Update 3 on test - 5th column removed from game

[eldaec]

It seems the tin foil wearers were correct, the 5th column are no more.

All 5th mobs have become 'Council' faction, Council seem to be a group of Nictus inflitrators (think invasion of the body snatchers).

You get to keep your souvenirs, but please /bug any "public" reference to 5th Column.

The 5th it seems, now never happened.

Epic powers that open at 40 are in as previously promised...

• Blasters

-Cold Mastery
-Force Mastery
-Flame Mastery
-Munitions Mastery

• Controllers

-Stone Mastery
-Fire Mastery
-Ice Mastery
-Primal Forces Mastery
-Psionic Mastery

• Defenders

-Dark Mastery
-Power Mastery
-Psychic Mastery
-Electricity Mastery

• Scrappers

-Body Mastery
-Darkness Mastery
-Weapon Mastery

• Tankers

-Energy Mastery
-Pyre Mastery
-Arctic Mastery
-Earth Mastery

New classes for those who reach lvl 50 with a base classes, as noted in another thread these guys get a blast type primary and a defence secondary, but are less effective when solo, and more effective when grouped. New annoncements are that...

 - They don't get free choice of origin, it's fixed for each class.
 - Some villians have been given powers that have bonuses against Kheldians
 - They have story arcs and missions that only they have access to, presumably they involve fighting....
 - ... the new villian group included that is particularly effective at killing Kheldians. 'Void Hunters'.

In other news we have a new island zone for 20-30, 'Striga Isle', lore for this island is that it is a 5th Column... sorry, a 'Council' hideout just outside US waters.

In terms of balance, everything above level 25 has been made harder, apparently by the simple addition of more HP (one could point out that this will only make things slower rather than harder, but that would probably be considered churlish at this point).

Certain villian groups have been given an xp boost to reflect the fact that noone likes fighting them (think Rikti crash site).

All 'monsters' will now take damage and have defence as if they are your level, unclear so far if this is effective when players are less than the monster level as well as when they are higher.

New villian classification introduced : 'elite boss', this fits in somewhere between boss and archvillian.

Fear has been changed on all powers that have this effect, an enemy under fear is held unless attacked, if attacked the villian will can make one attack in retaliation, then they are held again until the fear wears off or until they get attacked again.

New bind commands added to force a toggle on or off. This is more important than it seems, it makes the 'toggle superspeed/fly on when I move, off when I release much more practical than before.

MISSION DIFFICULTY SLIDER IS IN. You talk to a Hero Corp guy, pay him influence and missions you take from then on can be made harder.

Would you like to know more?

[eldaec]

EPP info from those who claim to know....

Unless other wise stated these are powers copied from other sets. Note, however, that your class modifiers will be applied (Defender damage penalty, blaster damage bonus, scrapper group buff penalty, defender group buff bonus, tanker self buff bonus, controller hold mag bonus, controller damage penalty.... you get the idea)



Scrappers....

Body Mastery-

Conserve power,
focused accuracy, (+acc toggle)
Laser Beam Eyes, (single target blast)
Energy Torrent.

Darkness Mastery-

Torrent,
Petrifying Gaze,
Dark Blast,
Tenebrous Tentacles.

Weapon Mastery-

Web grenade,
Caltrops,
Shuriken, (single target blast)
Exploding Shuriken.  (aoe blast)

Controllers...

stone mastery
1- hurl boulder
2- fissure (aoe damage)
3 - rock armor (smash/lethal resist)
4- earth's embrace (dull pain with knobs on)

fire mastery
1 fire blast
2 fire ball
3 fire shield
4 consume

ice mastey
1 ice blast
2 hibernate
3 frozen armor
4 ice storm

primal forces
1 power blast (single target blast)
2 conserve power
3 temp invulnerability
4 power boost

psionic mastery
1 metal blast
2 indomitable will (status protection clicky)
3 mind over body (smash/lethal resist)
4 psionic tornado

Tanks

Energy Epic:

1)Conserve Power
2)Focussed Accuracy (+accuracy toggle)
3)Laser eyes (ranged single target blast)
4)Energy Torrent

Fire Epic:

1)Fire Cages
2)Char
3)Fire Blast
4)Fire Ball

Ice Epic
1)Chilblain
2)Block of Ice
3)Ice blast
4)Ice storm

Stone epic:
1)Stone Cages
2)Salt Crystals
3)Fossilize
4)Stalagmites



Defenders...

