Reworking Hero Set Gear

Designer Alex Kende here again to talk about incoming large-scale changes to Hero Set gear that include adding attributes, status effects, name changes, and overall themes or focuses.

But let’s get the most obvious out of the way: Perks have received a huge naming pass to improve clarity even if the description of the Perk is the same. Many Perks on your current gear will get new names but will remain unchanged in application.

Next is the names of the sets themselves. Each of the three Hero Sets will have their title seen in the description panel of mission chains or on the War Table when viewing a mission’s details. This should help pin down where to get what if you’re looking for a specific piece of gear.

Let’s talk about the three Hero sets, their focus, and where you can get each of them.

Classic Power Set

Per Hero Set Names

Legendary Gear Names

  • Captain America     
    • First Avenger
  • Hawkeye     
    • Hunter’s / Tempered
  • Ironman     
    • Modular
  • Kate     
    • Archer’s
  • Hulk     
    • Monstrous
  • Thor     
    • All-Father
  • Ms. Marvel     
    • Saffa
  • Black Panther     
    • Unconquered
  • Black Widow     
    • Infiltrator’s
  • Spider-Man     
    • Spectacular

Exotic Gear Names

  • Captain America     
    • First Avenger
  • Hawkeye     
    • Hunter’s / Tempered
  • Ironman     
    • Modular
  • Kate     
    • Sharpshooter’s
  • Hulk     
    • Monstrous
  • Thor     
    • All-Father
  • Ms. Marvel     
    • Saffa
  • Black Panther     
    • Unconquered
  • Black Widow     
    • Infiltrator’s
  • Spider-Man     
    • Spectacular

Set Focus

The Classic Power set is designed around highlighting several key features of the Hero without focusing on any single aspect. Pieces from this set can be matched well with other sets as it does not rely on itself due to having general overall improvements. This Hero Set is perfect for those trying to create custom builds and filling in the blanks while experimenting.

One example is Kate’s Sharpshooter’s Arrow Mark VI equipped with Disruptor Deconstructor, which grants a huge debuff on enemies from Disruption Arrow. Another example is Sharpshooter’s Bodysuit with Blink Effector, which decreases the cost of teleporting.

Location

Previously the legendary pieces of this set could only be found in Elite Hives and still will be found in Hives.

After Update 2.3, these will also replace the Hero set normally found from Villain Sectors. Normal Villain Sector mission chains will drop a single piece. Elite Villain Sector mission chains will drop two pieces (the typical attack/defense split) with a chance to drop an Exotic piece, which is the first time these will be available.

Normal and Elite Villain Sectors will drop this set with every run and have a small chance at the Exotic versions, but the daily and weekly mission chains have a higher chance.

Changes to the Classic Power Set Coming in Update 2.3

  • Black Widow          
    • Infiltrator’s Belt          
      • Replaced generic Heroic Support regen with Assault Empowerment, which has a high chance to activate a boost of Intrinsic Energy when using Widow’s Bite
  • Thor          
    • Belt of the All-Father          
      • Replaced generic Heroic energy regen with Rampant Supercharge, which increases Willpower and Heroic regeneration while overcharged
  • Captain America          
    • Chestplate of the First Avenger          
      • Replaced Rally Cry Breaker (making exclusive to other sets) with Block Surplus, which increases the amount of intrinsic energy
      • Replaced Reactive Overdrive (making exclusive to another set) with Lethal Nimble Overdrive which activates Captain’s Defense from defeating enemies from block attacks or perfectly evading enemy attacks
    • Safeguard of the First Avenger          
      • Replaced generic Heroic regen with Commander’s Call Safeguard, which increases defense while Captain’s Defense is active
  • Ironman          
    • Modular Mark VII EMF Generator          
      • Replaced Hyper Flux Laser (moved to other sets and slots) with Hulkbuster Impulse which increases Hulkbuster stun damage
    • Modular Mark VII Power Cell          
      • Replaced generic heroic regen perk with Hulkbuster Breaker increasing Hulkbuster damage
      • Replaced Rampant Regeneration with Armory Spike increasing all critical damage from weapons

     

Technical Power Set

Per Hero Set Names

Legendary Gear Names

  • Captain America       
    • Nomad
  • Hawkeye       
    • Hawk’s
  • Ironman       
    • Superior
  • Kate Bishop       
    • Hawkette’s
  • Hulk       
    • Worldbreaker’s
  • Thor       
    • Thunderer
  • Ms Marvel       
    • Marvelous
  • Black Panther
    (Each slot has a different name)       
    • Azzuri’s Claws
    • Chanda’s Gloves
    • Nehanda’s Armor
    • Bashenga’s Favor
  • Black Widow       
    • Red Room
  • Spiderman       
    • Public Menace

