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From Paragon City: Issue #5 Is Alive...
(on the Beta Server, anyway...)
Those
guys at NCSoft keep tweaking and improving the game play for
our favorite, City of Heroes, even as they prepare City of
Villains for a launch (more on that in the next few weeks).
The fifth issue (meaning latest major updates to the game)
has been tested, and our own Jason Schachat has a rundown
on what players should be able to expect when it goes live.
This is an adaptation of an earlier summary Jason did for
his friends within the game.
Confirmed:
In response
to recent chit-chat, Statesman has said: "Just wanted
to cover some of the things that have been posted...
skills
- unlikely
new zone - likely
new missions & task forces - likely
new power sets - likely
new events - likely"
and
"I've
mentioned offhandedly that we're doing some work on Tankers,
Scrappers, Blasters and Controllers. And I've gotten many
PM's asking about this and the timeframe. I can tell you
that several changes will be in I5 - and a few others soon
afterwards. I'll promise you that we'll give FREE respecs
if the changes are indeed to the point where gameplay is
signficantly affected."
"Big
problem areas: Some Defense power sets being worse than
others. Some builds being so powerful that gameplay at high
levels is too easy."
Blaster = damage dealer
Controller = locks up enemies
Defender = heal and buff teamates and debuff enemies
Tanker = damage soaker (i.e. meat shield)
Scrapper = soloist
"That's
the distinction we're looking for."
"We're
also looking at the dreaded Hamidon Enhancements and how
to work them into our balance equations. On the one hand,
people who've received Hamidons have worked for them. Yes,
players have optimized their strategies - but the Hamidon
assault takes coordination, planning and tactics. I'd like
Hamidon Enhancements to give an appropriate reward. On the
other hand, the Hamidon's have caused havoc by creating
two distinct camps: the 'have's' and the 'have nots'."
New
powersets.
According
to Manticore, Defenders will get a new primary AND a new
secondary: Trick Arrow/Archery. Blasters will get Archery
as their primary. We also know 2 Sonic powersets are coming,
with, again, primary and secondary available for Defenders
and primary available to Blasters .
Manticore's
exact quote said: "Due to the upcoming Power Sets Manticore
is actually a Trick Arrow, Archery Defender."
Statesman
has elaborated that "...the bow and arrow sets are
not an Archetype unto themselves, but they are powersets
available to new Blasters and Defenders. The bow Attack
set has a sniper attack, yes. All the bow attacks have slightly
different animations. Its not all just pull back and loose
an arrow."
From E3,
we got this "screenshot" at right. In case you can't
make out the words, the powers are:
Defender
Primary: Trick Arrow
Entangling Arrow
Ice Arrow
Glue Arrow
Flash Arrow
Poison Gas Arrow
Acid Arrow
Disruption Arrow
Oil Slick arrow
EMP Arrow
Defender
Secondary: Archery
Snap Shot
Aimed Shot
Fistful
of Arrows
Blazing
Arrow
Aim
Explosive
Arrow
Ranged
Shot
Stunning
Shot
Rain of
Arrows
Further question
of Statesman has revealed there are "4 new sets, 2
for Sonic and 2 for Bows. You can make a Bow/Devices blaster
if you want."
This
verifies Sonics and suggests one Sonic set will be a blast
power. Statesman has also posed, "what kind of animations
will sonic blasters have (sounds from hands/mouth)? ...I
believe that the majority of animations come from the mouth
(head) of the character."
New
zone "Croatoa"
We can
be reasonably certain that it will be a hazard zone for
heroes in their 30's. (And as a place, it should be
no surprise -- sooner or later all comics mythos starts
playing around with Croatoa -- Spawn and Batman teamed up
to face it once, and it formed the spine of Neil Gaiman's
1602. )
Astartus
from the Virtue server theorizes. "I think the central
part (green) will be New Connaught, the woods (orange) to
the right "The Misty Wood", the blue part on the
left may be "Salamanca" (the original settlement?),
and "The Grim Vale" and "Sunset Ridge"
at the top, with "The Broken Teeth" connecting
them (perhaps similar to the "Wolfs Throat" in
Striga?)"
Now,
before you go into a giggle-fit over the crayola quality
of the zone map, take a look at the upper lefthand corner
of the live city map.
As you
can see, the general layout works with the preliminary zone
map, so what we're looking at is probably the real deal.
Concerning
the level range, CuppJo has said, "this type of development
is not reactionary to 'Fix X' problem but rather is a very
long process that is part of a larger development plan.
The Hollows was first (for levels) 5-15, Striga
was next (for levels) 20-30 and Croatoa is coming
(for levels) 25-35"
As for
the way the zone will work and be themed, Statesman has
hinted, "Egyptian themed bad guys-- Animal Head gods,
Mummies, Egyptian Priests, Acolytes, Soldiers. Think The
Mummy meets Young Sherlock Holmes. When chopped
up some mummy parts continue to look for victims. Funny
you should mention this. There's plenty of room left to
grow ...far future heroes, spy organizations, pulp, magical
world, etc."
"Croatoa
is a place of magic and exploration, and as such the villains
have that sort of flair. You will encounter villains from
the Coven, as well as the Red Caps and other groups and
the funny part is, that even these groups don't get along
with one another, so the zone has lots of infighting witnessed
by the Heroes. You may even recognize some entities, if
you were around last Halloween."
Here's
a shot of a pumpkin patch which lends itself to a Halloween
theme. This, of course, works very well thematically with
the Coven, who we know to be returning in Issue 5.
The
appearance of the Croatoa train station suggests it won't
be a Hazard Zone, but rather the second City Zone to be
added to the game, allowing all levels to enter it. This
also suggests the first change to the Paragon Transit Authority's
rail line, implying that Croatoa WON'T be an island like
Peregrine or Striga, though possibly one more akin to Talos.
The skyline shows a lighter version of
the fog seen in Dark Astoria, so the zone could be located
near that part of the city for continuity purposes.
Also, concerning the sounds of the zone,
Irish Wolfhound says "I was also able to find the .ogg
audio file that is the background track to the new Croatoa
zone. The background track contained lots of seagull sounds,
several fog horns, and what sounds to be a bell chiming
at one point."
For
a more historical/mythological look at the zone's probable
origins, check here.
More
to come...
Earlier
City of Heroes coverage:
The
Fifth Column vs. The Council
Interview
with The Statesman, Jack Emmert
Review
of the game
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