It seems like after months of waiting for any news of any content besides character designs, the new City of Heroes/Villains expansion pack, Going Rogue, is starting to take shape. In the last few months we have been introduced to such characters as the sultry Desdemona, the rugged Maelstrom and the evil dictator Tyrant. That along with a few select screen shots and backgrounds was the only information being released. Now as we get closer and closer to July more details are coming out in the form of new power sets of Dual Pistols and Demon Summoning.
Luckily before the Test Server closed down again I got to try out the Dual Pistols power set. The power set is available as a primary power for blasters and a secondary power for defenders on the Heroes side. On Villains you can choose it as a primary power only with the Corruptor archetype. Previously these abilities were only partially available in the thug’s power set for Masterminds. Much like the dual blades power set, it is a very stylistic power set. In addition to giving you a wide variety of moves with an almost Matrix like feel, you also get the ability to change your ammo to toxic, incendiary or cold damage. So in a way it is like being a controller and blaster combined into one. I tested it out as a corruptor paired with thermal radiation as a secondary power and found that to be a good mix. In many ways the power set is very similar to an arachnos soldier when it comes to Are of Effect powers. It is definitely a set that gets better as you get into the higher powers. As for solo vs. team play I would say that dual pistols could work well as long as you choose a good secondary power to keep your defensive power equal to your offensive power.
The additional power set announced is Demon Summoning and will be available for those to try who pre-purchase Going Rogue in April. From what I can tell it will be an additional power to the Mastermind archetype power set and come with a fire whip as a secondary power. This should be an interesting combination and I look forward to giving it a try in April.
I did want to make a quick comment on the issue of power leveling, which has always been an issue for as long as I have been playing MMOs. When City of Heroes first came out it was very easy for a low level character to join a much higher level team and get crazy xp and level up quickly. Since those days NCSoft and now Paragon Studios have gone to great lengths to curve this practice. By making team levels adjust to the highest player in the team the days of one getting higher or no xp depending on the level gap are over.
While I don’t mind the occasional power leveling to get up to a certain power level, there is a limit to doing that. What I don’t approve of is someone creating a character and then getting them to level 50 within a matter of hours or days by constant power leveling. Many game developers work hard to great story arcs and content that can only be accessed at certain levels. By just plowing through levels by power leveling many players miss out on badges or temporary powers that those missions give. Sure you got your character to level 50 in record time but I ask that player “Did you really enjoy the content of what the MMORPG has to offer while power levelling ?” I would say chances are no and that I think is a shame to hear someone say that.