Champions Online F2P: Reloaded

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Alright, I've been playing the On Alert version for a while, so here are my impressions so far:

1) The new mechanics are great. Re-balanced stats and Specialization System add a lot of use to previously ignored stats, and with the changes to the Super-Stat system there's more variety in terms of stat combinations. Specialization System is especially good, adding a nice layer to the already extensive character customization. In general, all characters are a lot stronger, as Critical Hits, Dodges, damage mitigation and Healing has been reworked extensively. DPS and Healer are now on equal footing with tanks!

2) The new item system works well and is even less grindy than before. Gearing with the best stuff takes 3-4 days of 2 hour sessions now. Special effects are also more common now, and much more useful. The only problem is that the best in-game Primary gear, Silver Champion Recognition gear, is currently bugged and their secondary effects stop functioning once you Mod them (which you are supposed to do).

3) Enemies have also been buffed considerably, especially Villains and Master Villains. A good example of a good buff is that VIPER Soldiers have one new feature: Their basic single target rapid fire attack has a degree of Penetrating damage, which bypasses a large portion of your defenses, meaning that against VIPER you no longer get a set of floating 1s but in case of my two chars a set of 20-50s in damage (on Elite), which is quite bad if there's a lot of them.

4) There are some nice graphical tweaks to a few areas and enemies in the game. Qularr and Irradiates have changed the most, and the biggest area improvement was Atomic Wasteland in the Desert, which now looks like this:

Much improvement, says Borat. I especially like that they made use of the great lighting and ambient effect capability of their engine. New costume pieces also look great.

5) Power balance has been improved greatly. IDF is now a Form and cannot be taken wantonly, Resurgent Reiki has a cooldown of 0.5 seconds (it's still absurdly good against single targets though, and needs moar nerf IMO), Shields now make use of some of your damage resistance, Pet powers now need specialization to be of effective use, healing has been reworked to allow for alternate builds, and perhaps most of all Maintain Holds have been nerfed big time (they're now Incapacitate attacks, and much weaker than actual holds, practically useless without specialization) which makes charge Hold powers desirable.

6) ULTIMATE POWER!!!!!!

Tier 4 powers have gotten a complete selection overhaul. To access a Tier 4 power now, you only need to be level 35. That's it. You can only have one Ultimate power (they're called that now) though.

7) Drop rates have been improved and reworked. You get Vibora Bay costume pieces immensily faster now, and Very Hard/Elite no longer has a percentage based bonus to stat values but instead just better chances of high end loot.



Now, for the single glaring bad side of the update:

Questionite. The Q-Store and Questionite currency is a fucking joke, and a bad one at that. First of all, the prices in Q-Store are absolutely insane, with travel power skins going for 200k Questionite. Secondly, which makes the first point worse, acquiring Questionite is a pain in the ass. There are two ways of getting Questionite: A daily Alert, which is 2k unrefined Questionite (you can only refine 8k unrefined Questionite into the proper Questionite currency per day), and after that the only way to get more is to complete an Adventure Pack or a Comic Series... Which is roughly the same as working a 30 cent per hour job (the Q-Exchange where you can buy or sell CP for Questionite is pretty much stuck at 50 = 1 rate), AT BEST. What a load of crap, though hopefully fixed soon.

Anyway, some moar pics of Overman using his new Ultimate:

 

[jcd]

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

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Actually the reason why it's even more of a joke is that the same shit works properly in Star Trek Online. Grinding CP still takes time there due to daily Dil limit, but D-Store prices are usually around 10k (and you make your daily 8k within an hour of play).

The biggest content change is the massive quantity of unlockable costume pieces added. There are boss-costume pieces across the game now (a good example is that you can get Mechassassin's minigun arm now), and a shit-ton of token-unlocked pieces and mob drops. Vibora Bay costume drop rates have been upped considerably as well, I got six VB drops during a single day, and not by grinding either, just doing missions and UNITY 2 (four Nephilim drops during this). I'd say the only costume piece that's still rare is the Mecha Axe for Heavy Weapons, due to it being limited to a single relatively rare Villain type instead of being on all Lemurians. Examples of new Mob drop costume unlocks are: The VIPER powered armor backpack and helmet both have unlocks now, the new Irradiate and DEMON costume pieces have drops, the elongated fire demon head is unlockable now, etc.

