About David

David Holloway has been involved with gaming since the early 1970′s and with virtual worlds since heavy use of a MOO in 1993 – he even admits to having owned a Vic 20 and used it heavily to play cassette-based roleplaying games. As far as Star Wars goes, he still owns his original set of Star Wars figures and can vouch for the fact that a 1978 Stormtrooper can be blown to bits by shooting it with a slug gun from a distance. He’s also played Star Wars games as far back as the Super Nintendo console and to this day is devastated by the accidental erasure of all his progress on Lego Star Wars on the Wii.

Flash Point 72: Tight Circles and Tanking Walls

flashpoint-podcastSpecial guest Joe Foran from Wildstar Radio joins us this week as we range across a bunch of games, with the usual healthy dose of SWTOR as well.

Points of discussion:

SWTOR
– 2.6 for everyone
Producer’s roadmap for 2014
My Lore Is Stuck In Your Cannon: Kuat Shipyards

Jawa Junk Pile
– Hearthstone further impressions
– Why Kristy fails at end-game content
– EVE Online
– Elder Scrolls Online beta
– NDA discussions
– Wildstar
– Marvel Heroes / DCUO
The Repopulation

– Shout outs for our Facebook page, Twitter account, Simon’s Twitter account, Kristy’s Twitter account and ODS-1’s Twitter Account. – And don’t forget to buy an Oceanic Gamer T-Shirt or thirty!

Please review or rate the podcast on iTunes if you can – it makes a huge difference!

Listen via iTunes, on Stitcher or right here:

SWTOR 2.6 Full Patch Notes

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SWTOR 2.6 is bedded down a couple of days now, but for the dedicated, here’s the full patch notes:

Highlights

Galactic Starfighter Now Available For All Players! – Galactic Starfighter is now available for Free-To-Play, Preferred, and Subscription players! Choose your ship role and help your fellow pilots in 12 vs.12 Battles. Click the Hangar icon next to your minimap to jump into the cockpit now!

New Galactic Starfighter Ship Role: Bomber – The Bomber ship role has been added to Galactic Starfighter, with six new ships available for unlock/purchase!

  • Bombers are tough support ships that drop mines and drones throughout the battlefield.
  • Mines detonate when enemies get into proximity, inflicting damage or crippling debuffs to all nearby foes.
  • Drones attack nearby enemies with a variety of weapons, while Repair Drones restore the hull of nearby allies.
  • Bombers can also place Hyperspace Beacons which function as mobile respawn points for their allies.

New Galactic Starfighter Game Mode: Team Deathmatch – Team Deathmatch is a new game mode which pits teams of players against each other. The team with the highest player kill score when either time expires or the score limit is reached wins the match. Team Deathmatch maps also contain a new feature: Power-ups.

Power–ups are spawned in the map at the start of a match, and once picked up will respawn at a random point in an area after a random amount of time. Power–ups provide boosts to the player depending on which is picked up, which currently last 45 seconds. The available Power-ups are as follows:

  • Engine Overcharge – Doubles engine power regen rate, increases ship speed by 30%, increases ship defense by 15%, refills engine power to full on pickup.
  • Weapon Overcharge – Doubles blaster power regen rate, refills blaster power to full on pickup.
  • Shield Overcharge– Doubles shield power regen rate, eliminates shield recently consumed regen delay, refills shields to full on pickup.
  • Damage Overcharge– Doubles damage from all primary and secondary non–drone weapons.

All power–ups are indicated on the minimap. The Damage Overcharge power–up is a rare spawn, however there is typically at least one up on the map at any point in time. Players that grab this power–up are identified to all players via a broadcast message and are indicated on the minimap.

New Flashpoint: Kuat Drive Yards – Both factions are interested in securing a formidable space armada and fighting over one of the largest starship construction sites. This Flashpoint is designed to be modular, with each “scenario” representing a different part of the expanding plot. This is also the first “tactical” flashpoint, providing bolstered and role-neutral gameplay, and is available to players starting at level 15.

New Reputations have been added to the Galactic Reputation page:

  • Republic First Fleet – The Republic First Fleet serves as a beacon of hope across the galaxy, protecting the Galactic Republic’s member worlds and corporate partners from the dark designs of the Sith Empire.
  • Imperial Forward Command – The Imperial Forward Command is focused on high-risk offensive strikes against the Galactic Republic and its allies, making it one of the Empire’s deadliest fleets.

New Starfighter Pack coming to the Cartel Market – The Galactic Ace’s Starfighter Pack will be available for purchase on February 11th. Cost: 320 Cartel Coins

General

  • New Mount: The KDY Orbital Lifter! This personal heavy construction vehicle was specially designed by Kuat Drive Yards for orbital engineering work deemed too delicate to be automated. It requires Legend rank with the new Imperial Forward Command / Republic First Fleet reputation.
  • A new category is available in Group Finder starting at level 15: Tactical Flashpoints. Tactical Flashpoints are role-neutral, meaning group finder will match the first four players it finds. The new Kuat Drive Yards Flashpoint is available in this category in two level brackets: 15-54 and 55. Czerka Corporate Labs and Czerka Core Meltdown are now included in this category at level 55.
  • Dread Forces in Oricon are more distracted by the madness of the Dread Masters, reducing the range of their attention.
  • Bolster now properly modifies the aggro radius of enemy NPCs and properly displays the difficulty color of enemy NPC levels.
  • Group Finder now displays the level range of players it will match for Flashpoints and Operations.
  • Players may now queue for Starfighter Battles at the same time as Warzones.

Cartel Market

New Items

  • The Galactic Ace’s Starfighter Pack will be available on February 11th. Cost: 320 Cartel Coins
  • Hypercrates containing 24 Galactic Ace’s Starfighter Packs will be available on February 11th. (Discounted by 10% for a limited time!) Cost: 6,912 Cartel Coins
  • The Galactic Ace’s Starfighter Pack items can now be previewed in Collections.

Classes + Combat

Bounty Hunter

Powertech

Advanced Prototype

  • Prototype Flame Thrower now requires High Energy Gas Cylinder to be active.

Mercenary

General

  • Mercenaries with the Combat Support Cylinder loaded will now be able to use Rapid Shots to heal themselves.

Arsenal

  • Stabilizers now reduces the pushback suffered while activating Tracer Missile and Power Shot by 50/100% (up from 35/70%)

Bodyguard

  • Kolto Shell may now be deployed on more than one target at a time, but a target still may not have more than one active Kolto Shell. Additionally, Kolto Shell now generates 10 heat (down from 16), has 6 charges (down from 10), lasts up to 3 minutes (down from 5), and heals for slightly more per charge.
  • The tooltip for the Bodyguard skill has been updated to indicate that it also reduces the rate limit of Peacekeeper, and the Bodyguard skill now requires Kolto Shell instead of Peacekeeper.
  • Peacekeeper has been moved from tier 6 down to tier 5 in the Bodyguard skill tree.
  • Cure Mind has been moved from tier 5 down to tier 4 in the Bodyguard skill tree.
  • Protective Field has been moved from tier 4 up to tier 6 in the Bodyguard skill tree.

Trooper

Vanguard

Tactics

  • Pulse Generator now requires High Energy Cell to be active.

Commando

General

  • Commandos with Combat Support Cell loaded will now be able to use Hammer Shot to heal themselves.

