Here’s Part II of the Issue 12 Preview.

The Midnight Squad are part of the CoX backstory, being one of the first groups to confront the Circle of Thorns. They were more of the Mystery Men types of Heroes rather than the 4-color ones of today. Still recovering from the First Rikti Invasion, they are now acting as patrons / contacts for other Heroes. This is going to be Hero only content for lower level characters, but with the help of Ouroboros, more experienced Heroes can go back and do the missions. I’m always a sucker for new content and rarely has there an issue that doesn’t give something new, making me a happy player. Since it appears to be involved with Time Travel, I’m curious how it ties back to the Ouroboros and the little secrets you found doing those Strike Force/Task Force missions.

Follow up:

As an extension of above, a new zone called Cimerora has been added and the Midnight Society needs help from both Heroes and Villains. Like the Rikti War Zone this is geared to levels 35-50, for end game goodness. More time travel goodness plus Roman costume options. With the RWZ, you had to collect merits in order to buy the Vanguard costume options. It was doable, but very much a grind in nature. My hope is that the costume options are tied to mission completion and not farming. My Brute really is going to need those nifty costume options to flesh out his “Bare Legs” costumes. Three of his costume slots contain a kilt, boxing shorts, and a toga; though his main costume slot is jeans, t-shirt, and motorcycle boots. He needs something wear when attending a formal affair.

In another smart move, The Hollows is getting a makeover. Some of the changes are going to be adding a hospital to the zone, reworking the spawns in terms of size and levels, and a new contact that will give out repeatable missions. While not a big of an overhaul as Faultline, this does make The Hollows much more attractive in terms of gameplay. You no longer get sent to Atlas Park or Skyway City when you get defeated and have to hit the hospital. No longer have to worry about rounding a corner and running into a gang of level 15 Trolls when you are level 5 [been there, got the debt for it]. The story arcs in place are good, but having someone that gives out repeatable missions can be helpful with work. A more detailed breakdown will follow in Part III.

There are two final touches to Issue 12. The first is how leveling is handled. Right now, there’s a light show and that’s it. With Issue 12, in addition to the light show, one of every LARGE inspiration will be “cast” on the character. This does not draw any out of the character’s inspiration store, but are free. You get a bonus to accuracy, damage, defense, resist damage, rez/debt protection, and status protection; a 50% buff for 45 seconds. And your health and energy bars are totally refilled. The last bit of Issue 12 is Interface modification. Not much has been said about it, but you will be able to alter the windows to create a unique interface. I’m looking forward to seeing just how this will be work.

Part III soon…
Simms can be found playing on Liberty, Infinity, and Triumph. Global Contact is @Simms.