Developer The Curator Posted October 1 Developer Share Posted October 1 Another autumn's October greetings to all you classy cape wearers & stylish schemers out there! It's almost time for a frightfully good spook! ...what time is that you might ask? Spooky season is once again upon us! Oh my indeed! 🎃 Get ready for the Homecoming: City of Heroes Halloween Event! 🎃 October 1st - November 5th So, what does the Halloween event bring? I'm glad you asked! Each year, the fallen fae of the Unseelie Court attempt to invade our world by opening rifts when the spirit realm and the mortal realm are at their closest during the spooky Halloween season. Fortunately for us, they have been thwarted every year by the valiant efforts of Heroes and Villains who stop these spooky beings in their tracks! However, their persistence leads them to bolster their ranks if their attempts at world scaring are to succeed. The Unseelie Court's Hollow Reapers are ever-vigilant at seeking mystic methods to bring frightful fears! These reapers are using their spectral scythes to widen the rifts, allowing even more terrifying creatures of the night to invade when somebody is tricked whilst Trick-or-Treating! This can't be good... 🎃 What is there to do during the Homecoming: City of Heroes Halloween Event? 🎃 https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Halloween_Event Badges, Badges, Badges! There are a ton of event badges to be earned during the Halloween Event each year! Here's a list of all the badges up for grabs! https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Halloween_Event/Badges Zone Trick-or-Treating! https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Halloween_Event/Trick_or_Treat Go to any zone appropriate to your level range, click any mission door, and you'll be surprised with either a Treat reward or a Trick spook! 👻 Treats will reward a variety of things: Halloween costume temporary powers, these come in many flavors! Collecting many rewards badges! Halloween salvage that can be redeemed for an extra costume slot, a spider vanity pet, and more! Talk to the Halloween salvage vendor appropriate for you: Heroes: Annah in Croatoa Villains: Granny Beldam in Nerva Archipelago Praetorians: Acantha in Imperial City If you are wearing a costume power (Halloween or Prestige) while trick-or-treating, you can receive a Whispered Rumor tip mission that allows earning up to six badges! https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Mission:Tip_-_Whispered_Rumor Inspirations! Sometimes though, all you get is a rock... Tricks will spawn Halloween enemies! Worry not, as these enemies can be defeated for badges! Trick-or-Treating Elite Bosses! Five Elite Boss enemies that can spawn while Trick-or-Treating above Level 25! Ancient Vampires Spectral Werewolves Arisen Mummies Crone Matriarchs Hollow Reapers These spooky Elite Bosses will reward five-fold experience and influence for each one defeated! Have any alts that still need some levels? Haven't tried out that one goofy power set combo yet? Want to build a meta character for Advanced Modes? This would be a great opportunity to find some time to go Trick-or-Treating! Each of these Elite Boss mobs also count for the legacy defeat badges. Spectral Werewolves count as both werewolf and ghost defeats! These mobs spawn at a lower rate than other Trick-or-Treat enemies and were designed to be tough. For the best results, try Trick-or-Treating with a team or league! Looking for an efficient Trick-or-Treating spot? Might I recommend the motel near the hospital in Peregrine Island? 👀 Halloween Event Badges! + Aether Rewards! Five badges for defeating each of the Trick-or-Treat Elite Boss types: Vampiric Heritage - Defeat 5 Ancient Vampires from the Halloween Event to earn this badge. Spectral Anomaly - Defeat 5 Spectral Werewolves from the Halloween Event to earn this badge. Mummy's Curse - Defeat 5 Arisen Mummies from the Halloween Event to earn this badge. Unholy Cabal - Defeat 5 Crone Matriarchs from the Halloween Event to earn this badge. Reaper of Souls - Defeat 5 Hollow Reapers from the Halloween Event to earn this badge. Not only that! But each of these elite boss badges also rewards 2 Prismatic Aether Particle salvage as a bonus, for a grand total of 10 possible on each character! Wow! You can earn progress for these badges at any level, but must be Level 25 to claim the badge / salvage rewards! Buy some costumes! Save up for something fancier! Or just sell it on the AH and rake in some inf! Costume Goodies! Fancy any of those Halloween costumes and wish you could keep them permanently? If you earn all five of elite boss Halloween defeat badges and claim the rewards, you'll have enough Prismatic Aether currency to purchase one permanent Tier 1 Prestige Costume of your choosing from any of the BenevoLabs vendors found at Vault Reserve locations! Nice! The Halloween Salvage vendors are also offering a limited-time Fir Bolg, Ancient Vampire, and Arisen Mummy Prestige Costumes which are available for the entirety of the month of October each year! These Halloween prestige costume costs 10 Prismatic Aether Particles + 50 of each of the four Trick-or-Treat Halloween salvage types. Zone Giant Monster Hunts! https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Halloween_Event/Giant_Monsters For the duration of the Halloween Event, you can find the giant monsters, Eochai and Jack-in-Irons, randomly throughout standard zones! The pair are worth an exclusive badge for the first time defeating each, but every time they're defeated grants 6 Reward Merits to everyone who participated! After being defeated, another Eochai or Jack will respawn somewhere in the same zone shortly afterward, so if you search the zone, they can be defeated many times repeatedly for lots of Reward Merits! Eochai: "I will be sure and 'squash' all of these mortal interlopers!" Zombie Apocalypse Zone Invasions! https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Zombie_Apocalypse Keep an eye on the Zone Event channels! Frequently during the Halloween Event's runtime, zones will be attacked by a Zombie Apocalypse! During this event, waves of zombies will spawn anywhere there are players and can be defeated for badges and experience! Group up somewhere with a lot of allies and mow down zombies for