Marvel’s Avengers hit one of its last big milestones today, as it has just received its last major update, something Crystal Dynamics announced in January. This patch unlocks hundreds of free cosmetics for every character, in addition to tweaking some of the game’s systems.
While Crystal Dynamics had previously said that all cosmetics would be free, it has recently walked that back just a bit with a more accurate statement. “Nearly” all cosmetics have been unlocked, and the only ones that haven’t are items that players have always had to unlock through the campaign. This means that everything players had to buy with real money or get through Shipments has been unlocked, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe skins to the ones from the comics, but those gained through normal gameplay or purchased from the cosmetics vendor will still require work.
However, almost every character has dozens and dozens of costumes to try out, some of which, like Thor’s prehistoric Odin costume and Black Widow’s 2012 Avengers suit, are completely new. Iron Man’s War Machine armor is also among those new skins, but it’s only for players who have unlocked at least one achievement or trophy (or for those who will unlock one before April 1).
Credits have been converted to other resources, as Crystal Dynamics previously explained. The above image should help players understand the conversion rates. Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors have been taken out from the game, but players will now get a permanent 1.5 multiplayer on fragments and experience.
The game is also still being delisted from digital storefronts on September 30, and servers will stay on for the foreseeable future so players can play solo or in co-op. Some minor fixes might be deployed until then (like the hotfix coming on April 4), but the game will mostly be left alone after it gets delisted. Crystal Dynamics said it “can’t guarantee that [it] will be able to address issues that occur due to unforeseen circumstances” after September, so bugs that pop up after that might go unfixed since the studio will presumably be fully focusing on the next Tomb Raider game.
The rest of the patch includes small balance changes and bug fixes. Here are the full Marvel’s Avengers 2.8 patch notes:
New Features
- The Marketplace has been unlocked! What does this mean?
- Nearly all MCU- and non-MCU-inspired Outfits, Emotes, Takedowns, and Nameplates are now automatically available on your Hero Card.
- Items that are earned through the campaign, however, or purchased through the Cosmetic Vendor must be earned or purchased, respectively, as they always have been.
- Both the Shipments system and Hero Challenge Cards have both been completely removed from the game. Items that were previously earnable from Shipments and Hero Challenge Cards are included in the hundreds of Marketplace items that are automatically granted when you update to v2.8.
- You do not need to be connected to the internet to be able to access all of the unlocked Marketplace content after updating to v2.8.
- As a thank-you to players who’ve been with us on the journey, we’re granting a special Founder’s Gift – Iron Man’s ‘Variable Threat Response Battle Suit.’ This Outfit will be automatically granted to any player who has earned at least one Trophy/Achievement before April 1.
- All existing Credits balances have been converted to in-game resources. The chart below breaks down that conversion. For questions regarding your balance conversion, please contact our Support team at: http://support.crystald.com/
- Owned Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors have been completely removed from the game. In their place, there is now a permanent 1.5x multiplier on Fragments earned and XP gained.
- There will be a small hotfix, Update 2.8.1, that goes live on April 4 to address a Known Issue. (This issue is detailed in the Patch Notes.)
Reassemble Campaign & Avengers Initiative
- Friendly fire! AI Companions will no longer target Kate Bishop’s Decoy when it is deployed during certain boss encounters.
- We fixed an exploit where the Winter Soldier could activate the heavy intrinsic attack ‘Blast Zone’ as a heavy dodge attack if ‘Vengeful Ghost’ was not a purchased skill.
- Banter between Jane and Bucky, which wasn’t activating for some players, now triggers when intended.
Combat
- We fixed an issue where Black Panther’s ‘Kinetic Boom’ skill was not increasing the damage of ‘Panther’s Dive.’
- Thor’s ‘Rampant Supercharge’ perk now functions properly when ‘Warrior’s Fury’ is activated.
- Hawkeye’s ‘Rocket Arrow’ wasn’t initiating for some players when the ‘Volatile Rockets’ skill was activated, but the ‘Rocket Arrow’ now activates, as intended.
