Issue 3 is live

[schild]

So isn't Statesman's archrival the "Reichsman"? What happens to that guy?

What happened to what guy?

[eldaec]

Never heard of Reichsman, leader of the 5th Council is Requiem, an Italian facist possesed by an alien (this was the backstory at least since launch day, and remains the case under i3).

Most obvious nemesis of Statesman is Tyrant. Tyrant leads the Praetorians, who run are an alternate dimension evil version of the Freedom Phalanx (the heroes who give out levels and task forces). There is a 45-50 story arc where Statesman is captured by Tyrant and co, and you have to work you way through an arc of missions with an AV (or two) in each mission representing all the npc heroes' evil twins, finally rescuing Statesman at the end.

[eldaec]

So isn't Statesman's archrival the "Reichsman"? What happens to that guy?

I asked around, it would appear that Reichsman = Statesman in the Column/Council dimension rather than Statesman's archrival as such.

Also, continuity has the Reichsman caputured and *FROZEN* in the FP HQ.

Now, in my admittedly limited experience of comic book continuity there is only one reason for putting a character into any form of frozen state...

And it rather reinforces my suspicion that the 5th will return in a future patch.

[Mesozoic]

Anyone else here been to Striga Isle yet?  Its a neat zone, but I noticed that some of the chase ranges, specifically for the bosses, seem to have gone way up.  One OJ Council Boss chased me halfway across the zone, long after most mobs give up - and he kept bringing his friends with him.  

What made it worse is that with SS/SJ, I would outpace them fast, then assume they were gone and attack other mobs.  Then, halfway through a fight I would watch my health drop fast, turn around, and see the OJ boss and his 3+ friends firing at me from a distance.  Later a Warwolf boss did the same thing.  I knew that the bosses were getting toughened up, but I didn't read anything about increased chase ranges.

[ClydeJr]

Someone put together a really good lore manual for CoH. It's long but has some really interesting information about all the famous supergroups like Hero Corp, Freedom Phalanx, and the Midnight Squad. The guy who wrote is compiled all the info from stuff he pulled from the CoH website and the the game.

[Glazius]

Anyone else here been to Striga Isle yet?  Its a neat zone, but I noticed that some of the chase ranges, specifically for the bosses, seem to have gone way up.  One OJ Council Boss chased me halfway across the zone, long after most mobs give up - and he kept bringing his friends with him.  

What made it worse is that with SS/SJ, I would outpace them fast, then assume they were gone and attack other mobs.  Then, halfway through a fight I would watch my health drop fast, turn around, and see the OJ boss and his 3+ friends firing at me from a distance.  Later a Warwolf boss did the same thing.  I knew that the bosses were getting toughened up, but I didn't read anything about increased chase ranges.

I haven't noticed any follow stuff as I went tooling around the game, aside from the ambushes.

It might be that they turned super-follow on in Striga Isle because it's the Council's secret headquarters.

--GF

[HaemishM]

I went to Stiga Isle, but only for a few minutes before I had to log off yesterday. I didn't notice, but then didn't fight any bosses I couldn't kill either.

[UnSub]

Well, the Praetorian's version of Statesman is called Tyrant, and may be a Reichsman proxy.

However, instead of all the "it's illegal in Germany" stuff, another reason for the conversion of the 5th Column to the Council goes:

1) The 5th Column were among the first group of villains created by Cryptic, meaning they've had the longest time to work out a story for them.

2) The 5C are Nazis in name only and could be any type of paramilitary group in execution (hence the shift to the Council isn't so huge).

3) They are the only group to have any connection to the real world, so do stand out a bit in a game filled with wizards and mutants.

4) They could come back, led by the Reichsman, so a 5C vs Council war would be an interesting narrative.

All in all, I suspect Germany had little to do with it.

[Glazius]

Well, the Praetorian's version of Statesman is called Tyrant, and may be a Reichsman proxy.

However, instead of all the "it's illegal in Germany" stuff, another reason for the conversion of the 5th Column to the Council goes:

...

4) They could come back, led by the Reichsman, so a 5C vs Council war would be an interesting narrative.

All in all, I suspect Germany had little to do with it.

Just a note - watching the 5th Column and the Council fight it out you get a real appreciation for the AI in the game. Hordes of them are swarming around the river in Founders' Falls, attacking and counterattacking up and down the waterways and bridges.

Putting that dynamic stuff earlier on in the game might not be a genius idea, if for no other reason than a gang war could snowball so large no hero who could get XP from the whole mess would be able to handle it, and getting pwned by a five-block brawl is not a happy feeling for a newbie.

But I'd definitely like to see more of this more running combat AI.

