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[435]

In this thread, I will post patch notes for the goings on in the Testing Room.

If you would like to get onto the test server, follow the instructions here.

[435]

Version: 16.20071113.3T
Date: Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

COMBINED NOTES

Powers

• Updated activation times to better match animation alterations for Battle Axe, Claws, Katana, Ninja Blade and War Mace powersets. These sets should no longer have any penalty for weapon draw times.

• Accolades should now be available even when exemplared to lower levels.


Graphical / Sound Effects

• Fire Melee Incinerate Graphical Effects will now hit the target after the appropriate delay.

• Graphical Effects performance optimizations made for Fulcrum Shift and Heat Loss

• Fixed overly bright texture for Ouroboros Crystals when shader and water quality settings are not set to ‘high’

• Damage numbers and hit Graphical Effects for Archery and Trick Arrow powers should sync up better with the Graphical Effects for the arrow projectiles.

• Dominator Energy Assault - Power Bolt and Power Blast should be using their correct red tinted Graphical Effects again.

• Graphical Effects for many critters using a copy of the “Burst” power should now visually line up with the animation.
• Graphical Effects for Ice Bolt and Ice Blast have been reverted to their previous versions.

• Tank/War Mace - Build Up will now only play the Graphical Effect and Sound Effect once.

• Assault Rifle – Buckshot’s Sound Effect reverted to previous version.


Global Chat

• Any channel commands used by a Global Chat Operator will now be displayed in the channel, along with the name of the Operator using the command. This message will appear regardless of whether the Operator is hidden (i.e. if they are using /ghide).


Costumes

Two new Costume sets are now available to players:

1. Enforcer Set

Head
• Hat (1 option)
• Detail 1 (1 option)
• Detail 2 (3 options)

Top
• Shoulder (1 option)
• Chest Texture (1 option)
• Chest Emblem (2 options)
• Belt (1 option)
• Gloves (2 options)

Legs
• Hips Texture (1 option)
• Boots (2 options)

2. Jester Set

Head
• Hat (2 options)
• Detail 1 (2 options)
• Detail 2 (1 option)

Top
• Chest Texture (1 option)
• Gloves (1 option)

Legs
• Hips Texture (1 option)
• Boots (1 option)

Two new Pattern sets are now available:

1. Lock Pattern Set
2. Dagger Pattern Set


Flashback

• Contact Stores now work in Task Force / Strike Force mode for contacts the player hasn't been introduced to in their 'real' lives.

• Players who are already dead at the start of a taskforce/flashback count towards the “deaths” total for that Task Force including for the purposes of the limited lives challenge.

• Progress for ‘X Flashback missions completed’ badges will be awarded to all members of a group upon mission completion, not just the mission owner.


CITY OF HEROES

Powers

Scrapper

• Scrapper version of Heightened Senses help text now matches the help text of the other versions of the power.


Blasters

Defiance Improved:
• Blasters’ earliest abilities come so naturally to them, that they are accessible even in states that normally prevent them from using powers, such as being Held, Slept or Stunned.

• Additionally, each time the Blaster attacks with a primary or secondary power, they gain a stacking damage bonus for the next several seconds. The amount of the damage bonus and its duration is dependent on the exact power used, with single target abilities generally giving the largest bonus.

• Voltaic Sentinel now has a duration of 60 seconds for Blasters, and it should fly considerably faster.

• 12.5 percent increase to Base Ranged Damage.


Defenders

• Voltaic Sentinel should fly considerably faster for Defenders with Electric Blast.


Badges

• Hero Flashback missions should give proper level badges


CITY OF VILLAINS

Powers

• Improved activation time for Mastermind Mercenaries Burst power.


Tasks

• Snake Eggs should once again Hatch.

[435]

Version: 16.20071128.2T
Date: Thursday, December 6th, 2007

COMBINED NOTES

Powers

• Fixed an issue with the “Rectified Reticle – Increased Perception” Invention Origin Enhancement that prevents characters from leveling up if the enhancement is slotted.


Winter Event:

The Winter Slalom Race Time goals have changed:
* 25 sec – Gold
* 35 sec – Silver
* 45 sec – Bronze

• Holiday Spirit and Scrooge Badges can now be purchased from the Candy Keeper in the Ski Chalet.

• The indoor Ice Cavern map with Baby New Year has been fixed so that enemy spawns no longer disappear.


CITY OF HEROES


Powers

Blasters

• Blaster Defiance is no longer affected by Level Modification. So, you get the same bonus against higher level critters as you get from attacking lower level critters.

• Blaster Defiance Buff from Area of Effect powers will no longer stack from the same power. For example, if you use Flares twice, you would have twice the bonus. If you use Flares and Fireball, you would have the bonus from both powers. If you use Fireball twice, however, you will only have the bonus a single time.


User Interface

• Removed old Defiance bar from UI for Blasters.