In addition, all level tiers (1-20, 21-30, 31-40, 40) have Recognition tokens now (MARS, PRIMUS, UNTIL, and Silver Champion respectively). Each token type with the exception of Silver Champion (which is granted by completing Lairs or doing UNITY dailies) is dropped by enemies and given as occasional mission reward. Each tier comes with unlockable Travel Powers (ie, UNTIL has Bat Flight and Inky Ooze Tunneling unlocks) and several several unlocks in the form of Mob drops of their tier and tier specific token-only costume set (ie, Silver Champion has a Dr Ka set). Additionally, token vendors sell top-tier Primary gear and other goodies. Token prices and gain rate are just about perfect if you ask me, it takes 3 (4 if unlucky) days to obtain a full set of Silver Champion primary gear. Costume pieces cost less than gear as well.

In case you have excess Nemesis Tokens left, the Nemesis store got largely axed, only action figures of the old stuff remain. However, you can now buy three Primary items there, which are bound to your ACCOUNT (not character), which each grant a stacking 3% bonus to XP gain and properties scale to the character's level. Each costs 200 Nemesis tokens.

As for content, I don't know about the Desert beyond the reworked graphics in Atomic Wasteland and Snake Gulch, but I do know that Canada has been reworked to start at level 18, and the Westside missions have also seen more reworking (haven't tried the stuff yet). I'm also willing to bet they're launching a new Comic Series shortly, probably involving eagle-people from space judging from the new Veteran Reward costume and title.



Anyway, moar info about mechanics...

---

Superstat changes to free Archetypes (specialization branches are pre-chosen, and I can't check those from the progression, yet). Format is Primary Super-Stat/Secondary SS - Secondary SS.

Inferno: Recovery/Endurance - Ego
Marksman: Dexterity/Intelligence - Ego
Soldier: Ego/Dexterity - Recovery
Cursed: Recovery/Constitution - Ego (I still have one or two unlock tokens for this lying around, IIRC)

Glacier: Constitution/Endurance - Ego
Behemoth: Constitution/Strength - Recovery

Unleashed: Dexterity/Recovery - Strength
Blade: Dexterity/Recovery - Strength

Grimoire: Intelligence/Ego - Presence

Radiant: Presence/Ego - Intelligence
Mind: Presence/Endurance - Ego


Specialization branch choices are pre-made, but points in them can be spent as you wish.

---

Now, I'll explain a bit about the way Super-Stats and Roles work now:

First of all, Super-Stats are now divided into your Primary Super-Stat and your two Secondary Super-Stats. Your Primary Super-Stat determines your first Specialization branch (you will spend 10 points to your liking in each branch, no more or no less + at least 5 points in tier 1 of that branch), and has the largest effect on your powers. Your Secondary Super-Stats are your two supplemental stats, which also affect your powers to a lesser degree.

Roles tie into this due to the way all stats is because now Roles not only affect your basic statistics (ie, a Tank has 110% damage resistance, Melee Damage has 125% melee damage), but also determine what effect your stats will have in addition to their effect on powers! The SS effects under the Roles are as following: Hybrid grants you bonus healing and damage based on your SS, Tank grants you bonus damage and Threat Generation, Melee/Ranged Damage roles give you a bonus to your damage and reduces your Threat Generation, and Support gives you bonus damage and healing while reducing your Threat Generation.

The way stats work has also been changed, with many stats reworked considerably, but certain stats still affect certain powers and stacks like before:

Strength has been buffed, it's sliding scale on bonus Melee damage has been reworked into a new soft curve and the 20% hard cap has been removed. Still gives bonus to Melee Knock Strength and Knock Resistance.

Dexterity now only grants Critical Chance and Aggression Stealth Strength.

Constitution is unchanged.

Intelligence is unchanged.

Ego now grants a bonus to Ranged Damage and Ranged Knock Strength like Strength does, and it grants Hold Resistance. It no longer grants Critical Severity.

Presence's bonus to healing has been nerfed, it now operates like the Melee Damage bonus on Strength. Presence also gives a bonus to Hold Strength and Crowd Control Resistance.

Endurance is unchanged.

