Category: Resources & Rules

New NCSoft licensing stuff re CoH and CoV:
First off, there will be just a single $15/mo. subscription fee. Whether you buy CoH, CoV, or both, the ongoing subscription cost will be the same.
More interestingly (bolding mine):

Along with the value of being able to play the two games for $14.99, players will receive four additional character slots per game server, and access to crossover areas from both games such as player-versus-player zones in City of Villains. Additionally, City of Heroes’ players who subscribe to both games will have access to the base building and base raids featured in City of Villains.
Okay, would I pay the whatever-X dollars to buy the CoV discs and install them, just so that I could have four additional character slots on Champion?
Little ol’ alt-o-holic me?
Hell, yeah.
PvP zones? Not so much interested (any more than I’ve ever entered an arena match). What the “access to the base building” means is a bit more intriguing. Does this mean hero bases will be available? Or that raids on villain bases will be allowed? Stay tuned.
(via Mal)

What powers give what sorts of Defenses (type and circumstance)?
Now you know. Except for, maybe, some mistakes people have highlighted below that post.

Just to clarify something that I’ve heard different tales about:

If you do (or are on a team that does) 25% or more of the Giant Monster’s HP in damage, then you (your team) will receive the badge for defeating the Giant Monster.
So says Positron.

As one of the devs, War Witch seems positively a chatterbox, answering any number of questions as to design decisions made in CoH/CoV, especially having to do with zone design. Good stuff. Read the thread.

A great resource post on tech support for CoH questions — what NCSoft provides, what’s available on the boards, and a slew of basic diagnostics and workarounds you can try. Keen.
Learned that the servers for CoH are located in Virginia and California (Champion is one of the latter). Interesting.

CuppaJo has updated the Guide to Guides section of the CoH boards. It now stretches into two posts, and there are at least some indications of Issue number, as well as some of the ATs being broken out into power sets. Good stuff.

Updates from the dev list over the weekend:

1. The sonic power graphics change is on Test. Go look and see if it still makes you queasy. Reviews, so far, are mixed. Some folks see no difference, some see major differences, still others say it’s better but nothing they could run a TF with. (UPDATE: This will go in as a partial fix, with something better rolling out next.)
2. How Defense stacking works with different powers. It two of the same positions (melee, ranged, area) or type (cold, energy, smashing, lethal, etc.) of Defense apply, then they stack. If not, then it’s just the highest that applies. Folks seem to think this is broken. I just find the descriptions confusing.
3. An explanation of Vigilence, and of how the whole inherent powers thing came about.

It’s ironic that the sonic power set is becoming most notorious for its visuals, in particular the sonic shields and their fit-inducing stuff.
Next patch on Test should have the proposed fix, which is primarily removing the flasing/strobing aspects of the power. While some folks might dislike how it still looks (spinning rings, atom-style), I think that’s going to help a lot.
Running over the weekend with Amethyst, the sonic defender in the party was putting these on everyone, and they all strobed differently and it was making even me a little queazy. This is a definite improvement.

New stuff up on Test. Who says big stuff only with Issue numbers?
(Linked to the European boards because that’s where I saw someone reference them.)

# Added new inherent power to Defenders – Vigilance: As a Defender’s teammates lose Health, the Defender gains an Endurance Discount.
Sweet. Of course, if it’s like Defiance, it won’t do anything nearly soon enough (and I’d rather have a Recharge Redux than an EndRedux), but it beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Or, at least, heals it more cheaply.

# Added Damage Resistance Inspirations (Reduces the damage you take from an attack). Drop rate for non-defensive Inspirations has not changed. 50% of defensive Inspirations that drop will be the old Defense (avoid getting hit) Inspirations, and 50% will be the new Damage Resistance Inspirations.
On one level, very cool. Very, very cool. On the other hand, gah, another Insp type to make room for. I’d really liked the consolidation of the mez ones.

# Made several changes to the Force Field powersets for Defenders and Controllers:
Deflection Field now has Defense to Melee attacks, in addition to its old effects.
Insulation Field now has Defense to Ranged attacks, in addition to its old effects
Dispersion Bubble now has Defense to Area of Effect attacks, in addition to its old effects
Significantly Reduced the Endurance cost of Force Bubble. Also, added a small chance to knock down foes.
Huzzah for more bubbly goodness!

Reduced duration of XP Debt protection in Resurrect Powers.
Booo! Didn’t they just give this power? Obviously they saw folks writing about perma-Revive …

Reduced recharge time of Rest.
Yay! All level 12 and below characters thank you! (Heck, a few higher ones that solo or don’t have healers along thank you, too.)