[435]

Version: 16.20071128.3T
Date: Friday, December 7th, 2007

COMBINED NOTES

Powers

• Reverted animations for Broad Sword, Katana, Claws, Ninja Blade and Battle Axe power sets for additional internal testing and review.


Game:

• Increased Map Server stability


CITY OF HEROES:

Powers

Blasters

• Restored the endurance crash to Ice Blast Blizzard. The endurance crash was inadvertently removed.

[435]

Version: 16.20071128.4T2
Date: Thursday, December 13th, 2007

COMBINED NOTES

Powers

• Fixed a bug that caused some older Tankers (created before October 2005 and that have never used a Respec) to lose the Taunt power. This can be corrected by talking to any NPC Trainer.

[BigMike]

Copied from EU forums:

COMBINED NOTES
Powers

    * Endurance Modification IOs should now properly effect endurance draining powers such as Short Circuit.
    * Taunt Aura powers, such as Invincibility, no longer accept IO Set Enhancements.
    * Ouroboros Portals may no longer be summoned in PvP Zones.
    * Flares for Blasters, Corruptors and Dominators range increased from 60’ to 80’
    * Performance Shifter: Chance for +Endurance is no longer resistible. If your powerset includes Endurance Drain resistance, you will now see full benefit of this enhancement.
    * Oil Slick will now display a ‘Defense Debuff’ FX graphic on targets.
    * Ouroboros Portals will no longer aggro critters.
    * The Recharge time for Choking Cloud has been reduced from 90 seconds to 20 seconds.
    * Clarity, Clear Mind and Thaw will no longer stack if cast by the same character. Protection values for all powers increased by 50% (ie: if before each application of a power gave a character 6 points of Hold protection, it would now give 9 points.)

F/X

    * Full animation for Whirling Hands (as well as all other powers that share this animation) has been restored.
    * Summoned Snow Beast will no longer play their spawn animation twice when summoned.

Tasks

    * Fixed a bug where players that weren’t level 35 or higher could get missions in the Rikti War Zone through the Ouroboros device.
    * Fixed issue where TF/SF members could buy from contacts using cell phones.

Invention

    * Fixed inconsistent Salvage requirements on new Issue 11 Recipes (Level of recipe did not match level of Salvage needed for it)
    * Allowed slotting level range for Crafted Enhancement Set - Sniper / Extreme Measures should now be correct.
    * Allowed slotting level range for Crafted Enhancement: Boost Set: Red Fortune should now be correct.
    * Force Feedback Chance for Recharge should no longer display the wrong Icon on the status effect bar.
    * Ultra Rare Enhancements and their Set Bonuses should now work at all levels if exemplared.
    * Ultra Rare IO Enhancements now correctly state they cannot be slotted until level 50.
    * Energy Manipulator: Chance to Stun will no longer have any effect on PVP targets.
    * Achilles\s Heel: Chance for Resistance Debuff should no longer accidentally debuff the caster
    * Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Energy Damage will no longer damage the user in certain cases.
    * Using your Summon Ouroboros Portal power while your portal still exists should no longer cause the power to fail.

CITY OF HEROES
Powers

    * Scrapper Martial Arts Crippling Axe Kick had its recharge time listed as ‘Fast’ when it should be referred to as ‘Moderate’. The help text has been corrected.
    * Defenders version of Voltaic Sentinel duration set to 60 seconds.
    * Energy Blast Power Bolt for Blasters had a 5% chance to not deal the smashing portion of its damage. This has been corrected -- it should now always do the smashing damage, assuming the power hits a target.
    * Devices Auto Turret did not have a Defiance modifier active. This has been corrected. It now adds ~39% damage buff when successfully cast.
    * Scrapper Invincibility was set to use the wrong operator for its Taunt Aura. This has been corrected and should be back to its I10 effectiveness.
    * Moment of Glory: Removed Health crash and Heal resistance. Reduced Recharge time to 240 seconds. Decreased Protection, Resistance and Defense durations to 20 seconds.
    * Resolved an issue with the delay on the visual FX for Munitions Mastery - Cryo Freeze Ray & Sleep Grenade.
    * Devices Web Grenade now properly stacks it’s Defiance modifiers.
    * Frozen Aura for Tankers now has a damaging component.
    * Repaired Ice Blast Blizzard for Blasters. Its Endurance Crash was inadvertantly removed.
    * Tanker Dual Blade Taunt recharge rate was set to 3 seconds, instead of the 10 seconds all other Tanker Taunt powers are set to. This has been corrected.

CITY OF VILLAINS
Powers

    * Mastermind Robotics Pulse Rifle Burst was doing Negative Energy Damage instead of Energy damage. The damage type is now correctly set to the Energy type.
    * Stalkers Assassination attacks have been modified for PvE use. The damage scalar used for the critical portion has been broken into two parts. The first part, which operates the same as the original Critical, is now 2/3rds its previous value. The second part, however, does 10% of the targets maximum health, prior to resistances. Against underlings and minions, this results in slightly lower overall damage. Against Lieutenants, the damage is roughly equivalent. In all other cases, the overall damage output should be significantly increased.

