City of Heroes’ Homecoming rogue server has been a bit sparse on new-content updates over the last little while; Issue 26, you’ll recall, was all the way back in March. But as it turns out, that’s because the player developers have been storing it up for the release of Issue 27, Second Chances, which just hit the beta server today. For narrative fans, the core of the update will be the addition of a pair of new story arcs.
“Two new story arcs have been added to the game – one for heroes (The Graveyard Shift, level 20-29), and one for villains (The Freakish Lab of Dr. Vahzilok, level 30-39). These arcs are the first two instalments of the Freaklok storyline, introducing new contacts, enemy groups, mission maps and several unique mission mechanics!”
Blasters are also getting a new sonic-themed secondary called Sonic Manipulation, complete with a Migraine mechanic, while Scrappers are finally picking up Energy Melee, which is also being revamped alongside Titan Weapons, Trick Arrow, and all the Blaster secondaries.
Among the other bits players can look forward to are asymmetrical shoulder pieces, base-portal summons (yes, they’re color-tintable), new base portals across the zones, a rework of the Teleportation power pool that turns long-range teleports into accolades everyone can earn, Ouroboros accessibility for newbies, TUNNEL access merges, reduced recharge timers for things like Day Job powers, map fixes, new badges, and better gamepad support.
Even if none of that appeals to you, every Homecoming player will want to take a look at the enhancement overhaul. Essentially, the team is making it much easier to acquire single-origin enhancements at lower levels, and combining/upgrading enhancements is far less clunky. Take a peek at the patch notes for yourself, then go give it a spin on the test server until it makes its way live.