Gunnery

  • Steadied Aim now reduces the pushback suffered while activating Grav Round and Charged Bolts by 50/100% (up from 35/70%)

Combat Medic

  • Trauma Probe may now be deployed on more than one target at a time, but a target still may not have more than one active Trauma Probe. Additionally, Trauma Probe now costs 10 energy cells (down from 16), has 6 charges (down from 10), lasts up to 3 minutes (down from 5), and heals for slightly more per charge.
  • The tooltip for Probe Medic has been updated to indicate that it also reduces the rate limit of Frontline Medic, and Probe Medic now requires Trauma Probe instead of Frontline Medic.
  • Frontline Medic has been moved from tier 6 down to tier 5 in the Combat Medic skill tree.
  • Psych Aid has been moved from tier 5 down to tier 4 in the Combat Medic skill tree.
  • Med Zone has been moved from tier 4 up to tier 6 in the Combat Medic skill tree.

Sith Warrior

Juggernaut

Vengeance

  • Slightly increased the damage dealt by Shatter.
  • Shatter now deals Internal Damage instead of Elemental Damage, as the tooltip indicates.
  • Rampage has been redesigned: Impale and Shatter have a 33.3/66.7/100% chance to produce a stack of Rampage. At 2 stacks, Rampage finishes the cooldown on Ravage and generates 3 Rage.

Jedi Knight

Jedi Guardian

Vigilance

  • Slightly increased the damage dealt by Plasma Brand.
  • Zen Strike has been redesigned: Overhead Slash and Plasma Brand have a 33.3/66.7/100% chance to produce a stack of Zen Strike. At 2 stacks, Zen Strike finishes the cooldown on Master Strike and generates 3 Focus.

Sith Inquisitor

Sorcerer

Lightning

  • Subversion now reduces the pushback suffered while activating Lightning Strike by 50/100% (up from 35/70%). The rest of the benefits provided by Subversion remain unchanged.

Madness

  • Sith Efficacy now reduces the pushback suffered while activating Force Lightning by 33.3/66.7/100% (up from 25/50/75%). The rest of the benefits provided by Sith Efficacy remain unchanged.

Jedi Consular

Sage

Telekinetics

  • Concentration now reduces the pushback suffered while activating Disturbance by 50/100% (up from 35/70%). The rest of the benefits provided by Concentration remain unchanged.

Balance

  • Psychic Barrier now reduces the pushback suffered while activating Telekinetic Throw by 33.3/66.7/100% (up from 25/50/75%). The rest of the benefits provided by Psychic Barrier remain unchanged.

Imperial Agent

General

  • Reduced the activation time, cooldown, energy cost, and damage done by Orbital Strike.

Operative

General

  • Lowered the cost of Hidden Strike to 15 energy (down from 17 energy), increased its cooldown to 9 seconds (up from 7.5 seconds), and increased the damage it deals
  • Increased the duration of Tactical Advantage by 5 seconds (now 15, up from 10)

Concealment

  • Surgical Strikes now increases the damage dealt by Shiv, Overload Shot, and Backstab by 5% (up from 4%)
  • Collateral Strike now has a 50/100% chance to trigger when Laceration is used (up from 35/70%)
  • Culling now increases the damage dealt by Laceration and Collateral Strike by 3/6% (up from 2/4%) and recovers 4/8 energy whenever Collateral Strike damages an enemy target (down from 5/10)
  • Waylay now increases the damage dealt by Backstab by 5% (up from 4%)
  • Meticulously Kept Blades now additionally increases the critical damage dealt by Laceration by 10/20/30%, but no longer increases the critical damage dealt by Sever Tendon
  • Calculated Frenzy no longer increases alacrity when triggered, but now increases ranged and tech critical chance by 2/4/6% instead

Lethality

  • Corrosive Microbes is now a single-point skill (down from 2) but still increases the chance for Corrosive Dart to tick twice when it deals damage by 25%
  • Lethal Injectors is now a 2-point skill (up from 1), but each point still increases the duration of Corrosive Dart by 3 seconds (so 2 points in the skill now increase the duration of Corrosive Dart by a total of 6 seconds, granting 2 additional ticks of damage)

Sniper

Lethality

  • Corrosive Microbes is now a single-point skill (down from 2) but still increases the chance for Corrosive Dart to tick twice when it deals damage by 25%
  • Lethal Injectors is now a 2-point skill (up from 1), but each point still increases the duration of Corrosive Dart by 3 seconds (so 2 points in the skill now increase the duration of Corrosive Dart by a total of 6 seconds, granting 2 additional ticks of damage)

Smuggler

General

  • Reduced the activation time, cooldown, energy cost, and damage done by XS Freighter Flyby.

Scoundrel

General

  • Lowered the cost of Shoot First to 15 energy (down from 17 energy), increased its cooldown to 9 seconds (up from 7.5 seconds), and increased the damage it deals
  • Increased the duration of Upper Hand by 5 seconds (now 15, up from 10)

Scrapper

General

  • Scrappy now increases the damage dealt by Blaster Whip, Quick Shot, and Back Blast by 5% (up from 4%)
  • Flying Fists now has a 50/100% chance to trigger when Sucker Punch is used (up from 35/70%)
  • Turn the Tables now increases the damage dealt by Sucker Punch and Flying Fists by 3/6% (up from 2/4%) and recovers 4/8 energy whenever Flying Fists damages an enemy target (down from 5/10)
  • Sawed Off now increases the damage dealt by Back Blast by 5% (up from 4%)
  • Underdog now additionally increases the critical damage dealt by Sucker Punch by 10/20/30%, but no longer increases the critical damage dealt by Tendon Blast
  • Rolling Punches no longer increases alacrity when triggered, but now increases ranged and tech critical chance by 2/4/6% instead

Dirty Fighting

  • Mortal Wound is now a single-point skill (down from 2) but still increases the chance for Vital Shot to tick twice when it deals damage by 25%
  • Open Wound is now a 2-point skill (up from 1), but each point still increases the duration of Vital Shot by 3 seconds (so 2 points in the skill now increase the duration of Vital Shot by a total of 6 seconds, granting 2 additional ticks of damage)

Gunslinger

Dirty Fighting

  • Mortal Wound is now a single-point skill (down from 2) but still increases the chance for Vital Shot to tick twice when it deals damage by 25%
  • Open Wound is now a 2-point skill (up from 1), but each point still increases the duration of Vital Shot by 3 seconds (so 2 points in the skill now increase the duration of Vital Shot by a total of 6 seconds, granting 2 additional ticks of damage)

Galactic Starfighter

General

  • New Feature: Battle Record – Your personal Galactic Starfighter Battle Record can now be accessed via a button in the upper right corner of the Hangar. Features include detailed lifetime battle stats, and the ability to link each stat to chat.
  • New Feature: Detailed Scoreboard –Galactic Starfighter’s scoreboard will now feature new tabs containing information on:
    • Performance – Track stats including kills, deaths, damaged dealt/received, hit %, objective captures, and more!
    • Earning – A detailed breakdown of the Requisition you’ve earned during a battle and how it was earned.
  • Starfighter Battles no longer lower durability of player equipment.
  • A new non-contributor system has been added, replacing our previous AFK system. You may now initiate a kick against non-contributing players via the Map screen.
  • Addressed an issue where low population checks happened prior to initial spawn, which caused some Battles to fail to start successfully.
  • The new Starfighter Launch Deck floor on the Fleet can be accessed from the Mission Departures elevator.
  • Typing “/squad” will allow you to chat with players in your Squad and/or Group.
  • Quick Look functionality has been added. Players may use their keyboard’s number pad to quickly shift their camera’s view without affecting ship movement.
  • Players who only inflict shield damage to a target now receive appropriate Requisition for the assist when the target is destroyed.
  • Targeted enemies are now highlighted on the Map and Minimap screens.
  • Queuing for Galactic Starfighter battles no longer blocks character changes.
  • If you have an enemy selected it will now show their target’s name in the Targeting Computer.
  • Debuffs can no longer be applied to targets after their death.
  • A confirmation dialog has been added before travelling to the tutorial level.
  • Combat HUD tutorial information on Enemy and Objective Indicators has been expanded.
  • Combat Controls tutorial has been updated to feature targeted defense drones.
  • Added a tutorial for Galactic Starfighter Battle Type: Team Deathmatch.
  • Addressed an issue where tutorial notifications could not be properly dismissed.
  • Players will now be invulnerable to all hull damage while in the Galactic Starfighter tutorial.
  • Several forcefields have been removed from the Abandoned Shipyards level in Domination mode.
  • Team Deathmatch features new map layouts for the existing Lost Shipyards and Kuat Mesas environments.

