[OPEN BETA] Patch Notes for October 5th, 2024

[The Curator]

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Zones

Labyrinth of Fog

Additions

• Added a dialog loop option to return to the weapon checker page on the Labyrinth info NPC.
• Gateway to the Font of Malevolence given new visuals; Removed the box blocker.
  • Entering the Font of Malevolence while the Minotaur is alive will kick you to the entrance lobby.
• If you own the Avatar of Achlys mini pet a shortcut to the Font of Malevolence will appear in the True Core near the Benefactor In The Fog, if the Minotaur is dead.

 

Adjustments

• Minotaur now triggers arena transition at 95% HP.
• Font of Malevolence spawns individualized in packs of four based on their floor color.
  • This will result in them re-spawning more consistently.
• Font of Malevolence now spawns a random Giant Monster from the Labyrinth's GM spawn offerings every 75 defeats, before and after the Avatar spawns.
  • These GMs can trigger Spectral Pull at sub-50% HP.
• Avatar of Achlys can now be spawned once every Minotaur cycle; No longer on a 2-3 hour re-spawn timer.
  • Chalice of Malevolence removed as there is no longer a timer for it to track.
• Avatar of Achlys now spawns at 350 total defeats in the Font of Malevolence each cycle. Can only be summoned once per cycle.
• Avatar of Achlys' Malevolent Explosion damage increase/hit-timing staggered.
• Avatar of Achlys now given similar on/off scrolling +ToHit buff to the Minotaur.
• Avatar of Achlys' inherent resistances increased from 50% to 85%.
• Avatar of Achlys' now grants leadership buffs to the Font's spawned mobs.
• Skull FX that highlights the Font of Malevolence is using Spectral Pull now spins.
• Harridan EBs now spawn with Talons of Vengeance packs instead of two Keres.

 

Fixes

• Fixed a potential mapserver crash issue related to Draught of Fog usage.
• Fixed numerous misspellings of 'Achyls' in various locations.
• Fixed broken pathing beacons in the newer 5th Column sections.
• Lowered the violet mote's volume so getting it should be easier.

 

Kallisti Wharf

• Moved the spawn location for the Halloween event giant monsters away from drones which can insta-kill them.

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Missions

Various

• Fixed AI pathing issues in the end room affecting a few maps in the office tileset.

 

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NPCs

Warriors

• Updated Talos Island Alexander Pavlidis model to use newer Warriors assets.

 

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Rewards

Mini Pets

• Fixed the Avatar of Achlys not being summon-able through the Hologram Matrix pop menu macro.

 

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Events

Halloween 2022 - Trick-or-Treat Elite Bosses

• Power availability on the Arisen Mummy and Hollow Reaper enemies has been adjusted to be better balanced when they spawn at lower levels, gaining powers at Levels 30+ and 40+ to reach their current strength, rather than having full access to all powers at all levels.

 

Halloween 2009 - Dark Apocalypse

• Defeat badge credit for the banner event now guaranteed as long as the participant hits the target once, no longer requiring 10% team damage dealt for credit.

[Glacier Peak]

22 hours ago, The Curator said:

Events

Halloween 2022 - Trick-or-Treat Elite Bosses

• Power availability on the Arisen Mummy and Hollow Reaper enemies has been adjusted to be better balanced when they spawn at lower levels, gaining powers at Levels 30+ and 40+ to reach their current strength, rather than having full access to all powers at all levels.

These Halloween Elite Bosses were designed to make Trick-or-Treating in teams or leagues more engaging / lucrative / rewarding. Adjusting their powers based on Level gates, instead of having all of their powers available at any Level, is the opposite of providing an engaging experience for teams and leagues.

 

Where is the "be better balanced" applying to? Teams and leagues already melt these enemies above Level 25 without issue.

 

If this is an attempt to cater to solo players, it's at the expense of team and league engagement. 

[lemming]

23 hours ago, The Curator said:

Halloween 2009 - Dark Apocalypse

• Defeat badge credit for the banner event now guaranteed as long as the participant hits the target once, no longer requiring 10% team damage dealt for credit.

Awesome.  That will make league management for that a lot easier, though will someone on the team get credit if they don't personally hit it?

 

If a single team is doing the event and has 2 people at each banner, under current conditions, everyone gets badges.    Though I would guess the old criteria still exists and this is an added insurance?

 

Does look like the incan full league to each banner method will be best (which normally works now, but can fail for some teams if not balanced, and this fix should address)

[AboveTheChemist]

I posted this on Discord but just for maximum visibility, the Halloween event is not currently active on Open Beta. I was hoping to do some testing there if it is possible to activate the event.

