City of Heroes introduces new ways to build up your superhero persona as NCsoft launches their latest free update, Issue 13: Power and Responsibility.
Issue 13 might as well be called the casual gamer's issue, as it introduces two new ways to advance your character without actually playing the game. First we have the day job system, which allows players who log out in specific areas to accumulate rewards and badges based on the job they are supposedly performing while offline. On top of that, they've introduced the Pact Leveling system, in which two players under level five may form a pact, which keeps they at the same experience level no matter how long they play, perfect for folks like me who only get a chance to log in every couple of months.
I'm probably most excited about the multiple builds feature, which lets players two different power sets on the same character. It's a lovely addition from a gameplay standpoint, and absolutely wonderful for the roleplayer wanting to play out his own Cosmic Spidey storyline. Hit the jump for more details on this massive CoH update.
NCSOFT LAUNCHES CITY OF HEROES ISSUE 13: POWER AND RESPONSIBILITY
Brighton, England — NCsoft®, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) today announced the next free update to its highly successful comic-book inspired MMO, City of Heroes®. The release of Issue 13: Power and Responsibility introduces several innovative features to the MMO genre. Macintosh players won’t be left out as open beta testing for the new Mac version of City of Heroes is just around the corner.
Issue 13: Power and Responsibility unveils some pioneering features to the MMO genre. Multiple builds is a character customisation option and delivers the ability to have two different build-outs for each character. This offers enormous flexibility for players who can now switch back and forth between their two character builds, depending upon the task ahead of them, by visiting contacts in game.
Pact leveling is a new innovation for MMOs. This system allows two friends to enter their characters into a pact before level five, and have their XP permanently in sync, regardless of how much each character is online. This way when they play together they will always be the same level. It’s similar in concept to City of Heroes’ already popular Sidekick feature which allows players on different levels to play together.
Also City of Heroes’ new Day Job feature offers a way for players to progress their characters in the game even when they are logged out. In addition to providing an XP rest bonus to all characters, specific Day Jobs are determined by where you log out of the game. There’s an associated Day Job at many key locations in Paragon City™ or the Rogue Isles™. Once characters have accumulated the required amount of time for each Day Job, they are rewarded with the appropriate Day Job Badge, increasing their “earnings” for that job. Multiple Badges can be combined to unlock Accolades and the ability to accumulate additional new rewards.
Other features released in Issue 13 include the new Shields and Pain Domination Power Sets, new Cimerora mission content, the Merit Rewards System, Villains Patron Power Respec, Supergroup Base Repricing, and player versus player (PvP) powers rebalancing, paving the way for new PvP features to come.
“We are proud of the innovations that are going into Issue 13,” said Senior Lead Designer Matt Miller. “Ultimately our goal was to give players more interesting ways to play the game and more ways to play together with friends. Issue 13’s new content, systems, and quality of life improvements should do just that.”
Players can apply for the upcoming Mac Open Beta by visiting http://eu.cityofheroes.com/macopen.
The City of Heroes Mac Special Edition digital product will be sold at the PlayNC store. The City of Heroes “Good Versus Evil Edition” PC game pack may be purchased at retailers across Europe or through digital download at the PlayNC Store. Both products include the complete City of Heroes and City of Villains® games, as well as a set of exclusive bonus items. Customers receive the first month of play free and both games can be played for the single monthly subscription price of €12.99 / £8.99
City of Heroes is rated "16+". For more information about City of Heroes go to http://eu.cityofheroes.com/.