F/X

    * Resolved issue with a shared wristband activation sequence that was resulting in sounds being shared between powers such as Robotics Masterminds and the portable workbench/Ouroboros portal summon.
    * Transitioning from running forward to strafing left or right has been fixed for Dual Pistols.

[435]

Version: 16.20080109.2T2
Date: Monday, January 21st, 2008

TASKS

• Players can now drop missions as often as once every 3 days.

NOTE - Known Issue: The in-game text still says that players can only drop a mission once every 7 days.


GAME

• Improved the Map and Zone stability, so that they will no longer crash due to a bug introduced within the previous 16.20080109.0 version.

• For Windows Vista Users : Added Vista compatible cursors for when the game is run in Full Screen mode. Vista users will no longer need to use the “-compatiblecursors 1” line in their CoHUpdater.exe shortcut to make their cursor appear.


BASES

• Keeping track of what goes in and out of base storage bins has been improved. When you query any of the storage items in your base (invention, inspiration, enhancement, etc.) they will now show a unified log for anything stored in all shared storages bins within the base. This change addresses a stability issue with the previous log file system that only impacted extremely large bases.


POWERS

• Removed the “non-stackable” change to Clarity, Clear Mind and Thaw that was introduced in the previous 16.20080109.0 version. They will now stack as they did before. (Note: This was changed based upon player feedback on the previous build).

• Modified values on Stalker Assassination attacks. Overall damage should be closer to the original values, while gaining significantly against Elite Boss, Arch-Villain and GM style opponents. (Note: This was changed based upon player feedback on the previous build).


USER INTERFACE

• Players below level 12 can no longer use the in-game Mail system.


Added two buttons to the Log In screen.

• Manage PlayNC Account – Clicking this button will launch the default web browser and take players to the PlayNC.com website to add more time or upgrade their City of Heroes account.

• View Community Website – Clicking this button will launch the default web browser and take players to the Community Forums.

[435]

Version: 16.20080122.0
Date: Friday, January 25th, 2008

COMBINED NOTES

Feature

Combat Attribute Window

• This window displays all the character’s current attributes. It can be accessed by clicking on the Powers Tab or on the Powers Icon Tray.
• Below each attribute is a list of all powers affecting the attribute and the power's contribution.
• There should be tooltips for every attribute thoroughly explaining them.
• Each attribute can be sent to the Attribute Monitor window (via right-click context menu)
• Masterminds can right-click their pet and view their pet’s attributes.

The Attribute Monitor

• The Attribute Monitor window is a minimalist window designed to be unobtrusively left up at all times.
• Up to 10 attributes can be monitored.
• You can drag the window to any part of the user interface
• You can right-click on elements to re-order or remove them.
• If there is a monitored attribute, the window will stay open. If all attributes are removed, it will close


Tasks

• Players can now drop missions as often as once every 3 days.
• Fixed a bug where players that weren’t level 35 or higher could get missions in the Rikti War Zone through the Ouroboros device.
• Fixed an issue where Task Force/Strike Force members could buy from contacts using cell phones.


Game

• XP Curve Adjustment: Enemy XP values (and Influence/Infamy dropped) have been increased across nearly all levels. The size of the increase directly relates to datamined leveling speeds for characters, so levels where characters have found themselves ‘stuck’ or ‘slowed’ will have enemies of that level’s XP increased more than other levels. Enemy Levels with the greatest increase in XP rates are: 13 to 20, and 36 to 50. Other levels have had smaller, but still significant, XP and Inf. adjustments. This may mean that characters will find it impossible to do ‘all’ the content of a given level range before outleveling it.
• Debt incurred for being defeated has been lowered by 20% across all levels.


Bases

• Keeping track of what goes in and out of base storage bins has been improved. When you query any of the storage bins in your base (invention, inspiration, enhancement, etc.) they will now show a unified log for anything stored in all shared bins within the base. This change addresses a stability issue with the previous log file system that only impacted extremely large bases.


Powers

• Ouroboros Portals may no longer be summoned in PvP Zones.
• Ouroboros Portals will no longer aggro critters.
• Using your Summon Ouroboros Portal power while your portal still exists should no longer cause the power to fail.
• Moment of Glory: Removed Health crash and Heal resistance. Reduced Recharge time to 240 seconds (four minutes). Decreased Protection, Resistance and Defense durations to 20 seconds.
• Flares for Blasters and Dominators range increased from 60’ to 80’
• The Recharge time for Choking Cloud has been reduced from 90 seconds to 20 seconds.
• Taunt Aura powers, such as Invincibility, no longer accept Taunt IO Set Enhancements.
• Increased damage on Force Field Repulsion Bomb. Previously, it was Minor damage (scale 0.1) and it is now Moderate damage (scale 1.0) The Endurance cost of this power increased slightly, as a result of this change.
• Super Strength Rage no longer has an Only Affect Self period. Instead, it is given a huge damage reduction coupled with the inability to use Temporary Powers for 15 seconds as its ‘crash’ effect. Be careful if using Rage while wearing a disguise, such as a Freakshow Disguise or the Holographic Projector, as this crash will disable those effects!
• Replaced Super Strength Rage Defense Debuff with a Recovery Debuff.
• Tweaked Group Flight to help alleviate latency issues with the power.
• Vahzilok Disease should fade after 3 hours now.


