Here's some of the new shit this added :
*- Mayhem Missions (Villain Only). These things are great. With CoV before Issue 7, after doing 3-5 newspaper missions you'd get assigned an indoor bank mission. Rob the bank, get a new contact, you're done.
With Issue 7, after doing your 3-5 newspaper missions, you get assigned a mayhem mission in a section of Paragon City. You spawn in, and a 15 minute timer starts to tick down. You've got 15 minutes to rob a bank in the city. What makes this more interesting, is that you start outdoors and work your way to the bank destroying everything in your path. Cars, trucks, police, SWAT teams, dumpsters, trash cans, Parking Meters, Fire Hydrants, everything except the buildings. Hell, you can even torment and attack (Though you can't kill) civilians wandering the streets. Destroying objects gives you a time bonus which gives you more time to cause destruction.
These missions also have side quests. Defeat certain villain groups to get a key to a sidequest. Sidequests range from arson (Firebomb a building), smash-n-grab at a pawn shop or jewelry shop, kidnap someone for ransom, break an NPC villain out of prison (He'll then follow you around helping you destroy shit), or steal a weapon shipment and you'll receive a temporary power such as a flamethrower.
Once you break into the bank and steal the money, a hero will attack you. You've got to defeat the hero to end the mission. On the higher level mayhem missions, if you bring a full group in you run the risk of attracting a signature hero (such as Valkyrie), who will proceed to smash your face in and piss on your corpse.
Once you finish the mission for the first time, you get temporary powers. The first two mayhems (levels 5 and 10) give you travel powers - a jetpack, and a jump pack - so characters as low as level 5 can start using travel powers. Higher level mayhems give you things such as a self-only ressurect power that lasts for 2 days of in-game time, a team teleport power that also lasts 2-days in game, a movement speed increase that lasts for 3-days ingame, etc.
*- New Powersets. Masterminds can now use a 'Thugs' powerset. Thugs are 100% offensive abilities. You get 3 low-level punks, two enforcers (Enforcers start with auras such as assault and tactics, which buff your punks attack and accuracy and shit), and a single bruiser. The bruiser is a miniature Brute - he has Super Strength, his attacks build up Fury just like a Brute, and he's all melee. Thugs also get a power called Gang War, where you can summon an additional 10 gang members to fight for you. You don't get direct control over them, and they're weaker than your normal pets, but they're good for distracting a large mob of NPC's away from you.
There's an electric armor / electric melee powerset now for Brutes as well. It's just like it sounds, couple fairly cool powers though. Jacob's ladder is a narrow cone attack with short range, kinda like Shadow Maul. Chain Induction is a melee attack that ends with a somewhat chain-lightning-ish electric charge that fires through multiple enemies nearby. Lightning Rod essentially zaps you you to an area (Teleport), and when you appear deals massive lightning damage to everything in that area. It's a pretty large AoE effect, and looks damn cool.
The Dark Melee set for Scrappers is now available for Stalkers in CoV. The set hasn't changed, AFAIK, just been moved over so Stalkers can use it too.
*- Grandville is a new endgame zone for Villains, levels 40-50. It's really damn cool. In the center of the zone is a massive tower where all the signature villains hang out (Lord Recluse, Ghost Widow, etc).
Villains levels 40+ can select one of four Patrons - Ghost Widow, Black Scorpion, Captain Mako, and Scirocco. Each one has four Patron Powers that are available only from that Patron. The powers are unique depending on your class - all classes, except for Masterminds, can get an Arachnos Pet, such as a Fortunata, Tarantula, Wolf Spider, Mu, Coralax, etc. Masterminds can get AE Immob and single-target holds, all characters get a self-only Resist/Defense toggle that protects against smashing and lethal, many characters can get ranged DD attacks, stuff like that. Each Patron is a contact with some of the more interesting story arcs and missions out there.
Recluse himself has a level 45-50 Strike Force that pits you up against EIGHT signature Heroes. It's difficult as hell and has you going up against Positron, Lady Liberty, Back Alley Brawler, Statesman, Sister Psyche, etc. all at once. So far only a few groups have managed to complete it, and it does reward Hamidon Origin enhancements to players who do.
