issue 27 Patch Notes for February 20th, 2024 - Issue 27, Page 7

CFIndustries · February 21

14 hours ago, BurtHutt said:

So, you can't have that sybil piece just as an option to add the loin cloth front and cloth on the back? It has to the entire set? That is super lame and disappointing. You also have to have that belt as part of it too? Not sure I'll be using it and it was the only thing I was really looking forward to. Ah well.

Also maybe I just never paid much attention in Cimerora but, is the lower front cape on the Sybil 2 piece backwards? The color is on the back/inside and black on the front/outside. Looks odd when all the other pieces are color-outwards.

I also discovered if I use the Sybil pieces, exit, then come back it tries to revert to my previous costume parts (in this case, the Gunslinger skirt pieces). So basically once I add the Sybil, I have to not touch my costume or else I have to start over.

CFIndustries · February 21

Am I the only one seeing inconsistent cooldown timer behavior? Like sometimes the timers show, then they will stop working for a bit mid-combat, only seeming to come back at random or after using a specific power?

Jacke · February 21

For those not liking the loss of XP for Exploration Badges, THE CHANGE WAS AN OUTRIGHT BUFF.

Before, Exploration Badges gave a bit of XP. Okay, mostly meh most the time.
Now, Exploration Badges give more but as Patrol XP. WOW!!!
- Patrol XP means 50% more XP as you defeat mobs ~~and complete missions~~!
- Besides applications of the Experienced Power
  - Which every toon gets 5 charges of every year.
  - And more come in Super Packs.
- THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET MORE Patrol XP WITHOUT LOGGING OUT AND LEAVING YOUR TOON IDLE.

In other words, use a trickle of getting new Exploration Badges as you play to keep your stock of Patrol XP up and getting 50% more XP for longer!!!

EDIT: More exactly, Patrol XP gives a 50% bonus to mob defeat XP only. Other XP doesn't benefit from Patrol XP but also doesn't use it up.

4 hours ago, Grouchybeast said:

The Exploration Badge update is in the patch notes:

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.

Edited February 21 by Jacke

Blackbird71 · February 21

14 minutes ago, Jacke said:

For those not liking the loss of XP for Exploration Badges, THE CHANGE WAS AN OUTRIGHT BUFF.

Before, Exploration Badges gave a bit of XP. Okay, mostly meh most the time.

Now, Exploration Badges give more but as Patrol XP. WOW!!!
Patrol XP means 50% more XP as you defeat mobs and complete missions!

Besides applications of the Experienced Power
Which every toon gets 5 charges of every year.

And more come in Super Packs.

THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET MORE Patrol XP WITHOUT LOGGING OUT AND LEAVING YOUR TOON IDLE.

In other words, use a trickle of getting new Exploration Badges as you play to keep your stock of Patrol XP up and getting 50% more XP for longer!!!

When you juggle several alts so that they are frequently topped off on Patrol XP, it's a net loss.

Edited February 21 by Blackbird71

Perfidy · February 21

So, a couple of things (so far) about the patch.

Arsenal control and arsenal assault on a dom are ..interesting. But, there's some sort of disconnect between the description when you're about to choose Liquid Nitrogen and what you actually get. The description suggests some decent damage. But, from my combat log, it doesn't do any. Not even when they fall and bounce. It does accept damage enhancements, so you'd think you would see at least some sort of damage.

A minor personal dilemma with the patrol xp for exploration badges. The notes do mention it tapers off as you level. What's not clear to me is if I'm a bar from leveling, and the remaining bar is filled, I have no idea how much patrol xp I got for the last several zones of explorations I did. I can adapt to only getting a few explorations at a time, until I ding next, but I guess my point is..with xp, you got it. You know you got it, because there was a system message telling you, and you could see the xp bar fill up. With patrol xp, you don't get a message. You don't know if you're already capped.

Perhaps there's a better way. Granted, it's not at all a big deal, just a minor personal annoyance, but I imagine I can't be the only one who thinks it's a bit...off-putting.

Grouchybeast · February 21

9 minutes ago, Jacke said:

For those not liking the loss of XP for Exploration Badges, THE CHANGE WAS AN OUTRIGHT BUFF.

The only thing I could think of whenever I saw that change in the patch notes was the person who absolutely hates Patrol XP and every time they play they kill their character repeatedly until the Patrol XP is wiped out. I imagine the next time they log in they're going to feel like the devs are targeting them personally.