Ships + Hangar

  • Gunships now get an additional 5 requisition for kills and assists where a secondary weapon is used to deal damage.
  • Putting power to weapons now boosts damage by 10% (down from 20%) and putting power to shields or engines now reduces weapon damage by 5% (down from 10%)
  • The dialog for new purchases within the Hangar has been enhanced to show the exact breakdown of Fleet and Ship Requisition to be used.
  • Auto Roll functionality has been added. Press “V” (by default) to rotate your Starfighter to the default orientation.
  • Selected ships can now be removed from the Readied Ships menu.

Components + Crew

  • A new EMP Missile secondary weapon is now available on the Pike/Quell Strike Fighter.
    • The EMP Missile is a counter to clustered enemies, mines and drones.
    • On impact, it emits a 3000m radius pulse which damages and disables mines and drones.
    • Any player ship caught in the blast will suffer minor damage, and render their system ability unusable.
    • A new EMP Field System is now available on the NovaDive/Blackbolt Scouts.

 

    • The EMP Field is a counter to clustered enemies, mines, and drones.
    • It emits a 3000m radius pulse around the scout which damage and disables mines and drones.
    • Any player ship caught in the blast will have their sensor range and blaster accuracy reduced, and their System Ability rendered unusable.
  • Directional Shield is now available on the Comet Breaker/Dustmaker and Premium Strongarm/Demolisher Gunships.
  • The “Increased Range” upgrade for Sabotage Probe, Cluster Missiles, Concussion Missiles, and Ion Missiles now features a 10% increase.
  • Thermite Torpedoes have had their range increased to 10000m
  • Ion Missiles have had their range increased to 7000m
  • Upgrades purchased for an individual drone no longer improperly affect other drone types.
  • Crew members now animate within the Hangar preview window.
  • Crew abilities “Running Interference” and “Wingman” have had their area of effect ranges increased from 1000m to 3000m.
  • Bowdaar no longer wears a hoodie within the Hangar.
  • Description for the “Rotational Thrusters” engine component has been changed to accurately show the range as 15,000m, not 150,000m.
  • The “Lockdown” Crew Ability may now only be fired on enemy players and no longer drones or defense turret.
  • Charged Plating now allows 40% of the damage done to it to bleed through to the hull, down from 50%. Its shield capacity has been lowered from 150% to 130%.
  • Interdiction Drive has had a balance pass, and its tooltip now details its effects:
    • Boosts player speed by 20% for 6 seconds
    • Reduces speed and turning rate of all enemies within 3000m by 10% for 6 seconds
  • Shield Piercing upgrades have been reduced in power, and weapons with native Shield Piercing have had their damage reduced slightly.
  • Bypass crew ability now grants 16% shield piercing to both primary and secondary weapons (down from 35%).
  • Evasion has been reduced in power:
    • Response Tuning and Lightweight Armor have had their passive evasion bonuses reduced by 1%
    • Distortion Field now grants 9% passive evasion, down from 15%, but has had its shield capacity increased from 70% to 80%
    • Distortion Field’s active ability now grants only 27% evasion, but has had its duration extended to 6 seconds. The tier 1 upgrade now grants 8% evasion, down from 10%.
  • Railgun weapons now require a minimum charge of 25% before firing.
  • Mines and drones no longer display the name of the player who deployed them, only their type.

Items + Economy

  • The 2-piece Field Tech’s PvP set bonus now increases the range of Distraction and Takedown or Quickdraw by 5 meters.
  • The 4-piece Field Tech’s PvP set bonus now increases the duration of Orbital Strike or XS Freighter Flyby by 3 seconds.

Flash Point 71: Lacerating Chips and Potato Chocolate

flash-point podcastThe festive break is done and it’s fair to say we’re all hanging to get back into the saddle and start talking games. Apologies for some of the sound quality in parts as well.

Points of discussion:

SWTOR
– Rakghoul event
– Shout-outs to Jason, Dan and David on Twitter

Jawa Junk Pile
– FF XIV
– Rust
– WoW
– Hearthstone review with a hefty side-trip into Magic: The Gathering nerds
Minion Rush
Rocksmith
– Assorted TV/Movie recommendations

– Shout outs for our Facebook page, Twitter account, Simon’s Twitter account, Kristy’s Twitter account and ODS-1’s Twitter Account. – And don’t forget to buy an Oceanic Gamer T-Shirt or thirty!

Please review or rate the podcast on iTunes if you can – it makes a huge difference!

Listen via iTunes, on Stitcher or right here:

SWTOR 2.5.1 Patch Notes

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Here they are, better late than never!

Game Update 2.5.1 Patch Notes

Highlights

  • The Relics of the Gree Event will return on December 17th! Be sure to pay a visit to Ilum’s Western Ice shelf, as The Green Enclave will only be around until January 1st.
  • Celebrate Wookiee Life Day starting December 17th. This new event will have players of all species throwing “Snowball Bombs” at each other with reckless abandon. This event will run until January 1st.

Cartel Market

General

    • The Ashfall Tauntaun can now be unlocked in the Collections UI.
    • Jedi Consulars and Bounty Hunters will now Flourish when using the /flourish emote.

Classes and Combat

Imperial Agent

Sniper
Lethality
        • Lethal Dose now correctly affects Interrogation Probe.

Items and Economy

  • The following items no longer require “Event Equipment Requisition Authorization”:
    • Infected Mako Customization
    • Infected Andronikos Revel Customization
    • Infected Corso Riggs Customization
    • Infected Kira Carsen Customization
    • Infected Tharan Cedrax Customization
    • Infected Vector Customization
    • Infected Malavai Quinn Customization
    • Infected Elara Dorne Customization
    • Advanced Black-Green Centurion’s Crystal
    • Advanced Black-Green Eviscerating Crystal
    • Advanced Black-Green Hawkeye Crystal
    • Advanced Black-Green Indestructible Crystal
    • Advanced Black-Green Resistance Crystal
    • Advanced Black-Green Savage Crystal
    • Advanced Black-Green Vehemence Crystal
    • Advanced Black-Green War Hero’s Crystal
    • Republic Containment Officer Armor
    • Republic Containment Officer Boots
    • Republic Containment Officer Gloves
    • Republic Containment Officer Helmet
    • Republic Containment Officer Legs
    • Republic Containment Officer Belt
    • Imperial Containment Officer Armor
    • Imperial Containment Officer Boots
    • Imperial Containment Officer Gloves
    • Imperial Containment Officer Helmet
    • Imperial Containment Officer Legs
    • Imperial Containment Officer Belt
    • Sand People Bloodguard Bodywrap
    • Sand People Bloodguard Footwraps
    • Sand People Bloodguard Handwraps
    • Sand People Bloodguard Headwrap
    • Sand People Bloodguard Legwraps
    • Sand People Bloodguard Waistwrap
    • Sand People Bloodguard Wristwraps
    • Gray Helix Lightsaber
    • Gray Helix Saberstaff
    • Gray Helix Blaster
    • Gray Helix Blaster Rifle
    • Gray Helix Autocannon
    • Gray Helix Sniper Rifle
    • Authorization: Gray Secant

Galactic Starfighter

General

      • The icon for Rocket Pods will now display correctly on IL-5 class ships.
      • Player’s clients will no longer crash when dragging their mouse in Galactic Starfighter.
      • Players will no longer be able to access the Galactic Starfighter tutorial:
        • While in combat.
        • While falling.
        • In an exhaustion zone.
        • In any group instance including Warzones, Flashpoints, Operations, Galactic Starfighter matches, or Space Combat Missions.
        • In any phased Mission area, including Class and Planetary Mission areas.

