CoH: A Big-Ass Post About Issue 22
Mar. 7th, 2012 09:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jadedmusingsSo, I was going to drop back into WoW last night, but Issue 22 dropped and I had to try ALL THE NEW THINGS!
Where should I start? How about with the changes to Stalker (because Selene)? First, the patch notes:
Oh my god, you guys. You guys, oh my god. I swear, the changes to how Assassin Strike works without hide alone would have been enough to make me happy. To have it now be an instant attack when not hidden in addition to Assassin's Focus and higher crit chance on other powers has sent me over the moon.
I didn't try anything too challenging with Selene while rolling solo yesterday (just some Rogue tip missions), so I'm not sure I've really pushed her with the new powers yet. However, I went up against Carnies and didn't suffer one death, which even at level 46 is something of an accomplishment for me while going solo. Some of this is partially attributed to her being pretty much fully slotted and having a stronger build with enhancements (well, for my amateurish attempts at any rate), but I noticed combat was a lot easier not to mention fun with my new ability to build up three stacks of Assassin's Focus and then turn around to one-shot an enemy at full health with an instant Assassin's Strike. In other words, Selene has become a great deal more of a stonking bad ass and I had so much fun.
Final verdict: I'm more eager than ever to make that final push to level 50 so I can get Selene started on her Incarnate powers. I'm just awaiting the possible developer post that starts, "We may have made Stalkers a little too powerful," and ends with the words "incoming nerf." (I hope I'm wrong about this, of course.)
Oh, and speaking of Incarnate powers, since I do not like Task Forces and I'm still struggling to figure out how to best utilize the enhancement system, I've never done more than unlock my Alpha slot. With the newly revamped Dark Astoria, I can now focus on earning Incarnate shards and XP without the need for joining huge Task Forces. Last night Sam and I rolled out with NinjaWeazel and Ballari and went through Heather Townshend's arc and Mu'Vorkan's arc before we opted to call it a night for missions. Both of these new contacts offered a non-combat character story mission after the completion of the arc. So we got to see what's happening after we kick butt (and Mu'Vorkan's was especially superb), but that's getting into lore which I'll get to in a bit.
Patch notes first:
Can I just bold that "...and the fog has been lifted"? I can't speak much as to Dark Astoria prior to Issue 22 because I avoided the zone as much as I could mostly due to the freaking fog. It made it frustrating even just to fly around in the zone, not to mention confusing.
Apart from the whole "no more fog" thing, playing the new zone and missions was wonderful. There were plenty of touch enemies that needed to be punched in the face. NinjaWeazel has already unlocked more Incarnate slots, so his missions proved slightly more challenging than when we did Ballari's (also, my settings are lower for enemy spawns than his). Maybe I'm speaking too soon seeing as I'm just getting into it really, but I think I'll be spending quite a lot of time in Dark Astoria.
And finally, because this is getting long, let's talk lore. Of all the ways to bring in an ancient slumbering Lovecraftian inspired horror, NCSoft writers are on the right track. While I could make jokes about there being tentacles in both the MMOs I play (have you seen the Warlock tier 13 armor set in WoW?), I'll spare everyone "Tentacoo~" jokes and say that I am, quite frankly, thoroughly impressed. I don't usually get drawn into the story arcs I'm playing in CoH. My focus is usually on punching things in the face or shooting things with exploding arrows. Some of it boils down to personal taste, but prior to the release of CoH: Freedom, there just wasn't much of the story to draw in someone like me who isn't really enthusiastic about the whole comic book schtick.
Hero-Side, Dark Astoria's arc starts out with a contact from PPD who informs you that a rash of suicides and murders similar to what happened in Dark Astoria prior to the zone's closure (to protect the rest of Paragon City) is now happening in Peregrine Island. You're also informed that a few heroes plus a supergroup who were sent to Dark Astoria to help out have disappeared. The contact requests you investigate the death of one specific individual and you're sent to examine his body. From there you retrieve the dead man's journal from his house boat, and then check out an apartment which, judging from all the candles, was the site of some sort of ritual that opened a portal to Dark Astoria. I know it sounds silly, but when I entered the apartment and walked into this forest to talk to the strange man/ghost, I got creeped out.
