TEST SERVER UPDATE 7/31/10

Known Issues

• The pet tray UI is still in progress. A new version of the UI will be released in the next build.
• Existing Super Groups may need to manually rename some ranks as the new ranks names will not overwrite the existing ones.

New Features

Pet Powers Pass
Pets have undergone a major overhaul. We've tightened up their design, made their control and systems more uniform, given them some new universal abilities, and tried to make them just overall more interactive, more balanced, more useful, and generally more fun.



On the UI side, the pet controls now offer vastly better control for players with multiple pets. The new pet control bar now offers the ability to “pop out” a separate button bar for each controllable pet, allowing you to have some pets on passive, some on assist, and some on attack. In addition, many pets now have special custom abilities that can be activated by unique icons that appear on their individual control bar. Finally, many pets that weren't controllable (without an advantage or being at max rank) now are, including all of the sorcery Ritual summons and the Telepathic Nightmare.

Mechanically, pets now have more hit points (generally about 1/2 what a player has) than before, take dramatically reduced damage from area of effect attacks, and automatically heal out of combat. In addition, all pets can now fly, with the exception of the wolves summoned by “Command Animals” (who instead get a travel power killing lunge).

First, the big downside - pets are no longer “free” damage. Pets now have energy pools, and will display an energy bar, and their attacks cost energy. Most pets lack any way to generate their own energy, or an equilibrium score. Instead, they get their energy from their controllers. There is a new power called “Transfer Energy” that is automatically granted (for no cost) to any player that purchases a power from the new category “Controllable Pets”.

The “Transfer Energy” power costs an amount of energy equal to your Equilibrium, reduced (as usual) by your Intelligence. Each active pet you control gains an equal portion of this energy. If you have only one pet active, it will gain an amount of energy equal to the unreduced cost (i.e. your Equilibrium). The more pets you have active, the less energy each pet receives, but the more total energy they will be granted. For example, with an Equilibrium of 50, if you have one pet, it will get 50 energy. If you have two pets, they will both get 37. Three pets will each get 29, and four pets will each get 24.

Pet attacks are very efficient per point of energy; each attack only “costs” about 2 - 6 points of energy, and pets attack once per second. Assuming you transfer 50 at a time, that means you only have to transfer power roughly once every 15 - 20 seconds. The idea is that you should think of the “Transfer Energy” button as just another attack button to be worked into your rotation.

On the upside, pets now have more attacks and powers that do more damage per attack. They no longer automatically transfer a majority of their aggro to their owner, and some pets, such as the redesigned Arcane Constructs, are built and equipped for tanking. Caveat: all pets transfer ALL their accumulated aggro to their owner when they die! Each pet now gains new attacks and new powers when you rank them up, in additional to doing more damage with their existing attacks, rewarding you for your investment. Finally, many pets have had some cosmetic and costume upgrades, making the higher rank versions stand out better and properly show off the grandeur of your mighty companions.

Difficulty Slider
We added an additional level of difficulty to the ingame Difficulty Slider. The new level is titled “Elite”. Hit Points, damage, chance to dodge, critical hit chance, movement speed, perception, distance, and aggro range are all increased at this difficulty level. The enemy also has a modest hold resistance, knockback resistance, and a slightly reduced time between attacks.
Loot reward tables for Lair bosses have been updated to reflect the new level of difficulty. Enjoy!

SuperGroup Improvements
We have added a number of new features to SuperGroups. At the same time, we did a user interface overhaul and made it easier and more straightforward to use.
SuperGroups can now advertise for recruits by making their SuperGroup visible in the new SuperGroup search window. Players can specify how casual the group is, what kinds of things they like to do, point to their website, and so on. The game now keeps a historical log of key events in the SuperGroup such as when people join, change ranks, and level up.
We have also added an Event system, which lets players create and schedule events for members to attend. Members can sign up for the event, decline it, and leave notes about it.
At player request, we have also added four new ranks to SuperGroups. New groups will start with the ranks Recruit, Junior Member, Member, Senior Member, Junior Officer, Senior Officer, and Leader. These can be customized as desired.
All of these features and more can be accessed by players from the SuperGroup window (G by default!).