Exotic Gear Names

  • Captain America       
    • Nomad
  • Hawkeye       
    • Eagles’
  • Iron Man       
    • Superior
  • Kate Bishop       
    • Hawkbird’s
  • Hulk       
    • Worldbreaker’s
  • Thor       
    • Thunderer
  • Ms. Marvel       
    • Marvelous
  • Black Panther       
    • Azzuri’s Talons
    • Chanda’s Armguards
    • Nehanda’s Battle Guard
    • Bashenga’s Mettle
  • Black Widow       
    • Red Room
  • Spiderman       
    • Public Menace

Set Focus

The Technical Power set is designed around a technical or support aspect of the Hero while being more focused on survival, close combat, and armor. Many Perks will increase the duration of Skills, add defensive/offensive capabilities to Heroics, or help Heroes while in the thick of combat. This set has gotten a huge overhaul with new Perks for Heroes to help meet this intent.

For example, Hulk’s Worldbreaker’s Alloy now has Untouchable Boneshaker, which can activate a short duration Boneshaker after defeating enemies with Rage Attacks or when Perfectly Evading an incoming attack. Another example would be Ms. Marvel’s Marvelous Body Armor, which now has Polymorph Resistance that allows melee attacks to slowly regenerate Willpower while Polymorph is active.

Location

The legendary versions will still be found in Vaults but will now also come from the Vault mission chains.

Gone is the need to hunt for Vault coordinates. The SHIELD mission giver will offer one Vault mission per day while one Elite Vault mission chain will appear weekly on the usual Thursday reset.

The Elite vault mission chains will now award two pieces from this set (attack/defense split) with a chance to drop the Exotic variants. The Exotics were previously only awarded from Last Avenger Standing.

Each completion of a Vault will earn you one of these pieces, but the mission chains have a much higher chance of dropping the Exotic.

Changes to the Technical Power Set Coming in Update 2.3

  • Ms. Marvel          
    • Marvelous Adornments          
      • Replaced Overdrive which increases Polymorph energy regeneration rate with Healing Spirit Extension, which increases the duration of the Healing Spirit buff on Ms. Marvel
    • Marvelous Body Armor          
      • Replaced Healing Spirit Rush with Polymorph Melee Rush, which allows melee attacks to slowly regenerate Willpower while Polymorph is active
  • Black Widow          
    • Red Room Arsenal          
      • Replaced generic status build meter increase with Shadow Ops Breaker, which increases damage based on the amount of Shadow Ops energy you currently have
    • Red Room Corset / Red Room Uniform          
      • Replaced Leeching Strike (making exclusive to another set) with Lethal Invisibility, which has a chance on defeating an enemy to grant Black Widow invisibility
  • Thor
    • Armguards of the Thunderer          
      • Replaced increased status buildup using Odinforce attacks with Warrior’s Fury Destruction, which increases stun, status, and overall damage while Warrior’s Fury is active
    • Chestplate of the Thunderer          
      • Replaced Asgard’s Fury with Odinforce Safeguard, which provides armor based on the amount of intrinsic energy you have
    • Girdle of the Thunderer          
      • Replaced Shock Potentiator with Assault Empowerment, which has a high chance to activate an intrinsic burst on using God Blast
      • Replaced Odin’s Flight with Warrior’s Fury Extension, which increases the duration of Warrior’s Fury
  •  Captain America          
    • Harbingers of the Nomad          
      • Replaced Block Breaker with Captain’s Defense Reactive Trigger, which has a chance to automatically activate Captain’s Defense when taking damage, and completely negating the attack
    • Conduit of the Nomad (now with the proper name ?)          
      • Replaced increased critical chance Perk with Captain’s Target, which states that quickly landing 3 headshots in a row using Shield Throw will activate the Captain’s Charge buff
    • Aegis of the Nomad          
      • Replaced increased status build up perk with Rally Cry Supercharge, which increases health and heroic energy regeneration while Rally Cry is active
    • Rampart of the Nomad / Helm of the Nomad          
      • Replaced Impact Break with Shield Block Safeguard that gives armor based on the amount of shield block energy Cap has
  • Iron Man          
    • Superior Mark XV Doom Fists          
      • Replaced Heavy Modifier with Lethal Lightweight Supercharge, which gives Supercharge Intrinsic energy, heroic energy, and Willpower when defeating enemies with light melee attacks
    • Superior Mark XV R.T. Node          
      • Replaced Bunker Buster Missiles (moved to another set and slot) with Supercharge Safeguard, which gives armor based on the amount of intrinsic energy Iron Man has
    • Superior Mark XV Quantum Reactor          
      • Replaced Overdrive with Supercharge Extension, which increases the duration Supercharge is active
    • Superior Mark XV Quantum Reactor / Superior Mark XIII Arc Accelerator          
      • Replaced Takedown Overdrive (making it exclusive to another set) with Supercharge Safeguard, which gives armor while supercharge is active
  • Hulk          
    • Worldbreaker’s Myofibril          
      • Replaced Status meter build up Perk with Rage Breaker, which increases damage based on the amount of Rage energy Hulk has
    • Worldbreaker’s Alloy          
      • Replaced health regen perk with Lethal Nimble Overdrive, which can activate a short duration Boneshaker after defeating enemies with Rage Attacks or when Perfectly Evading an incoming attack
    • Worldbreaker’s Neuronics          
      • Replaced Monster’s Barrage (moving to the Monstrous set) with Boneshaker Supercharge, which increases health and heroic regeneration while Boneshaker is active
  • Hawkeye          
    • Eagle’s Kit / Hawk’s Bow          
      • Replaced Nightstorm Multiplier (becoming exclusive to Classic Power Set) with Rampant Boon, which increases critical chance while overcharged (Locked on) 

