Issue 28 Page 1

See also: Issue 28

July 23rd, 2024

General

Marquee Features

• New Raid Zone: The Labyrinth of Fog
• New Story Arc: Ashling Corlett - 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This'
• New Powerset: Marine Affinity
• Enemy Group Revamp: The Warriors

Powers & Gameplay Adjustments

• New Power Customization Options

Various Adjustments, Improvements & Fixes

• New Left/Right Eye Auras
• New Aether Shop Rewards + WST Aether at all levels
• New Pocket D Friend: Blarf
• New vanity pet Recipe drops
• New Badges; Four New Accolades + Powers
• Numerous bug fixes and improvements

Marquee Features

New Raid Zone: The Labyrinth Of Fog (Level 45-50)

The secret vault of the Midnight Club is a vast trove and holds countless artifacts, most kept locked away for the safety of the world.

One artifact the Midnighters have utilized for many years in the training of their new magicians: A pocket dimension contained within an ancient cube created by the Cimeroran inventor Daedalus known only as The Labyrinth of Fog.

This labyrinth was a place constructed by the tools of the divine, housing an endless maze filled with visages of nightmare, borne from the memories of those who entered, and hunted by a monstrous beast that roamed its endless halls. It was a place where intelligence, strength, and wit could be tested to ensure the Midnighters who make rank can control the vast magics they command.

However, with the whole of humanity's safety at risk, the Dream Doctor has vowed to strengthen Earth's defenders by any means, and to this end sought to see the Labyrinth of Fog opened to any powerful hero or villain, to allow them to test themselves against superior versions of their greatest foes with no risk of death, a metaphysical danger room sustained by the arcane.

This would be the most promising method they had in their arsenal towards quickly building champions who could defend their world, and the need had never been greater. Any risks pertaining to the Labyrinth's original purpose would have to be dismissed in favor of the benefits it could provide to the world's strongest, after all, the Dream Doctor had himself trained in this Labyrinth.

Now, with the doors to this ancient dungeon opened to all, the Midnighters are providing support to those who are willing to face the worst of themselves and humanity's nightmares. Much hope was placed on those entering the Labyrinth of Fog and conquering its dangers that they might emerge as great champions.

"Imagine the birth of an army of heroes... Where each carried the might of Perseus, amongst history's strongest. Earth would be secure."

"...If you truly believe that the benefits outweigh the risks, let us test humanity's champions of today."

What new adventures lie in store?

Like The Hive and The Abyss, The Labyrinth of Fog is a raid zone with a low player cap (50), therefore any multi-boxing will not be allowed within. Homecoming's Code of Conduct will be updated to state clearly that any multi-boxing within this zone is not allowed.

An Artifact In The Midnighter Club?

• This new co-op raid zone is accessed via an artifact cube found in the Midnighter Club.
  • All players are automatically set to Level 50 while in the zone.
• An info NPC ghost found near the zone's entrance provides additional information on the specifics of the zone.

Touch the artifact cube and enter The Labyrinth of Fog!

• A trainer, merit vendor, nurse, and buff crafting station have been added to the Midnighter Club zone to help facilitate adventuring activities within the Labyrinth of Fog.
• The Midnighter Club has been added to Long Range Teleport unlocked by owning the Midnight Squad badge.
• The Labyrinth of Fog added to the LFG queue where it's found under the 'Trials & Raids' tab if you can access the Midnighter Club and are over Level 45.
• The zone has a 50-player population cap. Additional instances will generate if one fills.

Many Floors & Corridors!

• The raid zone begins with the labyrinth's entrance lobby.
  • Reviving at the hospital while in this zone will return you to the entrance lobby.
  • Idle players are returned to the Midnighter Club after 15 minutes of inactivity.
  • Logging out while in the zone will return you to the entrance lobby upon login.
• There is no mini map in the labyrinth except for the entrance lobby.
• The entrance lobby contains four color-coded portals that each are used to enter into the labyrinth.
• Each goes to a color-coded floor. There are six floor colors total: Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Violet, Orange
• The color of the floor determines what set of grouped enemies populate that floor.
  • Violet Floors contain the most dangerous groups and Giant Monster event channel spawns.
  • Orange floors contain completely randomized enemies.
• Here is a complete list of the various enemy groups that populate the labyrinth and their floor color:
• Blue:
  • Arachnos
  • Council
  • Freakshow
  • Gold Brickers
  • Hydra
• Green:
  • Devouring Earth
  • Drudges
  • Imperial Defense Force
  • Nemesis
  • Rikti
• Yellow:
  • Carnival of Shadows
  • Circle of Thorns
  • Cimeroran Traitors
  • Malta Operatives
  • Tsoo
• Red:
  • Crey
  • The Family
  • Praetorian Resistance
  • Psychic Clockwork
  • Sky Raiders
  • Snakes
• Violet:
  • The Awakened
  • Arachnoids
  • Nictus
  • Void Hunters
  • Soldiers of Rularuu
  • Talons of Vengeance
  • Vanguard Sword

Fight For Rewards & Gain Level Shifts!