Recovery is unchanged.


The biggest change is how Specialization interacts with stats, with the Primary stat's specialization tree granting various effects to it, often things like Critical Chance and Critical Severity. For example, Overman and Kapteeni Karjala both receive bonus Critical Chance from Strength as well as +3 hit points per point of Strength.

Critical Severity has been reworked entirely within the Specialization system, and now starts at 50%. It's very common for characters to be able to raise it to 70% through Spec points and gain other bonuses to it. In general, Critical Hits are no longer a thing of specific builds.

Dodge Chance and Avoidance are also more common now, and bonuses to those from gear are a lot more powerful early on. The effect is also commonly applied to endgame Silver Champion gear.


Finally, I review the new The Radiant archetype:

Basically, Radiant is a healer that uses a mixture of various Sorcery powers in tandem with Celestial powers. The two biggest things one notices about the new archetype are: First of all, it has access to self-resurrection and resurrection of others. Secondly, it's level 40 power is an Ultimate Power, Planar Fracture. Due to how healing works now, the viability of a healer class with a healer passive (Seraphim) has gone up immensily, and Radiant will clock up the highest heal-rates among Archetypes. Radiant has two different AoE attacks, which is good, as one allows it to use fireball nukes (Vengeance, obtained at level 6) and the other 360 degree close range knock (Expulse, obtained at level 11), albeit weaker damage and coming with cooldown which is luckily mitigated by Intelligence. Finally, the build has access to Arcane Vitality, which is a good maintained AoE cone heal. It also has access to a single Crowd Control power, which is either a Hold (Soul Mesmerism) or Incapacitate (the previously high and mighty Binding of Arathon).

However, the build has several glaring issues. Namely, it lacks something that The Mind has: A damage shield. It is also a lot more vulnerable than The Mind, which has Aura of Radiant Protection, meaning that a Radiant *will* want Dodge and Avoidance gear up the wazoo.

Overall, I'd say the biggest weakness of the build is that The Mind is just BETTER. Especially if both have access to Sentinel Aura (a Sentinel aka Pure Healer specialization branch option which grants a really, really good passive regeneration aura, it's like both Radiant and Mind can take it).


PS: Word is Silvers got a free bag slot. Is this true?


Anyhoo, here's pics of the greatest update beneficiary among my characters, Kapteeni Karjala, who is now outrageously powerful following specialization, superstat and power balance changes:

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

A short guide to endgame gearing in the new update:

Previously, endgame gearing generally meant doing Nemesis missions for a week (with booster). If you respecced extensively, you also had to regear. However, the old system is gone.

First of all, theoretically you will only have to gear up once now, as you can re-modify gear to reflect your new stats, either by scrapping old mods by applying new on top of them, or paying a fee (either in-game resources or Q) to put the mod back into your inventory. The only thing that remains the same is the underlying gear, which has several obvious choices among the Silver Champion gear for most characters: Characters without Lightning Reflexes will want the Defensive Primary that either provides Avoidance or Dodge Chance to increase their durability, almost all characters benefit from the Critical Strike boosting Offensive Primary (raises base chance from 0.1% to 11% on its own), and some variant of Cost Discount + Cooldown Reduction gear for Primary Utility. All these Silver Champion primaries come with three modification Slots, making them most ideal for maximum optimization.

Most of all though, in the new system you will obtain all of the Primaries in 3 days per character, assuming you play your cards right!

To gear up efficiently, you first need to do two things: 1) Reach level 40, 2) Unlock UNITY 2 daily mission chain.

UNITY 1 and UNITY 2 are daily missions, which added together take between 1-2 hours depending on how fast you are. UNITY 1 is automatically unlocked when you reach level 40, just grab the e-mail invitation to UNITY and head to the UNITY building to turn in the quest. You can then use a console there to begin the UNITY Hot Spots daily mission, which consists of a series of short and simple missions across several hubs, which you should take all at once and use the UNITY teleporter to warp to the Zone with the (possible) time limited missions (usually one, often none, rarely two) and then work through all the missions. Following this, you return to the UNITY console and receive a Special Assignment, which is a slightly longer mission, which you then turn in to the console to finish the daily mission. All in all, the daily chain nets you 18 Silver Champion recognition, and most likely a handful of UNTIL recognition from mobs.

