Issue 26
Overview
Issue 26, Homecoming, was a major revision to City of Heroes. After the reveal of the secret Resurgence server and the opening of the Homecoming public servers it was decided a new Issue should be started to signify a clean break. Partway into the Issue it was announced that due to the differences in development compared to the official , each Issue would be spread out across multiple smaller 'Page' updates.
This article summarizes some of the major features in the Pages of Issue 26.
Page 1
Main Article: Issue 26 Page 1
This page was primarily focused on clean-up and quality of life updates.
- Notable Changes
- Launched multiple new servers to accommodate the influx of new players.
- Added the Heroes and Villains, Rogues and Vigilantes and Lords of Winter Super Packs to the Auction House.
- 8 Exploration Badges and Accolade added to Echo: Faultline.
- Salvage Market seeded to keep costs down: 10K for common salvage, 100K for uncommon salvage, 1M for rare salvage, and 50K for a Brainstorm Idea
- XP Boosters added to P2W Vendors.
Page 2
Main Article: Issue 26 Page 2
This page optimised and and improved stability of the game with the introduction of a 64-bit client.
- Notable Changes
- Added over 800 items to the base editor.
- A new 32-bit and 64-bit client to future proof the game.
- Added the Roleplaying tag.
- Increased Supergroup membership limit from 150 to 300.
- Replaced DirectInput with Game Controller support.
- PhysX simulation is no longer frame-locked to the game. It now runs asynchronously.
- Reworked Snipes & Dominator Assault sets
- Changed the Ghost of Scrapyard zone event to require defeating 100 protesting miners.
Page 3
Main Article: Issue 26 Page 3
Page 3 was the first major content update to the game under Homecoming.
- Notable Changes
- Two new level 25-29 story arcs, one for Vigilantes: Shauna Braun; and one for Rogues: Bobby Curtin. Featuring multiple endings and branching missions.
- The Instanced Rikti Mothership Raid accessed via the Team-Up Teleporter.
- The Force of Will Specialized Power Pool.
- New Exploration Badges and Accolades added to Bloody Bay, Siren's Call, Warburg and Recluse's Victory.
- Changes to the Team-Up Teleporter to allow easier solo and small group play.
- Further PhysX optimizations.
Page 4
Main Article: Issue 26 Page 4
- Notable Changes
- Implemented Crash Handler to allow submitting of crash reports.
- Changes to Tankers and Brutes including inherent powers Gauntlet and Fury.
- Mastermind pet AI improvements, preventing some ranged focused pets moving in to melee range.
- New customisation options for Phantom Army that mirror the character's current costume.
- PvP powers changes standardizing Mez and Knockback rules.
- 38 new base items.
Page 5
Main Article: Issue 26 Page 5
- Notable Changes
- Safe Mode discontinued.
- Auras and Path Auras split into two separate slots.
- Gloves and Boots asymmetrical toggle.
- New support powerset, Electrical Affinity.
- The Experimentation Specialized Power Pool.
- 5 new IO Sets: Synapse's Shock, Power Transfer, Preemptive Optimization, Bombardment, Artillery
- Katana received a new interruptible draw animation in an effort to phase out the No-Redraw animation theme in weapon sets.
- Added the General chat channel.
- Map fog of war information is now account based and stored in the game's installation folder rather than /appdata/.
- Disabled resume_info.txt due to it's insecurity.
Resurgence Issue 26 Announcement
Issue 26, Homecoming
Due to everything that's been going on, Issue 25 is concluded as of the last patch. All changes since April 20, and any characters created since, are now part of Issue 26: "Homecoming".[1]
Several loading tip screens have been replaced. While this server is still invite-only and will remain so, the secret is out there. Our intention is to continue to shield any members of this server from outside knowledge to stop them from being harassed by trolls or worse, but if you want to "out" yourself, we are not stopping you. Just be very careful, and remember that you only have the right to "out" yourself. Don't mention others; that could open them to doxxing or harassment, and will get you instantly banned from this server.[1]
Patch notes by date are available in the [forum].