 

EDIT: For anyone reading this later, Brainstorm is indeed now in the grip of the spooky season.

 

Edited October 5 by AboveTheChemist
update

[kelika2]

2 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

These Halloween Elite Bosses were designed to make Trick-or-Treating in teams or leagues more engaging / lucrative / rewarding. Adjusting their powers based on Level gates, instead of having all of their powers available at any Level, is the opposite of providing an engaging experience for teams and leagues.

 

Where is the "be better balanced" applying to? Teams and leagues already melt these enemies above Level 25 without issue.

 

If this is an attempt to cater to solo players, it's at the expense of team and league engagement. 

CoH has been a casual/easy mmo since its inception.  long gone are the days of needing a team of 100 players to kill a rat

even if i did agree with you these EBs get slaughtered constantly at level 50

[Ridiculous Girl]

2 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

These Halloween Elite Bosses were designed to make Trick-or-Treating in teams or leagues more engaging / lucrative / rewarding. Adjusting their powers based on Level gates, instead of having all of their powers available at any Level, is the opposite of providing an engaging experience for teams and leagues.

probably to get rid of a power like the living nightmares cone which is a 15 second mag 3 terrorize... which was bad enough for my level 50 MM in a hotel hell PI league. at a low level, even in a large group, it would be *cough* a living nightmare... 😎

[gameboy1234]

On 10/4/2024 at 9:58 AM, The Curator said:

Missions

Various

• Fixed AI pathing issues in the end room affecting a few maps in the office tileset.

 

 

Could you fix this for players too?  Seriously I always get lost in those darn non-euclidean office buildings, I figured the AI was just being "realistic."

 

[Molubdos]

On 10/4/2024 at 5:58 PM, The Curator said:

 

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Missions

Various

• Fixed AI pathing issues in the end room affecting a few maps in the office tileset.

 

 

I've done a quick skim of all 11 of the "offending" versions of that tile I found on live and all of them still appear to be broken, at least when testing via Architect. I don't know if it being Architect Test Mode affects anything with the pathing, but perhaps this fix didn't make it in.

 

[Number Six]

52 minutes ago, Molubdos said:

I've done a quick skim of all 11 of the "offending" versions of that tile I found on live and all of them still appear to be broken, at least when testing via Architect. I don't know if it being Architect Test Mode affects anything with the pathing, but perhaps this fix didn't make it in.

 

Whoops, that's because I derped and deployed the data patch, but forgot to deploy the new beacons. Will restart Brainstorm overnight when there's less activity and post here when it can be tested.

[lemming]

I just knocked on a door on Brainstorm and ToT is live.   May be a bit before I see banners pop.

[lemming]

Nice replacement for the box.

[Number Six]

@Molubdos

 

Beacons have been deployed and the fix should actually be in place now.

[Luminara]

20 hours ago, lemming said:

Nice replacement for the box.

 

Huh.  Never thought I'd see an actual picture of @Snarky's house.

 

I hope he didn't pay the carpenter, though.  That roof looks leakier than Tom Holland.

[Shin Magmus]

That's a really nice box.

[AboveTheChemist]

I was testing GMs in Kallisti on Brainstorm and had Eochai spawn in his 'old' spot on the center isle near the drone. The drone didn't get him, but I assume the intent was for the GMs not to spawn at this spot anymore. If that is not the case, please ignore. I defeated 45-50 GMs in Kallisti over a span of a couple of days and only saw him spawn here once. I did see him spawn in the new spot 5-6 times.

 

Edited October 9 by AboveTheChemist

[mechahamham]

On 10/9/2024 at 12:47 AM, AboveTheChemist said:

I was testing GMs in Kallisti on Brainstorm and had Eochai spawn in his 'old' spot on the center isle near the drone. The drone didn't get him, but I assume the intent was for the GMs not to spawn at this spot anymore. If that is not the case, please ignore. I defeated 45-50 GMs in Kallisti over a span of a couple of days and only saw him spawn here once. I did see him spawn in the new spot 5-6 times.

 

While doing a Deadly Apocalypse event in Kallisti, I saw that there was an GM-less spawn of Unseelie waiting in this location. I even incorrectly reported it to the zone as a GM spawn. My only assumption is that the drone caught the GM, but not the Unseelie ghosts.

[AboveTheChemist]

1 hour ago, mechahamham said:

My only assumption is that the drone caught the GM, but not the Unseelie ghosts.

 

I agree with this assumption. Based on what I saw, the spawn point seems just far enough away that the drone doesn't auto-zap the GM/Unseelie when they spawn in. They have to wander a little into range of the drone before it zaps them.