SOE is keeping the good times rolling for DC Universe Online fans with the announcement of DLC 11: Halls of Power Part One. We recently had a chance to sit in on a livestream tour of the new content presented by DCUO creative director Jens Andersen and senior community manager Ted “Mepps” Stone. If you’re a fan of base building and group content, you’ll definitely want to read on for the details!
Before we get into the nitty gritty of the DLC, let’s go over the backstory behind DLC 11. In Halls of Power Part One, heroes will join forces with Fourth World characters such as Mister Miracle and Big Barda in an effort to put a stop to a plan set forth by Darkseid’s son Kalibak and his accomplice, Mantis. Kalibak and Mantis are searching for potent relics found in New Genesis and Apokolips for purposes currently unknown. Of course, villain players will join forces with these two characters to aid them in their quest, so players will be able to see the story from both sides depending on the characters they play.
On the gameplay side of things, all players will be able to enjoy one of DLC 11’s core features, League Halls, as part of Game Update 39. GU39 is set to release sometime before the official launch of DLC 11 and essentially allows Leagues to create their own Halls of Justice within DC Universe Online.
Leagues can decorate these massive bases to their heart’s content and these Halls can even feature an array of impressive statuaries, depicting your League’s top members (in various categories) throughout the Hall. Initially, players will only be able to establish their Halls on the moon; though there are a number of different terrain options to select from split into two categories: sea and crater. These terrain options basically determine what the view is like outside your Hall.
It’s not all cosmetic, though. There are some very real gameplay benefits to establish your own League Hall. League members can earn a new League currency called Prestige through various activities (including donating items to the Hall) which allows members with the proper permissions to purchase a number of Hall additions. These additions can include cosmetic things like the aforementioned statuaries, or some new gameplay features such as the expanding the new League Bank or purchasing Power Proficiencies at the Power Core. Power Proficiencies are League-wide upgrades that can be purchased for Prestige and last for a certain period of time. For example, Jens purchased 30 days of +3% damage for his entire League. League Halls also feature other amenities, such as crafting stations, target dummies, a mailbox, and more.
League Halls will be featured as a core component of the content offered in Halls of Power Part One. Like the Hall feature itself, DLC 11 is decidedly group oriented, featuring one four player Alert and Operation, one six to eight player Operation, and two six to eight player Raids. All of this content requires Combat Rating 100.
Jens took us for a tour of Security Breach, the DLC’s four player Alert. Security Breach tasks players with defending their League Hall (or a random League Hall if their League doesn’t have one yet or they are not part of a League) against attacking Bugs (for villains) or Parademons (for heroes) who are entering the base via Boom Tubes. Jens explained the context of the assault on your League Hall as having to do with the fact you’re basically messing with these factions’ operations in the other content featured in the DLC. It’s also worth noting that these guys look pretty cool and that heroes can acquire two sets of Bug armor while villains can acquire two sets of Parademon armor. This Alert will take you all throughout your Hall, beating back the assaulting forces, and engaging in a number of mini boss fights before squaring off against an iconic character, such as Mantis, to wrap things up. The fights we saw often featured mechanics requiring player coordination, but seeing as the content demoed was just an Alert, these mechanics didn’t look too complicated. However, Jens did note that things are definitely much harder in the Raids.
A third faction, the Dreggs, who are undead remnants of the Old Gods, guard the relics found deep within the Necropolis of New Genesis and Apokolips. Players will encounter the Dreggs as part of their adventures into the Relics of Urgrund Raid, which Jens briefly demoed for us. Villains will venture into the Necropolis of New Genesis in a race to acquire the Old Gods’ relics before the Bugs get to them first and hide them away. Similarly, heroes will enter the Necropolis on Apokolips to again, stop Darkseid from acquiring said relics. Jens gave us a tour of the Necropolis on Apokolips, where he described the influence for some of the designs found on the Old God technology as having South American influences. Dreggs can also drop their weapons when defeated and these can be temporarily used by players against foes found within the Raid and they all feature some incredibly powerful proc effects. Picking up these weapons will make your character absolutely massive, which is always fun.
DC Universe Online DLC 11: Halls of Power Part One will release on the PC, PS3, and PS4 later this summer.
Michael Bitton / Michael began his career at the WarCry Network in 2005 as the site manager for several different WarCry fansite portals. In 2008, Michael worked for the startup magazine Massive Gamer as a columnist and online news editor. In June of 2009, Michael joined MMORPG.com as the site's Community Manager. Follow him on Twitter @eMikeB
