June 25th, 2013
Tides of War Summer Event[]
The battle for the throne of Atlantis continues! Ocean Master, Aquaman's conniving half brother, has rallied a force of mutineer Atlanteans in an attempt to displace King Arthur and take the throne! The Atlantean civil war has breached the waters of Metropolis. Track Tides of War in your Mission Journal and check the Events tab in the On Duty menu to battle for the Atlantean Outpost. Fight for your side, and reap the rewards, including a new Diving Helmet and Atlantean themed base items.
Combat Improvements[]
We have taken significant steps to improve and tighten combat mechanics to ensure our combat system was reaching its full potential. These changes affect combat game wide, specifically in client/server synchronization, NPCs respecting suppression game effects properly, NPCs’ breaking out rules more closely resembling players, and counter immunity improvements. While some of these changes may be subtle, we believe the overall effort will deliver a better feeling combat system to all players.
Combat Synchronization[]
- Many of the presentation elements of combat (such as particle and sound effects, reaction animations, physics actions, damage numbers, and loot spawning) have been synchronized together to create a better sense of impact. What players see should now closer match what’s happening.
NPC Breakout and Suppression Changes[]
- NPCs that can be crowd controlled should behave a lot more like players when breaking out. They now play a breakout animation and particle effect, so it should be easier to tell when they do this. They also have to finish the breakout animation before they can act again. NPCs will no longer breakout immediately after being crowd controlled; they now have more human-like reaction times.
- Suppression is now more effective on NPCs, and is quite useful at stopping combos and jump, charge, blink, and spin attacks.
Counter immunity improvements[]
- Successfully countering an NPC with a Block Breaker, Interrupt or Block will now immediately apply the “Counter Immunity” effect.
- Counter Immunity will now be applied the instant the counter attack hits, instead of being delayed for potentially as long as half a second.
- Corrected an issue that would sometimes cause Counter Immunity to fail to activate.
Role Counter Improvements[]
- The Confidence damage bonus received by Tanks, Controllers and Healers when attacking players of specific power types is now applied immediately when you hit them with a super power rather than having a chance of being applied on any hit.
- Using a super power against a Controller no longer removes Power Over Time effects. Using a super power against a Controller now reduces their Vitalization, reducing the overall effectiveness of Power Healing allies and themselves.
New Converted Maps for PvP Arena Rotation[]
We have converted two maps to our PvP map rotation; Shadowlands 1v1 and 2v2 Lair Arena battles. The Shadowlands PvP map is a 1v1 Capture and Hold match that will be available in rotation or both Arena and Legends PvP. Arena 2v2 Lair battles are a new variant on our already existing 1v1 Lair battles, and this will still require Home Turf DLC access. Look for these new challenges to come into rotation soon!
New PvP Reward Structure[]
Daily rewards for Arenas and Legends have been split into winners’ and participants’. There are now rewards received for a victory (at the end of the match on a win), and rewards received for participation (at the end of the match, regardless of win or loss). Essentially, winners receive the both rewards for the match, and those who did not win will receive only the participation reward.
We have also returned to the idea of free or unlocked Mark of Valor rewards for both Arenas and Legends. These are awarded in addition to any other rewards and are added directly to players’ currency tab as marks, not as treasure boxes. These awards do not scale with PvP combat rating.
Vote to Disband[]
Players can now vote to disband a Duo, Alert, Operation, or Raid. If a disband vote passes the entire group is kicked from the instance with no deserter penalty. While in an instance, players can find the option to instigate a disband vote in the quick menu as long as there is not another vote in progress.
Disabling Role Optional Alerts Setting[]
We have added a new setting that allows players the ability to opt out of role optional matchmaking. In the Settings menu under the Gameplay tab, players will see a new option – Enable Role Optional Alerts. This gives our players control over whether to wait for a balanced group, or jump in the first available match!
Quantum Consumables[]
New consumables have been added allowing players to apply the Quantum power interactions. Chronometric Emitter damage, freeze, and apply Destabilized (Time) to all nearby enemies, while Graviton Accelerator damage, stun, and apply Graviton Charge (Space) to all nearby enemies.