--GF

Especially when I can watch the Rikti tire themselves out breaking into a bunker and then drop in and wave hello when they're all too tired to move.

[Rodent]

Eh, my fire/fire tank is loving thoose brawls, Ofcourse he's only level 25, usually SK'd up to 35.

As a player though, I love how the remaining th Column ubermench forces are tearing the Council to shreads if left unatended.

Also, I've said it before, I will say it again. The german "Nazi ban" only means that you cannot portray nazism in a good way and you can not show swastikas in entertainment products.

[Llava]

I am disappointed that Axis America didn't survive the transition.  There was really no reason to change it.  The story certainly doesn't call for it (our reality's 5th Column experienced a coup, why would that have any affect on other realities?) and I doubt that the 3 or 4 missions in Axis America would be the cause of legal battles.

This is especially disappointing given Axis America's involvement in the world's story (reposted below for those who haven't read it).

http://www.cityofheroes.com/features/fiction_otherworlds.html

The Statesman expressed profound regret that Dr. Webb had used the Supes research despite his desires. Nevertheless, Paragon City's greatest hero and his comrades could not help but be intrigued by the Portal Corp's new technology. Knowing how important first contact with other worlds can be, the Freedom Phalanx began sending its members along with Dr. Webb and his explorations. They wanted to make sure nothing dangerous followed the good doctor back. Unfortunately, they failed in this duty. While exploring a world where America had lost to Nazi Germany, the team ran afoul of that parallel Earth's greatest hero: The Reichsman.

The Reichsman, an alternate version of our world's Statesman, led the Amerika Korps, an elite super powered hero organization that helped preserve Nazi rule over the former United States. Intrigued by these other-worldly interlopers, The Reichsman captured Dr. Webb and his explorers, tortured them to death, and ended up extracting a great deal of data about Webb's home dimension. Data is all well and good, but the Reichsman decided he wanted to see for himself, and so he led Amerika Korps through the portal and back to Paragon City.

It didn't take long for the super-powered fascists to earn the attention of the Freedom Phalanx. Queen Comet, a prominent member of the Phalanx and friend of Dr. Webb, saw the alternate Statesman come through and, having been briefed by Portal Corp about the world Webb and his escorts were exploring, she quickly called for back-up and bravely fought off the invaders until helped arrived. Although seriously wounded, she managed to hold on until the Statesman and the rest of the Phalanx arrived.

The ensuing battle raged through the Portal Corp laboratories and spilled out into the city streets. The Reichsman was every bit the equal of his all-American counterpart, and the two nearly beat each other into the ground. Fortunately, the rest of the Amerika Korps did not measure up to the Freedom Phalanx (apparently in his world the Reichsman did not take kindly to potential rivals, and thus their training had been somewhat lax.) With his henchmen defeated, it was only a matter of time before the evil Statesman fell. To this day he remains frozen in suspended animation within the Freedom Phalanx's main headquarters.

[Glazius]

Update part one - every character in the game now has a respec. Log in, see "you have 1 unclaimed respec(s) available", type /respec. It works like Jack Wolfe in Galaxy City from wherever you are (or for those who've never made it to TV - you retain your primary and secondary powerset, lose all power pools, and make all-new power selections (including new power pools) like you were leveling up one power at a time. You add enhancement slots the same way, one level's worth at a time (with the powers you didn't take yet grayed out). Then you reshuffle your enhancements, and any leftover are auto-sold for 25% of market value. This is for everybody from level 1 to level 50 - they delayed it because there was a bug with some people not getting awarded the respec.

Update part two - the devs are going to roll back the hardening of bosses and use the new difficulty slider to influence solo missions - if you're solo and at the default setting, you will never see a (named) boss in your missions, unless it's the capper to a storyarc. They're also going to bump up the existing group XP bonus.

Update part three - "What's the motto of House Stark?"

--GF

[Llava]

any leftover are auto-sold for 25% of market value.

I was under the impression that it was 100%.

Statesman made a post yesterday about the boss changes, and it's this sort of thing that makes me such a fanboy.

What’s our goal? Simply put: if a player wants to do something solo, it should be CHOICE. Teaming shouldn’t be required, but rather encouraged.

[eldaec]

100% of sale value, which is 25% of purchase value if you sell them to random vendors instead of origin appropriate vendors.

At least that is my undersatdning.

I've never respeced anyone below level 35 and so never respecced a hero who did not have, in effect, infinite influence already.

[Righ]

Update part three - "What's the motto of House Stark?"

Haven't played CoH for a while, so I don't undertsnd the reference, but "Winter is Coming". Somebody give Mr. Martin the hurry up, A Feast of Crows has been coming for far too long.

