Issue 17

Overview

Issue 17, titled Dark Mirror, will be a major revision to City of Heroes and City of Villains.

This article summarizes some of the major features in Issue 17.

Confirmed Content

Ultra Mode

Ultra Mode includes a superior graphics rendering process for players who have higher-end graphic cards. Each feature can be enabled or disabled in the graphics menu options and will be scalable. Ultra Mode works on both Macs and PCs. In specific, it offers dynamic shadows, screen-space ambient occlusion, and dynamic environment reflections (including planar reflections and environment mapping of reflective surfaces).

Epic Archetypes Unlocked at Level 20

Previously, you had to have at least one character at level 50 to make an epic archetype character. Now you can create an epic archetype character as long as you have any one character at level 20 or higher.

Animated Tails

You will now be able to select tail body parts that will react to your movement and have a swaying or swishing idle animation mode. You will need to go to a tailor to upgrade to the animated version.

New Story Arcs

Issue 17: Dark Mirror features two new Hero and two new Villain story arcs for levels 20-30. Each of these story arcs has four missions, and the story arcs highlight the Dark Mirror's sinister new enemy. Acquire first Hero story arc in Talos Island, and the first Villain arc in Sharkhead Isle.

Silver Mantis Strike Force Update

The Silver Mantis Strike Force will now be available to all Villains, not just supergroups. You now can access the Silver Mantis Strike Force via Silver Mantis, located in Sharkhead Isle. You can also run this Task Force from your supergroup computer.

Positron Task Force Update

This Task Force has been split into two halves and updated. The final battle of the Task Force takes place in the Faultline Dam and incorporates the new Dark Mirror enemy.

New Badges

Along with adding badges for 500 Badges Earned, 750 Badges Earned, and 1,000 Badges Earned, new Exploration Badges have been added to city zones, almost doubling the number of exploration badges. Players can learn new Accolades for finding all of the exploration badges in each city zone.

New Player Emotes

More information to come.

Quality of Life Improvements

• Craftable Temporary Powers: a cleaner and more consistent way of finding and crafting temporary powers
• Increased Mission Count: players can now have seven active missions (previously three)
• Show Last Objective: This UI improvement lets players find the last objective on a mission map, making it easier to find something missed
• Auction House: The UI gives you new options for sorting search results, your Auction House inventory is now separated by clearly marked tabs based on the item's status, the Auction House text entry box now autocompletes, and a single click on a recipe displays all salvage needed for that recipe
• In-Game E-Mail: Players can now use in-game e-mails to send Influence/Infamy to your own characters or to other players' characters via in-game e-mails. (You still cannot send Influence, Infamy, or items from a Hero to a Villain or vice versa)

Mission Architect Improvements

• Experience: Players can now handpick the powers for custom enemies and still receive experience for them (within game balance limits)
• New Maps: Approximately 20 new unique maps
• Giant Monsters: Players can now add giant monsters to some outdoor maps
• Exit Mission on Complete: Players can now specify that players have to leave the mission manually on completion
• Escort Missions: "Lead to place" technology allows players more control over escort objectives

Notes

• Release Scheduled for April 2010

External Links

• MMORPG.com announcement
• Official Feature Update