00:02RATED T FOR TEEN
00:25When Cryptic was working on finishing up issue 9, we were already planning issue 11.
00:30We knew that we wanted two new power sets in it, and those power sets should be chosen
00:34by the players.
00:36The most popular defensive power set requested was Willpower.
00:40This was an idea suggested on the boards that could better emulate natural origin characters
00:44and their apparent superhuman resistances that we see all the time in comic books.
00:48Willpower is primarily a strong mix of resistance, defense, and regeneration effects.
00:53Since normal people don't have shiny glowing ores around them, we wanted this set to have
00:58a minimal but effective visual aspect.
01:00As with most power sets, there are key powers which essentially define it.
01:04For Willpower, those powers are High Pain Tolerance, Rise to the Challenge, and Indomitable Will.
01:10High Pain Tolerance is a Tier 1 passive power which grants some damage resistance to all
01:14damage types and increases your maximum health.
01:17Rise to the Challenge, which is not available to Stalkers, who get reconstruction instead,
01:21is the Taunt Aura power for the set.
01:24Using a sliding scale effect, we made the power so that the more enemies surround the character,
01:29the more regeneration effect he has.
01:31This in turn has a demoralizing effect on enemies, reducing their chances to hit the character
01:36further.
01:38Indomitable Will is the status protection power for the set.
01:41It's a toggle which gives protection against fear, holds, stuns, sleep, and confusion.
01:48It also provides pretty good defense against psionic-related attacks.
01:52For those keeping track, that means that Willpower has both resistance and defense against psionics,
01:58unlike any other power set in the game.
02:01The most highly requested offensive set was Dual Blades.
02:05We knew that this would need a cool shtick in order to separate it from the other weaponry
02:09power sets that we already have.
02:11That's when we implemented the combo system.
02:14Combos work by stringing together specific attacks in the set.
02:18Land them all, and you get an extra bonus.
02:20There are four possible combos within the set.
02:24Attack Vitals, which does bonus damage over time.
02:27Empower, which is essentially a bonus buildup-like effect.
02:31Sweep, which is an area of effect, lethal damage, and knockdown bonus.
02:36And weaken, which is a large penalty to enemies' two-hit and defense attributes.
02:42Stringing together combos is pretty easy.
02:44When you execute the first part of a combo chain, the next part highlights in your power
02:49tray with an orange circle.
02:51If you land that attack, the last part of the chain again is highlighted.
02:55Nail that one, and you get the bonus, as noted by the dialogue and effect.
03:00This makes dual blades an exciting and interactive set.
03:03Players will find that the lack of a secondary effect is offset by the more engaging combo
03:08system of the powers.
03:10Players can tactically decide on what combo is going to be most effective in any given
03:14situation.
03:17Finally, we answer the question of why it is called dual blades, and not dual scimitars,
03:21or dual knives.
03:22This is because, with Issue 11, we are introducing Weapon Customization.
03:27This allows players who choose a power set with weaponry, like dual blades, mace, assault
03:32rifle, or ninja blade, to choose the look of their weapon in the awesome costume creator.
03:37Dual weapons will allow you to choose how each weapon looks, so dual blade characters can
03:42have a long and a short weapon, or too short or too long weapons.
03:46It's up to them.
03:48Issue 11 will launch with several weapon variations for each weapon-based set.
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