[Glazius]

Update part three - "What's the motto of House Stark?"

Haven't played CoH for a while, so I don't undertsnd the reference, but "Winter is Coming". Somebody give Mr. Martin the hurry up, A Feast of Crows has been coming for far too long.

The Winter Horde is slowly creeping over the city. There's a giant monster who tosses around snowballs which grow into little monsters, and there are multiple copies currently appearing in the trial/hazard zones. Over the next few days the spawn rate will ramp up and they'll start showing up in the main city zones.

The above quote is verbatim from the CoH boards - a dev posted it in response to a question about the "winter event" from the December newsletter.

--GF

[Llava]

There is a badge for defeating the monster, and a badge for defeating 100 of his minions.  Defeating any of them gives you a "snowball" temporary power that doesn't really do anything except play an animation of you throwing a snowball at your target.  Works on other heroes, too.  People have been tossing them around a lot.

They also put in some inspirations for this, called Presents.  Some give effects that are unique, such as immunity to debt for an hour.

[Murgos]

Thats it I'm resubbing Friday (no tearlier because I got too much to do this week and I don't need the distractions).  Is everyone still on Victory?  I would rather not start over but if there are a significant amount of peeps playing on a different server I will.

[ClydeJr]

Winter is coming indeed. Found these friendly snowmen in Eden. I kept my distance. Just to give you a size comparison, the little snowmen by the 2 top Winters Lords are hero-sized.

Like Llava said above, you get a badge for killing the big guy and a badge for killing 100 little minions that it creates. Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions.

Here's the ghost ship as it sails through Independance Port. Every so often it disembarks a load of spectral passengers. If you kill 50, you get a badge.

[AOFanboi]

Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions.

See? This is where instancing is your friend.

Seems I may want to reactivate my CoH subscription RSN. WoW is taking forever to reach Norway.

[Rodent]

Like Llava said above, you get a badge for killing the big guy and a badge for killing 100 little minions that it creates. Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions.

The trick is to never let him go into melee range, he'll throw thoose snowballs ( that spawn 3 minions ) quite often. My group got both badges in about 15-20 minutes in Striga Island.. Ofcourse the bastards just sat there while I ran around the badguy constantly taunting him.

[Glazius]

Like Llava said above, you get a badge for killing the big guy and a badge for killing 100 little minions that it creates. Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions.

The trick is to never let him go into melee range, he'll throw thoose snowballs ( that spawn 3 minions ) quite often. My group got both badges in about 15-20 minutes in Striga Island.. Ofcourse the bastards just sat there while I ran around the badguy constantly taunting him.

A bit of a dangerous proposition unless you have knockdown protection, since the other things he does at range are freezing rain and ice patch, which will have you on your behind before you can say boo.

But yeah, the only time he throws snowballs is when he's aggroed on something he can't ice sword/stomp.

--GF

[Rodent]

A bit of a dangerous proposition unless you have knockdown protection, since the other things he does at range are freezing rain and ice patch, which will have you on your behind before you can say boo.

But yeah, the only time he throws snowballs is when he's aggroed on something he can't ice sword/stomp.

--GF

Not really dangerous at all if you have a tanker or scrapper taunt him, since they all have status protection ( Though my firetank had to pick up acrobatics to get the knockback resistance ). And if you're not, well you deserve the debt.

[HaemishM]

On a separate note about Issue 3, Stiga Isle's soundtrack is the rockingest thing I've heard in a while. Two thumbs up!

[jpark]

That ghost ship is a very cool idea.  Nice.

Going to stick to WoW for now, I just hate dividing what little time I have among games.

[ClydeJr]

Like Llava said above, you get a badge for killing the big guy and a badge for killing 100 little minions that it creates. Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions.

The trick is to never let him go into melee range, he'll throw thoose snowballs ( that spawn 3 minions ) quite often. My group got both badges in about 15-20 minutes in Striga Island.. Ofcourse the bastards just sat there while I ran around the badguy constantly taunting him.

Maybe I got a slacker of a snowman, but he didn't seem to be tossing them that often. I took my invul tanker, turned on all his defenses (including the Unyielding status proteection), turned on auto-taunt at range on the Winter Lord, and walked away from the computer. The Lord couldn't hurt me enough to cause any problems and we have a fire tank that would Burn the minions when they appear. It was incredibly easy to get the badge, just boring as hell.

My main problem is that to get the minion badge almost requires camping. Almost every other "kill x foozle" badge I've received, I've earned through normal missions. This one you almost have to get through camping. I imagine you could kill multiple Lords and in the process kill about 15 minions at the same time. But to kill a Winter Lord, you have to have a team and most people are going to do the most efficient thing which is camping. Which is boring.