Ships and Hangar

      • When converting Ship to Fleet Requisition, the player will no longer be prompted individually for each ship.
      • Hangar descriptions for the IL-5 SkyBolt, IL-5 Ocula, TZ-24 Enforcer, and TZ-24 Gladiator have been corrected to match their Cartel Market descriptions.

Components and Crew

    • Updated the icon for the “Response Tuning” Crew Ability.
    • Updated the icon for “Peripheral Vision” Crew Ability.
    • Players are now able to select the “None” option for blaster and engine cosmetic modifications.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

  • Corrected a text error in the “Thank you” email received from making a Cartel Coin purchase from Amazon.
  • Corrected various typos in the Galactic Starfighter credits in French and German.

Flash Point 70: We Have Space Paddocks

flashpoint-podcastWe’re back after an extra week off to talk about Galactic Starfighter, Ghostcrawler’s departure from Blizzard and another classic My Lore Is Stuck In Your Canon segment (which appears later in the show than it should thanks to David’s incompetence).

Points of discussion:

SWTOR
– Galactic Starfighter
– 2 years of SWTOR
– Shout out to Russ Moody for comment on last podcast
– Google robots and Amazon vegetable choppers

Jawa Junk Pile
– Simon’s PS4 review
– 2014 predictions
– Secret World demanding on hardware
– Marvel Heroes
– Ghostcrawler leaves Blizzard
– TV and movie recommendations for the Xmas break
My Lore Is Stuck In Your Cannon: the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic in the future
Shroud of the Avatar
Depression Quest fiasco
– Tiny Death Star (Android version — iOS version)

– Shout outs for our Facebook page, Twitter account, Simon’s Twitter account, Kristy’s Twitter account and ODS-1’s Twitter Account. – And don’t forget to buy an Oceanic Gamer T-Shirt or thirty!

Please review or rate the podcast on iTunes if you can – it makes a huge difference!

Listen via iTunes, on Stitcher or right here:

SWTOR 2.5 Full Patch Notes

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Game Update 2.5: Galactic Starfighter Early Access

Highlights

  • Galactic Starfighter Subscriber Early Access is here! Starting today, all subscribers have early access to 12 vs 12, free flight, player vs player dogfighting. Players from level 1-55 will be able to pilot their very own starship and customize it to match their playstyle. With multiple ship roles, paint jobs, blaster, and engine colors, you have plenty of options to choose from. We’ll see you in space!

Galactic Starfighter

 

  • Access the Galactic Starfighter Hangar Bay by clicking the Ship Icon on the in-game minimap.
  • Players can queue solo or as a group for free-flight 12 v 12 PvP Battles in the first Galactic Starfighter gameplay type: Domination!
    • During Domination, players fight to control multiple satellites. Points are awarded according to how many satellites each team controls, and the first team to reach 1000 points earns victory.
  • Two Domination Maps!
    • Lost Shipyards: A critical Imperial starship construction and repair yard hidden within an uncharted asteroid field has come under attack by Republic Starfighter forces, who are eager to cut off such a critical piece of the Imperial fleet’s support network. Naturally, the Empire has been quick to deploy their own Starfighter reinforcements to defend the shipyard from this enemy incursion.
    • Kuat Mesas: A massive ore mining and shipping complex located in a high-altitude region of cliffs and mesas, the Kuat Minedrome is a natural target for Imperial forces looking to interrupt production at the Kuat Drive Yards. When the ground offensive is stalled by Republic defenders, both sides call in Starfighter support to break the stalemate and achieve ultimate victory.
  • Highly customizable Starfighters available:
    • The Scout – Fast, agile, and maneuverable. Scouts make up for their lack of armor and shielding with incredible elusiveness.
    • The Strike Fighter – The backbone of any squadron. Strike Fighters are versatile, capable of both great offensive and defensive abilities. Very balanced Starfighters against both enemies and objectives.
    • The Gunship – The first Galactic Starfighter support role. These long-range ships are perfect for softening up an objective’s defenses or taking out enemy Starfighters engaged with your allies.
  • Spend earned Requisition to customize and upgrade Starfighters in the Hangar Bay.
  • Full in-game playable tutorial! Learn the basics of Galactic Starfighter flight, combat, and objective capturing! The tutorial allows players to shed the constraints of battle, and teaches using a series of informative pop-ups during free flight. Players can access the tutorial by clicking on the “?” button near the top right of the Galactic Starfighter Hangar.

General

 

  • Capital ships from the Republic and Imperial fleets have arrived in the skies of Coruscant and Dromund Kaas to provide logistical support for Galactic Starfighter pilots. Starfighter Hangar Consoles can be found on Corsucant and Dromund Kaas.
  • Corrected various typos found in subtitles during the Bounty Contract Week event.
  • Corrected a typo during the space mission Zosha Advance to more accurately reflect the mission objectives.
  • Corrected various typos found in subtitles during the Sith Warrior, Trooper, and Smuggler story missions.
  • The cinematic that plays when you exit from your ship to the Imperial or Republic fleet has been updated.

Cartel Market

New Items

    • A host of new Galactic Starfighter items have been added to the Cartel Market; check the new Starfighter tab to see them all!
    • The new “Hypercrate: Shipment 1 Cartel Packs” is here! This Hypercrate contains the following packs: 6 Crime Lord’s, 6 Blockade Runner’s, 6 Skip Tracer’s, and 6 Space Pirate’s. Price: 7680 Cartel Coins. (Temporarily discounted by 10% to 6912 Cartel Coins!)
    • The Black Market and Crime Lord’s Cartel Packs are back in the Cartel Market for only two weeks, they will be once again embargoed on December 17th.

Classes and Combat

Combat Terminology

    • Cleanse is now defined as an effect which removes a limited number of a certain type (or types) of negative effects, usually Force or Tech, from the target.
    • Purge is now defined as an effect which removes all negative dispellable effects of a certain type (or types) from the target (usually self).
    • Many ability tooltips have been updated to properly indicate whether an ability cleanses or purges negative effects from a target.

