auras like invincibility. Raw damage or debuff auras rely on the global proc.

 

The powers all still take taunt enhancements.

Expand  

This is horribly baffling. The taunt auras should all behave the same way. What is the justification for this change? it makes no sense to allow specific auras to do a better job of acquiring threat.

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Biosphere

Biosphere

Posted
Posted
  On 1/17/2020 at 5:59 AM, Myrmidon said:


As I recall, they were removed from Taunt auras because of the set Procs.

Expand  

Right that's true, but that doesn't help me understand why this specific change was made for Cloak of Fear but not Chilling Embrace. Both of them are not scaling auras, where one does -tohit and one does -damage. So I can see why this has been changed for auras like Invincibility, however if this new update is making it so Cloak of Fear can slot these sets, why not also let Chilling Embrace do it? It's the same non-scalar type aura.

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RabbitUp

RabbitUp

Posted
Posted

My Ill/ toon will forever love this patch, and I will be eternally grateful to the dev team 🤗

 

Now, if only Spectral Terror could also be fixed to accept Accurate ToHit Debuff sets, that would be the best.

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Jimmy

Jimmy

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Posted
  On 1/17/2020 at 4:10 AM, Chronicler J said:

Bruising change is disappointing. Looks like feedback on it is being brushed aside, too. Thought we escaped this kind of development. 

Expand  

It's been discussed extensively in the feedback threads. Just because the decision is one you disagree with it doesn't mean the feedback is being ignored. It's all been read and it has all been considered, but there comes a time when the changes need to be pushed live and left to sit for a while before deciding if any further work is required.

  On 1/17/2020 at 6:02 AM, Chronicler J said:

This is horribly baffling. The taunt auras should all behave the same way. What is the justification for this change? it makes no sense to allow specific auras to do a better job of acquiring threat.

Expand  

 

  On 1/17/2020 at 6:05 AM, Biosphere said:

Right that's true, but that doesn't help me understand why this specific change was made for Cloak of Fear but not Chilling Embrace. Both of them are not scaling auras, where one does -tohit and one does -damage. So I can see why this has been changed for auras like Invincibility, however if this new update is making it so Cloak of Fear can slot these sets, why not also let Chilling Embrace do it? It's the same non-scalar type aura.

Expand  

I think you're both misunderstanding the patch notes 🙂 These changes specifically bring the different classes of aura in line with each other.

  • All damage auras use the global taunt proc. All purely debuff auras use the global taunt proc. This isn't a nerf, it's just a cleaner way of handling the mechanic.
  • Neither Chilling Embrace nor Cloak of Fear take Taunt sets, just regular Taunt enhancements - they are now the same in that regard. No auras take Taunt sets.

Hope this clears up the confusion!

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siolfir

siolfir

Posted
Posted

In an attempt to reduce the noise in the signal-to-noise ratio in the thread, a note about the power information displays:

 

 

This post was specifically in response to the AoE buff not showing, but also applies to the taunt proc. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean that it isn't there.

 

Now, I'm not saying that there couldn't be something missing that wasn't caught in the last 3 months: if you are concerned about something, copy your character over and test - the character copy only takes a couple of minutes most times, and means you can do direct comparisons between live and what's on test. But some items not being reflected in the power information is (unfortunately) a known issue.

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quixoteprog

quixoteprog

Posted
Posted
  On 1/16/2020 at 11:27 PM, The Curator said:

Tanker & Brute Changes

Scaling & Stats

  • Tanker:
    • Ranged damage modifier increased from 0.5 to 0.8, Melee damage modifier increased from 0.8 to 0.95,
      • Bruise has been removed in favour of a flat damage scale increase.
    • Buff modifiers increased to match Controller values.
    • Damage buff cap increased from 400% to 500%.
  • Brute:
    • Ranged and Melee damage modifiers are now equal at 0.75.
    • Damage buff cap lowered from 775% to 700%.
  • All Brute and Tanker Epic pools now use ranged damage modifiers.
    • Note that due to the above changes, Epic Pools should see no damage change at all.

 

 

Expand  

 

Something here confuses me. Probably because of my ignorance. It says Brute's melee and ranged modifiers are now .75. (ParagonWiki says ranged used to be .5. Is that wrong?)

 

Then "Note that due to the above changes, Epic Pools should see no damage change at all.". But shouldn't ranged damage for butes increase if the modifier went up from .5 to .75? Were Brute Epic powers using the Melee Damage Modifier before? Even on ranged attacks?

Biosphere

Biosphere

Posted
Posted
  On 1/17/2020 at 11:46 AM, Jimmy said:

Hope this clears up the confusion!

Expand  

Thanks for the reply Jimmy. It's a mistake I read taunt set enhancements instead of regular.

 

But can you also help explain just how the global proc would work for something like Chilling Embrace? Because I went on the test server and tested an Ice tank with Embrace next to a Scrapper using Invincibility and the Scrapper's aura kept threat. But then when I tried it again by itself Embrace seemed to keep threat.

 

Is there something I did wrong or how does the proc work for the aura? Is it automatic because it's auto hit?  And last question, is it possible we can have a list of powers the Controller like buff numbers happened to? I could only find Leadership being similar and I wanted to understand how much that change affected the Tanker.

siolfir

siolfir

Posted
Posted (edited)
  On 1/17/2020 at 12:47 PM, quixoteprog said:

Then "Note that due to the above changes, Epic Pools should see no damage change at all.". But shouldn't ranged damage for butes increase if the modifier went up from .5 to .75? Were Brute Epic powers using the Melee Damage Modifier before? Even on ranged attacks?

Expand  

Yes. That's why the bullet point right above it states "All Brute and Tanker Epic pools now use ranged damage modifiers." (emphasis mine)

 

Edit to throw in a relevant link:

 

Edited by siolfir
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