There was a bit of a bug issue when I fell through the floor (because I happened to go through right at the time that both Dark Astoria and Dark Astoria 2 filled up and Dark Astoria 3 hadn't formed yet--the server load was that heavy for the zone). Sam encountered the same issue, but we got ourselves unstuck relatively easily (by flying up until we were offered the option of choosing an Astoria to enter) and were able to continue on without much issue.
Your first contact (hero-side, at least) is Heather Townshend, and from there you start the first arc. The ambiance remains much the same. The zone isn't foggy anymore, but it's dark and with the story provided via the arcs, the atmosphere stays creepy which in turn makes the story all the more compelling. No spoilers here, however, I will say I was very impressed and exceedingly satisfied with Kadabra Kill's and Sigil's story (wherein you learn a little disturbing fact about their background), and Scirocco's story has planted seeds for some interesting developments to happen villain-side. The story behind the new faction Knives of Vengeance is creepy in its own right, and it plays heavily on some good old fashioned fantasy horror tropes, and then there's the obvious addition of Mot, the ancient powerfultentacled horror evil behind what's happened in Dark Astoria. Oh, and even the Tsoo get a new backstory! How awesome is that?
I'm really eager to get Selene to 50 so that I can see how this plays out on the villain side of things, and I'll try to write about it here when that happens.
I have to admit ever since the realease of City of Heroes: Freedom and seeing CoH go free to play, I was worried it was the beginning of the end. Instead, with a revamped Veteran rewards system and the implementation of the VIP program, NCSoft has been doing far more right than wrong. The Shivans' attack on Galaxy City shook things up and provided an interesting story, and now the new solo Incarnate arc offered by an updated Dark Astoria has only improved the game's allure for at least this player. I still wish they'd do a little work on the ehancement system to make it a little easier to understand/a little more intuitive. Sam admits that even after playing CoH for years, he's still learning the ins and outs of it. The one person I know who groks it really well is a freaking astrophysicist (not an exaggeration), but eh, ultimately, there's more positive I can say about the direction NCSoft is taking than negative.
I know they've made some mid-level mission changes with Issue 22 too, and I look forward to checking those out as well when I can, but the initial indications are that I'll be playing a bit more CoH when I'm not raiding in WoW.
Where should I start? How about with the changes to Stalker (because Selene)? First, the patch notes:
• All Stalker APP attack powers now have a chance to critically hit, based on the number of players in the stalker's group. All single-target attacks in Stalker APPs now have a 100% chance to crit while Hidden. All AoE attacks in Stalker APPs now have a 50% chance to crit while Hidden. These values match the critical strike chances of Patron power pools and Stalker primary power set attacks.
• Assassin Strike (All versions): This power now functions differently while not Hidden (or have just used Placate). When attacking a foe when Hidden, it will behave normally dealing tremendous damage with a chance to demoralize nearby foes, but it can be interrupted. However, when the power is used while you're not Hidden it will deal Superior damage and is uninterruptible! Assassin Strike while not Hidden has a base 0% chance to crit.
• Assassin's Focus: All damaging powers found in the Stalker's primary power set, other than Assassin Strike, have a chance to grant the user a stack of the Assassin's Focus buff. Powers with longer recharge times have a much higher chance to grant a stack of Assassin's Focus than those with fast recharge times. This buff will increase Assassin's Strike's chance to critically hit (for +100% damage) while not hidden by 33.3%. Assassin's Focus stacks up to 3 times. Using Assassin's Strike outside of hide will remove all stacks of Assassins's Focus.
• Stalker Buffed Max HP modifier has been increased from 1 to 1.3. This results in Stalker's potential Buffed Max HP increasing from 1606 to 2088 at level 50. This will allow powers like Dull Pain and Frostworks as well as +Max HP set bonuses to have a greater potential effect.