rewards! Don't stand too close to Police Drones though! Deadly Apocalypse Zone Events! https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Deadly_Apocalypse Keep an eye on the Zone Event channels! If a spooky fog and four banners roll in, it's time for a Deadly Apocalypse! In this event, players must coordinate to defeat enemies simultaneously at all four Banner locations marked on the map. As the Banner's defenders are defeated simultaneously at all four locations, the protection on the Banners will gradually weaken. Remember if there aren't people at all four banners fighting, you won't be able to make any progress! Eventually, the Banners will become vulnerable, and players can destroy each one for a total of four badges! Once all four Banners have been destroyed, a Greater Mystic Aspect giant monster will spawn somewhere in the zone! If defeated they will reward players with another badge and choice of a temporary power! Dr. Kane's House of Horrors Trial! https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Dr._Kane's_House_of_Horror Grab four allies and queue for the Dr. Kane's House of Horrors Trial from the Looking For Group (LFG) tab on your chat window! Face lots of spooky enemies and earn plenty of badges in this short trial that's only available during the Halloween Event! Tip: Prestige costumes also count for the 'Tricked Out' badge criteria! Atlas Park Zone Makeover! https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Atlas_Park_Seasonal_Changes#Halloween During the Halloween Event, Atlas Park will get a spooky makeover! Enjoy the change of scenery while it lasts! Eternal Night! For the last two weeks of the Halloween Event, starting on October 22nd, most zones will be covered by an eternal night! If you're interested in hunting for enemies that only spawn at certain times of the day like the ghosts in Croatoa! This is a great chance to get those badges! That's everything for Halloween this year! We hope everyone has a grand & spooky time playing City of Heroes! 🎃 Thanks Homecoming for being such awesome players! 🎃 6 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momentarygrace Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starro Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 Ah yes, time to move into the Peregrine motel for the next month…. 1 "She who lives by the cybernetic monstrosity powered by living coral, all too often dies by the cybernetic monstrosity powered by living coral." -Doc Buzzsaw Pineapple 🍍 Pizza 🍕 is my thumbs up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitzsimmons Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 Looks like no new badges... which is a good thing! I'm tired of the chase. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slamya69 Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 (edited) @The Curator @Cobalt Arachne Any chance you could patch the Halloween window decos back in on the residential buildings? ToT feels much more atmospheric in an environment with a Halloween theme. Thanks! Edited October 1 by slamya69 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Developer Cobalt Arachne Posted October 1 Developer Share Posted October 1 2 hours ago, slamya69 said: Any chance you could patch the Halloween window decos back in on the residential buildings? ToT feels much more atmospheric in an environment with a Halloween theme. Thanks! The core reason for that is because we don't patch at all to start the Halloween event anymore, and those window texture swaps require manually patching them in and manually patching them out after. A few years back, the game's event scripts and specifics were enhanced by the administrators to run automatically without needing to patch the game. Things such as Atlas Park changing to autumn in October or the events starting are handled by automated scripts that don't require building and deploying any patches. Due to that, some elements that only worked with patching were missed because they aren't possible to implement without a patch, and thus aren't compatible with the new current Halloween event setup. I can mention it to the admins who run things, but essentially, it's at odds with some of the automation measures implemented for how we run the events today. 1 1 Love this game and its community? Want to give back? Volunteer as a Game Master! Help make Homecoming the best it can be! Writer of the Patch Notes Red side, best side! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slamya69 Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 8 minutes ago, Cobalt Arachne said: The core reason for that is because we don't patch at all to start the Halloween event anymore, and those window texture swaps require manually patching them in and manually patching them out after. A few years back, the game's event scripts and specifics were enhanced by the administratorsto run automatically without needing to patch the game. Things such Atlas Park changing to autumn in October or the events starting are handled by automated scripts that don't require building and deploying any patches. Due to that, some elements that only worked with patching were missed because they aren't possible to implement without a patch, and thus aren't compatible with the new current Halloween event setup. I can mention it to the admins who run things, but essentially, it's at odds with some of the automation measures implemented for how we run the events today. @Cobalt Arachne Totally understand the logic. But as the Halloween window textures still exist in one building in Atlas, and are only active when the Halloween event kicks off, there must be some way to replicate that to many of the other residential buildings (like it used to be). If it's part of the automated Halloween event script for one building, theoretically it should be able to be applied to others, correct? I guess it's just a matter of the effort required to go in and add it. Not trying to be argumentative. Just discussing, and wondering how much effort it would be to make that change. