Well this is convenient: Just as I was thinking about playing some City of Heroes, the Homecoming rogue server drops a juicy beta patch (Issue 27, Page 4) on the test server, its first big update since last November.
Let me just get the fun one out of the way first since it’s the reason you likely clicked on this post: BARDS. The player devs are adding a brand-new psionic-based primary powerset for Controllers and Dominators to let them “use the power of music to captivate and control the spirits of [their] enemies!” Dominators will also finally be able to use Sonic Assault as a secondary, and Corruptors’ Sonic Attack set got a nice buff.
We also spy buffs for Ice Control, toxic and psionic mitigation in several armor sets, a revamp of enemy aggro capping, attack type tweaks, a huge list of tweaks to individual powers and enhancements, a toggle suspension mode, PvP control balancing, the ability to display sheathed weaponry, a rash of costume expansions, customization for stances and walk animations, new emotes, chat improvements, love for AE designers, fixes for tons of arcs and task forces, revamps of Fort Trident and The Crucible into “a supergroup base style area for players without a supergroup,” and a long list of other zone additions to make various areas more interesting.
Most of the rest of the patch is focused on endgamers, who will be testing a new Incarnate mission – the Sister Valeria story arc for capped toons – as well as new repeatable Incarnate missions in Cimerora, improvements to the advanced difficulty system, a new advanced difficulty for the Imperious task force (including a new boss fight and badge), and a new salvage reward for this endgame content and exclusive skins and costume parts.
Finally, remember back when Homecoming said it would implement rules for putting names on unused characters back into circulation? It’s finally putting that plan into action, though only “warning mode” for now, so you’re not going to lose any toon names just yet. But once the system is fully live, characters could potentially lose their names after 1 to 12 months offline, depending on their level. Logging in before your timer’s up will ensure you keep your obnoxious pun names, and by you, I mean me!
As usual, the patch notes are bigger than the notes for the vast majority of live MMORPGs, so you should probably give them a skim if you play or might play again.