Emotes
All previous emotes featured in Champions had the text edited and a consistent naming convention applied. Additionally, we’ve added several emotes that were previously unavailable! The new emotes follow:

• /emote Air_Guitar
• /emote Bow_Formal
• /emote Cheer02
• /emote Countdown
• /emote Cry
• /emote Dance_Club
• /emote Dance_Happy
• /emote Dance_LegKick
• /emote Dance_Mix
• /emote Dance_RaiseTheRoof
• /emote Dance_RunningMan
• /emote Dance_Snake
• /emote Dance_WaveHands
• /emote FlipCoin
• /emote Frustrated
• /emote No02
• /emote PickMe
• /emote RPS_Rock
• /emote RPS_Paper
• /emote RPS_Scissors
• /emote Shoo
• /emote Shrug
• /emote Yell02

We have also updated the UI functionality. Players will now be able to pin/unpin the emote dialogue window for easier to their favorite animations – once pinned, player can hit F12 to resize the box to their liking!

Patch Notes

Art

• The Ren Center has been given a facelift to make it a better space for social activities! Players will see a large stage where the Powerhouse was formally located. The Powerhouse is now located to the side of the stage along with tailors and vendors.

Audio

• Updated the Bronze King and Arvad voice over in an attempt to rid the stutter from the Mandragalore cutscene.
• Ismashual’s voice over in Plunder the Sea Open Mission is now audible.
• Added voice over to the commanding officers outside of Champs HQ during the Millennium City Tutorial celebration.
• Added electrical audio to the Powerhouse entrance.
• Added sound effects to the Nemesis Prison Break cutscene.

Crafting

• All the mysticism resource nodes in Canada now have the correct skill up reward table.

Critters

• Reduced the damage of Pulson type rifle attacks. This affects many critter groups throughout the game, including VIPER.
• Henchmen that use rifles now have an additional “bolt” attack with a very short cooldown to use in between sprays, streams, and charged blasts. This affects many critter groups throughout the game, including VIPER.
• The critter version of Ego Form will no longer repeatedly deal 0 slashing damage to the critter using it.
• Several critters were still using the old Supernatural power templates and have been updated.
• The following critters now use the Infernal Supernatural powerset:
  • John Devil
  • The Drifter
  • Goblin
  • Will of Takofanes
• The following critters now use the Bestial Supernatural powerset:
  • Bludhound
  • Clark Robinson
  • Dr. Zephrin
  • Atomic Gorilla (This critter also still has his special radiation powers.)
  • Edmund Cully
  • Gus Sweetland
  • Marcello Bocchier
• The critter power Vile Breath now shows a debuff icon on targets affected by it.

CStore 2.0 (Please note that this feature is not available on PTS)

• The CStore has received a complete overhaul! Players will no longer need to go to the website for screenshots and information about the items. The information is now available in game. Additionally, items have been recategorized and the navigation improved.

Cutscenes

• Updated many cutscenes throughout the game. Enjoy the improvements!

General

• All costume unlocks, including weapon geo unlocks, from items are now account wide.
• Added access to Vibora to the jets in Monster Island, Desert, and Canada.
• Improved the sidekicking range for players in instances. Players should no longer see mobs change levels when in different parts of the maps or player death. This change only applies to static maps.
• Auction lots in the Auction House will now expire.
• Renamed the Perks Costume Quartermaster to Costume Quartermaster.
• Players can now rotate the camera (default bound to the left mouse button) and still continue to turn their character.
• The worship emote no longer pops character into a prostrated position.
• The /sitchair emote no longer changes the characters facial expression.
• The /afk and /afksit emotes now show up properly in the ingame emotes list.
• Added a check so that players you are ignoring can no longer trade with you.
• Added a pop-up window to better inform users when they are attempting to log into a locked shard.
• Players will no longer see the swinging grapple fire again for a split second when it is released.

Items

• Removed “Unique” tag from many of the Open Mission reward items so that players can get more than one of the item.
• Therakiel's Wings will drop when defeated at the Elite Difficulty level.
• Replaced archery replacement power art so that it only gives effects and no longer replaces weapon geo.
• Adjusted the stats on Awareness Shot so that it is appropriate compared to the other rewards dropped in the "Psi-mon Said" mission.
• Changed the range on the Psionic Accelerator to 100 feet to make it better fit how ranged items normally work.
• Updated the U0-9 Crybaby Grenade so that it will effectively placate the enemy.
• Updated the Sovereign Sons Tribal Skulls Necklace and Sovereign Sons Tribal Teeth Necklace so that the correct item is now on each.
• Corrected the New Shadows Blood Blade costume so it no longer looks like the New Shadows Vampiric Blade.
• Fixed a bug that was causing BOE Crafted Travel Devices to be automatically bound is open slots remained in the players main bag.