Apex Power Set

Update 2.3 also comes with another round of Perk edits to the Hero set from Priority Missions and Flashback Missions, which is now named the Apex Power Set.

The intent of this set is to excel at a single aspect in the Hero’s kit. Be that power attacks or group attacks, many of the Perks are set up to stack on top of each other to make that specific ability powerful at the cost of adding little to other abilities. Kind of like a glass cannon!

Changes to the Apex Power Set coming in Update 2.3

  • Ms. Marvel           
    • Stormranger’s Nega Bands           
      • Replaced Status damage while Polymorphed with Embiggen Destruction, which increases Stun, Status, and overall damage while Embiggen is active
    • Stormranger’s Coat of Arms           
      • Replaced generic health regen perk with Embiggen Overdrive, which increases intrinsic regeneration while Embiggen is active
  • Black Widow           
    • Natalia’s Cloak           
      • Replaced Shadow Ops Amplifier with Smoke Grenade Reactive Trigger, which has a chance to cast vanish in smoke when taking damage
  • Captain America           
    • Iron Gloves of the Super Soldier           
      • Replaced Brooklyn Brawler Amplifier (which now only exists on the legendary version) with Brooklyn Brawler Overdrive, which Increases intrinsic regeneration while Brooklyn Brawler is active
    • Battle Plate of the Super Soldier           
      • Perk name changed from Brawler’s Vigor to Brooklyn Brawler Extension, which increases the duration from 3 to 8.5 seconds
      • Previous versions of this gear piece are using an old way to trigger that time extension and is limited to 5 seconds and should display as such. Only newer items will see the increased time as it is a “new” Perk
  • Iron Man           
    • Centurion’s Mark XV Bastion / Centurion’s Mark VIII Armaments           
      • Replaced Jarvis barrier Perk with Skyguard Disrupter, which increases energy gained from intrinsic orbs
    • Centurion’s Mark XV Bastion           
      • Replaced evade distance increase with Lethal Nimble Overdrive, which gains Supercharge for a brief duration after defeating enemies with Light Attacks or when Perfectly Evading an incoming attack
    • Centurion’s Mark XV Quantum Reactor           
      • Replaced Rampant Assistance (moving to Modular set) with Arc Overload Assistance, which grants a second Arc Overload charge
    • Centurion’s Mark XIII Arc Accelerator / Centurion’s Mark XV Quantum Reactor           
      • Replaced Hulkbuster Breaker (moved to Modular set) with Electron Shunt, which grants extra intrinsic energy when parrying enemy attacks
      • Replaced generic heroic regen perk with Rampant Spike, which increases critical damage while overcharged
  • Hulk           
    • Planet Cracker Amalgam           
      • Replaced Reflexive Taunt with Boneshaker Rush where melee Attacks slowly regenerate Willpower while Boneshaker is active
    • Planet Cracker Dendrites           
      • Replaced generic heroic regen with Boneshaker Overdrive, which increases intrinsic regeneration while Boneshaker is active
  • Thor           
    • Cincture of Asgard’s Scion / Girdle of Asgard’s Scion           
      • Replaced generic heroic regen perk with Rampant Lethal Extension, which extends Warrior’s Fury duration for each enemy defeated
    • Armor of Asgard’s Scion / Chestplate of Asgard’s Scion           
      • Replaced Suppression Immunity with Lethal Unarmed Cryo Leak, which spreads the Cryo status effect for each enemy defeated with your bare hands