General
There are several internal changes in the May 9th patch that are mostly invisible to this server, since they are part of the multi-server environment at Homecoming. One visible change is the appearance of a Server Transfer button in the Character Selection screen, which doesn't do anything here.[2]
You can now use the command line parameter -noversioncheck to allow the game to load even if the server and client versions are out of sync. This is a terrible idea and is only being made available because the Homecoming servers had issue with keeping the patch versions straight. Don't use this. It's documented here only for completeness.[1]
You can no longer change your global handle an infinite number of times just by switching zones. Some people decided to use this to be massively annoying or impersonate others, so now you have to ask a GM for a name change.[1]
Zone maps will now be marked as "full" and stop new players from entering them if they grow over 1.8GB of RAM; meet in a different zone instance if someone you need to team with is on a "full" map. If a map uses over 2.0GB of RAM, it will automatically shutdown; even a mission map. It's not the most elegant way to address a memory leak, but it works for now.[2]
The costume change timer has been lowered from 30 seconds to 15 seconds.[2] It now properly say you must wait 15 seconds between costume changes in the chat.[3]
A bug which caused XP to not be awarded in AE if your character did not have an XP Multiplier going (either Patrol XP or Double XP Weekend bonus) has been fixed.[3]
Supergroups
Supergroup Bases
Newly created Supergroup Bases will no longer crash the mapserver on the first time they are entered.[1]
Base items created by players here have had the "Made by" credit removed. The credit will be restored once I have names that they would like to use in public.[1]
Base Editor
Replaced the "Exit" buttons with an "Options" menu with options for Default Sky, Lighting Type, Grid Size, Angle Snap, Room Clipping and Hidden Markers. The hotkeys and slash commands still work, this is just for ease of discovery of the new features.[3]
Added an experimental option to use outdoor lighting in supergroup bases. It is recommended you try it with different skies to find one suitable for your base style. Outdoor lighting disables the dynamic lighting used in base rooms and from base items; there's (at the moment) no way to have both.[3]
Tasks
The robot trap in the Hess Task Force now wakes all robots after one minute, down from five minutes.[1]
The Positron Task Force (Part 1) can now be started with a minimum level of 8.[2]
Completing a Morality Mission now rewards 30 merits regardless of whether the player switched, reinforced, or double-reinforced their alignment.[3]. Turns out that 50 merits for 10 short missions was way too much.[2]
Powers
Atomic Manipulation > Beta Decay (Blaster): Will now require a target for its "first target" 10% recharge buff to be applied.[3]. The "first target" 10% recharge buff should no longer erroneously stack for all foes in range. The 2.5% per target recharge buff will continue to stack as expected. Max recharge buff with 10 targets should be +35%.[3]
Bio Armor > Evolving Armor: Fixed a bug where the stacking portion of the buff was overlapping, resulting in a larger-than-intended buff 50% of the time.[3]
Ice Armor > Wet Ice (Sentinel): Now available at level 4 instead of 5.[1]
Radiation Armor > Beta Decay (Tanker, Scrapper, Brute): The "first target" 10% recharge buff should no longer erroneously stack for all foes in range. The 2.5% per target recharge buff will continue to stack as expected. Max recharge buff with 10 targets should be +35%.[3]
The temporary power Frost Bite should now do the correct amount of damage and should no longer heal targets.[3]
AV's Purple Triangles now provide protection against "OnlyAffectsSelf".[3]
Rewards
XP Boosters purchased from P2W can now be deleted from the Powers window. This is useful if you decide that you want to switch from a 25% bonus to a 50% one, for example, or if you don't want the influence penalty anymore.[2]
The PPD Captain "Call for Backup" power will now only spawn up to three PPD reinforcements and not spawn additional ones unless one of the 3 is defeated, instead of an infinite forever every 30 seconds.[2]
Badges
Added the 15th Anniversary badge, "Excelsior!"[1]
Added "Fashion Victim" for spending 50,000,000 inf on the tailor. Rewards a Free tailor token for your trouble.[2]
Moved "Newsman", "Faultless Mystic" and "Apex" from Faultline to Echo: Faultline.[2]
Added "Riveting", "Upcycled" and "Rock Bottom" to Faultline.[2]
Added "Forsaken", "Pristine", "Claim Denied", "Spare Parts" and "Dug Too Deep" to Echo: Faultline.[2]
Added "Epicenter" as the Echo: Faultline zone accolade.[2]
Mission Architect
The Mission Architect version of the power "Unkindness" from Savage Assault will now actually damage the target instead of healing them.[2]
Notes
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Patch Notes for April 29th, 2019
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Patch Notes for May 9th, 2019
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Patch Notes for May 17th, 2019