Dark
-----
Oppressive Gloom
Dark Consumption
Dark Embrace
Soul Drain

Power
-----
Conserve Power
Power Build Up (Build Up plus all power effects - sleep, stun, etc.) are also enhanced)
Temporary Invulnerability
Total Focus

Psychic
-----
Dominate
Mass Hypnosis
Mind Over Body (smashing and lethal armour - toggle power)
Telekinesis (push foes around)

Electricty
-----
Electric Fence
Thunder Strike
Charged Armour
Power Sink

Blasters

-Cold Mastery:
Snow Storm
Flash Freeze
Frozen Armor
Hibernate

-Force Mastery:
Personal Force Field
Repulsion Field
Temp Invuln
Unstoppable

-Flame Mastery:
Bonfire
Char
Fire Shield
Rise of the Phoenix

-Munitions Mastery:
Body Armor (Passive Smash/Lethal Resist)
Cryo Freeze Ray (hold)
Sleep Grenade (Minor Dmg, AOE Sleep)
LRM Rocket (AOE! Snipe Attack)

The idea of blasters with unstoppable is causing something of a stir.

[Raging Turtle]

grrr, the 5th column was my favorite enemy group.  I know a lot of other players felt the same way.  The Council (blah name) better look damn cool.

All the new things, while sounding pretty cool, look to be for the higher levels.  As an eternal low-level (always making new characters) I say boooo to that.  I may let my account lapse this month and see whats new for the next issue.

[eldaec]

Only things in this patch limited to 40+ are the new clsses and EPPs.

A low level gets the new zone, the various quality of life improvements, but most importantly, THE MISSION SLIDER. whooho!

Council mobs, so far, look exactly like 5th column, walk exactly like 5th column, have powers exactly like fifth column. All old 5th column content is still there, only the lore has been rewritten to match our new and glorious history.

[eldaec]

Mission slider looks like this....

http://img35.exs.cx/img35/8402/hcfa.jpg

Reports suggest Invincible means mobs are +2 and +3.

Intermediate levels are apparently a mix of higher level and greater quantity of mobs.

EDIT: Testing reveals...

Hard Boiled (Default) = mobs are your level and +1. Normal quantity.
Tenacious = mobs are your level and +1. Double quantity.
Rugged = mobs are you +1 and +2. Normal quantity.
Unyeilding = mobs are +1 and +2. Double quantity.
Invincible = mobs are +2 and +3. Normal quantity.

[schild]

I don't like revisionism. I was <-> that close to resubbing to fight 5th Column. Without them my fun loving nazi hunting is gone. I mean hell, Bazooko's Circus doesn't even make sense anymore. The game is slowly looking better and better though. They've almost got depth now. Impressive.

[Azhrarn]

MOST importantly:

"Minimap is now resizable and has an options pulldown."
"You can now hit an opponent with a melee attack while chasing after them."
and
"Quit will no longer be interrupted by mouse clicks. If you are quitting to the desktop you will be given the choice to exit immediately"

[Riggswolfe]

What's the deal with getting rid of 5th column? Are they afraid to upset some Germans or something? Good god I hate political correctness.

[eldaec]

No word from the devs on why - except for the 3 line release note which claims there was an internal coup and the 'council' took over.

This doesn't fit with the retroactive nature of the change of course. Go look at Atlas' plaque, even that now talks about facing off against Council infiltrators, instead of Nazi infiltrators.

A number of people have pointed out that retroactive continuity changes are not entirely unknown in the world of comics. So I guess you could argue this maintains a long, if dubious, tradition.

A bunch of other (less intelligent) people are still banging on incorrectly about German law (sigh).

It's possible a publisher objected I guess.


"We have always been at war with Eurasia"

[Pineapple]

It's possible a publisher objected I guess.

City of Villians lets you be a villian, or side with villian groups. Right?

That would be a big political correctness no-no to allow people to fight on the side of Nazis. People might complain a little in this country, but I can guarantee you it would cause a huge problem in Germany.