*- Recluse's Victory is a new endgame PvP zone. It's set in the future where Lord Recluse has conquered Paragon City, and taken over Atlas Park. In it, there are 7 temporal points (Most people call them Pillboxes) that must be taken over by heroes or villains. When all 7 have been captured, players battle for Temporal Points, which can be used to get temporary powers and shit.
When one side is losing, typically their signature heroes will start showing up. Meaning that if villains are winning, you may suddenly turn around to find five player heroes standing side-by-side with Statesman. I watched (Was dead at the time, just hadn't released) as Ghost Widow and Mako together assraped a team of 10 heroes at once.
There are massive NPC machines called Heavies that players can take control of (Control is similar to MM pets). They're incredibly powerful - a single Heavy can solo four Elite Bosses at the same time. They spawn in static positions, and the first person to reach one can take control of it. When the person or heavy is destroyed, a new one spawns for someone else to grab. There's monitors in several places throughout the game where players can see who's got control over which temporal points.
*- CoV/H now has a Physics system. Destroying objects in Mayhem missions, as well as some objects in normal missions, act with new physics, and the game now supports the PhysX card. It's kinda cool, the streets can be littered with all kinds of debris during/after a Mayhem mission that players can interact with. Players/pets with guns leave shell casings everywhere when going through a mission (My Soldiers typically fire 3-20 bullets per attack, everywhere I go the floor's just LITTERED with shell casings). They don't fade away, either - running through them kicks them around, a grenade going off in the middle will blast them all around the room, cool shit like that.
There's also all kinds of new costume options like with all updates, and various little feature upgrades like updated building textures, updated UI stuff (Buffs now flash before they expire), shit like that.
I made this post because this weekend is Double XP Weekend, and I didn't know how many people are currently playing or plan to get the game.
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Heroes and Villains, prepare to experience our first ever Double XP weekend event! The rules are simple. Hero and Villain characters will receive double the XP for all of their accomplishments in the game. Take advantage of this opportunity to level up your favorite characters. Good luck and have fun!Start: Friday, July 21st at 9am PST / 12pm EST
Finish: Sunday, July 23rd, 8:59pm PST / 11:59pm EST
Khyron fucked around with this message on 07-20-2006 at 10:19 AM.
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Verily, nem-x doth proclaim:
No one plays
JooJoo plays.
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nem-x obviously shouldn't have said:
No one plays
Seconded.
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Verily, Khyron doth proclaim:
JooJoo plays.
Not since I started EQ again on the progression server.
"Don't want to sound like a fanboy, but I am with you. I'll buy it for sure, it's just a matter of for how long I will be playing it..."
- Silvast, Battle.net forums
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Everyone wondered WTF when Mortious wrote:
I'd play CoV if it wasn't endless boring grinding.
They should so include a Criminal Act generator. Give the player the option to customize their crimes. Maybe you don't want to rob a bank, or kidnap some random hostage but want to hijack a cruise ship or raise the avatar of some long banished demon. Go into the generator, select location, select type of act, select level of difficulty, select possible enemies that might stop you, and let the generator tally up the reward for the selected settings.
You're a super villain for gosh-sake! You shouldn't have to always have to wait for others to supply you with things to do. 
"Don't want to sound like a fanboy, but I am with you. I'll buy it for sure, it's just a matter of for how long I will be playing it..."
- Silvast, Battle.net forums
Lyinar Ka`Bael, Piney Fresh Druidess - Luclin
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Lyinar Ka`Bael had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
Dude, that sounds sweet, but I'm only a lowbie still
Mayhem missions start as soon as you finish your first three newspaper missions, so you do one around level 10.
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Talonus had this to say about Punky Brewster:
You spent too much time writing up this post.
Work was slow today.
And technically, Mayhem missions can start as early as level 5 - that's when you can start doing newspaper missions. Most villains just don't leave Mercy until later. Port Oakes is pretty dangerous at level 5.
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Dr. Gee painfully thought these words up:
Mayhem missions start as soon as you finish your first three newspaper missions, so you do one around level 5-7.