Jedi Knight

Guardian
Vigilance
          • Debilitation has been added to the Vigilance Skill Tree and provides a 50/100% chance to immobilize the target for the duration of Master Strike.
Sentinel
General
          • The stacking buff provided by Juyo Form now lasts 24 seconds (up from 15) and can be applied once every second (down from every 1.5 seconds).
          • Inspiration and Transcendence no longer prevent the Sentinel from becoming Centered while they are active.
          • Inspiration now affects the player’s entire Operation group up to 40 meters away from the Sentinel (up from 30 meters). Additionally, Inspiration applies a debuff which lasts for five minutes on all affected group members. This debuff prevents affected players from regaining Inspiration while it is active.
          • Guarded by the Force now has a 2 minute cooldown (up from 1 minute and 30 seconds).
          • The health for Guarded by the Force is now spent when the damage reducing effect expires, rather than when it begins. The cost remains at 50% of current player health.
Focus
        • Enduring no longer increases damage reduction but still reduces the cooldown of Guarded by the Force by 15/30 seconds.
        • Force Health no longer interacts with Guarded by the Force. It now permanently increases passive damage reduction by 1/2% and still builds 1/2 Focus when Twin Saber Throw is used. 

          Watchman

        • The stacking “Merciless” buff provided by Merciless Slash now lasts 24 seconds (up from 15).

Sith Warrior

Juggernaut
Vengeance
          • Overwhelm has been added to the Vengeance Skill Tree and provides a 50/100% chance to immobilize the target for the duration of Ravage.
Marauder
General
          • The stacking buff provided by Juyo Form now lasts 24 seconds (up from 15) and can be applied once every second (down from every 1.5 seconds).
          • Bloodthirst and Predation no longer prevent the Marauder from building Fury while they are active.
          • Bloodthirst now affects the player’s entire Operation Group up to 40 meters away from the Marauder (up from 30 meters). Additionally, the ability now applies a debuff which lasts for five minutes on all affected group members and prevents affected players from regaining Bloodthirst while it is active.
          • Undying Rage now has a 2 minute cooldown (up from 1 minute and 30 seconds).
          • The health for Undying Rage is now spent when the damage reducing effect expires, rather than when it begins. The cost remains at 50% of current player health.
Rage
        • Undying no longer increases damage reduction but still reduces the cooldown of Undying Rage by 15/30 seconds.
        • Force Vigor no longer interacts with Undying Rage. It now permanently increases passive damage reduction by 1/2% and still builds 1/2 Rage when Dual Saber Throw is used. 

          Annihilation

        • The stacking “Annihilator” buff provided by Annihilate now lasts 24 seconds (up from 15).

Jedi Consular

General
        • Slightly increased the damage dealt by Double Strike.
Sage
Balance
          • In addition to previous effects, Psychic Absorption now prevents the damage-over-time effects applied by Sever Force, Mind Crush, and Weaken Mind from being cleansed.
Shadow
General
          • Combat Technique no longer heals the Shadow. The ability now increases armor rating by 130% (up from 115%) and deals additional threat when it damages an enemy target.
          • Slightly increased the damage dealt by Whirling Blow.
          • While Battle Readiness is active, the active Technique now heals the Shadow when it triggers its effect.
          • Shadow Strike has had its cost reduced to 40 Force (down from 50).
Kinetic Combat
          • Three stacks of Harnessed Shadows no longer cause the Shadow to be healed when Telekinetic Throw deals damage. Instead, the skill grants Shadow Protection, which increases damage reduction by 1%. Shadow Protection stacks up to four times and lasts 12 seconds.
          • Rapid Recovery has been renamed Elusiveness and has been redesigned: the skill now increases the armor rating Combat Technique grants by an additional 10%/20%.
          • Elusiveness has been renamed Rapid Recovery; the skill’s effects have not changed.
          • Shadow Wrap now additionally grants 2/4 stacks of Shadow Protection when the Shadow exits stealth.
Infiltration
          • Slightly increased the damage dealt by Clairvoyant Strike.
Balance
        • In addition to previous effects, Psychic Absorption now prevents the damage-over-time effects applied by Sever Force, Force Breach, and Mind Crush from being cleansed.

Sith Inquisitor

General
        • Slightly increased the damage dealt by Thrash.
Sorcerer
General
          • Purge has been renamed to Expunge; the ability’s functionality has not changed.
Madness
          • In addition to previous effects, Devour now prevents the damage-over-time effects applied by Creeping Terror, Crushing Darkness, and Affliction from being cleansed.
Assassin
General
          • Dark Charge no longer heals the Assassin. The ability now increases armor rating by 130% (up from 115%) and generates additional threat when damaging an enemy target.
          • Slightly increased the damage dealt by Lacerate.
          • While Overcharge Saber is active, Lightsaber charges now heal the Assassin when they trigger their effects.
          • Maul has had its cost reduced to 40 Force (down from 50).
Darkness
          • Three stacks of Harnessed Darkness no longer cause the Assassin to be healed when Force Lightning deals damage. Instead, the skill grants Dark Protection, which increases damage reduction by 1%. Dark Protection stacks up to four times and lasts 12 seconds.
          • Swelling Shadows has been redesigned: the skill now increases the armor rating granted by Dark Charge by an additional 10/20%.
          • Conspirator’s Cloak now additionally grants 2/4 stacks of Dark Protection when the Assassin exits stealth.
Deception
          • Slightly increased the damage dealt by Voltaic Slash.
Madness
        • In addition to previous effects, Devour now prevents the damage-over-time effects applied by Creeping Terror, Discharge, and Crushing Darkness from being cleansed.

Imperial Agent

General
        • Increased the damage dealt by Overload Shot.
Operative
      • Operatives are now able to be charged and pulled by other players while in Cover.

Smuggler

General
        • Increased the damage dealt by Quick Shot.
Scoundrel
      • Scoundrels are now able to be charged and pulled by other players while in Cover.

Bounty Hunter

    • The tooltip for Railshot has been updated to indicate that the ability does more damage when the player is dual wielding. (Damage was increased in Game Update 2.4)

Items and Economy

 

General

    • The Life Day Orb now correctly regenerates health at the same rate as other rest and recharge items.
    • Species unlocks purchased from the Cartel Market will now properly display that they are bound temporarily in their tooltip.
    • Corrected various Cartel Market item typos.
    • Stats have been removed from the following companion vibroknife item shells, resulting in lower stats overall:
      • Gault’s BR-36 Vibroknife
      • Mako’s BR-36 Vibroknife
      • Quinn’s BR-36 Vibroknife
      • Talos’s BR-36 Vibroknife
      • Lokin’s BR-36 Vibroknife
    • The in-game mail, tooltip, collections icon, and ability name for the mini-pet “Flashfire” have been updated to show the correct name, the “NovaDive.”
    • The “S-12 Blackbolt” minipet has been updated to show the correct name, the “S-13 Sting.”
    • Obroan Relics of Devastating Vengeance, Serendipitous Assault, and Focused Retaliation have had their triggered stat effect increased to 740.
    • Dread Forged Relics of Devastating Vengeance, Serendipitous Assault, and Focused Retaliation have had their triggered stat effect increased to 625.

Vendors

    • Updated icons onthe Oricon Reputation vendor to more accurately reflect their items descriptions.
    • The Black Market Boltblaster MK-1 Generator has been added to the Bounty Hunter Basic Gear Vendor.
    • A new rest-and-recharge item has been added to the Gree reputation vendors. The Gree Digitization Cube can be purchased for 6 Gray Helix Components. It requires Hero rank.
    • T.H.O.R.N. Reputation vendors have been added to the game and can be found in GSI compound on Nar Shaddaa.

Missions and NPCs

Oricon

    • The Bothrium Beast on Oricon will now have the correct sound effects.
    • Corrected an issue where a player was able to enter the mission phase for the Dread Engines, False Paradise, and The Tower’s Core after making it to the “return to the mission dropbox” step.

Hoth

    • Hailstorm Survivalists on Hoth will have a greater chance of surviving as they are now correctly equipped with a melee weapon.