You cannot even publicly say anything remotely positive about Nazis in Germany, much less print or create it. It is a crime to do such. Quake got in trouble for that over there. 5th Column are a Nazi spin-off, according to City of Heroes' own fiction.

I'm suprised it hasnt been an issue before now, but I guess the expansion brought it to light.

[schild]

I'm still making a toon when City of Villains comes out. He'll be a super nazi. He will have mind control powers if they exist. Which they should in Cov. He will found the 6th Column. And they will fucking deal with it.

[eldaec]

5th Column remnants have now been sighted on the test server battling with the Council, and Statesman has indicated that any retroactive continuity such as the Atlas plaque is probably an error introduced by overzealous Find and Replace monkeys.

5th may not have gone away entirely afterall.

[Murgos]

5th Column remnants have now been sighted on the test server battling with the Council, and Statesman has indicated that any retroactive continuity such as the Atlas plaque is probably an error introduced by overzealous Find and Replace monkeys.

When met with player dissatisfaction always, and I mean always, blame it on the intern.

[UnSub]

Of all the villain groups I've aware of, only the 5th Column have any real connection to our reality - Nazis are the only group that actually existed. It could be that the devs just wanted to sever all ties with reality in regards to villain groups and make everything purely comic-like.

It also stops the problem of players eventually demanding that they be able to fight Hitler's brain.

[Glazius]

5th Column remnants have now been sighted on the test server battling with the Council, and Statesman has indicated that any retroactive continuity such as the Atlas plaque is probably an error introduced by overzealous Find and Replace monkeys.

When met with player dissatisfaction always, and I mean always, blame it on the intern.

Except that wasn't 5th Column. That was an attempted simultaneous Pearl Harbor by the German military, unless I'm totally misremembering.

They have to leave that in or Independence Port doesn't make any sense at all. (Hello, VALOR BRIDGE?)

It does make storyline sense for Requiem to break off of the 5th. Some of the lore you dig up in the Path of the Dark arc (35+) and To Save A Thousand Worlds (40+) puts him as a figure who's only using the 5th because of his pre-Nictus backstory. I can imagine Nosferatu being all pragmatic about his genetic engineering program and swapping sides. Not sure about Vandal, though, given his more techie origin he may try to lead the splinter of the original 5th.

Or Nemesis could sweep in, mop up the remains, and the Nemesis Army could get some presence in the parts of the city that aren't Peregrine Island.

States has posted on the forums that this is part of an ongoing storyline, and on the test server (they haven't suddenly gone live with Issue 3 while I wasn't looking, have they?) the conversion, like the conversion to new art models, is not being handled perfectly.

--GF

[GuidoFubini]

Testing reveals...

Hard Boiled (Default) = mobs are your level and +1. Normal quantity.
Tenacious = mobs are your level and +1. Double quantity.
Rugged = mobs are you +1 and +2. Normal quantity.
Unyeilding = mobs are +1 and +2. Double quantity.
Invincible = mobs are +2 and +3. Normal quantity.

This is exactly the info I wanted to know. I was initially hoping that the difficulty slider would be on a per-mission basis, but I'll definitely be using this system for all it's worth.
It might have made more sense to simply be able to ask a contact for a harder assignment than paying someone to change your contacts' perception of you. Super-heroic bribery just seems a little odd.

[Mesozoic]

I also expected the slider to be per-mission.  I can't wait to group up and find out that the quest we are running belongs to some ass who thinks his blaster is l33t and that we can all handle invincible.

I myself will probably go with "tenacious."

[ClydeJr]

They changed the way mobs reacts to long duration AoE attacks like Rain of Fire and Burn. They'll run away and stay away instead of occasionally running back into the damage.  Unfortunately it totally screws up the standard fire tanker build. Provoke can no longer hold the enemies in the burn circle. Now you have to have a controller or controller type powers to keep them in the Burn.

I took a quick tour of Striga Isle. The entrance to the zone is on a boat near the ferry to Peregrine Island. Once there I saw Council, Warriors, Family, Sky Raiders, and Banished Pantheon.

Some screenshots:
The Council

The Family is now sporting tommy guns rather than standard machine guns.

High up shot of Striga Isle

The Council base is protected by artillery positions on the wall. They can be destroyed.