UNITY 2 is something a newbie is likely to miss for a long time, as it has more conditions than the UNITY 1 daily mission. First of all, you need to complete Vibora Bay Apocalypse and complete your UNITY invitation. Then you will also have completed the Vibora Bay missions Assembling the Antidote, Of Serums And Secrets, There And Bat Again and Burn 'Em Out (more info on these missions can be found here: http://www.champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/UNITY_2_Missions ). Once all the prerequisite conditions have been fulfilled, you go to Akiko Yamamori in the UNITY building in Millenium City, who will give you a mission that takes you to the UNITY 2 contact for the first time.

UNITY 2 contact is Whisper, who is located in a crypt at the North East edge of the Cypress Grove Cemetary, just next to the wall separating the cemetary and the road. She will give you the Route of the Elements daily mission AKA UNITY 2. First section of the mission is always the same: You go through a dungeon with undead enemies to reach the end of it where you find your Spirit Guide waiting. This first part is simple, as you can just ignore the mobs and speedrun if you don't want to fight or need possible Modification drops. The Spirit Guide will then teleport you to a second mission phase, where you go through three dungeons, each with a mission: The first one generally involves killing a large number of enemies. Second one involves an object search/rescue goal, this can be tougher if the objects are hidden (hint: Halls of Fire has exactly two books per room). Finally, you have to beat a Super Villain at the end of the last dungeon, and you can speedrun this as well by just ignoring enemies and pushing forward (or doing something more creative like using Stealth/Tunneling/Teleport). After you finish the final dungeon, you should use the Crime Computer to exit the instance quickly, as it returns you straight to Whisper.

Whisper will finally give you a special assignment, which is a re-run of one of the prerequisite missions. In my experience, usually There And Bat Again or Of Serums And Secrets, which I don't mind because it means it isn't Burn 'Em Out (the only long one). Finally, return to Whisper to conclude the daily mission. This too will net you 18 Silver Champion recognition, and some UNTIL recognition from mobs. After these two runs you have a total of 36 Silver Champion Recognition, which allows you to buy a Silver Champion purple Primary gear (35 Silver Champion Recognition a piece). As there are only three slots, you will reach the needed three soon and can instead work on the recognition costume pieces or something, or gear another character.

 

[jcd]

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

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

No, it takes less. Before gearing took over a week if you didn't have a Token Booster due to Nemesis missions having a daily limit.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

[Combat (Self)] Your Unleashed Rage deals 8187 (10643) Sonic Damage to Unforgiven.



Come at me bro.

Anyway, I just noticed the new Silver Champion primary gear is Bind on Equip. This means that it's actually possible to fully gear up in a single day, as long as you have three character who can do the UNITY runs and the necessary mods for the gear.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

I found the spec trees for Archetypes:


Silver Archetypes

Grimoire
Intelligence/Guardian/Overseer
Behemoth
Constitution/Protector/Warden
Glacier
Constitution/Guardian/Protector
Inferno
Recovery/Avenger/Guardian
Blade
Dexterity/Brawler/Warden
Mind
Presence/Sentinel/Sentry
Marksman
Dexterity/Avenger/Guardian
Soldier
Ego/Vindicator/Avenger
Unleashed
Dexterity/Warden/Vindicator
Radiant
Presence/Sentry/Sentinel


Gold Archetypes

Scourge/Cursed
Recovery/Overseer/Avenger
Devastator
Strength/Brawler/Warden
Inventor
Intelligence/Overseer/Commander
Specialist
Dexterity/Vindicator/Guardian
Savage
Strength/Warden/Brawler
Impulse
Endurance/Guardian/Vindicator
Mountain
Constitution/Protector/Guardian
Disciple
Ego/Vindicator/Brawler
Master
Constitution/Warden/Protector
Fist
Dexterity/Brawler/Vindicator
Squall
Ego/Vindicator/Avenger
Tempest
Endurance/Avenger/Guardian
Void
Endurance/Guardian/Avenger

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

http://www.champions-online.com/node/595714

Design a Villain contest continues until May 6th.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

New concept art for the planned 10-man Alerts:

http://www.champions-online.com/node/595720

 

[jcd]

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

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

It's the six eyes, isn't it? It doesn't remind me of a Prothean, but it does give me a sense of deja vu that I can't quite place right.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Cryptic is on a roll when it comes to fixing balance issues. First they fixed Inertial Dampening Field, now this:

Champions! We have some big changes coming with some powers you know and love, as well as some new powers to round out some builds and add missing elements that players have been asking for!
If we go through with these changes all affected players will receive a Retcon.