Jacke · February 21

1 hour ago, Blackbird71 said:

When you juggle several alts so that they are frequently topped off on Patrol XP, it's a net loss.

I do juggle several alts. It is not a net loss when playing that way.

All those Exploration Badges a given toon hasn't got yet? They're a VAST reserve of untapped Patrol XP. That YOU control for each toon when to tap.

You play a given toon for an extended period (happens quite often), oh well, out of Patrol XP. Don't want to stop playing this toon, really in the groove. Also out of charges of Experienced, or not wanting to use them. Really wish this toon had more Patrol XP.

So go get some Patrol XP NOAW!!! Go through a Zone and get all the Exploration Badges! With various guides, takes a few minutes. Now you have more Patrol XP! (And 5 Reward Merits too!!!)

Yes, there will be times, like in the middle of a Task Force, you can't grab more Exploration Badges for more Patrol XP. THAT'S when you use Experienced to get more Patrol XP.

For EVERY OTHER TIME for EVERY OTHER TOON, all those Exploration Badges not yet taken are Patrol XP on tap. That can be tapped at will when needed.

EDIT: It take 240 hours logged out for a toon to maximize its Patrol XP to 10 Bubbles, a Bubble every 24 hours. So the above even applies over successive days' play sessions. A toon played often will eventually drain its Patrol XP completely and only get it back slowly. All those Exploration Badges not yet unlocked are more Patrol XP that can be accessed at will when needed and replenish Patrol XP a lot faster than logging out.

EDIT: Also, more exactly, Patrol XP gives a 50% bonus to mob defeat XP only. Other XP doesn't benefit from Patrol XP but also doesn't use it up.

Edited February 21 by Jacke

Blackbird71 · February 21

2 minutes ago, Jacke said:

I do juggle several alts. It is not a net loss when playing that way.

All those Exploration Badges a given toon hasn't got yet? They're a VAST reserve of untapped Patrol XP. That YOU control for each toon when to tap.

You play a given toon for an extended period (happens quite often), oh well, out of Patrol XP. Don't want to stop playing this toon, really in the groove. Also out of charges of Experienced, or not wanting to use them. Really wish this toon had more Patrol XP.

So go get some Patrol XP NOAW!!! Go through a Zone and get all the Exploration Badges! With various guides, takes a few minutes. Now you have more Patrol XP!

Yes, there will be times, like in the middle of a Task Force, you can't grab more Exploration Badges for more Patrol XP. THAT'S when you use Experienced to get more Patrol XP.

For EVERY OTHER TIME for EVERY OTHER TOON, all those Exploration Badges not yet taken are Patrol XP on tap. That can be tapped at will when needed.

It doesn't work that way for me. I have so many alts to choose from, that I'm never short of someone with Patrol XP. Adding more Patrol XP to one character I'm playing means that I'm not switching to a different character that already has accumulated max Patrol XP, so it's not using up that banked XP and therefore is in fact a net loss.

Contrast this with the XP granted immediately on exploration, which does not add to the time needed to play a character in order to use the Patrol XP, and therefore does not take away from time that could be spent using the Patrol XP on another alt.

You're more then welcome to like and appreciate this change, but it is not an "outright buff" in every case and condition.

Azari · February 21

16 hours ago, scarasyte said:

I like updates that swap out AE buildings for something else. The only place I think we need AE is inside Pocket D. We should set out to reclaim the plots of land taken up by them in the city, reverting them to what they used to be, or something new. But maybe keep a couple of them, for those who don't want to be blinded by player particles or something. lol

Please keep the AE building in faultline. That one is my fav for some reason. Lol

Nando · February 21

I think i've might find an error:

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

In the Ouroboros Mission List, it is 27.15 A Second Chance at a First Impression

Am i wrong?

Edited February 21 by Nando

Jacke · February 21

32 minutes ago, Grouchybeast said:

The only thing I could think of whenever I saw that change in the patch notes was the person who absolutely hates Patrol XP and every time they play they kill their character repeatedly until the Patrol XP is wiped out. I imagine the next time they log in they're going to feel like the devs are targeting them personally.

?

Okay, I'm not quite getting this and I'd like to understand what you meant.

A player defeats their own toon repeatedly to get Debt and eventually the Debt Achievement Badges as that Debt is retired. If they log out and leave the toon idle, when they log back in, there's more Patrol XP.