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From the book of Dr. Gee, chapter 3, verse 16:
Mayhem missions start as soon as you finish your first three newspaper missions, so you do one around level 10.
Ah neat. I'm only like level 6 because I haven't played in ages. But I may have to spend some quality time with CoV this weekend.
Lyinar Ka`Bael, Piney Fresh Druidess - Luclin
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ACES! Another post by Ctrl-Alt-Del:
Sounds interesting, I may need to bust out the ole superheroes again. I have one question though, how much content would I be missing since I don't have CoV?
You won't miss any content on the heroes side, however the villain content is very enjoyable, even more so that the hero stuff.
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So quoth Ctrl-Alt-Del:
Are there any new end game task forces? Being a friggen empathy defender kinda sucks since I can't solo anything at all.
Nope. There is a high-end PVP zone, but as a defender, especially an empath, you're more or less walking lunchmeat.
Also, Global chat is still hosed. If your friends are gone from your global friends list, don't assume that they quit the game or dumped you from their list.
As for the double EXP, you'll get double Inf/Pres too, from what I understand. Unfortunately, I work this weekend, so I'll miss out on most of it.
"Don't want to sound like a fanboy, but I am with you. I'll buy it for sure, it's just a matter of for how long I will be playing it..."
- Silvast, Battle.net forums
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Fazum'Zen Fastfist had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
I dunno if I can stand this game anymore actually. It's still my favorite MMORPG though.
I would suggest taking a break and playing something else, then. If you keep playing when it's not fun, you'll burn out on it.
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Nobody really understood why Palador ChibiDragon wrote:
I would suggest taking a break and playing something else, then. If you keep playing when it's not fun, you'll burn out on it.
I already did that haha
"Don't want to sound like a fanboy, but I am with you. I'll buy it for sure, it's just a matter of for how long I will be playing it..."
- Silvast, Battle.net forums
I might pick up CoV instead tho.
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Maradon! painfully thought these words up:
Ironically, I've been seriously hankering to get back into the CoH scene.I might pick up CoV instead tho.
Get CoV. Membership fee is the same whether or not you have it, and it's much more fun than CoH IMHO.
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Sakkra had this to say about Duck Tales:
Get CoV. Membership fee is the same whether or not you have it, and it's much more fun than CoH IMHO.
What this man said.
CoV rocks simply because it breaks away from the typical MMO style of "healer tank dps" trinity that governs most MMORPGs.
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Sakkraing:
Get CoV. Membership fee is the same whether or not you have it, and it's much more fun than CoH IMHO.
Oh, so you get CoH and CoV with the same monthly fee?
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Maradon! had this to say about dark elf butts:
Oh, so you get CoH and CoV with the same monthly fee?
Yep. Two games, one fee.
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Verily, Willias doth proclaim:
What this man said.CoV rocks simply because it breaks away from the typical MMO style of "healer tank dps" trinity that governs most MMORPGs.
Yes, though some people are still stuck on that trinity.
Finding a group as a MM is tough when people are looking solely for a healer, despite the fact that with traps I can mitigate quite a large amount of damage. Then again, I don't really have to group, as playing a MM with ranged pets solo amounts to "Push button (pets attack), get XP"
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Sakkra had this to say about Pirotess:
Yes, though some people are still stuck on that trinity.Finding a group as a MM is tough when people are looking solely for a healer, despite the fact that with traps I can mitigate quite a large amount of damage. Then again, I don't really have to group, as playing a MM with ranged pets solo amounts to "Push button (pets attack), get XP"
If you can find a group with lots of people who know what they're doing, then this isn't an issue. I play with the SA Goons almost exclusively, and they all know how effective force shields can be. My MM is welcome in nearly every group 
(Nearly every because there's always groups that already have 4+ masterminds and that's when adding more gets... excessive).