Since On Alert! went live we have been looking at the state of powers and want to offer a sneak peak at some of the changes that will be making their way to the PTS soon!
First up, we are making some adjustments to Forms, as well as adding 3 brand new forms to choose from!

Below are the patch notes relating to Forms.

Enrage:

Enrage is now a toggled form. Toggling on Enrage allows you to build more than 1 stack of Enraged! at a time. This power counts as a Form.
This power now affects Melee damage for its full amount, and ranged damage for half that amount.
Effectiveness reduced by 30%
Advantage: Endorphin Rush: This advantage has been removed because it no longer fits the intended function of the power.


Focus:

Now scales only on Dexterity, instead of Half of Strength and Dexterity
This power now affects Melee damage for its full amount, and ranged damage for half that amount.
Effectiveness reduced by 30%


*New Power* Concentration: Toggle - Form

Concentration grants you bonus ranged damage and a lesser amount of bonus melee damage. This bonus scales with your Ego or Intelligence, whichever is higher.
Concentration grants you bonus energy when you gain a stack of it. This bonus energy scales with your Ego or Intelligence, whichever is higher.
You gain a stack of Concentration whenever you fully charge or maintain a power.
This buff lasts 20 seconds.
This power can be found in the "Technology" Tree (along with Power Armor, Gadgeteering, Archery, and Munitions).


*New Power* Compassion: Toggle - Form

Compassion grants you bonus healing and a lesser amount of bonus damage. This bonus scales with your Presence or Recovery, whichever is higher.
Compassion grants you bonus energy when you gain a stack of it. This bonus energy scales with your Presence or Recovery, whichever is higher.
You gain a stack of Compassion whenever you heal an ally.
This buff lasts 20 seconds.
This power can be found in the "Mystic" Tree (with Sorcery and Supernatural).


*New Power* Manipulator: Toggle - Form

Manipulator grants you bonus Hold Magnitude and a lesser amount of bonus damage. This bonus scales with your Presence or Recovery, whichever is higher.
*NOTE* This will allow you to hold Super Villains and Legendaries (for very short amounts of time).

Manipulator grants you bonus energy when you gain a stack of it. This bonus energy scales with your Presence or Recovery, whichever is higher.
You gain a stack of Manipulator whenever you fully charge or maintain a Control power.
This buff lasts 60 seconds.
This power can be found in the "Mind" Tree (with Telepathy and Telekinetics).


These are some huge changes, and we would like to give more players more options for toggleable stacking buffs.

In relation to this, we have taken a look at the Aura passives in the Mystic Tree and a few changes will be made to these powers.
We would like Auras to better fill their role as support powers which greatly strengthen the team of the player who is using them. Below are the notes relating to Auras.


Aura of Primal Majesty:

The self portion of this passive has been reduced by 30% while in Hybrid.
The ally portion of this passive has been reduced by 30% while in Hybrid.
The self portion of this passive has been reduced by 40% while in Support.
The ally portion of this passive has been increased by 60% while in Support.
This passive is now functions differently depending on your selected role (either Hybrid or Support).


Aura of Arcane Clarity:

The self portion of this passive has been increased by 30% while in Hybrid.
The ally portion of this passive has been increased by 15% while in Hybrid.
The self portion of this passive has been increased by 10% while in Support.
The ally portion of this passive has been increased by 200% while in Support.
This passive is now functions differently depending on your selected role (either Hybrid or Support).


Aura of Radiant Protection:

The self portion of this passive has been increased by 25% while in Hybrid.
The ally portion of this passive has been reduced by 15% while in Hybrid.
The self portion of this passive has been reduced by 20% while in Support.
The ally portion of this passive has been increased by 50% while in Support.
This passive is now functions differently depending on your selected role (either Hybrid or Support).