• The above changes have been made to remove some unnecessary archetype penalties (low buffed max HP) as well as to allow Stalkers to deal more competitive single target burst damage.
• Darkness Mastery now properly accepts To-Hit Debuff Enhancement sets.
• Assassin's Focus now has a unique icon that should help distinguish it from other auto powers.
• Assassin's Strike: This power will now gain an orange highlight ring when the user has 3 stacks of Assassin's Focus.
Oh my god, you guys. You guys, oh my god. I swear, the changes to how Assassin Strike works without hide alone would have been enough to make me happy. To have it now be an instant attack when not hidden in addition to Assassin's Focus and higher crit chance on other powers has sent me over the moon.
I didn't try anything too challenging with Selene while rolling solo yesterday (just some Rogue tip missions), so I'm not sure I've really pushed her with the new powers yet. However, I went up against Carnies and didn't suffer one death, which even at level 46 is something of an accomplishment for me while going solo. Some of this is partially attributed to her being pretty much fully slotted and having a stronger build with enhancements (well, for my amateurish attempts at any rate), but I noticed combat was a lot easier not to mention fun with my new ability to build up three stacks of Assassin's Focus and then turn around to one-shot an enemy at full health with an instant Assassin's Strike. In other words, Selene has become a great deal more of a stonking bad ass and I had so much fun.
Final verdict: I'm more eager than ever to make that final push to level 50 so I can get Selene started on her Incarnate powers. I'm just awaiting the possible developer post that starts, "We may have made Stalkers a little too powerful," and ends with the words "incoming nerf." (I hope I'm wrong about this, of course.)
Oh, and speaking of Incarnate powers, since I do not like Task Forces and I'm still struggling to figure out how to best utilize the enhancement system, I've never done more than unlock my Alpha slot. With the newly revamped Dark Astoria, I can now focus on earning Incarnate shards and XP without the need for joining huge Task Forces. Last night Sam and I rolled out with NinjaWeazel and Ballari and went through Heather Townshend's arc and Mu'Vorkan's arc before we opted to call it a night for missions. Both of these new contacts offered a non-combat character story mission after the completion of the arc. So we got to see what's happening after we kick butt (and Mu'Vorkan's was especially superb), but that's getting into lore which I'll get to in a bit.
Patch notes first:
Dark Astoria Zone Update:
Dark Astoria is the decayed, urban epitaph to the dark god Mot. Largely unbeknownst to the original founders of this doomed city, a terrible being was entombed here in ages past. The death of the city has been steady, inexorable and irreversable. In recent years, Dark Astoria has been a dangerous place but now that the last remnants of Mot's bindings have begun to erode, the city exerts its mysterious pull, drawing the doomed to its streets to struggle or serve.
At long last, Mot has been freed. His minions flock to Dark Astoria in greater numbers than ever before to revel in his power and witness as he devours all life on Primal Earth.
• Dark Astoria has been repopulated with Incarnate level enemies from the Banished Pantheon, Tsoo, Talons of Vengeance, Circle of Thorns and the new Knives of Vengeance, ranging in level from 50 to 54.
• The Banished Pantheon, Tsoo and Talons of Vengeance also feature new members to be fought at these level ranges. Lower levels are unchanged, except as noted below in the section for Villain Group Adjustments.
• All-new Incarnate story arcs, repeatable missions, and an Incarnate trial are available for level 50 Incarnate characters!
• Earn new, Incarnate level badges for defeating the main villain groups.
• Malta, Arachnos, 5th Column, Paragon Police and Knives of Artemis will also appear at Incarnate levels in missions only.
• New zone art: Moth Cemetery has been completely revamped from its original appearance and layout, the warwalls have taken a distinctly menacing hue and the fog has been lifted.
• New portal connects to Peregrine Island and Grandville to give access to both Heroes and Villains.
Can I just bold that "...and the fog has been lifted"? I can't speak much as to Dark Astoria prior to Issue 22 because I avoided the zone as much as I could mostly due to the freaking fog. It made it frustrating even just to fly around in the zone, not to mention confusing.