The artillery has a short range flamethrower for short range attacks.

Missile silo at the top of the base

[Mesozoic]

wow.  And here my fingers were hovering over the cancel option as WoW came out.

 I am so keeping my CoH sub active.

[ClydeJr]

One last screenshot: A Peacekeeper morphed into its Nova form. People have been calling it the squid form.

[eldaec]

Back on the subject of the 5th Council, the devs are now running events all over the test server, where the 5th battle the Council in large numbers(actually battle and do damage, not like the play fights normal mobs sometimes do until you attack).

Everything I've seen and all reports indicate that the 5th pwn the Council.

Admittedly this could partly be because 90% of the player base is running about assisting the 5th at every opportunity.

No idea if these events are likely to ever see live, but the devs are setting a number of small rare events up that happen at random across all of Paragon City, so these battles could be set up as such a random event.

'Zone-specific-events' introduced on live include the clockwork building a 'Giant Monster' grade 'Clockwork Paladin' every now and again in KR. You can get a badge for preventing the completion by slaughtering all the clocks involved, or you can fight the (now purple con regardless of your level) Paladin when completed for shits and giggles. There's also an occaisional giant octopus in IP, and a ghost ship in Talos.

[schild]

If the 5th beat the Council in game and stay in game because of it, the event shall be named "The greatest event in an MMOG ever." And I will start playing again.

[Murgos]

There's also an occaisional giant octopus in IP...

Well thats cool.  Is it 'giant' as in towering over the buildings giant, or is it 'giant' as in larger than you would reasonably expect an octopus to be?

[eldaec]

If the 5th beat the Council in game and stay in game because of it, the event shall be named "The greatest event in an MMOG ever." And I will start playing again.

My suspicion is that the 5th will eventually return, Statesman is absolutely determined to run a storyline come hell or high water, the Council/5th thing is part of that story, and is likely to have more than one chapter.

[eldaec]

There's also an occaisional giant octopus in IP...

Well thats cool.  Is it 'giant' as in towering over the buildings giant, or is it 'giant' as in larger than you would reasonably expect an octopus to be?

Somewhere between the two.

About yay big.

[HaemishM]

About yay big.

HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP!

[Grelf]

Must not resub....decision failing...must not resub...



Edited to ask: Did they ever put in different weapon looks for the blasters? Or are the all the freakish multi-gun still?

[Fargull]

Somewhere between the two.

About yay big.

Can it pick your character up and sling them across the zone?  Damn thing looks great.  Hopefully they will have some idiot from COT summon up Cthullu to eat the fucking city.

[Reg]

It's fun to kill too although it takes forever. Each of the legs and the head are a considered a seperate creature to kill.

[ClydeJr]

Hopefully they will have some idiot from COT summon up Cthullu to eat the fucking city.

If they do, Kronos Titan will save the day!





Of course, it's just as likely to blow up the city as Cthulu...

[Murgos]

I give CoH full credit for having neat things to kill.  Steam punk Huns, futuristic mercenaries, Nazi's, Giant Octopi, Giant killer robots.  It must be nice to play a game where the developers aren't stuck in Orc Mode.

[ClydeJr]

Edited to ask: Did they ever put in different weapon looks for the blasters? Or are the all the freakish multi-gun still?

Naw, still the same ol goofy multigun. I know they've talked about adding different looks/colors for weapons and powers but the devs haven't said anything more solid than "We're considering it."

[Lanei]

"We're considering it."

Last I heard it was more like "We want to, not sure when yet."

[Grelf]

If they ever change the gun models, I'd resub in a heartbeat. I may resub nonetheless after the new year. Not playing anything right now other then KOTOR2 and Burnout3.

[Big Gulp]

If they ever change the gun models, I'd resub in a heartbeat. I may resub nonetheless after the new year. Not playing anything right now other then KOTOR2 and Burnout3.

My supergroup is probably getting sick of me not being around, but I just don't see any reason to log in.  My main is 50 and has nowhere left to go.  I'm just waiting for update 3 so I can play my alien, but I really see no reason to play an alt that I won't be sticking with in the meantime.

CoH badly needs an alternate advance scheme like EQ1 had, because really once you hit 50 your only choice is to either run him around pointlessly or start another character.