Class Quests

    • The holoterminal on the player’s ship will now correctly display the “mission available” icon when a new story mission is available.

Gree Event

    • Xenoanalyst II has enabled his vocal processing chip and now speaks throughout the encounter.
    • Xenoanalyst II has been rebalanced in all difficulty modes. Story mode is now easier to tank and more forgiving overall. Holographic creature adds have had their damage and health adjusted in both modes.

Legacy

General

    • Four new items have been added to the Repair Astromech vendor which you can unlock on your ship. These items modify your ship’s Operation Training Dummy and they are:
      • Training Dummy Basic Health Modulator – Gives your training dummy 500,000 health and removes the Dummy’s health regeneration.
      • Training Dummy Standard Health Modulator – Gives your training dummy 1,000,000 health and removes the Dummy’s health regeneration.
      • Training Dummy Advanced Health Modulator – Gives your training dummy 1,500,000 health and removes the Dummy’s health regeneration.
      • Training Dummy Armor Reduction Module – Debuffs your training dummy’s armor by 20%
    • New Legacy Unlock: Raid Markers – They are available for 375,000 credits at Legacy level 20 or 300 Cartel Coins.

Achievements

    • Achievements have been added for the Life Day event.
    • Achievements have been added for the Rakghoul Resurgence event.

Reputation

    • A new Reputation has been added to the Galactic Reputation tab. T.H.O.R.N. (The Hyland Organization for Rakghoul Neutralization) is a GSI-affiliate dedicated to studying and eradicating all traces of the Rakghoul plague from the galaxy. T.H.O.R.N. should be unnecessary as the Rakghoul outbreak was clearly eliminated from the Galaxy…

PvP

Warzones

Arenas
      • Makeb Mesa, a new Arena map, has been added to the Ranked and unranked Warzone queues! This additional map does not increase the probability of an Arena being selected as the game type for unranked Warzones.

Flash Point 69: Tinsel in Tatooine

flashpoint-podcastIt’s a rather eclectic episode this fortnight, with some good MMO coverage and the odd piece of Dr Who discussion.

Points of discussion:

SWTOR
– Galactic Starfighter
– Double XP week – link
– Life day
– Antlers in the Cartel Store

Others
– Console launches
– WoW: charity drive, new pets and mounts. fun on the Timeless Isle
– The Secret World ‘levelling’

Jawa Junk Pile
– The Stanley Parable (warning: spoilers)
– Dr Who ‘Day of the Doctor’ (more spoilers)
– Shout out to EA customer service

– Shout outs for our Facebook page, Twitter account, Simon’s Twitter account, Kristy’s Twitter account and ODS-1’s Twitter Account. – And don’t forget to buy an Oceanic Gamer T-Shirt or thirty!

Please review or rate the podcast on iTunes if you can – it makes a huge difference!

Listen via iTunes, on Stitcher or right here:

Review: The Stanley Parable

The Stanley Parable

Follow the line Stanley

Oh how easy it is to get cynical about games. For those of you that listen to our Flash Point podcast, you’ll know we don’t suffer for lack of cynicism. Which is why I love finding a game that smacks all of that cynicism fair in the face – The Stanley Parable is definitely one of those games.

The game was originally released in 2011, had a substantive remake as a standalone Windows game and last month had a further enhancement via the Steam Greenlight scheme, which is the version I’ve just played.

I’m not going to even begin to try and describe what The Stanley Parable is about, beyond saying that you are Stanley, and you have a narrator along with you for the ride. The narrator (Kevan Brighting) really does make the game in so many ways and I can’t remember the last time I’ve had so many laughs in a game. It’s part interactive fiction, part satire and part puzzle game (although don’t start thinking too deeply about puzzles from what I’ve seen after four hours of play). The writing is simply stupendous, hence the regular laughs. Aside from that, it’s the ‘What the..” moments that really deliver the value in the game.

I’m really hard pushed to find a lot to criticise – the gameplay is different enough that I haven’t experienced any significant frustrations to date. I did consider keeping notes at one stage as a mud map to determine the story paths I’d taken, but given some of the paths change from time to time, I gave up on that idea. I’d love the ability to save a game too, although I can see that the nature of this game makes it a partly redundant idea.

For US$15 this game is more than worth the money and given its reported success to date, I’m hanging out for what comes next from this creative team.

Tips / recommendations for The Stanley Parable

  • Download the demo, no matter how sold you are on the game
  • Explore but don’t expect massive amounts of feedback
  • Stand still in locations for 30 seconds or more
  • Stand in the Broom Closet for at least 3-5 minutes: you won’t regret it
  • If you haven’t got to the story branch with the Adventure Line, you haven’t been trying hard enough
  • If you have kids older than 8 or so, get them involved as I found this led me down routes I may have otherwise missed
  • Don’t give up until you’ve found the ‘game credits’ area
  • See point 1: seriously, the demo is brilliant on its own

Here’s where you go to find out more – and thanks to the Good Game TV team for reviewing this game themselves. This is a game I’ll be coming back to for a while, purely for the fun it provides.

10/10 in its genre for me – just let me know what genre you’d put it in ok?

To finish up, here’s a gallery with a handful of screenshots I’ve taken so far, with an emphasis on the meeting room as I loved the scribblings in there. Don’t view them if you want to go into the game 100% fresh.

 

 

 

SWTOR 2.4.3 Full Patch Notes

swtor-patch-incoming-banner

The servers aren’t quite back up but the SWTOR 2.4.3 patch notes are available, so have a browse:

Game Update 2.4.3 Patch Notes

Highlights

  • PvP Season One! Ratings have been reset to mark the beginning of the Ranked PvP Season One. Get in there and go berserk!
  • Ranked PvP Leaderboards! Players can now visit the website to compare Solo and Group Rankings.Details under PvP
  • Character Name Renewal Program! Many previously held names have been released!
    • Subscribers are unaffected by the Name Renewal Program.
    • Preferred Status:
      • Characters below level 10 that have not been played in the last 60 days are flagged for rename.
      • Characters below level 30 that have not been played in the last 120 days are flagged for rename.
      • Characters level 30 and above are unaffected.
    • Free-to-Play:
      • Characters below level 10 that have not been played in the last 90 days are flagged for rename.
      • Characters below level 30 that have not been played in the last 180 days are flagged for rename.
      • Characters level 30 and above are unaffected.
    • If a character is flagged for rename, players can choose the name originally used if no one on the same server has chosen that name yet.

General

  • Bounty Contract Week Event! Invite your friends and help the Bounty Brokers Association clean its long list of contracts between November 12-19, 2013.
  • Added Item Modification Tables to the VIP Area of the Republic and Imperial Fleet Stations.

Cartel Market

General

      • Certain pack armor sets can now be contained in the new Supplementary Body Armor box. These boxes now contain belts, bracers, and headgear.

New Items

      • New Mount! A new creature mount, the Ashfall Tauntaun will be available on the Cartel Market on November 19th! Cost: 3,000 Cartel Coins
      • New Bounty Pack: The Opportunist’s Bounty Pack!
        • The Opportunist’s Bounty Pack items can now be viewed in Collections.
        • The Opportunist’s Bounty Pack will be available on November 15th! Cost: 320 Cartel Coins
        • Hypercrates containing 24 Opportunist’s Bounty Packs will be available on November 15th. (Discounted by 10% for a limited time!) Cost: 6,912 Cartel Coins

Collections

      • Added a new “Events” category to Collections:
        • The “Holidays” sub-category has been added and now contains all Holiday items.
        • Some items formerly located in the “Special” category  have been relocated.