Apart from the whole "no more fog" thing, playing the new zone and missions was wonderful. There were plenty of touch enemies that needed to be punched in the face. NinjaWeazel has already unlocked more Incarnate slots, so his missions proved slightly more challenging than when we did Ballari's (also, my settings are lower for enemy spawns than his). Maybe I'm speaking too soon seeing as I'm just getting into it really, but I think I'll be spending quite a lot of time in Dark Astoria.
And finally, because this is getting long, let's talk lore. Of all the ways to bring in an ancient slumbering Lovecraftian inspired horror, NCSoft writers are on the right track. While I could make jokes about there being tentacles in both the MMOs I play (have you seen the Warlock tier 13 armor set in WoW?), I'll spare everyone "Tentacoo~" jokes and say that I am, quite frankly, thoroughly impressed. I don't usually get drawn into the story arcs I'm playing in CoH. My focus is usually on punching things in the face or shooting things with exploding arrows. Some of it boils down to personal taste, but prior to the release of CoH: Freedom, there just wasn't much of the story to draw in someone like me who isn't really enthusiastic about the whole comic book schtick.
Hero-Side, Dark Astoria's arc starts out with a contact from PPD who informs you that a rash of suicides and murders similar to what happened in Dark Astoria prior to the zone's closure (to protect the rest of Paragon City) is now happening in Peregrine Island. You're also informed that a few heroes plus a supergroup who were sent to Dark Astoria to help out have disappeared. The contact requests you investigate the death of one specific individual and you're sent to examine his body. From there you retrieve the dead man's journal from his house boat, and then check out an apartment which, judging from all the candles, was the site of some sort of ritual that opened a portal to Dark Astoria. I know it sounds silly, but when I entered the apartment and walked into this forest to talk to the strange man/ghost, I got creeped out.
There was a bit of a bug issue when I fell through the floor (because I happened to go through right at the time that both Dark Astoria and Dark Astoria 2 filled up and Dark Astoria 3 hadn't formed yet--the server load was that heavy for the zone). Sam encountered the same issue, but we got ourselves unstuck relatively easily (by flying up until we were offered the option of choosing an Astoria to enter) and were able to continue on without much issue.
Your first contact (hero-side, at least) is Heather Townshend, and from there you start the first arc. The ambiance remains much the same. The zone isn't foggy anymore, but it's dark and with the story provided via the arcs, the atmosphere stays creepy which in turn makes the story all the more compelling. No spoilers here, however, I will say I was very impressed and exceedingly satisfied with Kadabra Kill's and Sigil's story (wherein you learn a little disturbing fact about their background), and Scirocco's story has planted seeds for some interesting developments to happen villain-side. The story behind the new faction Knives of Vengeance is creepy in its own right, and it plays heavily on some good old fashioned fantasy horror tropes, and then there's the obvious addition of Mot, the ancient powerful
I'm really eager to get Selene to 50 so that I can see how this plays out on the villain side of things, and I'll try to write about it here when that happens.
I have to admit ever since the realease of City of Heroes: Freedom and seeing CoH go free to play, I was worried it was the beginning of the end. Instead, with a revamped Veteran rewards system and the implementation of the VIP program, NCSoft has been doing far more right than wrong. The Shivans' attack on Galaxy City shook things up and provided an interesting story, and now the new solo Incarnate arc offered by an updated Dark Astoria has only improved the game's allure for at least this player. I still wish they'd do a little work on the ehancement system to make it a little easier to understand/a little more intuitive. Sam admits that even after playing CoH for years, he's still learning the ins and outs of it. The one person I know who groks it really well is a freaking astrophysicist (not an exaggeration), but eh, ultimately, there's more positive I can say about the direction NCSoft is taking than negative.
I know they've made some mid-level mission changes with Issue 22 too, and I look forward to checking those out as well when I can, but the initial indications are that I'll be playing a bit more CoH when I'm not raiding in WoW.