Missions

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• Canada
• Canadian Taken: The scientists now give immediate mission credit when the VIPER guarding them are defeated.
• The Lost Convoy: Fixed the popup text to only show when the player gets near the contact. Also, moved the waypoint to be more centrally located over the objective.
• Sabotaging the Snake: The mission has been updated to give more guidance to the Free Human Test Subjects objective. Players must defeat the Lab Director and get his keycard. The keycard allows the lab to be opened and the test subjects to be freed.
• Civilian
• Granted Missions: The missions granted by rescued civilians have had the restrictions on the number of missions granted per XP level removed. If a rescued civilian has a mission available in the correct level range, it will offer it after being rescued. These missions are now repeatable up to 4 times per day by players. This change affects Millennium City, the Desert, and Canada.
• Desert
• Blank and Steins Monster: changed the name of the mission drop item to match the mission
• Snake Gulch: Changed the Weaponsmith groups to only have 1 Weaponsmith as the difficulty was a little too high.
• Snake Gulch: Updated the display names of the crates.
• Stronghold: SPARC team members now finish their post-battle healing faster.
• Desert Crisis
• Rounding up Rads: Players will no longer receive 2 credits for picking up each uranium bomb.
• Lemuria
• Players will no longer receive the multiple Enter Ocean prompt in Aegir moon pool.
• Ship of Fouls: Changed the mission to only count credit for the critter spawned by the ship. Also, made the ship spawn on map create so it's always spawned and moving around.
• Millennium City
• Carl’s gym door now reads properly
• Cazulon vs. Miniature Hero: Changed Dr. Zahwah to despawn instead of trying to run to the exit.
• Defender Fanboy: All VO and text should match up correctly.
• Pow Wow: Moved the entrance door for the mission. The door is on the same building, but around the corner from the old location. The waypoint has been updated to reflect the new location.
• Prints Violent: Changed the door interact to say Enter ARGENT HQ instead of just the mission name as several different missions use the same door interact. Added another way for players to obtain the access card besides critter drops. The card can now be found in a desk that can be searched. Also, changed the failure text on the doors to use the word "Card" since players need a card to use it instead of a code.
• Snakes in the City: Added text to the mission to specify the mission uses the rear entrance of City Hall.
• Vex in the City: Changed the Destroid “Tough” critters in the mission to be Normal.
• Monster Island
• ET Clone Home: The mission no longer requires walkie-talkie item for turn in.
• Silverback Sound-Off: The Sound Chip will no longer drop from Ayssa before players investigate the hologram.
• Raptor Rush: Added a map icon for the mission.
• Nemesis
• Top Men: Changed the required level of the mission to level 40, since the mission requires access to UNITY HQ.
• Serpent Lantern
• Applied a cooldown timer to the mission. The mission can be completed 4 times per 24 hour period.
• Turn off the Generators: Exterior Bunker Alpha: The Osprey at the first checkpoint will now properly patrol after dropping off troops.
• Turn off the Generators: Exterior Bunker Bravo: Added a 5 minute respawn timer to the tanks to prevent players from not being able to complete the mission.
• Turn off the Generators: Exterior Bunker Bravo: The tanks on this map are no longer throwable.
• Stop the Ritual in the Underground Temple: Added attendant High Serpent Mages to the Spirit Serpent fight.
• Stop the Ritual in the Underground Temple: Added beams of light that appear in the "safe" alcoves in the Spirit Serpent fight.
• UNITY
• Changed the Unity and Unity 2 mission to be repeatable 1 time per day.
• U.F.O. No!: Updated the mission text.
• Vibora Bay
• Assembling the Antidote: The Open Mission will now clean up and reset if all players leave the warehouse map.

Perks

• Only those players in the open mission zone volume will receive credit for completing the Perk.
• Battle Toad: Fixed the perk to grant the proper "Battle Toads" title when 1000 Gadroon have been defeated.
• Jar Collector: Moved the jar from beneath the prison geo.