User Interface

Added two buttons to the Log In screen.
o Manage PlayNC Account – Clicking this button will launch the default web browser and take players to the PlayNC.com website to add more time or upgrade their City of Heroes account.
o View Community Website – Clicking this button will launch the default web browser and take players to the City of Heroes website.

• Characters below 10th level cannot send emails.
• Characters that are not high enough level to send emails can now delete emails they receive.
• For Windows Vista Users : Added Vista compatible cursors for when the game is run in Full Screen mode. Vista users will no longer need to use the “-compatiblecursors 1” line in their CoHUpdater.exe shortcut to make their cursor appear.


Veteran Rewards

• 45 Month Veteran Reward added. This reward grants a free respec.


Inventions

• Ultra Rare Enhancements and their Set Bonuses should now work at all levels if exemplared.
• Fixed inconsistent Salvage requirements on new Issue 11 Recipes (Level of recipe did not match level of Salvage needed for it)
• Allowed slotting level range for Crafted Enhancement Set - Sniper / Extreme Measures should now be correct.
• Allowed slotting level range for Crafted Enhancement: Boost Set: Red Fortune should now be correct.
• Energy Manipulator: Chance to Stun will no longer have any effect on PVP targets.
• Achilles’ Heel: Chance for Resistance Debuff should no longer accidentally debuff the caster
• Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Energy Damage will no longer damage the user in certain cases.
• Endurance Modification IOs should now affect endurance draining powers such as Short Circuit.
• Performance Shifter: Chance for +Endurance is no longer resistible. If your powerset includes Endurance Drain resistance, you will now see full benefit of this enhancement.
• Force Feedback Chance for Recharge should no longer display the wrong Icon on the status effect bar.
• Changed display name of ‘Debilitative Action: Recharge/Immobilize’ to match what it actually does. It is now ‘Debilitative Action: Immobilize/Endurance Reduction’
• Many cases where the Recipe name did not match the resulting Enhancement have been fixed.
• Updated display names of all IO Set Bonus powers to be more user friendly
• Dampened Spirits: To Hit Debuff/Endurance Reduction was using an incorrect table lookup to determine its To Hit Debuff value. This has been corrected.
• Corrected an issue which would prevent you from slotting Dark Watcher’s Despair: Chance for Recharge Slow or Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Energy Damage if you had Gaussian’s Synchronized Fire-Control: Chance for Build Up already slotted in any power.
• Endurance Modification IOs were always applying the End Mod value on a single attribute IO. For Multiple attribute IO’s this was not correct! The buff amount from multiple attribute IOs has been corrected they follow the established rules.
• Fixed an issue which could cause Confusion powers to cause aggro if they were slotted with the Contagious Confusion enhancement


Server Transfer

• Clarified Character Transfer warning to indicate that Arena kiosk ratings do not transfer with a Server Transfer.


Graphical Effects

• Full animation for Whirling Hands (as well as all other powers that share this animation) has been restored.
• Summoned Snow Beast will no longer play their spawn animation twice when summoned.
• Oil Slick will now display a ‘Defense Debuff’ graphic effect on targets.


CITY OF HEROES

Powers

Scrapper
o Scrapper Martial Arts Crippling Axe Kick had its recharge time listed as ‘Fast’ when it should be referred to as ‘Moderate’. The help text has been corrected.
o Scrapper Invincibility was set to use the wrong operator for its Taunt Aura. This has been corrected and should be back to its I10 effectiveness.


Blasters
o Energy Blast Power Bolt for Blasters had a 5% chance to not deal the smashing portion of its damage. This has been corrected -- it should now always do the smashing damage, assuming the power hits a target.
o Devices Auto Turret did not have a Defiance modifier active. This has been corrected. It now adds ~39% damage buff when successfully cast.
o Devices Web Grenade now properly stacks it’s Defiance modifiers.
o Repaired Ice Blast Blizzard for Blasters. Its Endurance Crash was inadvertently removed.
o Blasters irresistible damage in PVP reduced from 33% to 10%

Defenders
o Defenders version of Voltaic Sentinel duration set to 60 seconds.

Tankers
o Frozen Aura for Tankers now has a damaging component.
o Tanker Dual Blade Taunt recharge rate was set to 3 seconds, instead of the 10 seconds all other Tanker Taunt powers are set to. This has been corrected.