Flashpoints and Operations

Operations

Dread Fortress
          • In Hard Mode, Corruptor Zero now properly disables his “Concussion Mine” ability and he no longer uses it upon switching to his “Unified Beam” ability during the final phase of the encounter.
          • Grobthok now drops Unassembled Dreadforged Gloves instead of Unassembled Dreadforged Boots in 16-Player Hard Mode.
Dread Palace
          • Dread Master Brontes no longer becomes untargetable by melee Classes during the final encounter.

Items and Economy

      • Removed the erroneous Level 3 Speeder Piloting requirement from the JA-3 Speeder.
      • Removed PvP Rating requirements from following items:
        • Advanced Black-Orange War Hero’s Crystal
        • Advanced Black-Purple War Hero’s Crystal
        • Ubrikkian War-rider
      • Effects no longer trigger simultaneously when the following relics equipped at the same time:
        • Ephemeral Mending
        • Fortunate Redoubt
        • Reactive Warding
        • Shield Amplification
        • Devastating Vengeance
        • Serendipitous Assault

Missions and NPCs

Missions

Class Missions
Sith Inquisitor
            • Giant Killer: Lord Zash has been given pronoun training such that she no longer refers to male players as female when speaking German.
Daily Area Missions
CZ-198
            • [WEEKLY] Czerka Takeover: This mission will now progress for completing “Manual Shutdown” in instances where players have first completed and turned in “Workforce Reduction “.
World Missions
Hoth
            • Spoils to the Victor: This mission can now be completed, and Imperial players are no longer subject to death by exhaustion upon entering Lormarr Cave.
Ilum
            • Crystal Ball (Republic)/First Strike (Imperial ): This mission now clearly indicates that players need to use their Personal Starship when traveling to Ilum.

PvP

Warzones

Ranked
          • Ranked PvP Leaderboards! Players can now visit the website  to compare Solo and Group Rankings.
            • Rankings are grouped by Advanced Class/opposite Faction’s  mirror Advanced Class. (For example, Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior share a single leaderboard.)
            • The Leaderboard data is updated every 2 hours.
          • Rating changes applied at the end of matches are now more balanced and accurately reflect Rating disparity between teams.

UI

    • Dread Forged and Oberon Serendipitous Assault relics now state that their effects do not stack with other Serendipitous Assault relics.

Flash Point 68: Big Kev And His Fat Arsed Owls

flashpoint-podcastIt’s a new content extravaganza in MMO-land at the moment, so we devoted some time to SWTOR, WoW, TSW and Marvel Heroes to name four.

Points of discussion:

SWTOR
– Double XP week – link
– In-game cartel coin purchases now live
– Community Cantina – Austin
– EA wins a Shonky Award
– Tangential PS4 / Xbox One discussion
My Lore Is Stuck In Your Canon: The Galactic Republic

Others
– WoW: Warlords of Draenor discussion
– Project Titan shelved
– World of Warcraft Movie premise
– Wow not going F2P ‘anytime soon’
– Heroes of the Storm beta
– Hearthstone beta
– Diablo 3 expansion – Reaper of Souls
– Marvel Heroes 2.0 Update

Jawa Junk Pile

– Build your own Death Star – link
– Star Wars Episode VII release date and keeping to the ‘dirty aesthetic’

– Shout outs for our Facebook page, Twitter account, Simon’s Twitter account, Kristy’s Twitter account and ODS-1’s Twitter Account. – And don’t forget to buy an Oceanic Gamer T-Shirt or thirty!

Please review or rate the podcast on iTunes if you can – it makes a huge difference!

Listen via iTunes, on Stitcher or right here:

World of Warcraft Is Going Down The Draenor

Apologies for the post title but I just couldn’t resist. With BlizzCon 2013 underway, the announcement has been made about World of Warcraft’s next expansion. Titled Warlords of Draenor, , we get seven new zones on a new planet (Draenor), an increase in the level cap to 100, the ability to start a character at Level 90, player Garrisons and some world PvP options that sound interesting. Not surprisingly there’s no firm release date as yet.

Here’s the announcement trailer:

I’ve been a very irregular player of WoW over the past few months, but nothing gets me back into the game quicker than an expansion, and I have to say I like the look of this one. Here’s what’s got me particularly intrigued:

1. The ability to have your own garrison populated by NPCs picked up via questing could make the game in a big way, assuming there’s decent levels of customisation available. I love how this is a nod to the original Warcraft games and I’m hopeful that this will be a focus of further development. If there can be pet battles, there can be some retro Warcraft scenarios / quests surely?

2. As a player than actually likes levelling, I’m encouraged by the level cap increase that’s twice the increase of Mists of Pandaria. Sure, that doesn’t mean there’s necessarily twice the levelling content, but I’m going to remain optimistic.

3. The new character models and veiled references to graphics engine improvements have me excited as well. No-one is going to argue WoW is anywhere near being a graphically cutting edge game, but ongoing improvements at least stop the gap widening.

Most importantly, we want to hear from you – has the expansion announcement caught your attention? Check out our poll on the right hand side of the page and take part if you can. We’ll also be talking everything Warlords of Draenor on tomorrow night’s podcast.

The Secret World Issue #8 Full Patch Notes

tsw-issue8The latest content update for The Secret World, Issue #8 – The Venetian Agenda – is now live.

Here’s the full patch / update notes for your digestion if you can’t jump into the update itself right now:

UPDATE 1.8 CONTENT RELEASE – NOVEMBER 7TH

NEW!

  • Scenarios are now available! Secret Worlders can hone themselves in simulated training environments.  Players can select a destination, group size, and difficulty. Protect NPCs from hordes of ravening enemies and receive certification from the Council of Venice!
  • The Augment system can now be unlocked!  Tune your abilities to suit your playstyle’s needs!
  • A new story mission is available!  The main storyline continues, ramping up to the next pivotal chapter in Tokyo.

COMBAT

  • Fixed an issue where Suppressing Fire would sometimes not build resources when multiple players attacked the same target. Note that this now causes the ability to build resources at the end of the cast similar to Bloodline.
  • Increased the duration of Advantage Me to be 5 seconds.
  • Increased the jump distance of the chain spells Wanted, Electrical Storm, and Infection to 5 meters.

GUI

  • Fixed item shortcut window being cleared when loading a build in the gear manager.
  • Fixed an issue that caused minor talismans to be removed from saved builds when launching the client.
  • Fixed an issue where the Gear Manager would not equip certain items.
  • Fixed an issue that could prevent the Gear Manager from equipping an Elite Passive ability.
  • Fixed an issue that could prevent the Gear Manager from equipping an Elite Active ability.
  • Fixed an issue where the Gear Manager would preview the wrong set when more than 8 sets were saved.

CLOTHING

  • Fixed an issue where some gloves would get cut off when wearing a Strapless blouse and corset

 

MISSIONS

Kingsmouth Town

  • The Gypsy’s Diary – Fixed a typo in the mission description text

Savage Coast

  • The Rogue Groundskeeper – Fixed a typo in the Dragon faction report

 

 

UPDATE 1.8 HOTFIX – OCTOBER 31ST

GENERAL

  • Increased the duration of the snare effect applied by Razor Wire.
  • Fixed an issue that caused a visible seam to appear on character arms when wearing the Plague Doctor gloves with a long sleeved shirt.
  • Fixed an issue that caused visible seams to appear on character legs when wearing the Plague Doctor leggings with certain boots.
  • Fixed an issue that caused an errant texture to appear in front of a character’s abdomen while wearing the Creepy Equine Mask and being in combat stance with fist weapons.

