Issue 7 of City of Heroes/Villains will introduce a new crossover PvP zone for characters of levels 40 to 50: Recluse’s Victory. Last week I was able to attend an event in this new zone, try out the PvP, and speak with Cryptic’s Matt Miller (Lead Designer) and NCSoft’s Mike Crouch (PR Manager).

When you start in the zone as a Hero, you are in a secure hero base where several NPCs can debrief you on the state of the zone. Via a portal much like the Supergroup Base portal, players can enter the main zone area, an alternate dimension of Atlas Park, where heroes and villains duke it out over seven “pillboxes.”

The “pillboxes” start out in neutral control. Comprised of a central hub and four turret guns, players must kill all of the turrets and take over the central hub to capture the pillbox for their side.

To aid players in capturing pillboxes, Freedom Corps Cataphracts (Hero side) and Archanos Heavy Blasters (Villain side) are spread throughout the zone that players can take control of. While these “Heavys” move extremely slowly, they do huge amounts of damage and are key for capturing pillboxes and killing enemy players. These “Heavys” operate like pets, and can be told what and when to attack; from what I experienced, their damage ranges from 90 to 900, depending on what skill they use and who they hit.

Like Siren’s Call, Recluse’s Victory is Hero vs. Villain, and killing enemy players will earn rewards. “Defeating another player in Recluse’s Victory will earn you 10,000 influence/infamy and 100 prestige. This amount is then divided up amongst the teams,” Said Miller.

When the pillbox is captured, the player who captured it is given control of the turrets. Provided they stay in the central hub, they can control the turrets and use them to target enemies. If the players leave the turrets unmanned, they will autofire on enemy players.

Capturing a pillbox for your side also has an effect on the surrounding area of the zone – if the heroes gain control of it, the surrounding area will change to reflect that: trees will grow plush and green, sidewalks and streets and buildings will be clean and in good repair, and the general tone of the area will match that of Paragon City. On the other hand, if villains gain control, the trees will be bare, the streets will be full of potholes, the buildings will be crumbling and hung with Recluse’s red and black banners.

If one side gains control of four pillboxes, the loosing side will have NPC reinforcements spawn – and we’re not talking Longbow minions. Statesman, Sister Psyche, Positron, and more will spawn for the heroes, and Recluse, Ghost Widow, and the rest of the villain team will appear for the villains. These NPCs are extremely hard to take down, and will attack pillboxes for their side, but killing them will earn special badges (one for each Signature Hero/Villain, and a special badge if you kill them all).

When one side controls six of the seven pillboxes, they win that round. During the next 4 minutes, which Miller referred to as the “Win Time,” the Prestige amount for PvP for the winning side is doubled (so teams would split 200 Prestige instead of 100).

During the Win Time players can also earn Temporal Points for capturing pillboxes, defeating the Signature Heroes/Villains, and participating in PvP. According to Miller, “Earning 1000 of these by the end of the “Win Time” will earn you a temporary power of a smaller version of your side’s “Heavy”, even if your side didn’t win that round (getting 1000 points is hard enough).”

Unlike the other PvP zones in City of Heroes/Villains, players will not be able to get instanced missions in Recluse’s Victory; the zone is focused on PvP and player interaction. Warburg, however, will have new missions available to 40+ characters to sate their instanced appetite.

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