Animations

• Fixed issue with some Archery and Trick Arrow animations not playing correctly at all times. Specifically if the power required the weapon to be drawn before activating.


CITY OF VILLAINS

Powers

Masterminds
o Mastermind Robotics Pulse Rifle Burst was doing Negative Energy Damage instead of Energy damage. The damage type is now correctly set to the Energy type.

Stalkers
o Modified values on Stalkers’ Assassination attacks. The overall damage should be close to what Stalkers currently do, while gaining significantly against Elite Bosses, Arch-Villain/Hero and Giant Monster style opponents.
o Increased damage values of PVE Assassin Strike abilities.


Graphical / Sound Effects

• Resolved issue with a shared wristband activation sequence that was resulting in sounds being shared between powers such as Robotics Masterminds and the portable workbench/Ouroboros portal summon.
• Transitioning from running forward to strafing left or right has been fixed for Dual Pistols.

[435]

Buff Icons

# Context Menu For Buff Icons shows the effect of the buff

Combat Text

# Hit rolls have been added to the text in the combat channel

Mastermind commands

# /inspexec_pet_name <pet name> <insp name>
# /inspexec_pet_target <insp name>

Auction House QoL

# Sort by Rarity Added
# Get all influence button added

[435]

Version: 16.20080122.5T2
Date: Friday, February 8th, 2008

COMBINED NOTES

User Interface

Trial Account Upgrade Messaging

• Due to back-end issues discovered during testing, the Trial to Account Upgrade Messaging feature has been removed.


CITY OF HEROES

Powers

Blasters

• Blaster Fire Sword Circle was inadvertently doing considerably too much damage in PVP after the unresistible damage change. This has been corrected.

[435]

Friday, May 23, 2008

COMBINED NOTES

Maps

• Imperious Task Force: Fixed several holes on the Vespillo Pass map (the 3rd map in the TF)


NPC Enemies

• The formula used by Lieutenants to calculate hit points (hp) was incorrect. This resulted in Lieutenants below level 15 having more hit points than intended, and those above level 15 having fewer than intended. At level 1, a Lieutenant had 22 hp greater than they should, and at level 54, they had 55 hp less than they should. The formula has been corrected and they now have the correct hp throughout their level ranges.


Powers

Attack Powers:

• Assault Rifle/M30 Grenade: This power should now be able to be slotted for both knockback enhancements and sets. This affects all versions of this power.
• Battle Axe / Gash: Since this power currently uses Beheader’s old animation to smooth out its overall attack chain, its power name has been changed to Beheader to better suit its animation.
• Battle Axe / Beheader: Since this power currently uses Gash’s old animation to smooth out its overall attack chain, its power name has been changed to Gash to better suit its animation.
• Fire Sword: The animation for this power was changed. Its cast time was reduced from 1.67 to 1.33 seconds. This affects the power for all versions of Fiery Melee and Fire Manipulation.
• Hurl Boulder: The animation for this power was changed. Its cast time was reduced from 3.83 to 2.5 seconds. This affects the versions of this power in Stone Mastery (Epic) and Stone Melee.
• Ice Sword: The animation for this power was changed. Its cast time was reduced from 1.67 to 1.33 seconds. This affects the versions of this power in Ice Melee, Ice Manipulation and Icy Assault.
• Stone Melee/Heavy Mallet: Increased activation time to 1.63. This was done to allow the animation to return the player into the neutral position before activating another power
• Stone Melee/Stone Mallet: Increased activation time to 1.61. This was done to allow the animation to return the player into the neutral position before activating another power.
• Super Strength / Hurl: The animation for this power was changed. Its cast time was reduced from 3.83 to 2.5 seconds. This affects both the Brute and Tanker versions of this power.
• Further AI improvements for Seeker Drones and the Gun Drone power.
• Damage from Psychic Blast / Mental Blast should be delayed to sync with projectile now.


Power Pool Powers:

• Flight / Hover – Hovering Forward now has a new animation
• Flight / Hover - Hover is now resistant to -Fly effects.
• Medicine - Minor animation changes for Medicine - Aid Other, Aid Self, and Stimulant
• Medicine - Revive animation and FX should now play properly.


Status Effect / Buffs / Debuff Powers

• Mind Control/Confuse: Added PvP Confusion suppression to this power.
• Mind Control/Mass Confusion: Added PvP Confusion suppression to this power.
• Plant Control/Seeds of Confusion: Added PvP Confusion suppression to this power.
• Storm Summoning / O2 Boost: The duration of the perception bonus portion of O2 Boost now matches the duration of the other buffs associated with the power.


Rewards

• Vanguard Merits now will display ‘Merit Awarded!’ instead of ‘Salvage Found!’ when they are awarded to a player.


