Winter Event 2008
The 2008 Winter Event runs from December 15th, 2008 through January 4th, 2008. It is much like the Winter Event 2007, with the addition of a new, more challenging slalom style ski run, a new login badge, and new unlockable costume auras.
Login Rewards
Players who logged in during the event received the Frostbitten Badge, as well as the Holiday Spirit temporary power, a single use of the Holiday Cheer power, and the Ear Muff costume option.
You've worked hard during the winter and have felt winter's bite.
Special
Any debt you incur is reduced by 25%. This effect lasts for 2 days of gameplay.
Holiday Cheer can be targeted on another player and when used will give that player a single instance of the Mystery Gift power.
Mystery Gifts
Mystery Gifts are random benefits gained by being the target of the Holiday Cheer power (see above) and/or by opening Gamester's Presents, which are glowies that appear in most zones during the event.
Once received, Gifts can be activated to receive one of a number of things. Most of the time (60% chance) the gift will give 250 Inf or 250 Prestige, depending on whether the player is in SG mode or not. The rest of the time (40% chance) the player will receive one of the following rewards:
Summon
Creates one Snow Beast to do your bidding. Snow Beasts desire nothing more than to freeze everything they come into contact with. You only have 1 Snow Beast and he will last for 5 minutes before melting. You cannot bring your snow beast across zones.
Ranged Special
Can be used on friend and foe alike. Although there are no lasting effects when these frozen missiles are hurled, who doesn't love throwing a snowball? Snowballs should last 12 days. Happy Holidays!
Self Fly
This jet pack allows you to fly for a short period. If you attack a target while this pack is on, your flight speed will be temporarily reduced to Hover speed. This Rocket Pack will last for 30 days.
- Stocking cap costume piece
Ski Chalet
As usual for Winter Events, the Ski Chalet in Pocket D returned, including Father Time. The area is accessed via a door upstairs in the villain side of the Pocket D club. The Chalet itself is home to Father Time, plus a new NPC, the Candy Keeper. The surrounding area has ski slopes where characters can go skiing, and Gravity Geysers (as in the Shadow Shard) to quickly return to the top.
The Chalet's island gives access to the map area outside the main Pocket D club, including the floating truck (location of the Trucker Badge) between the Chalet and the club. The truck is reachable via flight, super jump, or teleportation. Without those powers, the GvE Jump Pack is enough to get to the badge. If you have no temporary or permanent travel powers, assistance is needed. The truck is only available when the Chalet is open.
You've visited the floating truck in Pocket D.
Father Time and Baby New Year
Main Article: Father Time
Father Time presents to players a mission to save the Baby New Year. Like the Valentine's Event, this is a cooperative mission which allows combined teams of heroes and villains.
Badges
Completing this mission earns the player a choice of one of four different badges. Two of the badges unlock costume pieces, two grant temporary powers. Father Time's mission can be accepted an unlimited number of times by any character, so it is quite easy to run it four times and earn all the different rewards (or five times for the Toothbreaker Badge).
The chill of the season has strange effects.
A chill down your spine makes you feel Frosty.
A season of miracles, it has been called.
The power of the season finds you overcome with joy.
Several enemy defeat badges may also be earned, including two that are normally available only to heroes (for defeating Red Caps and Tuatha de Dannan) but which may be earned by villains during the event. The mission cannot be reset for farming purposes, so you must complete the mission (or have the whole team log out) in order to get a new set of enemies to defeat.
You have defeated 100 of the living snow creatures who plague Paragon City.
You have defeated 100 of the living snow creatures who plagued the Rogue Isles.
You have defeated Snaptooth 5 times, and are truly a Toothbreaker.
You have shown the Red Caps you are not to be toyed with.
The Tuatha de Dannan cannot stand before you.
Temporary Powers
Ranged, Minor Damage(Energy), Foe: Hold
Although this power deals very little damage, the Golden Rings encase your foe, holding him helpless in place for a while. This power will last 12 days. Damage: Minor, Recharge: Long
Self Rez, Special
A guardian spirit will watch over you for the next 8 days. If you are defeated during that time, activating this power will restore you so you may continue the battle. The restoration blasts nearby foes with an explosion, knocking them down and disorienting them. You will revive with about half of your hit points and endurance. You will be invulnerable for a brief time and protected from xp debt for 20 seconds.
Note that, for the temporary powers, if the specific powers (and badge) were earned previously (even in a previous year's event), they cannot be re-earned again this year from this mission. Selecting that choice of mission reward will result in no reward at all. They can, however, be reacquired by purchasing with Candy Cane event salvage.
Costume Pieces
- Ear Muffs are awarded with Gifted, but also with Cold Front if for some reason you do not have the Gifted badge.
- Furry Boots are awarded upon receiving the Frosty Badge.
- Furry Gloves are awarded upon receiving the Crystallized Badge.
Time Trials
Like last year, the ski slope allows players to perform time trials on their down slope slaloms, and badges are awarded for making varying goals. Each time badge must be achieved in a separate run down the course; runs completed in a shorter time will not earn the longer time badges.
Ski down the slopes in the Ski Chalet in between 35 and 44.99 seconds.