Powers

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• Players will no longer have maintained auto-attacks getting 'stuck on’ when releasing the key while held/disabled. Also, player auto attacks will no longer get enabled when the scheme is set to maintain and the power being activated is an enabler.

• 
  
• Electricity
• Thunderstrike: The power now correctly locks players down during charge and activation. The powers was supposed to, and has always had the cost discount for a powers that does.
• Gadgeterring
• Toxic Nanites: The power is now hue shiftable.
• Martial Arts
• Form of the Untamed Warrior: The form now works correctly after zoning. Players no longer need to restart the toggle.
• Munitions
• Added a debuff icon and tooltip to FireSnake Power Replace. The actual power is unchanged.
• Power Armor
• Targeting Computer: The power will no longer lock a player in “Combat Stance” while slotted.
• Targeting Computer: Removed the power art from the power. It caused players to be stuck in action mode.
• Sorcery
• Auras will no longer lock a player in “Combat Stance” while the power is slotted.

Tailor

• Players will now have more Tights options to choose in the Costume Creator. The sets include Curves, Curves Sharp, Spikes, Lines, and Straps (female model only).
• Several high-heeled shoes and boots for females have been added to the game.
• Players will now be able to set different colors for the inside and outside of capes. (Yes it is finally fixed!)
• Added a small selection of hairs to certain head categories.
• Added more mouth and eye accessories to work in other head categories. Also, allowed more eye, hair, and mouth accessories for cowls, hoods, and other categories
• Flagged several shoulder pads to work in other categories. Also, added gladiator flat and gladiator spikes female shoulder pads.
• Allowed more material options for female jacket chests and cyborg chests.
• Added the ability to view unpurchased C-Store costume pieces in the tailor. All parts that come from a C-Store unlock will be marked with a yellow CP icon. If you own the costume, the CP icon will be grayed out.
• The costume unlocks tab will show the C-Store costume set the costume piece belongs to in the tooltip, if the costume piece comes from a C-Store costume set.
• Added the possibility to purchase the costume sets from the C-Store directly from the tailor. The confirmation window for the C-Store transactions will appear when you click the "Purchase" button on the last screen of the tailor.
• Costume pieces unlocked through normal gameplay will be displayed with an unlocked padlock icon.
• All head categories are once again accessible to players.
• Players can now user keyboard navigation in Character Creator and Tailor combo boxes. Players can use the up/down keys to preview the costume pieces and use Enter to select an item.
• The previewed category can now be cleared when aborting a change. The category now behaves like the rest of the combo boxes in the Tailor.
• The error notification in the Character Creator, Tailor, and Nemesis Creator that stated that a bug report has automatically been created has been removed for being wrong.

UI

• The pet tray now expands to show the list of all currently active pets. The tray can be further expanded to allow players to individually control your pets.
• Added context menus in the minimap and map for players, critters, contacts, and missions. For players, critters, and contacts players will see the standard context menu. For missions, players can either view the details or toggle the mission it make it the primary mission.
• Added an Emotes window and a way to access it from the Emotes list in the Chat Menu.
• Tray tooltips are now disabled during combat. If you would still like to see them, you can toggle this option per character in the Basic Options tab of the options menu.
• The hide tooltips during combat option has been moved from the Basic tab back to HUD tab.
• The hide tooltips option is now defaults to off.
• Minimap options and Tray tooltip options now persist when a player zones or logs out of the game.
• The "right click" menu in the friends UI was updated to add a "warp to" option if the target referred you to the game. Before it would only show up if you referred that player to the game.
• Added cooldown timers to missions in the Completed Mission section of the Mission Journal.
• Added a button to the Champions menu to open up the SuperGroup window.
• Updated the displayed locations for friends to show the game name for other shards instead of showing the map name. CO players on Live will see "Champions Online" for friends on PTS and "Star Trek Online" for friends on STO.
• The checkboxes in the Chat settings window now properly update when you change tabs.
• The OK and Cancel key bindings are not listed in the keybind UI.
• Added the escape menu to the keybind UI.
• The keybind for /CamFar is now using the correct label, instead of the reset camera label.
• UI lists will now fit contents across all list rows, and take into account scrollbars.
• The health bars of several SuperVillains no longer appear as friendly critters.
• Fixed an issue with successive contact dialogs not appearing correctly is the player closed the dialog with the “X” button on the window. This was causing a state in which a player could become locked in an interaction.