Tasks

• Taskforce challenge ‘debuff players’ was only being applied to the team leader. This has been fixed.
User Interface
• Replaced character slot store icon


CITY of HEROES

Powers

Blaster

• Blaster / Psychic Blast / Will Domination: Changed the long help text to match the short help text for this power. The long help for Will Domination now accurately states this power deals Moderate damage.
• Blaster / Mental Manipulation / World of Confusion: Blaster World of Confusion endurance cost was 50 % of the correct value. This has been corrected.
• Blaster / Electric Blast / Charged Bolts: The blaster version of this power should no longer list that it takes endurance modification enhancements twice.


Controller

• Controller / Illusion Control / Deceive: Added PvP Confusion suppression to this power.


Defender

• Defender / Psychic Blast / Will Domination: Changed the long help text to match the short help text for this power. The long help for Will Domination now accurately states this power deals Moderate damage.
• Defender / Psychic Blast / Mental Blast: Damage is now delayed for projectile hit


Kheldian Epic Archetypes

• Peacebringer / Combat Flight, Peacebringer / Bright Nova, and Warshade / Dark Nova are now resistant to -Fly effects.


Peacebringer

• Peacebringer / Luminous Blast / Photon Seekers: Increased Radius on Peacebringer Photon Seekers’ explosion from 7’ to 10’, but reduced their damage slightly from Damage Scale 2 to 1.64.
• Peacebringer / Combat Flight now gives AoE defense equal to its existing Melee and Ranged Defense values.


CITY of VILLAINS

Stalker Update

• Increased Stalker Melee damage multiplier from 0.9 base to 1.0 base.
• Increased Stalker Hit Points multiplier from 0.95 to 1.125
• All Stalker melee attacks now have a chance to critical while not hidden. This chance is equal to 10% plus 3% per additional team member within 30’ of the stalker at the time of the attack. This only applies to PVE targets. Stalkers old chance to critical Held or Slept targets now only applies to PVP targets.
o The Critical portion of Energy Transfer operates exactly as if you were criticalling from Hide -- it eliminates the Self Damage, rather than increasing damage to the target.
• Using an Assassination attack and missing will no longer suppress Hide (though lesser stealth and invisibility powers will still suppress) if the attack misses. If the attack hits, Hide suppresses normally.
• Hide Suppression for Stalkers reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
• Assassination attacks now cause a demoralizing effect on PVE targets that survive the attack. Demoralized targets To Hit value is reduced, and the target may be frozen in terror.


Powers

Villain Epic Archetypes:

• Arachnos Soldiers and Widows will now properly be able to enhance Patron Power Pool powers.


Arachnos Soldier

• Arachnos Soldier / Crab Spider / Omega Maneuver: Mobs defeated by Omega Maneuver explosion should now grant rewards to the player.


Arachnos Widow

• Arachnos Widow / Fortunata Teamwork / Aura of Confusion: Added PvP Confusion suppression to this power.
• Arachnos Widow / Fortunata Teamwork / Confuse: Added PvP Confusion suppression to this power.
• Arachnos Widow / Fortunata Training / Total Domination: This power’s victim hit message was reporting {PowerName} instead of the power’s name, this has been corrected.
• Arachnos Widow / Fortunata Training / Subdue: This power now has the proper purple ring visual effect to indicate the target has been immobilized; these were not present for NPC targets.
• Arachnos Widow / Fortunata Training / Dominate: This power’s victim hit message was reporting {PowerName} instead of the power’s name, this has been corrected.
• Arachnos Widow / Widow Training: All attacks from Widow Training had their toxic damage enhanceable. This has been fixed.
• Arachnos Widow / Widow Training / Strike: Corrected animation for Widow Training – Strike. Strike now uses intended ‘gutpunch’ animation.
• Arachnos Widow / Widow Training / Poison Dart: Long help read “Poison Dart does light moderate damage to your foe, then poisons them. The poison does toxic damage over time and reduces their regeneration rate. Damage: Moderate Recharge: Fast”. Changed to: “Poison Dart does moderate damage to your foe, then poisons them. The poison does toxic damage over time and reduces their regeneration rate. Damage: Moderate Recharge: Fast”
• Arachnos Widow / Widow Training: Animation/Activation time changes for some Arachnos Widow Claw attacks.
* Swipe - 0.83 seconds
* Strike - 1.17 seconds
* Slash - 1.33 seconds


Brutes

• Super Reflexes / Evasion: Corrected the Brute version of this power to cost the correct amount of endurance. It previously was costing far too little endurance.


Corruptor

• The Corruptor version of Voltaic Sentinel now has Scourge effects.
• Traps and Storm Summoning for Corruptors were using the wrong value in the endurance cost calculations. This has been corrected and should see a decrease in endurance costs for most powers from these sets.


Dominators

• Dominators / Icy Assault / Greater Ice Sword: This power has been renamed ‘Ice Slash’. This is to differentiate it from powers with the same name, but differing animations.


Masterminds

• Masterminds / Necromancy / Grave Night: The henchman The “Grave Knight” will now use his Necromancy Sword for all of his attacks. This should also help him cycle through all of his sword attack powers.


