NCSoft Europe has announced their latest free patch, issue 9 in the continuing saga of City of Heroes / Villains. Entitled 'Breakthrough', the patch will introduce the Invention System, with which heroes and villains will be able to use recipes and salvage to create new gadgets, costume bits, powers, and more. CoH finally gets crafting! Finally something for those people who always wanted to play the Tinkerer or Forge from the X-Men.

And what are marketable items without a marketplace to sell them? Also coming in the patch are player auction houses, which take the form of shops for the heroes and black-market trucks for the villains.

The update will also feature a few new encounters and high-end task force mission. Big changes are a'comin to the 'City of' universe. The release doesn't say when exactly the changes will come, but certainly something to look forward to. More after the jump! Michael Fahey

Issue 9: "Breakthrough"
City of Heroes/City of Villians 9th expansion

Wednesday 24th January/...NCsoft Europe proudly brings you the the ninth free expansion to the City of Heroes universe, introducing an entirely new level of depth and gameplay to the franchise.

SUMMARY:
Issue 9: Players acquire and invent new items and have the option to buy and sell them using the new hero and villain auction houses. Along with Issue 9's other great features, this brand new system results in a wealth of new gameplay options for players.

FEATURES:
Invention System (Heroes and Villains)
Using the highly anticipated Invention system, players acquire and collect valuable resources in the form of Salvage and Invention Recipes. These will be used together to invent powerful new enhancements, costume pieces, new powers, gadgets, and more. This creates a world of new possibilities, rewards and even greater character evolution!

Auction Houses (Heroes and Villains)
Where better to buy and sell all of these new items than in the new auction houses! Wentworth's Fine Consignments have sprung up throughout Paragon City while the villains prefer to do their dark dealings alongside "black-market" trucks placed throughout the Rogue Isles .

Statesman's Task Force (Heroes only)
This high-level PvE content allows eight heroes to team up in order to face and defeat Paragon's greatest enemies! Completing this difficult challenge results in some of the game's rarest rewards!

New Hamidon Encounter (Heroes and Villains)
Not only do villains get their own end-game raid encounter with the "Hamidon," but the new experience is also brought to the Heroes side where players must use new tactics to bring down one of the city's greatest threats.

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