City of Heroes Issue 5 Goodies

BrooklynKnight · Jun 7, 2005

This is swiped from the Coldfront COH Fansite.......

What is Issue 5 all about? We have heard about new archetypes, the new skill system, graphic changes....but what is really coming? Perhaps this will help shed some light...or not

I caught this excellent post from Arucard on the official forums, check it out...

What we know about Issue 5:

Likely:

New powersets. According to Manticore Defenders will get a new primary AND a new secondary: Trick Arrow/Archery. It’s likely Blasters will get Archery as their primary. As for sonics, States confirmed they will also be split into two sets in an interview with 1up.com.
New zone – Croatoa. Supposedly leaked photos indicate that it is a city zone with the third university (two are under construction on live right now). There is no definite level range (if it is a city zone it is probably not restricted like hazard zones) but it is probably for levels 30-40 (the hunting level of enemies). According to a member of the forums who has supposedly seen it, the zone is HUGE. There is no definite information on this, so consider the above educated speculation.
New missions and taskforces. I would guess they go along with the new zone, but they could be in "old" zones as well.
New tilesets (they are in every update).
New zone events (they are in every update).
A tweak to the XP debt system. The “debt free” level range will be extended from 1–5 to 1-10. In addition, the amount of debt incurred will be halved when the hero is on a mission map.
In the “Ask Statesman – Issue #6” States confirmed that there will be new badges in I5. In a later post on the forums Positron hinted at the "Trailblazer" badge for obtaining 200 badges (this was not possible before I4 and the addition of the arena badges).
Some kind of "QOL" fix. This is short for "Quality of Life," and it means little mechanical changes that improve a player's overall gaming experience but is not a drastic change. Examples from the past include improving the programming behind opening doors and improving the speed with which players can buy and sell enhancements (by eliminating the need to constantly re-click each item).
New villain groups, probably in the new zone.

Possible:

Some sort of change made to controllers. States has been saying that they are looking at controllers for a while now. Whether it will be a buff or "nerf" is anyone's guess.
New costume options. One of the community members here on the board reported that he had talked to some of the dev team at a convention, and they hinted at more costume options coming in I5. This is far from certain.
More new powersets. While they have not been hinted at for release in I5, there are numerous powersets that people have been asking for. In the past the dev team has confirmed that these sets are being worked on, or at least considered. This list includes (but is not limited to) Plant Control, Magnetic Control, Street Fighting (Scrapper), Bo/Staff (Scrapper), Shield (Tanker), and Pistols (Scrapper). At E3 States reportedly said that pistol scrappers will not be coming for a while, but they are currently developing street fighting.
Some sort of improvements made to Peregrine Island, "Eden,” the Rikti Crash site, and other high level zones. This might include a new travel system to make getting to and from these zones easier.
New accolades.
New objectives or methods for winning in the arena. Many players have suggested things from fighting monsters/AVs to introducing lava pits for players to fall into. States has been very open to suggestion on this, and he genuinely seemed to like the ideas. However, there is no guarantee the Arena will be tweaked at all in I5.
Some kind of improvement made to Blasters. Many have complained that Blaster damage does not scale up well enough, especially in the post 40 game, and States has promised to look into it.
In “Ask Statesman – Issue #6” it was revealed that non-combat missions – saving citizens from a fire specifically – are on their way. Considering we saw some odd buildings on fire in Steel Canyon when I4 went on test, I would guess this is coming in I5. That is pure speculation, though, so it’s in this “Possible” section.
In an interview with 1up.com Statesman disclosed that they are working on server transfers and are trying to get them into I5.

Unlikely for Issue 5 but things we will probably see in the future:

The new skills system. Not much is known for sure about this, but it will probably create alternative ways to completed mission objectives, and/or create a form of "crafting" that would fit well into the CoH universe. Heroes will learn and perfect these skills at the University, which will have three campuses around the city (in a similar fashion to the arena). These "schools" are currently under construction on the live servers.
New zones for high level players. People want something done about crowding in Peregrine Island.
New end game content. States has hinted at more massive encounters like Hamidon, but the devs may have something else up their sleeve.
A new Epic AT. In a PM CuppaJo stated that there would be no new Epic ATs in Issue 5, and other posters claim that info from convention conversations with the devs revealed that there would be no EATs until after the CoV release. The Epics include the Coralax, Avilan, Incarnate, and Blood of the Blackstream. Methods for unlocking them are unknown, but States confirmed that it will be something different from reaching level 50 (possibly a TF or accolade).
Weapon and power customization. The devs have set no date for this, and it appears to be quite difficult to implement. The current plan is to let players change the colors and animations of powers, and change the look of weapons. Other changes have been suggested, including sound and relocating the point on the body where a power comes from.
Trench coats!
Vehicles as a power pool, or perhaps a completely new way to travel.
Personal bases. This will be coming with the CoV expansion and it will allow SGs to purchase and customize a base, completely with some form of vault to keep valuables. The valuable include "objects of great power" that will somehow give an advantage to the group that has them. The bases will also allow for raids between player heroes and villains, as well as player villains attacking other villains.
An underwater zone and space zone.
"Reward clothing." Personally one of my favorite future additions, this will bridge the gap between CoH's unofficial no loot policy and the playerbase's desire to have unique items as a reward. This feature will create special and unique items to be worn by heroes; presumably they will not give any stat or performance boosts, but they should look damn cool. It is unknown whether they will be dropped like traditional loot or only found in mission objectives and as accolades.
Swinging as a travel power, a la Spiderman or Catwoman (who sometimes used a whip to swing between rooftops).
An arch nemesis system. This would allow a villain to constantly plague a hero, complete with a storyline that spans the entire game. These villains could be customizable and certain aspects of them could be "traded" (according to an interview with States).
One new power for every powerset.
One new power for each powerpool.
Reportedly States is considering a Respec Trial for level 50s, and this would give heroes at the cap an unlimited amount of respecs to play around with.
The “flashback” system, which would allow heroes to lower their level (without needing another hero) and do missions/TFs at lower levels that they may have skipped.
Trials are to be added in the future, including the infamous Faultline Trial. This also includes a possible “Prison Break” trial in Brickstown and something in the Rikti Crash Site involving the crashed ship.

Captain Tagon · Jun 7, 2005

And to thank I just got CoH yesterday. Exciting stuff.

KenM · Jun 7, 2005

I don't play CoH, but the latest issue of Computer Gaming World has a CD with a free trial for it, and a write up on the City of Villians stand alone game/ expansion for it.