Stalkers

• Stalkers / Ninja Blade / Placate should no longer cause redraw with other Ninja Blade powers.
• Stalkers / Dual Blades / Assassin’s Blades – Fixed Animation


Temporary Powers

• Coral Club: This power had its activation time increased to 1.6 seconds. This was done to allow the animation to return the player into the neutral position before activating another power.


Tailor

• Crab Spider backpacks are now only available to Soldiers Of Arachnos who have specialized in the Crab Spider path. They are customizable now at the Facemaker and will be removed if you respec out of the Crab Spider path.

[435]

Tuesday, June 17, 2008



COMBINED

Powers


    * Circle of Thorns Behemoth Invincibility toned down slightly. It now provides roughly 8% defense per target.

    * Corrected animation time issues with Drain Psyche and Energy Absorption.

    * Fixed a minor delay for the hit effects/damage on Martial Arts - Crippling Axe Kick

    * Willpower / Rise to the Challenge will now root the player while activating. This was done to ensure it follows the same rules as other toggle powers.

    * The animation used by Spine Burst and Thorn Burst will no longer prevent the next attack animation from playing.




User Commands

    * Added /sync command which attempts to get the client and server back in sync when the client allows movement but it isn't reflected on the server. (When out of sync, the player will be able to move around, but cannot see other players or NPCs, and other players cannot see them).


CITY of HEROES

Powers

Blasters

    * Blasters / Defiance - Found a bug in the formula used for calculating Blaster Defiance buffs. The following powers have been altered as listed:

    * Fistful of Arrows (slightly weaker)

    * Rain of Arrows (slightly stronger)

    * Zapp (slightly stronger

    * Power Burst (stronger)

    * Bitter Freeze Ray (slightly stronger)

    * Shout (stronger)


CITY of VILLAINS

Powers

Corruptors

    * Corruptor / Electric Blast / Voltaic Sentinel - Corruptor version of Voltaic Sentinel now benefits from Enhancements.


Dominators

    * Dominator / Electric Assault / Thunder Strike: This power should no longer accept endurance modification sets.


Stalkers

    * Fixed Stealth Suppression from Assassination Attacks


Tailor

    * Weapon customization: Rularuu bow should now be obtainable by Villains

[435]

Date: July 1, 2008

COMBINED NOTES

AI

• Lady Jane should act more intelligently in combat situations now.
• 48 Month Veteran Reward pets should no longer charge into combat. Really.


Animation

• New animation for Super Strength / Punch while flying.


Badges

• Defeating Romulus Nictus should correctly award the Roman badge
• Rularuu weapons now unlocked via Shadow Shard TF badges


Chat

• Fixed condition for chat ban that would cause players to be banned for excessively long times.
• Fixed coalition chat name display to display SG name and player name correctly.
• Fixed a condition where a player could receive messages from a globally ignored player.


Powers

• Energy Blast / Power Burst - Changes to root time for Energy Blast - Power Burst. This does not affect the activation time. It’s just something that was broken when 1st and 2nd tier blaster powers had their Activation times shortened.
• Energy Melee / Energy Transfer – Activation time changed from 1.0 seconds to 2.67 seconds. New Animation and Graphical Effects also made.
• Dark Armor / Dark Embrace - Corrected the activation text to explain it also adds toxic resistance.
• Total Focus: All player versions of Total Focus Disorient Magnitude reduced to 3.
• All versions of Martial Arts Eagles Claw chance to Disorient a target increased from 75% per attack to 100% per attack.
• All versions of Martial Arts Storm Kick now have a 5% greater chance to cause a Critical Hit in all cases.
• FX for Controller and Mastermind Glue Arrow should persist after the initial target’s demise now (the Defender version already had this property.)
• Dual Blades / Vengeful Strike: Synched this power’s floating numbers to better fit with when the character hits the target.
• Trick Arrow powers should no longer cause weapon redraw issues with Archery (Blaster or Defender) or Mastermind Ninja bow powers.


Tailor / Custom Weapons

• The Rulaaru claws should now be unlockable
• Bowstring on Talsorian bow should now stay attached to the bow


User Interface

Buff Icon Bugs
• Fixed Buff Icon display issue where Icons would disappear from Allies before the Buff Timer was over.
• Fixed Buff Icon display issue where Buff Icons would disappear when a teammate (in the same non-instanced zone) logs out of the game.
• Fixed Buff Icon display issue where team mates Zoning into a mission at different times caused Buffs Icons to disappear.


CITY of HEROES

Powers

Defenders

• Defender / Vigilance will no longer increase the Defender’s endurance costs when grouped with teammates with greater than normal Health values.


Scrappers

• Scrapper / Martial Arts / Dragon’s Tail - Damage and Endurance cost were slightly too low. These have been adjusted.
• Scrapper / Dual Blades / Vengeful Strike: Added PvP Knockdown suppression to this power


Tankers

• Fixed an issue with Tanker Dark Melee and Dual Blades powersets which allowed “Chance to” enhancements to affect areas of effect, rather than just the target of the attack.
• Tanker / Dual Blades / Vengeful Strike: Added PvP Knockdown suppression to this power.