Base[]
- Players can now invite characters from the opposing alignment into their bases
- Mainframe: The Core Strength mod when combined with the “Confidence” damage bonus now increases your total damage output from 135% to 145% for Tanks, Healers and Controllers
- Players are immune to damage while in base decoration mode
- The Poker Table has been renamed the Casino Table to more appropriately describe the item
Challenges[]
- The Lexcorp Sentinel's Electric Overload attack is now properly interruptible
Feats[]
- The Pest Control feat is now auto-granted to all players who log in. This is because the NPCs needed for this feat are no longer spawning in the Headquarters Assaults Arenas
General[]
- Characters with Controller role power sets will now be able to complete the Theme Appearance feat "God of the North"
- Bosses in Tier 5 content will now have a chance to drop the R&D plans for consumables
- The timer for the Deserter Flag should be more accurate
- Some NPCs will now always show their name and health
- Fixed some issues where audio would stop playing
- Changed the camera behavior when targeting tall enemies to no longer zoom in to frame that target. It can still temporarily zoom out to help make the target visible if the camera is zoomed in
- Suppression is now more effective on NPCs, and is quite useful at stopping combos and jump, charge, blink, and spin attacks
- Breakout: Holding the Block button for an extended period of time after using Breakout will no longer cause you to transition into Block immediately. You will now need to press the Block button a second time if you wish to Block immediately after using Breakout
- Fixed a bug that caused some NPC combos to ignore suppression when not intended
- Maps associated with a DLC are now selectable via PvP scrimmage if you own the corresponding DLC
Items[]
- Fixed numerous problems with Lethal Zealot Gear
- Added Chronometric Emitter as R&D consumables. These damage and freeze enemies in time, causing them to become Destabilized
- Added Graviton Accelerator as R&D consumables. These damage and stun enemies, causing them to become Graviton-Charged
- The Core Strength mod when combined with the Confidence damage bonus now increases your total damage output from 135% to 145% for Tanks, Healers, and Controllers
- The Legs, Waist, Feet, and Hands from the Time Traveler set no display he correct stats
- Addressed issues with the PvP trinket being used after being block broken
- The Manipulator’s, Harmonizer’s, Guard’s, and Assailant’s Utility Straps names have been corrected
Missions[]
- Thanks to repeated use of EMPs in the area, the invisible forcefield blocking access to a side tunnel from the first catwalk room has been weakened enough to be seen by the naked eye and will turn off once the nearby OMACs are defeated
- These missions are now unlockable via Replay Badges. These missions are still bundled with one interaction on a terminal. To keep the same functionality, the missions can be reset for a bundle price. For 18 replay badges, you can unlock all 4 daily missions on this terminal. The price is the same if you have only 1 to 3 missions to unlock
- These missions are now unlockable via replay badges. These missions are still bundled with one interaction on a terminal. To keep the same functionality, the missions can be reset for a bundle price. For 15 replay badges, you can unlock all 3 daily missions on this terminal. The price is the same if you have only 1 or 2 missions to unlock
Powers[]
- Abilities that apply the Breakout effect can no longer be used unless you are actually able to breakout
- Updated power tree descriptions to more accurately describe counter role effects
Sorcery[]
- The healing, damage, pull-in, and spreading of Bad Karma effects of Shared Fate are now all applied instantly instead of being delayed up to 1 second. The healing and spreading of Bad Karma will now apply even if a target is KO’d by the damage of Shared Fate
- The duration of Arbiter of Destiny is now 10 seconds when used in PvP arena zones
Nature[]
- Equipping a Hand Blaster weapon while in Insectoid Form will no longer cause issues
Fire[]
- Updated the healing portion of Absorb Heat, Backdraft, Wildfire, and Fiery Weapon to work more consistently
- Objects will now be set on fire when Immolation is active as stated in the tooltip
Ice[]
- The Frost Snipe visual FX will now render properly when your character does not have a weapon equipped
Mental[]
- Using Telekinesis or other attacks to throw player spawned projectiles will now use the stats from the player who spawned the projectile
Light[]
- The damage over time will no longer stack
PvP[]
- End of round cut scenes have been updated remove winner name.
Headquarters Assault Hall of Doom and Watchtower
- These maps no longer spawn minions, only iconic characters
- General Zod's and Ursa's Crushing Lunge will now play the proper impact visual effects.
- Terror Crows nameplate is now directly above their head like other NPCs.
PvP Scrimmage[]
- Scrimmage challenges sent to non-leader group members are now forwarded to the group leader to accept or decline
- Increased messaging to group members when a scrimmage challenge is sent or received by their group
- Players can no longer be challenged to a scrimmage while in the middle of a race
- The pregame timer in short-sided scrimmages will jump to 30 seconds when everyone has zoned in rather than waiting two minutes for more players
Raids[]
Nexus of Reality[]
- Villains should now be able to complete the Finite Possibilities feat
- The Council of Batman and the Council of Lex Luthor have installed repulsors above the door and along the ramp walls in the final room of the Nexus of Reality
UI[]
- Fixed minor UI issue relating to exit locations
- Fixed several typographical errors within the text displayed while characters spoke
- Stat changes will now automatically update abilities effects
- The Vendor UI no longer reopens after purchasing an item and closing the UI
- Fixed an issue in which the cash reward field would sometimes disappear and never return
- Group members should no longer show in the Region map when consuming a deed or relocating your base
Weapons[]
- Weapon Vitalization will now correctly update when items break or are unequipped
- Certain weapon combos should no longer cause multiple hit reactions.
- The hit reaction animations for Hand Blaster weapon combo "Charged Blast" have been removed
- Fixed a bug where weapon styles would sometimes reset during log in.
- Corrected an issue that could cause Charged Blast to miss targets.
- The effect of Impact Arrow will hit enemies in the air more reliably.
Ranged Weapons
- Ranged attacks from Bow, Dual Pistol, Hand Blaster, and Rifle will now properly hit the target in the chest