Upcoming Patch Preview - R48 Discussion

Reposted here for conversation sake. Larger content patch this time around in comparison to R46 and R47. As always, note that this is only a preview and not the final Patch Notes for R48.

Gameplay

- Victory Bonus! S.H.I.E.L.D. quartermasters are offering up to a 30 Iso bounty per battle an Agent completes victoriously in Versus Tournaments.

o Each time an Agent skips a battle, this bonus is reduced by 10. o This bonus continues to reduce until it is -10 Iso per skip. o The bonus is Event-wide, not per node o The bonus resets every time a battle is completed (win or lose)

- Iso-8 has always had varying properties that have changed over time. Recently combat boosts using Iso-8 as their base have been used in combat both against and for H.A.M.M.E.R. New technology has allowed certain boosts to be concentrated, essentially allowing them to stack. All stacking boosts do so additively, so two 20% boosts will act as a 40% boost.
- The nature of Iso-8 and its effects on combat have also reduced the efficiency at which some boosts are created by the S.H.I.E.L.D. quartermasters. As a result, some boosts have been ‘retired’ from active service. What this means in practice is that those boosts are still available for Agent use but no further boosts can be gained through either missions or purchase. Similar stackable Boosts are intended to be procured by the quartermasters to replace them.
- Alliances are now available for S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents to join. The Alliance system is brand new and as of current is fairly basic in scope. S.H.I.E.L.D. technologists, as well as Bruce Banner and Tony Stark are working to expand this functionality as time moves on and the battle against H.A.M.M.E.R. becomes more heated.

o Agents may create an Alliance for others to join o Agents may view the roster of any other Agents in their Alliance o An option to search for Alliances is available for Agents to browse currently open Alliances

- Bruce Banner’s research on the Gamma Bomb have paid off in an unexpected way. Using Iso-8 as its base, a new style of energy reactor has been created with Gamma Bomb technology. Anyone that is within range of these controlled environments when the reactor is active has found themselves able to alter the strength of their abilities, but at a cost to another one of their strengths. S.H.I.E.L.D. technologists have termed this phenomenon a “Power Shift”, although SHIELD Field Agents have taken to calling it a “Respec”

o Power Shifting may only be done to a character that has 13/13 abilities o Using an ability comic (or paying the Hero Point cost) for the power desired, an Agent may choose to add a point to that power while reducing one of the other powers by one point.

UI

- Affirmation screens have been added to Versus Shield and cover pack purchases - Agents viewing other Agent's rosters will now see all available heroes sorted by their level

Misc

- If an Agent Versus name registration fails, the S.H.I.E.L.D. servers now suggest a valid name - Time is now handled by the S.H.I.E.L.D. server which should eliminate occurrences of Agents seeing some events end “early” due to their device’s system clock being set incorrectly

Android Only

- Implemented Google+ Cloud Saving. This can be found in the Options menu. - Agents are now able to gain Achievements for in-game actions. This functionality is basic in form and will be built upon in further iterations of the software. S.H.I.E.L.D. is also looking into the feasibility of bringing this incentive system to other Agent platforms as well. - Fixed an issue preventing some devices from detecting taps in-game (most notably the Dell Venue 7)