Tasks

• Safeguard Missions: Burning Daemon should now always spawn at the appropriate level for the mission he is in.
• Gordon Stacy now assigns the second mission in his story arc again.


CITY of VILLAINS

Powers

Arachnos Soldiers

• Bane Spider Cone attacks did not have a max number of targets defined. This has been corrected.
• Shortened the time between the activation and effect for Crab Spider Training – Serum


Arachnos Widows

• Arachnos Widow / Teamwork - Placate should no longer cause redraw with Widow Claw powers.


Brutes

• Brute / Dark Armor / Dark Regeneration: This power should now accept taunt enhancements and enhancement sets.
• Added Taunt Enhancement ability to Brute Dark Melee Touch of Fear and Dark Armor Dark Regeneration.


Dominators

• Dominator / Energy Assault / Power Burst now has red graphical effects


Masterminds

• Mastermind / Mercenaries / Serum - Fixed a typo in this power.


Stalkers

• Stalker / Electrical Melee / Thunder Strike - This power should now accept PBAoE damage sets.
• Changed “%” to “percent” in the Stalker/Assassination inherent ability. Sometimes information would be displayed incorrectly to players because of the % sign.


Tailor / Custom Weapons

• The Mace used by Mace Patron Powers is now customizable.


Veteran Rewards

• Fixed typo in villain veteran title from “Vengful” to “Vengeful”

[435]

Release Notes for 17.20080709.3T2

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

COMBINED NOTES

AI

• Entities which use the “Pet” AI should now cycle through their Ranged attacks, even while in Melee with a Target.


Badges

• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused a Supergroup’s progress towards earning SG badges to be lost.

• Corrected the badge descriptions of Task Force/Strike Force challenge badges that referred to stature level 1 as being 1-15 to be 1-14.

• Corrected stature level 8 and 9 badge descriptions from erroneously being level 40-44 to 40-45 and from 45-50 to 46-50.


Custom Weapons

• Rularuu Claws should be available to Female and Huge players who have unlocked them

• Custom Roman axes granted by defeating 100 roman traitors should now be properly awarded.


Global Chat

• Players with Trial accounts will no longer be able to use Global chat channels.


Invention

• Corrected two recipes in the Trap of the Hunter set that stated they granted range or damage. This set grants neither.

• ToHit Buffs/DeBuff Common IOs should not state they buff or debuff Accuracy any longer, but should properly state that they buff or debuff the “To Hit” chance.


Powers

• Cone Attack Powers – Corrected an issue where Cone Attack powers would not hit moving targets.

• Animation time for Energy Punch, Stone Fist, Shadow Punch, and Charged Brawl changed from 1.0 second to 0.83 seconds. Activation time changed from 0.57 seconds to 0.83 seconds.

• Archery / Ranged Shot - Fixed some minor issues with Archery - Ranged Shot’s animation and graphical effects.

• Brawl - Animation time corrected. Old cast time was 0.67 seconds, and the new cast time is 0.83 seconds.

• Earth Control / Animate Stone - Replaced Animated Stone’s Stone Hammer Power with a version of Seismic Smash. He now understands how to cycle between powers more effectively.

• Energy Melee / Energy Transfer - Increased visual impact of Hit graphical effects.

• Accolade / Portable Workbench - The Portable Workbench should no longer be seen as a viable target for critter attacks.

• Flurry and Sands of Mu should now play the correct animation while Spines - Quills is active


Tasks

• The Lost and Found story arc will now correctly award salvage for players that are significantly higher levels than the mission levels.


User Commands:

• “Synch” Command - Players can now use “Synch” in addition to “Sync” if they are experiencing any synchronization issues with the game servers.


User Interface

• Character Selection Screen - Corrected a bug where a Renamed character may disappear from the Character Selection screen until the player logs out and logs back in.

• Character Selection Screen – Corrected a bug where renaming a character moved the character to a different character slot location.


CITY of HEROES

Powers

Blasters

• Defiance - Corrected the Defiance Buff value granted by secondary power set powers. They should now be back to their previous values.

• Blaster / Energy Manipulation / Total Focus - Reduced Blaster Energy Manipulation Total Focus Disorient Magnitude from 4 to 3, to bring it in line with other versions of the power


Badges

• Corrected text in the Firefighter badge.


CITY of VILLAINS

Powers

Masterminds

• Mastermind / Ninjas / Genin no longer have Archery attacks. “Snap Shot” and “Aimed Shot” have been replaced with “Shuriken” (a second Shuriken throw) and “Explosive Shuriken” attacks.

• Mastermind / Necromancy / Lich should remain at Range in combat more often now.


Patron Powers

• Patron Powers - All Mace Mastery Patron powers should now correctly display customized Maces.