Good run, but try harder, better times to be had!
Ski down the slopes in the Ski Chalet in between 25 and 34.99 seconds.
Awesome time, but I am sure you can do better!
Ski down the slopes in the Ski Chalet 24.99 seconds or less.
Wow! What speed! That was amazing!
And new this year, the Advanced course grants the following badges.
You have taken the gold medal in the advanced ski course by getting a time of 00:50:00 or less!
You have taken the silver medal in the advanced ski course by getting a time of 1:00:00 or less! Now try for the gold.
You have taken the bronze medal in the advanced ski course by getting a time of 1:10:00 or less! Now try for the silver.
Gamester's Presents
Mysterious glowing presents appeared throughout Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.
Upon opening a present, a hero or villain would find that if they were "nice," they would enjoy a nice Present. If they were "naughty," however, they would find themselves surrounded by a Winter Horde, ready to make their holidays downright dangerous!
Returning from Winter Event 2006 and Winter Event 2007, opening 200 presents earns the Toy Collector Badge, and defeating 100 of the Winter Horde earns the Cold Warrior Badge.
Additional instances of the Mystery Gift power are received as "nice" rewards, and "naughty" spawns can include the Winter Lord Giant Monster from the Winter Event 2004. Spawning the Winter Lord was based on team size, and requires teams of five or more characters opening presents. The chance of spawning a Winter Lord on a large enough team is not 100%, but is high enough (likely 50% to 75%) that opening presents on large teams is quite hazardous unless the player actually wants the Winter Lord to spawn.
Badges
Opening 200 presents awards the Toy Collector Badge.
You have amassed a vast collection of holiday gifts!
Defeating 100 Snow Beasts awards the Cold Warrior Badge.
You have defeated 100 of the living snow creatures who plague Paragon City.
You have defeated 100 of the living snow creatures who plagued the Rogue Isles.
Defeating the Winter Lord awards the Frozen Fury Badge.
You helped defeat a manifestation of the Winter Lord, who brought his cold wrath to chill your hometown.
Candy Canes
Opening presents in 2008 will also potentially award Candy Cane salvage, which can be redeemed for a variety of badges, temp powers, and costume pieces from past winter events.
Special Salvage
A festive piece of peppermint candy to celebrate the holidays. Seek the Candy Keeper in the winter chalet in Pocket D, as he collects these candy canes in return for hard to aquire treasures.
Candy Keeper
The Candy Keeper takes candy canes and gives you the prizes from previous Winter Events. This is implemented as a crafting station, and each purchase counts towards crafting badge totals.
- Badges
- Cold Front Badge (the 2006 log-in badge) - 25 Candy Canes, 30,000 influence/infamy
- Holiday Spirit (heroes) or Scrooge (villains) badge (mission complete badge from 2005) - 25 Candy Canes, 30,000 influence/infamy
- Temporary Powers with Badges
- Golden Rings and Joyful Badge - 20 Candy Canes, 5,000 influence/infamy
- Renewal of Light and Miraculous Badge - 20 Candy Canes, 5,000 influence/infamy
- Holiday Rocket Pack (listed as "Jingle Jet") and Longbow Reservist (heroes) or Jet-Setter (villains) badge (2005 log-in badge) - 10 Candy Canes, 10,000 influence/infamy
- Costume Items with Badges
- Fur Lined Gloves and Crystallized Badge - 10 Candy Canes
- Winter Boots and Frosty Badge - 10 Candy Canes
- Costume Items
- Fur Lined Hat - 10 Candy Canes, 500 influence/infamy
- Flaming Naughty Halo - 25 Candy Canes, 1000 influence/infamy
- Golden Nice Halo - 25 Candy Canes, 1000 influence/infamy
- Temporary Powers
- Holiday Spirit (Debt Protection) - 10 Candy Canes, 25,000 influence/infamy
- Snowball - 5 Candy Canes, 10 influence/infamy
- Build Snow Beast - 5 Candy Canes, 1,000 influence/infamy
- Enhancements
- Winter's Gift Universal Travel enhancements
It should be noted that if you already have the badge, then the badge will not display, however the Costume Item or Temporary Power associated with that badge will still show up and you can trade in Candy Canes for them. This is different from Father Time's mission reward menu in which if you choose a reward for which you already have the badge, you'll get nothing.
Badges
The chill of the season has strange effects.
A chill down your spine makes you feel Frosty.
A season of miracles, it has been called.
The power of the season finds you overcome with joy.
A winter cold front has been forecast.
You have been made an honorary Longbow Eagle, temporarily issued a Longbow jetpack.
You have received a Jetpack from an anonymous benefactor.
Arachnos tried to ruin the holidays, but you have done your best to stop them.
Bah humbug! You've done your best to disrupt the holidays over in Paragon City.
Present Locations
Notes
(get rid of these as they are worked into the article!)
- New winding slope around the chantel. New course is similar to a Bobsleigh run and has several NPCs on it.
- Polar Shift, Tundra, Snow Maiden, Abominable Snowman
- Snowflake badge should exist (Dark Watcher made a joke about it in chat) but no one has been able to earn it in testing.