I may play CoV for a month, just so I can unsubscribe again and leave feedback. I've been reading the CoH site, and they've really been changing the game around. This ED really takes away the character customization which I loved so much.
Enhancement Diversification:
This is a new system being implemented into City of Villains and City of Heroes (when City of Villains launches) to promote the use of more different types of Enhancements in powers. Using a system of diminishing returns, when slotting the same type of Enhancement into a power, you will begin to see less effect of that Enhancement when the bonus reaches a certain threshold. The effectiveness of Enhancements you are slotting in can now be seen in the Enhancement Slotting screen.
What does this mean?
Simply, if you are slotting Enhancements and your bonus to a single attribute reaches 70% through Enhancements, you will begin to see a drop in the amount each Enhancement should be giving you. If you exceed 100% bonus, then the drop will be more severe. We have added to the Enhancement Slotting screen a display of how much bonus you are getting from your Enhancements. When you are adding in Enhancements that will be reduced in effectiveness you will be able to tell.
Note that this only affects Enhancements of the same bonus. So you can have a Damage bonus of 66.66%, and an Accuracy bonus of 66.66% (from 2 Single Origin (SO) Damage and 2 SO Accuracy Enhancements) and you will not be affected in any way. Adding in another SO Damage Enhancement will not give you a 99% bonus, but a 94% bonus, because the damage bonus now exceeds 70%.
A good rule of thumb is “2 Single Origins Enhancements (SOEs) = No Reduction. 3 SOEs = Slight Reduction. 4, 5 or 6 SOEs = Major Reduction”
(Also note that the above examples are for Enhancements that are +8.35% bonus for Training, +16.6% bonus for Dual Origin (DO), and +33.3% bonus for Single Origin)
What if I don’t have more than 2 SOs of any one type in my powers already?
Then you have nothing to worry about, your character will function exactly as they did previous to this feature being added.
Does this affect Dual Origin Enhancements (DOEs) at all?
Yes. If you have 5 DOEs of all the same type you would normally get an 83% bonus. Because of Enhancement Diversification your bonus will actually only get an 82% bonus. If you have 6 DOs of all the same type, instead of a 100% bonus you will have a bonus of 95%.
Are Hamidon Enhancements affected?
Yes. The bonuses that a Hamidon Enhancement gives you that exceed 70% will be reduced. Because of this change, Hamidon (and other dual-purpose) Enhancements are now combinable. You can only combine dual-purpose Enhancements that affect ALL the same bonuses (so you can combine Damage/Accuracy with another Damage/Accuracy, but not with a Damage/Range Reduction).
This totally cripples my character! I thought you were done balancing the game?
All the Issue 4 and 5 balance adjustments were done with this system in place internally here at Cryptic. All playtests, QA checks, difficulty adjustments and balances have been done with Enhancement Diversification in mind since March 2005.
What about Stamina? I need this to make sure I have enough Endurance to power my powers.
Because of the effect that Enhancement Diversification has on the Stamina power, we are lowering the Endurance cost of every non-Auto power in the game by 13.33%.
What if a power only takes one type of Enhancement to begin with?
You have a couple of choices. You can respec the character and only go so far as putting a couple slots into the power, or you can go with more slots and eke out a little more effectiveness out of the Enhancements.
How can I tell when I am not getting full effectiveness out of an Enhancement?
On the Enhancement Slotting Screen you will now see what bonuses Enhancements are giving you, and what effect slotting the next one will have. This will help you make the choice as to what Enhancements to slot over what.
Does it matter what order I slot Enhancements in?
No. The reduction in effectiveness is calculated off the total bonus you are receiving, so it does not matter what order you slotted the Enhancements in.
How is combining Enhancements affected by this?
Enhancements that are higher level than you give you a bonus above normal Enhancements, if you combine Enhancements to get a higher bonus, this may put you over the point at which a reduction in effectiveness takes place.
Some Enhancements give me a 33.33%/16.66%/8.35% bonus, and others give me a different bonus, how are these affected by Enhancement Diversification?
There are four categories of Enhancements, Schedule A, Schedule B, Schedule C, and Schedule D. The majority of Enhancements fall into the Schedule A category. This means that an even-level Training Origin Enhancement gives an 8.35% bonus, an even-level Dual Origin Enhancement gives me a 16.66% bonus, and an even-level Single Origin Enhancement gives a 33.33% bonus. All of the examples above assume using Schedule A Enhancements, since these are the most common.
Schedule B Enhancements are Defense Buff, Damage Resistance, Range Increase and To Hit Buff. These have a smaller bonus because a small shift in these values has a larger impact on gameplay. With these Enhancements a Training Origin Enhancement gives a 5% bonus, a Dual Origin Enhancement gives a 10% bonus, and a Single Origin Enhancement gives a 20% bonus. Enhancement Diversification for these bonuses kicks in at 40% with a severe drop at 60%.
What Enhancement Types are what bonuses (schedules)?
Schedule A Enhancements (33.33%, 16.66%, 8.35%) are:
Accuracy, Confuse, Damage, Defense DeBuff, Disorient, Drain Endurance, Endurance Discount, Fear, Fly, Heal, Hold, Immobilize, Intangible, Jump, Recharge, Recovery, Run, Sleep, Snare, Stun, Taunt, To Hit Debuff
These bonus types start to see reduction when the bonus is 70% or more, and a severe reduction at 100% bonus or greater. So your bonuses when slotting in multiples of the same Single-Origin Enhancement work out to:
1 SO: +33.3%
2 SO: +66.6%
3 SO: +95%
4 SO: +100%
5 SO: +105%
6 SO: +110%
Schedule B Enhancements (20%, 10%, 5%) are:
Range, Defense Buff, Resist Damage, To Hit Buff
These bonus types start to see reduction when the bonus is 40% or more, and a severe reduction at 60% bonus or greater. So your bonuses when slotting in multiples of the same Single-Origin Enhancement work out to:
1 SO: +20%
2 SO: +40%
3 SO: +56%
4 SO: +59%
5 SO: +62%
6 SO: +65%
Schedule C Enhancements (40%, 20%, 10%) are:
Interrupt
This bonus type starts to see reduction when the bonus is 80% or more, and a severe reduction at 120% bonus or greater. So your bonuses when slotting in multiples of the same Single-Origin Enhancement work out to:
1 SO: +40%
2 SO: +80%
3 SO: +112%
4 SO: +118%
5 SO: +124%
6 SO: +130%
Schedule D Enhancements (60%, 30%, 15%) are:
Knockback
This bonus type starts to see reduction when the bonus is 120% or more, and a severe reduction at 180% bonus or greater. So your bonuses when slotting in multiples of the same Single-Origin Enhancement work out to:
1 SO: +60%
2 SO: +120%
3 SO: +168%
4 SO: +177%
5 SO: +186%
6 SO: +195%
That, and the super bases just look awesome.