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraAlt Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 8 hours ago, The Curator said: The Halloween Salvage vendors are also offering a limited-time Fir Bolg, Ancient Vampire, and Arisen Mummy Prestige Costumes which are available for the entirety of the month of October each year! These Halloween prestige costume costs 10 Prismatic Aether Particles + 50 of each of the four Trick-or-Treat Halloween salvage types. I'm not a grinder/end-gamer myself, but I really appreciate the DEVs putting in some stuff to keep them busy ... plus this might even jack up the prices of the Halloween salvage early on in the Event. 8 hours ago, The Curator said: 🎃 Thanks Homecoming for being such awesome players! 🎃 Thanks for being the most excellent DEVs! If someone posts a reply quoting me and I don't reply, they may be on ignore. (It seems I'm involved with so much at this point that I may not be able to easily retrieve access to all the notifications) Some players know that I have them on ignore and are likely to make posts knowing that is the case. But the fact that I have them on ignore won't stop some of them from bullying and harassing people, because some of them love to do it. There is a group that have banded together to target forum posters they don't like. They think that this behavior is acceptable. Ignore (in the forums) and /ignore (in-game) are tools to improve your gaming experience. Don't feel bad about using them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Developer Cobalt Arachne Posted October 1 Developer Share Posted October 1 (edited) 1 hour ago, slamya69 said: Totally understand the logic. But as the Halloween window textures still exist in one building in Atlas, and are only active when the Halloween event kicks off, Some misunderstanding there on what's doing what... Atlas Park changes automatically when the server's calendar date rolls over into to October, it has nothing to do with the Halloween event running or not. We use a script to start the Halloween event after the first October maintenance, it doesn't activate at 00:00 of October 1st like Atlas does. This year things just happened to fall on the same day, but they are usually triggered independently. The special Halloween version of Atlas was designed to be Halloween themed, so it has spooky window swaps always on by default, because that version of Atlas Park only ever appears in October, no need for seasonal setups. However, for the rest of the game unfortunately, it does require manually patching. Specifically, a patch that uncomments this line from every single zone's scene file: #include scenes/includes/halloween.txtEdit: I'll ask our admins about it... But a longer-term solution is probably warranted, it's a very minor change that doesn't warrant two version builds, but was a charming part of the original event, and I agree, it is a bummer to see it missing. Edited October 1 by Cobalt Arachne 4 1 Love this game and its community? Want to give back? Volunteer as a Game Master! Help make Homecoming the best it can be! Writer of the Patch Notes Red side, best side! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slamya69 Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 2 minutes ago, Cobalt Arachne said: Some misunderstanding there on what's doing what... Atlas Park changes automatically when the server's calendar date rolls over into to October, it has nothing to do with the Halloween event running or not. We use a script to start the Halloween event after the first October maintenance, it doesn't activate at 00:00 of October 1st like Atlas does. This year things just happened to fall on the same day, but they are usually triggered independently. The special Halloween version of Atlas was designed to be Halloween themed, so it has spooky window swaps are always there by default, because that version of Atlas Park only ever appears in October, no need for seasonal setups. However, for the rest of the game unfortunately, it does require manually patching. Specifically, a patch that uncomments this line from every single zone's scene file: #include scenes/includes/halloween.txt You got an answer for everything, huh?! 😄 Ok...that said, is there anything that can be done...depending on the effort/will to do so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKN-351 Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 2 hours ago, Cobalt Arachne said: Edit: I'll ask our admins about it... But a longer-term solution is probably warranted, it's a very minor change that doesn't warrant two version builds, but was a charming part of the original event, and I agree, it is a bummer to see it missing. 2 hours ago, slamya69 said: Ok...that said, is there anything that can be done...depending on the effort/will to do so? Client side mod mayhaps? 1 1 Are you looking for Ultramode style, candy coated enhancements and powers? WELL YOU'VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE!! (they're also in the City Mod installer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZamuelNow Posted October 7 Share Posted October 7 On 10/1/2024 at 8:31 AM, The Curator said: Eternal Night! For the last two weeks of the Halloween Event, starting on October 15th, most zones will be covered by an eternal night! If you're interested in hunting for enemies that only spawn at certain times of the day like the ghosts in Croatoa! This is a great chance to get those badges! What does this mean for enemies such as Caleb who spawn at night but require daytime defeats to do so? Especially since it would seem to be a fitting enemy for the time of year. AE Arcs: Search for @ZamuelNow Dhahabu Kingdom and the Indelible Curse of Hate [60044] and Dhahabu Kingdom and the Unfathomable Nightmare of Sand [61528] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandfeatherex Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 I'd also add that not seeing the window textures really takes away from the event, and seems to make it just another event to grind out, instead of something to look around and appreciate 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Developer Cobalt Arachne Posted October 31 Developer Share Posted October 31 Happy Halloween! Here's to another fun-filled year of City of Heroes! 9 1 2 Love this game and its community? Want to give back? Volunteer as a Game Master! Help make Homecoming the best it can be! Writer of the Patch Notes Red side, best side! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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