Double XP weekend ruled. Started at 11 on Friday, ended at 26 on Sunday night
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Sakkra attempted to be funny by writing:
Yes, though some people are still stuck on that trinity.Finding a group as a MM is tough when people are looking solely for a healer, despite the fact that with traps I can mitigate quite a large amount of damage. Then again, I don't really have to group, as playing a MM with ranged pets solo amounts to "Push button (pets attack), get XP"
I would honestly think that every group would WANT at least one MM because they're such a useful support class.
Minions that take hits for everyone else and support powers should = win.
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Willias's fortune cookie read:
I would honestly think that every group would WANT at least one MM because they're such a useful support class.Minions that take hits for everyone else and support powers should = win.
Yes, but people are still stuck on the "NEED TNAK! NED HEALAR!" mentality.
Fun fact: Masterminds are superior to brutes at taking alpha strikes, either by sending the pets in or using bodyguard. Despite the fact the minons will likely die, it doesn't matter since they don't accrue debt. 
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Willias had this to say about dark elf butts:
I would honestly think that every group would WANT at least one MM because they're such a useful support class.Minions that take hits for everyone else and support powers should = win.
I wouldn't say that the taking hits for everyone else is really an advantage. Minions die extremely fast and can't match (individually at least) a brute or corruptor's DPS, meaning you can either get great DPS on a single target, or spead out your DPS amongst several targets and end up with many dead pets.
What MM's are best for is a steady stream of constant DPS, and buff/debuffs. The Force Field powerset for MM's contains the best Defense buffs villain-side, the poison contains some of the strongest single-target debuffs in terms of reducing damage, defense, and slowing regen with some heals and a rez thrown in for utility. Traps/Dark/Trick Arrow are nothing too special, as corruptors get those too and usually better (IE : The range of the AE heal in Dark is 2-3 times as large for corruptors as it is for MM's).
Of course, since MM's rarely do damage (and when they do it's almost always several times less than their pets have done), they don't get aggro nearly as fast. So even if the MM's pets do grab aggro and die, the MM is usually on hand to bring up more. If something does manage to aggro the MM, thanks to the new bodyguard ability they can be stronger than brutes in some cases.
I went AFK in Bloody Bay (one of the PvP zones), came back to find that a stone tanker hero had been wailing on me while I was away, but thanks to the force fields and my protectorbots, I had taken less than 1/10th of my HP while my bots had brought him down to 1/2 HP before I even got into the fight
Then some jackwad villains decided to step in and make it a 3 on 1 fight, and he bailed. It sucked because I don't think he'd have ran if they hadn't joined in, I'd have taken him =/ Khyron fucked around with this message on 07-24-2006 at 02:49 PM.
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How.... Khyron.... uughhhhhh:
snip
The reason why minions are good for taking hits is: Even though dying minions lower the MM's DPS, the minions ARE taking hits for the other villains in your group. Summoning up more minions isn't a big deal, losing a fellow villain IS.
Not just that, but by using minions as decoys, the real dps of your group can take down more threatening targets without much attention.
Or at least that's what I'd do for Zagg while I played CoV way back when. Worked pretty well too.
And yeah, as I said, MMs are awesome support. They fill the support role a bit better than Corruptors do IMO.
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Willias spewed forth this undeniable truth:
The reason why minions are good for taking hits is: Even though dying minions lower the MM's DPS, the minions ARE taking hits for the other villains in your group. Summoning up more minions isn't a big deal, losing a fellow villain IS.Not just that, but by using minions as decoys, the real dps of your group can take down more threatening targets without much attention.
Or at least that's what I'd do for Zagg while I played CoV way back when. Worked pretty well too.
And yeah, as I said, MMs are awesome support. They fill the support role a bit better than Corruptors do IMO.
Early on that's a viable strategy. Later on, your pets are so fragile compared to brutes and even stalkers that it's best to just focus fire on something and kill it quickly. BY that time your brutes should have tons of res and you should have tons of debuffs and buffs, the tanks can stay alive without your pets. Once you reach this point, all but your tier 3 pets will die in 1-2 hits from mobs so it doesn't make much sense to sacrifice a third of your DPS to shield them from one or two hits that won't even take a tenth of their HP off.
Edit: I rly didn't need to quote. Willias fucked around with this message on 07-24-2006 at 08:13 PM.