I think a more interesting idea would be have random snowman ambushes in missions. You're fighting a bunch of normal villans and then about 5 snowman minions come runnning up and attack.

[Glazius]

Like Llava said above, you get a badge for killing the big guy and a badge for killing 100 little minions that it creates. Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions.

The trick is to never let him go into melee range, he'll throw thoose snowballs ( that spawn 3 minions ) quite often. My group got both badges in about 15-20 minutes in Striga Island.. Ofcourse the bastards just sat there while I ran around the badguy constantly taunting him.

Maybe I got a slacker of a snowman, but he didn't seem to be tossing them that often. I took my invul tanker, turned on all his defenses (including the Unyielding status proteection), turned on auto-taunt at range on the Winter Lord, and walked away from the computer. The Lord couldn't hurt me enough to cause any problems and we have a fire tank that would Burn the minions when they appear. It was incredibly easy to get the badge, just boring as hell.

My main problem is that to get the minion badge almost requires camping. Almost every other "kill x foozle" badge I've received, I've earned through normal missions. This one you almost have to get through camping. I imagine you could kill multiple Lords and in the process kill about 15 minions at the same time. But to kill a Winter Lord, you have to have a team and most people are going to do the most efficient thing which is camping. Which is boring.

I think a more interesting idea would be have random snowman ambushes in missions. You're fighting a bunch of normal villans and then about 5 snowman minions come runnning up and attack.

I'm not sure how you managed to _stay_ at range AFK, unless you were on some bridge abutment or something. If the Winter Lord is close enough to hit you with an ice sword or foot stomp he doesn't throw the snowball full of tinier men.

This scale of camping was also "required" with the Halloween event, where the easiest thing to do was get a group of eight and sit around a door for an hour or so until you got all the Halloween monster badges but one, then head out and lay the smack down on a Pumpkin King.

BTW, I love how 'camping' is now defined as 'trying to stay out of a giant monster's range while it does its best to make a popsicle out of you'.

--GF

Edited to add a thought - I've seen more Winter Lords with bigger swarms of minions in the past few days. Maybe as part of the planned scale-up spawns of just the lower-tier snowbeasts will show up in city zones, with the monsters staying in hazard zones?

[Glazius]

And another update - today, they added ranged defense back into Invincibility, and finally finished the art fixes that will allow all Ice, Stone, and Dark Armors to stack, except for Stone's Granite Armor.

Also, glowies now make a sound, but only while they're glowing.

Full list here.

--GF

[Azhrarn]

Slightly unrelated to Update 3 I think (just general updates):
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=2070950&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1#2070950

'A system will allow players to drop unwanted missions or do old missions that have been passed over (the infamous “flashback”).'

[Shockeye]

What’s our goal? Simply put: if a player wants to do something solo, it should be CHOICE. Teaming shouldn’t be required, but rather encouraged. If a player gets a mission with an Arch Villain, he’ll be able to drop it and get another.

They certainly seem to know what they're doing. They get a thumbs-up from me.

[ClydeJr]

My tanker finally got a contact in Striga Isle so I started to do missions there. After a "Kill 10 Council" mission, I got one where I had to stop the Family from sending a load of Superadine to Independance Port. I bounce over to the mission entrance which was a door on one of the freighter cargo ships. I didn't really think about what the mission would look like. Imagine my surprise when I see a completely new (at least to me) tileset: the inside of a cargo ship.





So for missions you can have one of the following maps:
Office building
Warehouse
Standard Caves
Council/5th Column Caves
Troll Caves
High Tech Lab
CoT Orenbega
Cargo Ship
Outdoor City Area with Parking Garage
Outdoor City Area with Carnie Tents
Outdoor Narrow City Area
Outdoor Forested Area
Outdoor Coastline with Island
Outdoor Factory Area
Outdoor Graveyard with Temple at one end
Outdoor Graveyard with Temple on center plateau
Outdoor Flooded City
Outdoor Destroyed City
and probably some others I missed, not to mention the one-time ones like the Cavern of Transcendence, the Hydra Trial, and the Eden Trial.

Plus a lot of these areas have different variations. The office building can be Normal, Destroyed, Hellion (on fire), or Frostfire (frozen). I really hope they continue to add more tilesets and variations on the old ones.

[Llava]

Rock Armor



Rooted



Crystal Armor



Mineral Armor



Granite Armor

[Glazius]

Wow! Man, that's an overhaul and a half!

What about Brimstone?

--GF

[Llava]

A bunch stacked

[Rodent]

The granite armor looks cool, but the rest are worse then the poo-armor of old.