Decreased Recharge time of Police Bot attack.
Rats. That’s the best part of the Hollows, gunning down invading troll gangs before the police bots disintegrate them.

* Fixed bugs with escort NPCs:
Fixed bug in some missions where if a hostage is killed, the mission does not end.
Fixed bug that could cause escort NPCs to become hostile and attack players.
Fixed bug that caused escort NPCs to despawn 10 minutes after being freed.
* Removed invisible turrets that appeared in some missions.
Yikes. Yeah, those all sound like things worth fixing.
More stuff listed, too.
Btw, thanks much for attentive support folks. I /bugged not getting a badge and credit I ought to have last night, and it appeared in about 5 minutes. Nice.

Answers in the Ask Positron column on the Skills System, the Archenemy System, the Flashback System, Holiday Events, Post-50 Content, Defender Inherent Powers, Distribution of Origins, and more. Very cool beans.

On the subject of sonic shields making folks feel ill.
Cuppajo says:

I found out today that the fix for this is in the next patch that we are getting (we = NCsoft) from Cryptic. So – you will probably see one more patch on test before we see the one with the fix hit test.
Margie seems to be enduring with this, but it’s definitely making her queasy. Me, I just find it mildly annoying …

The Paragon Times unveils the disaster zone of Siren’s Call. Folks speculate on when it’ll be here and what it all means.

What are all those things that various DE leave sitting in the battlefield? Doyce has the scoop:

• Quartz crystals: give a + To Hit (technically different than +ACC from enhancements) of around 300%
• Fungi: make resistant to statuses
• Cairns: raise damage resistance
• Trees of Life: regen hit points

Good to know. What’s unclear is whether, if a DE is Deceived/Confused and they lay a goody, whether the benefit redounds to the heroes or not (a la Force Field Generators).
(Doyce cites the CoH Forums, but I can’t find the quote there.)

Coming your way soon.

Geko talks about power design, power nerfing, and … upcoming powers:

As I write this, I am glancing over my shoulder to my white board. On the left in bright blue is a spot reserved for future power sets. Some have been there a long time, and may never happen for technical reasons. Recently erased are Archery, Trick arrow, Sonic Attack, and the CoV power sets like Plant Control and Robotics. At the top of the list are ones you can expect in the near future (names are all pending): Street Fighting, Electrical Melee, Electrical Armor, Shields (melee and defense versions), new Henchmen for CoV Masterminds, and a new techno defense set for CoV Stalkers. There is a fairly good chance you will see many of these in the next Update. Some will be shared in both CoV and CoH, and some will be exclusive to one or the other.
Street Fighting — why this was not in the original release (although, of course, it’s not like any major heroes, like Batman, Daredevil, or anyone important uses it …) — glee! But … no pistols?!
Alas, much to Geko’s namesake dismay, we probably won’t see wall-crawling. But he makes me want to take another look at Claws …

Lots of CoV preview stuff over here. Fun stuff.

My CoH character power planner is finally updated with (most of) the I5 stuff. Nice. Velvet’s current planned build (which I need to respec into) hits the S/L cap just fine.
(via Doyce)

So the alt I’m most worried about in I5 is Velvet, given that she’s an Invuln tanker. Ironically, I recently (a few months back, right before they started announcing I5 changes) respecced her into something that much less toggly, much more auto. Irritatingly, what I’m taking her back to is something very close to what I had previously.
Really, though, the main difference is that rather than having RPD fully slotted, I’m tossing more slots into TI.
I realize that I’ve also been a bit spoiled with Velvet, based on her running with P-siren and getting all the bubbly goodness for protection. Since that’s now correspondingly less, I need to be a bit more careful with stuff.
Here’s what I’m currently looking at (written to 44, though I’m only at 28 so far):

For Psi-clone: I5 and Illusion in 60 Seconds
For Mrs. Azure: I5 and Mind in 60 Seconds

So, very cool that the stores now show up on the maps, especially since you can now click on them and home in via the Nav bar.
But …
Why the heck do they just show a generic “store” icon? I mean, it makes a lot of difference what kind of store you go to, cost-wise. Not all stores are the same. So why not, like Vidiots, show the store type?
As I noted in another thread, why would folks *not* know where certain stores are? Are there no Yellow Pages? No Google Maps? Nothing that ties into the comm system? Heck, no 411 to call to get directory assistance?
I have to see if Vidiots has updated maps (they have) and download them. Hopefully the new icons won’t overlay the useful symbols.