Whenever Patrol XP is earned, whether logged out, getting new Exploration Badges, or using charges of Experienced, it will remove Debt. Players wanting the Debt Badges want this to happen (it's how the Badges are earned).

The new Exploration Badges' Patrol XP is more than the previous XP the Badges granted. By defeating mobs, that Patrol XP turns into actual XP, but more than before the change.

What's not for everyone to like?

32 minutes ago, Grouchybeast said:

Regeneratio delenda est!

I saw what you said there.

Remember, consider the original statement you adapted that from was made true in the Third Punic War. Which many Romans thought was the when they crossed a line that doomed them to Fated misery in conflicts that more and more pitted Roman against Roman, killing many Romans and causing much suffering and loss of the freedoms they cherished.

Be careful what you wish for.

I've got my eye on you! (And so does Regen!)

WindDemon21 · February 21

17 hours ago, Player-1 said:

Hello ZorkNemesis,

Between RC3.5 and today there were a handful of tweaks to Storm Blast that can be seen in the patch notes regarding the "Storm Brewing" mechanic, increased proc chances, and a change to the jump distance on Chain Lightning.

So just getting this straight, storm brewing, means more chances as you attack more, meaning the already CRAZY amount of spamming of storm powers and ignoring your other power sets that storm already was, is now.. even more heavily leaned into to have to storm blast only to make it work and ignore your other primary/secondary set?...

Lockely · February 21

17 hours ago, scarasyte said:

I like updates that swap out AE buildings for something else. The only place I think we need AE is inside Pocket D. We should set out to reclaim the plots of land taken up by them in the city, reverting them to what they used to be, or something new. But maybe keep a couple of them, for those who don't want to be blinded by player particles or something. lol

Absolutely not! Do you know how difficult it is to focus on AE when you're working on it in Pocket D? It's fine as a transport location, but trying to write and focus on story-based missions with all the powers going off around you, music blaring, and local chats spiraling by is doing AE creation on masochism mode.

I shouldn't have to mute my game volume and disable screen shake (that I will need to turn up to test my missions) every time I want to work on a story.

Edited February 21 by Lockely

WindDemon21 · February 21

11 hours ago, Wavicle said:

I don't have an issue with Bonfire getting nerfed.

I just wish they had nerfed the Damage but left the Control (mostly) alone.

Exactly, fire control NEEDS that in it's kit, otherwise it's just aoe stun/hold and nothing extra or special to help control which isn't enough. It's control first, and then the damage was a bonus. The set already has it's damage niche with fire cages/hotfeet (imps need help esp pet level issue), this change is just absolutely deplorable.

Edit: Remember, the function of the kb-kd in bonfire was to HELP fire control, well.. control, because it was so bad off before, now it's back to the crapfest it was before. This isn't even warranted in the epics tbh, it just made it actually useful versus the crap options in all the other sets to help control. Please revert it back to page 26 status. (at the VERY LEAST for the primary control sets). Again, the damage is just a bonus, the power is meant first and foremost for control and always has been and should be.

Edited February 21 by WindDemon21

Sanxion · February 21

Wow! Thank you for the great work!

Greetings from switzerland

Jacke · February 21

31 minutes ago, Blackbird71 said:

It doesn't work that way for me. I have so many alts to choose from, that I'm never short of someone with Patrol XP. Adding more Patrol XP to one character I'm playing means that I'm not switching to a different character that already has accumulated max Patrol XP, so it's not using up that banked XP and therefore is in fact a net loss.

Contrast this with the XP granted immediately on exploration, which does not add to the time needed to play a character in order to use the Patrol XP, and therefore does not take away from time that could be spent using the Patrol XP on another alt.

You're more then welcome to like and appreciate this change, but it is not an "outright buff" in every case and condition.

The changes in Page 7 converting Exploration Badges from giving an amount of immediate XP to now giving a greater amount of Patrol XP is an outright buff in all circumstances, for each individual toon and for a player's whole slate of alts.

Like immediate XP, Patrol XP will immediately retire Debt on the toon at 1-for-1 exchange.
- Immediate XP retires 50% of its value in Debt, the other 50% added to toon's XP progress.
- While Patrol XP retires its entire value in Debt, clearing Debt faster.
- The retired Debt then contributes to the progress on the Debt Achievement Badges.
Otherwise, the toon needs to defeat mobs to convert the Patrol XP to immediate XP at a 1-for-1 exchange.
- A given mob's defeat allowing the conversion of an amount of Patrol XP equal to 50% of the mob's defeat XP.