• Experience & Influence earned in the zone increased by 25%
  • This stacks with other power such as Experience Boosters or Windfall.
• Labyrinth of Fog is an extremely vast (40+ floors) mission-style zone filled with Level 54+1 enemies to battle for increased rewards.
  • It is intended this zone be tackled with a Team or League.
• All enemies in the zone are Rank Shifted (Minion -> Lieutenant, etc.) up to a maximum rank of Elite Boss.
• Enemies behave identically to standard content and drop all the same rewards they would normally.
• As Elite Bosses are defeated, a meter on your navigation will fill up, eventually granting a zone-wide Level Shift buff!
  • Elite Bosses have a foggy aura to make them easier to identify as the targets in the zone.
  • Elite Bosses increase in Level Shifts alongside the players.
  • Pets (including Mastermind and Lore) also receive the zone-wide Level Shift buffs.

Fear The Minotaur!

Avoid the Minotaur until you've got a team or league that can coordinate gathering Level Shifts to take him down!

• While in The Labyrinth of Fog, players are hunted continuously by The Minotaur In The Fog, a Monster that's Level 54+(5 to 10) and periodically (every 2-3 minutes) moves to the location of a player on the map (higher odds for the zone's oldest occupants, excludes those in the entrance lobby which is always safe), navigating the labyrinth's maze at inhuman speeds to find prey.
• For every 8 players in the zone after the first, the Minotaur will gain another +1 Level Shift (min +5, max +10).
• The navigation window will display the Minotaur's current level, or, if they're currently dead, will show a timer to their next respawn time:

• 1-8 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+5)
• 9-16 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+6)
• 17-24 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+7)
• 25-32 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+8)
• 33-40 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+9)
• 41+ players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+10)

• Defeating the Minotaur will award the new Slayer of the Minotaur badge and the Minotaur will vanish from the zone for one hour, allowing people to adventure and battle enemies within without danger.
  • The Minotaur rewards a choice table with 5 Prismatic Aether + 10 Monstrous Aether to all who participated in the defeat on an 18 hour cool-down. Additional defeats within that time will only reward half the payout.
  • Alternatively, can select 3 Draught of Fog inspirations with no cool-down.
• The Minotaur will spawn with one of five different weapon power sets; All weapon powers deal 100% Negative Energy damage exclusively.
  • All variants of the Minotaur come with the Unholy Plague Howl, Netted Pilums, Hoof Stomp, Trial By Combat, and Fog Given Form powers.

Search for Malevolent Fog!

• Special 'Malevolent Fog' pinata enemies (no attacks, no regeneration) can be found in the labyrinth that, when defeated, increases the zone's Level Shift navigation bar meter by 50 points and grants 1 Reward Merit to all players in the zone who meet the following conditions:
  • Cannot be dead.
  • Cannot be in the entrance lobby, the Core, or a secret area.
• A single player who participated in the defeat will receive a File:DraughtOfFog Inspiration Draught of Fog inspiration.
  • These special inspirations provide the user with 15 minutes of a single Level Shift stack exclusive to them and their pets, as well as immunity to the Diseased debuff.
  • These Inspirations are not bound and can be freely traded or stored in Super Group bases.
• Malevolent Fog are most commonly found in rooms that are dead ends, and their FX makes them stands out in the foggy environment.
  • Once defeated, another Malevolent Fog will spawn somewhere else in the labyrinth to take its place. This should naturally filter them down to lesser visited places over time while ensuring there is always some to be found.

Find & defeat Malevolent Fog to earn Reward Merits + Level Shifts!

• The zone-wide buff grants +1 Level Shift, +DMG/ToHit/Recharge/Recovery for each stack. It can be stacked up to ten times from either Malevolent Fog defeats or cumulative Elite Boss defeats. The current Level Shift total can be seen on your buff bar as a black icon with a white number:

The Labyrinth's Level Shifts stack up to a max of 10!

• The Level Shift buffs decay at a rate of once per 5 minutes, each decay will reduce the total stack of Level Shifts by 1.

But Not Without Assistance!

• Players are given two pop-tray powers while in the labyrinth to assist them:
  • Escape From Fog: Teleports yourself back to the entrance lobby of the labyrinth. 1 second cool-down.
  • Follow Through Fog: Teleport yourself to a target Team or League mate. May fail if the target does not have space nearby or is going through a door. Intended to help teams stick together. 1 second cool-down.

Gladiators In The Fog?

• Throughout the colored floors, players can encounter Gladiators In The Fog.
• Standing next to one will prompt the Gladiator to respond.
• Depending on how many badges from the Labyrinth you currently have, the Gladiator will do one of the following:
  • Respond with hints/tips/lore dialog about the Labyrinth.
  • Gift a Draught of Fog inspiration.
  • Become hostile and attack the player. (More Labyrinth badges = higher chance of attack)
• Each Gladiator will only interact with the same player once ever.
• Defeated Gladiators drop a single Draught of Fog inspiration to one participating player.

Blood and strength unseen, Gladiator!

Explore the Labyrinth!

• There are many secrets and prizes to be discovered within the Labyrinth of Fog.
  • Including many not detailed at all in the patch notes!
• Finding a secret area will reward the Hidden in Fog exploration badge.
  • Secret area doors have a confirmation box when clicked to enter them.
• Some secret areas are easy to find, others more difficult. All secret areas reward the same exploration badge.
• The secret areas show up as '???' locations and immediately grant the badge upon discovery.

External Links

• Issue 28, Page 1