Aura of Ebon Destruction:

The self portion of this passive has been increased by 15% when in Hybrid.
The ally portion of this passive has been reduced 20% when in Hybrid.
The self portion of this passive has been reduced 5% when in Support.
The ally portion of this passive has been increased by 200% when in Support.
This passive is now functions differently depending on your selected role (either Hybrid or Support).


These are some really big changes, and player feedback is important at the different stages of adjusting and balancing these powers, and your feedback is greatly appreciated! Keep your eyes on the PTS for your chance to test these new changes in the next few days!

Ding dong, the Rage of Majesty is dead! Rejoice!

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

http://www.alienwarearena.com/giveaway/champions-online-ffa-game-bundle

Alienware is handing out gift keys that are worth 12 euros (Serpent Lantern is now free). If you intend to play free, I highly recommend making use of this opportunity to get an extra archetype + costume pack for free. As far as I can tell, no strings attached, just use a new e-mail account for it and it will never come to haunt you again.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

http://www.champions-online.com/release-notes

Yabba-dabba-doo, lots of balance updates there. Rage of Majesty dies today!

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

All Archetypes have been given a new power. They now receive their Form at level 14 and the block replacer is now given at level 21. Here are the forms for each Archetype:

Ranged DPS
Inferno - Concentration
Marksman - Concentration
Soldier - Concentration
Tempest - Concentration
Squall - Concentration
Scourge/Cursed - Aspect of the Infernal

Tank
Behemoth - Enrage
Glacier - Concentration
Mountain - Concentration
Master - Form of the Master

Melee DPS
Unleashed - Form of the Tempest
Blade - Form of the Swordsman
Disciple - Mental Discipline
Devastator - Enrage
Fist - Form of the Tempest

Hybrid
Grimoire - Concentration
Specialist - Form of the Tempest
Savage - Aspect of the Beastial
Impulse - Inertial Dampening Field
Void - Concentration

Support
Mind - Compassion
Radiant - Compassion
Inventor - Concentration


Also, the PA archetype will be named The Invincible.

 

[anus_pounder]

Damn, looks like I missed a lot. Still have to actually do something with my level 40 Archetype, not to mention respec him as a freeform and get my 2nd character to 40.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

The new changes are great and add a lot more build variety to the game. Well worth checking things out.

Leveling is also quicker now, thinks to Smash! Alerts, which give you triple mission XP reward (in less than 5 minutes) and a 20% XP boost for one hour every time you complete one.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

The Invincible is getting released today. Mystary is whether or not it'll be free or premium.

A ton of new PA powers as well.

http://www.champions-online.com/release-notes

 

[JagreenLern]

I was fooling around with this game a little. Fun so far. Vaarna, what did you use to take those screenshots? Alt-Printscreen wasn't working last I tried.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

The game has a built-in screenshot function, IIRC it's F12 by default, maybe just Printscreen (no alt).

 

[JagreenLern]

The game has a built-in screenshot function, IIRC it's F12 by default, maybe just Printscreen (no alt).

Thanks. It's F12, working just fine. Here are my two heroes:

Ba'al Zebul the Scourge, I play it most often. I enjoy the Scourge archetype and I think Ba'al looks badass. I wish they had more carapace bits for his shins and forearms, though.

And RoBolshevik the Blade.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

RoBolshevik needs a yellow star somewhere.

EDIT: Oh wait no, you just gotta recolor the hammer and sickle a bit so it's easier to make out.

EDIT2: Also, feel free to send a friend invite to Overman@vaarna_aarne and I'll hook you up with the chat channel and supergroup.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Alright, the new Power Armor archetype and powers have been out for a while, and I've gotten around to testing and reviewing the stuff. First I'll go through the new powers (no hue changes):

There are two new Energy Builders for Power Armor, Power Bolts (which will be shown here, can change emanation points to become Cyclops) and an energy sword one (called Laser Edge) for melee characters. The major elements of the new powers are that you can now have full-on laser-blasting characters and lightsaber-wavers.

This is the R3 look, the standard look has smaller beams obviously.

Overall, it's nice there's an Energy Builder like this, it can have lots of uses for different concepts.

This is Tactical Missiles. It's a fast-charging single target spike, no side effects. Very fast and ridiculously cheap, but doesn't pack the kind of damage Chest Beam and Shoulder Missile do.