Which means to use Patrol XP, either get Debt or defeat mobs. That is, play the toon. The whole point of City of Heroes.

Under Page 6 and before, when you run out of Patrol XP on a toon, to continue the play session, you are then forced to either:

Continue playing the toon without Patrol XP
Use a charge of Experienced (if you have any) to get more Patrol XP.
Or swap to another toon.

If you swap or stop playing that toon when you want to play it more, that means the lack of Patrol XP is controlling which alt you play when.

Under Page 7 and after, you now have another option: Get more Patrol XP by getting more Exploration Badges not yet unlocked on that toon.

Consider the impact of the change from Page 6 to Page 7 on each toon.

Under Page 6 and before, all the Exploration Badges not yet unlocked represented a reserve of immediate XP.
Under Page 7 and after, all the Exploration Badges not yet unlocked represent a reserve of Patrol XP.
- GREATER than the reserve of immediate XP was on Page 6 and before.
Patrol XP is used to either retire Debt or boost XP earned from defeating mobs by 50%.
A given amount of Patrol XP is used 1-for-1 to retire Debt or earn that 50% boost of XP from mob defeat.
Other earned XP doesn't benefit from Patrol XP but also doesn't use it up.

That means each toon now gets more XP from Exploration Badges in the long run.

The change encourages getting Exploration Badges on toons. Unlocking more Zones on the Long Range Teleport Power.

Toons will also get more Reward Merits (5 RMs for each Zone Exploration Accolade).

The Patrol XP that Exploration Badges give is under control of the player when to gain on a toon by when they take that toon out to get more Exploration Badges.

I see no downside.

kelika2 · February 21

10 minutes ago, WindDemon21 said:

Exactly, fire control NEEDS that in it's kit, otherwise it's just aoe stun/hold and nothing extra or special to help control which isn't enough. It's control first, and then the damage was a bonus. The set already has it's damage niche with fire cages/hotfeet (imps need help esp pet level issue), this change is just absolutely deplorable.

You are just being dramatic at this point.

My fire controllers are fine and I dont notice anything world-ending since my secondaries do most of the work on keeping me alive.

As for my blasters oh well, Bonfire was neat to have as a one slot thing but I mostly wanted fireshield and phoenix

As for my masterminds I never took said fire masteries because of how amazing Mace or Mu was anyways.

But I really would like to know what secondaries you are running with your fire controllers at this point. Please dont say kinetics.

Jacke · February 21

20 minutes ago, WindDemon21 said:

So just getting this straight, storm brewing, means more chances as you attack more, meaning the already CRAZY amount of spamming of storm powers and ignoring your other power sets that storm already was, is now.. even more heavily leaned into to have to storm blast only to make it work and ignore your other primary/secondary set?...

I know enough about Storm Blast that I agree with @WindDemon21's analyses of the changes in Page 7. And those changes make me sad.

Storm Blast is already a Blast powerset that has a few powers that need the toon to stay put much more than other powersets, as the pseudo-pets don't really move that fast. This stay-put boosting isn't just needed for major fights but all the time for Storm Blast. Because Storm Blast is already a meh powerset. At least making it slightly less meh is an improvement. Well, until the toon needs to move.

Now there's a bigger demand that the player focus on using their Storm Blast powers so much, to the point of ignoring other powers. Herm....

Is is continuous intense focus that can't stand any interrupts? (Like old Brute's Rage.) Or is it tolerant to some interrupts? (Like current Brute's Rage.)

Does intense use of feature move the toon from good to better? Or does it move the toon from meh to slightly less meh?

I don't have numbers. But my best appreciation of what those numbers would be and their effect is that Storm Blast isn't where it should be. This should soon be apparent in the stats that the devs can gather.

But hey, I played an AR/Dev Blaster from 2006 on as my main. I laugh when I play powersets with crappy performance. But I'm a bit tired from laughing so much, so I may be a bit slow to make a build for a Storm Blast toon and creating it.

Perhaps when rested, the devs take another serious look at Storm Blast again? Once more! With feeling! (No Jazz Hands!!! 😺)

gameboy1234 · February 21

14 hours ago, Night said:

There's also the pop-in of details that should gradually phase-in instead. Fly back and forth along some trees and watch all their detail instantly appear and disappear as you move past certain render thresholds, it's wonky.