MISSIONS

Kingsmouth Town

  • The Confession of Ellis Hill: Fixed a typo in the mission text.
  • The Ghost of Jack-o-Lantern: All pumpkins are despawned when Jack dies.
  • The Ghost of Jack-o-Lantern: Players can buy and carve new Jack-o-lanterns as often as they want while on the mission.

Savage Coast

  • Spooky Stories of Solomon Island: Removed the cooldown from this mission.

Blue Mountain

  • The Organ Smugglers: The mobs will now properly reset if players die during the ambush.
  • The Organ Smugglers: Organ Harvesters/Mark Davies will no longer affect gear durability.

Scorched Desert

  • The Prisoner: Removed an errant symbol in the subtitles during the final cinematic.
  • Last Train to Cairo: Added missing lip movement to Saïd during the opening cinematic.

Besieged Farmlands

  • The Gathering: Fixed some clipping issues with Cucuvea’s hair during the mission cinematic.
  • Deathless: Fixed some clipping issues with Cucuvea’s hair during the mission cinematic.

Carpathian Fangs

  • The Sound of Children: Fixed typos in the computer used during Tier 2 of this mission.

DUNGEONS

  • Corrupted Agartha: Creatures in the nightmare version of the Filthy Agartha instance are harder again.

PLEASE NOTE

  • The new Scenario, Augment System and Story Missions are not yet available. These will be added when Issue 8 goes live.

GENERAL

  • Adjusted the experience awarded to groups, depending on group size (awards are unchanged for solo play and for groups of five).
  • Gadgets will no longer trigger the global cooldown when used.
  • Updated the simple description for Sudden Return.
  • Fixed an issue with the tooltip for the heal value of My Bloody Valentine.
  • Resolved an issue that could leave the boss area for Aspect of the Long-Toothed inaccessible for future players when the boss despawns.
  • Fixed a problem that could cause characters to drop from sprint immediately after combat.

COMBAT

  • Deadly Aim now applies a debuff to all affected party members which prevents them from receiving the Deadly Aim effect for 90 seconds.
  • Calling the Shots now also reduces the duration of the Deadly Aim blocker effect.
  • Breaching Shot now applies a debuff to all affected party members which prevents them from receiving the Breaching Shot effect for 90 seconds.
  • Breach Party now also reduces the duration of the Breaching Shot blocker effect.
  • Fixed an issue where Aftershock could trigger more than once.
  • Splatter should now affect Health Drone and Linked Veins.
  • Misdirection can no longer be used on friendly NPCs.
  • Fixed an issue where Chain Feed would not affect all healing chains.
  • Sleight of Hand should be usable while silenced now.
  • Groundwork will no longer erroneously build resources for your secondary weapon.
  • Suppressing Fire should now add resources more reliably when multiple players are shooting the same target.
  • The cooldown of Death From Above will now be properly reduced when using both Rocket Science and Double Dash.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause Grand Slam’s AoE damage to occur twice per use.
  • Updated the tooltip for Do or Die to more accurately reflect its effect.
  • Guts and Gory should now properly trigger and benefit from Elemental Force.
  • Tenacity crits should now trigger Empowerment.
  • The Hinder associated with Bomb Squad should now last the correct duration.
  • Corrected a problem with Damage Redirects which caused Benediction & Cold Blooded to increase damage taken.
  • Reduced rubber-banding issue that occurs when certain abilities are queued.

ITEMS

  • Fixed an issue that caused the reward bags from the Golem Anniversary Event to malfunction if players had the pet given by the bag stored in their bank.
  • Replaced the temporary text being used by Mark of the Illuminati/Dragon/Templar/etc. in the combat log.
  • It is no longer possible to stack the Signet of Salvation effect.

GUI

  • Character sheet will now remember which stats were displayed when it was last closed.
  • Fixed an issue where the camera would zoom in while scrolling through the Dressing Room.
  • Notifications for new lore entries now disappear after the lore is read.
  • Notifications for new achievements with sub-achievements now disappear when the sub achievement list is expanded.
  • Lore and Achievements are now marked as “old” as soon as they are read, rather than waiting until the notification fades out.
  • Added text for rarity levels to item tooltips.
  • Added a new Lockout Timers GUI accessible through the main menu, pressing Shift+L, or clicking the lockout buff.
  • Added a visual indication to the GUI for when players are in combat.
  • The gradient at the bottom of the screen now scales properly when changing HUD size.
  • Certain buffs should now always appear in the front of the buff list.
  • Fixed an issue where the buy button was disabled on skills after purchasing a skill and having exactly enough AP to purchase the next skill.
  • Fixed an issue where Battle Rank did not show in the character sheet for characters with maximum Faction Rank.
  • Increased the default width of vendor windows so that all prices are visible.
  • The broken items notification icon will now flash like other notifications.

CLOTHING

  • Fixed an issue that would cause a character’s legs to disappear when wearing the Ritual Coat over certain dresses.
  • Fixed an issue that would cause a character’s legs to disappear when wearing the Innsmouth hoodie over certain dresses.
  • Fixed an issue that would cause a character’s legs to disappear when wearing certain coat items over the Meat is Murder – Butcher apron.
  • Fixed a case where the Delta Force – Right arm wrap would not always display on characters.
  • Adjusted a bad seam caused by the My Flair Lady shirt.
  • Adjusted the Creepy Equine and Unicorn hats to reduce clipping with shirt collars.

MISSIONS

New York

  • Training Day: Fixed a clipping issue with Kirsten Geary during her cinematic.

Kingsmouth Town

  • Death and the Instruments Thereof: Fixed an issue in the cinematic that caused Sandy “Moose” Jansen’s leg to move unnaturally.
  • The Meowling: Werekittens should respawn quickly if there are still players in the area with the goal to kill them.
  • The Meowling: Removed temporary text from the tooltip for the Bag of Tricks and Treats reward.
  • Crossing the Black Path: Fixed an issue with Siabhra’s Air where the tooltip was referring to the wrong mission.

The Scorched Desert

  • Old Gods, New Tricks: Fixed a clipping issue that occurred with Tanis during the cinematic for this mission.

City of the Sun God

  • The Dark Places: Fixed a typo in the opening cinematic.

The Shadowy Forest

  • When the Hatchet Falls: Removed an extra period in the subtitles for this mission.

The Carpathian Fangs

  • You Only Die Twice: Fixed a clipping issue with Dragan Dzoavich’s headset.
  • The Sound of Children: Fixed a clipping issue with Lilith during a cinematic in this mission.

DUNGEONS

  • Hell Fallen: Killing Engine Tyrant Prime before it calls Alpha no longer prevents progress through the dungeon.
  • Hell Fallen: Fixed a pre-encounter animation glitch on Engine Tyrant Prime.

WORLD DESIGN

  • Removed an invisible barrier that was blocking a ramp in El Dorado.
  • Fixed an issue that allowed players to reach unintended areas of N’gha-Pei the Corpse-Island (Kingsmouth Lair Raid).
  • Collision tightened around the Squalid Hekaturgist in The Black Ankh.
  • Fixed a location in Blue Mountain where players could get stuck between some rocks.
  • Fixed a location in Blue Mountain where players could get stuck under a tree.
  • Fixed some missing collision in Shambhala which allowed players to reach unintended areas.
  • Fixed a location on The Last Train to Cairo where players could get stuck on crates.
  • Fixed a location in Fusang that allowed players to reach unintended areas.