So, if you play DC Universe, we learned this week that it's likely you're playing on the PS4. The recent launch of DCUO on the PS4 has been hugely successful for SOE, with 54% of the DCUO players now playing on the new console. Jens Andersen gave us the skinny on all things DCUO at this week's SOE Live. Needless to say, it's a LOT.
First Jens went over all the stuff they've added to the game since SOE Live 2013: Loot Changes to lessen RNG, Feat Unlocking Account Wide, Weapon Mastery to give non-clippers a way to compete, Armories, Amenities for your Armories, Teleporters, League Halls, and all the DLC content as well. So it's been a bit of a busy year for the team. But it's about to get a whole lot busier.
Something controversial in the upcoming year is that the DLC is going to be split, no longer whole $9.99 chunks that you have to wait for. Instead, as pieces are finished, SOE will be able to release them into the wild instead of waiting on just one piece that wasn't ready. With that, while pricing is still in flux, that doesn't mean you'll pay $9.99 multiple times over for more pieces. Things will be prorated so you can buy just the pieces you want, say the new Legend character, or the new power, or the new story. But, as always, subscribers will get all of the DLC with their subscription at no extra cost.
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Here's some of what's coming soon as a taste:
A Complete PVP Revamp with tuning in Arenas to make Time to Kill a lot less boring. They're working on Stat Banding to make things more competitive, and adding new Gear as well with each of the new DLCs. In terms of Legends PVP, there are 8 new heroes coming: Guy Gardner as a Red Lantern, Kyle Rayner as a Blue Lantern, Deathstroke, Green Arrow, Flash, Shazam, Black Adam, and yes... Gorilla Grodd.
And for fans of the Legends mode of playing, but perhaps not happy going into PVP to do it, there will be more Legends PVE coming. The devs will put out themed scenarios where perhaps you'll take the Batman characters and go into an existing dungeon to try and take it down with Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing. Or maybe there will be a themed scenario where you have to go into a dungeon and complete it with Superman and Lex fighting together. That sort of thing.
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But wait, there's more! War of the Light, Amazon Fury, and Halls of Power are all moving onto Part 2 of their respective trilogies. I don't want to spoil too much, but Star Sapphire will be popping up in War of the Light, Brainiac is making a return in Amazon Fury (as well as Hades and Ares), and Orion is coming down the road with Halls of Power.
In terms of new powers? The best part of the game, if you ask me? Get ready, because there are three more powers and a brand new movement power variant based on Flight coming soon. Skimming, like Mr. Miracle is coming. As a variant to flight, Skimming will have the same movement, but way different animations. And that includes combat. It'll be available via the Station Store.
First up on the new power sets is Munitions. Based on Sergeant Rock, Munitions is a Tank and Damage power set, based on explosions, guns, and more explosions. The second is Atomic, a healer/damage power set, based on regen, and radiation mechanics that Jens couldn't talk too much about just yet. And the third new power is Experimental Serums, a tank/damage set based on Banes. Yes, Juicing is coming to DCUO.
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Lastly, as everyone will be happy to hear, a complete UI overhaul is coming soon. No set date yet, but everything across all platforms is getting redone. And yes, they are focusing on PC usability in this regard as well. The ultimate goal is to make it a UI that's far more flexible, useful across all platforms, and less memory hogging. We didn't really see any visuals for this, but Jens said we should be hearing more about it soon.
Be sure to check out our interview with SJ Meuller to learn more about the future of DC Universe Online.
