We attended a City of Heroes panel at PAX East to learn about Issue 20: Incarnates straight from the team.

City of Heroes is celebrating its seventh anniversary this month, and from the size of the audience at the game's PAX East panel it seems clear that the superhero MMO is still going strong. Players got their first look at the upcoming Issue 20 update and learned that Global Server Access will soon combine the North American and European servers into one list.

The City of Heroes panel was comprised of Lead Producer Nate “Second Measure” Birkholz, Senior Environment Artist Ryan “No Redname” Roth and Associate Community Manager Tia “Avatea” Paraurahi. Keep reading after the jump for all the details.

After announcing the Global Server Access plan to loud applause, Birkholz dove into the contents of Issue 20: Incarnates. “It's the name of the end-game. It's woven throughout the lore,” he said.

In addition to end-game content, Issue 20 will introduce new task and strike forces for levels 20-40. “We wanted to give low-level character a chance to get in the action,” Birkholz said.

For heroes, the Admiral Sutter Task Force will ask players to defend the world against the Praetorian invasion. The Mortimer Kal Strike Force for villains, on the other hand, focuses on a lust for power. You will meet Positron and obtain the Flames of Prometheus, a legendary Incarnate artifact. “You get to keep an Incarnate artifact as a level 20-40 villain, which will give you extra power,” Birkholz said. You can turn it in at level 50 to go toward the Incarnate system.

Birkholz then discussed the new Team-Up Teleporter feature, which he described as “looking for group turned on its head.” Using the teleporter, players can queue up for Incarnate Trials with the push of a button. “We want to make it very accessible for players who want to participate,” he said.

And with that comment, the panel dove into the Incarnate Trials that are being added in Issue 20. The Behavioral Adjustment Facility is a high-tech prison, and players need to keep the prisoners from escaping. “It's a tower defense game in reverse,” Birkholz said. Players will be taking on Nightstar and Siege in this Incarnate Trial, which Birkholz said took about 20 minutes to complete with a good group in beta.

The panel then moved onto the Lambda Sector Incarnate Trial. "It's a high-tech military facility where they design weapons used in the Praetorian Invasion," Birkholz said. Players will split into two teams and fight their way through two paths and gather materials to ultimately face Marauder.

Next on the schedule was a discussion of Issue 20's new Incarnate Slots: Judgment, Lore, Destiny and Interface. “We want you to feel really powerful when you use Incarnate abilities,” Birkholz said. Roth added that the art team is excited about these powers, and Paraurahi said that the feedback from the players has been tremendous.

So what lies beyond Issue 20? The Keyes Island Reactors Incarnate Trial will pit you against Anti-Matter, Positron's evil twin. Birkholz said that if you have a high enough stealth score, you can sneak in and bypass some of the defenses.

Roth said that the Underground Praetoria Incarnate Trial was made to “feel very alien,” and Birkholz hinted that the enemy you're fighting at the end of it is “spectacular.”

The team ended the panel with a look at the Issue 20: Incarnates trailer. Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Darryl Gangloff, Editor-in-Chief