Here's the impact FX. Like all other powers shown, these are the Rank 3 variants. Like almost all the new powers, it too utilizes a Slot (Hand), meaning it can be put to use alongside other PA powers.

Plasma Beam. This is a more peculiar power. First of all, it's "non-targeted", in that you can fire it and change the beam's direction at will, ie by turning or changing the target. The beam ALWAYS reaches its maximum distance and acts as a Line AoE attack.

It also has peculiar damage properties, it deals damage at 0.1 second ticks. I haven't yet done enough tests, but it could be a very powerful attack against certain types of enemies and useless against Invulnerable enemies.

Plasma Beam uses the Hand Slot for PA combos.

Fire All Weapons is a new sort-of-Ultimate (it's not an Ultimate, but behaves exactly like one) power. It costs surprisingly little to activate and maintain, but it has a ~1 minute cooldown. Fire All Weapons uses ALL the PA's slots.

It is a Maintain AoE power with a 50 foot range and massive cone, with a 10 target maximum. The damage is THE highest AoE and maintain damage in the game (though Electric Arc reaches higher maximum, it needs time for that).

There's a new Energy Unlock as well. Overdrive activates when at least half the duration of a Maintain or Toggle is achieved, and can stack three times, providing energy based on Intelligence or Endurance and slightly affected by Recovery. I suspect the description is lacking or some powers just fail to activate it (they said this was a problem they worked on, probably still needs work).

Laser blade type powers got a Lunge attack, Lightspeed Dash.

It Snares and Roots the target, and can have Nailed To The Ground and Crippling Challenge advantages. Standard lunge.

The laser blade powers now also have a special Bleed style mechanic of their own, Plasma Burn.

This is inflicted by Lightwave Slash, a fast charged melee AoE in the vein of Scything Blade.

Lightwave Slash causes good damage and always applies Plasma Burn to its target, on full charge Plasma Burn is applied to everything hit.

Plasma burn is utilized by what I consider the crown jewel of Laser Blade powers, Plasma Cutter.

Plasma Cutter is a significantly powerful single target damage spike, that consumes Plasma Burn stacks for extra damage.

The big thing Plasma Cutter has is that for its damage output it has an immensily fast charge time and cheap cost. It takes less than 1 second to fully charge Plasma Cutter.

And finally some more pics of Fire All Weapons.

Finally, there is a PA Toggle heal power that uses the Chest Slot. This is highly good when combined with Overdrive and other toggles, greatly improving tanking ability.

As for the pre-existing powers, the review did them good. The pre-existing toggles are now much stronger, Concussion Beams no longer push enemies outside of their own range, and Micro Munitions now have significant advantage with Alpha Strike (dealing 140% damage to a solitary target). Eye Beams are also out of the trashcan now, but they really should be used either as a larp-fag power or in conjunction with other PA toggles.




Finally, archetype review:

First of all, The Invincible is a rare thing to come out: A Tank archetype. The Superstats it uses are Intelligence as primary and Constitution/Endurance as secondaries. This means it's highly durable, and capable of detecting stealthed opponents. A particularly good synch it possesses is Intelligence + Endurance, as Intelligence specialization allows Endurance to also increase the Equilibrium.

The other two specialization trees of The Invincible are Protector and Guardian. This is a fairly good combination, as Best Defense (combines well with the duo of Fortified Gear available) with Fire On My Mark will increase the offensive capabilities of the AT with Ruthless improving Critical Severity. Another obvious choice is Bulwark from Protector for maximizing HP.

The AT has access to a good selection of powers. The new PA heal is a good addition that gives the AT good increase in survival, and access to Invulnerability is always welcome for a Tank. Concentration form synchs well with Overdrive, which should provide a steady flow of energy. The two multiple choices are between Micro Munitions/Chest Beam at level 11 and Plasma Beam/Energy Wave at level 35. The energy builder is Power Bolts. The level 40 candy power is Fire All Weapons.

Overall, I'd say it's a solid Tank archetype, definately way better than The Mountain (which suffers from lack of damage potential last time I checked).

 

[Archibald]

I'm thinking about playing this game for a bit since i'm comic book nerd, any noob tips?