Talos Island does this too. A lot of the rocks that are placed around the shore area of the big island pop horribly. You'll be quite close to them before they'll very visibly start rendering. I think they actually "fade in" but they do it so close it looks really bad. I'm not 100% sure what could be done but a pass looking at distance and drawing might help in at least some cases. I haven't tested this with /visscale so I'm not sure if it's the same thing. Given that modern graphics cards are much better now having longer draw distances seems like an easy solution.

Also P2W's (now START) skirt has the same problem for me, and it looks pretty bad as well. At quite close distances her skirt basically doesn't render right, there's huge chunks missing. I'm not sure if this is LOD (level of detail) or something else but nothing on her model pops the same way so I think it's something wonky just with that piece.

WindDemon21 · February 21

1 hour ago, kelika2 said:

My fire controllers are fine and I dont notice anything world-ending since my secondaries do most of the work on keeping me alive.

Said the person that already admitted their 2 fire controllers were combined with the top 2 meta sets for each AT, kin on trollers, and psi on doms. This effectively makes your point moot. Of course the meta build only worried about damage is ok with the change. It's EVERYONE else that needs/uses it for control that is having the problem with this change.

Jacke · February 21

1 hour ago, Lockely said:

Absolutely not! Do you know how difficult it is to focus on AE when you're working on it in Pocket D? It's fine as a transport location, but trying to write and focus on story-based missions with all the powers going off around you, music blaring, and local chats spiraling by is doing AE creation on masochism mode.

I shouldn't have to mute my game volume and disable screen shake (that I will need to turn up to test my missions) every time I want to work on a story.

Sounds (I did not mean that pun!) like the Pocket D AE needs a quiet Soundstage B for players wanting to work on their AE maps and arcs, like the other AE Buildings have.

Perhaps you should make that as a suggestion, as you have the personal context and experience to really make a good and thorough suggestion.

Acrizer · February 21

"Silent Sentinel - Moved from Atlas Park to Echo: Atlas Park (-608, 70, -1890)"

As the Gargoyle (beta and about half the live servers) referred to in this badge, it's sad to see it shifted off to an echo but I'm thankful it's still "archived" in this way. :salute:

Lockely · February 21

16 minutes ago, Jacke said:

Sounds (I did not mean that pun!) like the Pocket D AE needs a quiet Soundstage B for players wanting to work on their AE maps and arcs, like the other AE Buildings have.

Perhaps you should make that as a suggestion, as you have the personal context and experience to really make a good and thorough suggestion.

The existing quiet rooms need TLC before we even think about adding one to Pocket D. They're inconvenient to use since they don't have a mission contact / entryway.

A ton of AE work is iterative. You push a small change, test it as fast as you can, drop the mission, and jump back into the editor. The quiet rooms add extra unnecessary movement and doorway phasing that you need to do on both sides.

The normal AE buildings are fine and literally hurting nothing.

Player-1 · February 21

2 hours ago, WindDemon21 said:

So just getting this straight, storm brewing, means more chances as you attack more, meaning the already CRAZY amount of spamming of storm powers and ignoring your other power sets that storm already was, is now.. even more heavily leaned into to have to storm blast only to make it work and ignore your other primary/secondary set?...

You should try it out!

Jacke · February 21

13 minutes ago, Lockely said:

The existing quiet rooms need TLC before we even think about adding one to Pocket D. They're inconvenient to use since they don't have a mission contact / entryway.

A ton of AE work is iterative. You push a small change, test it as fast as you can, drop the mission, and jump back into the editor. The quiet rooms add extra unnecessary movement and doorway phasing that you need to do on both sides.

The normal AE buildings are fine and literally hurting nothing.

I'm used to that iterative process as it's kind of what happens when I'm making IOs to market. Or tweaking a Popmenu, which when changed requires me to exit the game and relaunch the client to get the new Popmenu loaded to see if the changes did what I wanted them to.

I think you have a lot of personal experience in actually using AE to make AE maps and arcs. Which is exactly what's needed for a good detailed suggestion on how to improve the current Soundstage B rooms and add an improved one to the Pocket D AE.

I can think of 1 improvements for Soundstage B rooms:

Make them complete by adding subdued contact holograms and a mission portal so all work to make an AE map and arc can be done without leaving.

Edited February 21 by Jacke

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issue 27 Patch Notes for February 20th, 2024 - Issue 27, Page 7

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