- Switching gun types at the start of a charge animation no longer prevents the Winter Soldier from executing ranged power attacks.
- You are no longer able to use the Winter Soldier’s ‘Press the Charge’ skill without having first acquired it.
- The Mighty Thor’s gear perk ‘Divine Blast Assistance’ now applies intrinsic overload to teammates, as intended.
- The Winter Soldier’s ‘Lethal Rampant Plasma Boost’ perk now grants nanites when intended.
- Ms. Marvel’s ‘Ultimate Lethal Cryo Administrator’ gear perk now applies the correct number of Cryo charges to allies.
- The Ultimate Lethal Plasma Administrator gear perk now grants charges when defeating an enemy on the initial hit.
- The Winter Soldier’s ‘Reactive Gamma Administrator’ gear perk now grants the correct number of charges to allies when using ‘Soldier’s Generosity.’
- Similarly, we fixed the Winter Soldier’s ‘Reactive Gamma Administrator’ perk so that it grants charges, as intended, to allies for hitting enemies with ‘Bloodletting.’
- Both the Winter Soldier’s ‘Cryo-’ and ‘Plasma Administrator’ perks now grant charges to allies.
- Ms. Marvel’s ‘Polymorph Counter Spike’ perk now increases Critical Attack Damage, as intended.
- Kate Bishop’s ‘Explosive Blast Frenzy’ perk now increases the firing speed of explosive arrows, as intended.
- We fixed an issue with Heroes and invisibility where completing a takedown would enable enemy attacks on the player while the invisibility effect was active. That’s not how invisibility works!
Gear and Rewards
- Endgame Mission Rewards (Both OLTs and Raid)
- Superior gear can now be obtained from every completion, not just the weekly rotation.
- Family Reunion and both versions of the Discordant Sound raid now grant up to PL 165 gear.
- Events and Cloning Lab now provide a path to PL 175 gear.
- Gear Upgrading – PL 165 to PL 175
- Resources required to bring a piece of gear from the old PL cap to the new PL cap has been reduced.
- Upgrade module cost is now capped at 150 per upgrade within this range.
- Dismantling exotic gear returns 100 upgrade modules. 50 are returned from legendary gear.
- Gear
- Nanite charges from Cloning Lab gear now apply status damage via heavy melee attacks. Status build-up has been increased.
- Cooldowns reduced for major artifact active effects.
- Exotic artifact stat scaling improved.
User Interface
- The Winter Soldier’s skill icons now display properly in the Hero Terminal.
- JARVIS is back online! The Cloning Lab gear reward charges were not always appearing on the HUD when defeating enemies, but charges now display properly.
- Lorem oop-sum! We replaced the placeholder text that appears in Captain America’s ‘Vanguard Charge’ skill with the correct description.
- We repositioned Hawkeye’s Heroic Mission Chain reward icon to appear in the correct place.
Art and Animation
- When wearing his “Wasteland Warrior” Outfit, Hulk’s right shoulder no longer tears during gameplay.
- The Winter Soldier’s gun no longer clips through his armor during gameplay.
- The Winter Soldier’s muzzle flash VFX now display properly when executing takedowns on dreadbots during multiplayer sessions.
- There’s a glitch in the multiverse! The Mighty Thor now uses the correct Mjolnir when activating her Ultimate while wearing her MCU-inspired Outfit.
- Cap’s shield can do many things, but invisibility is not one of them! We fixed an issue where Captain America’s shield would disappear momentarily when using the ‘Looking Sharp’ emote.
- We fixed an issue where the Winter Soldier’s rifle would appear, stuck to his hand, during several interactions on the Helicarrier (including the interaction with Mjolnir).
- Similarly, the Winter Soldier’s rifle no longer attaches to random props when performing various emotes.
- We adjusted The Mighty Thor’s ‘Unhelmed’ Outfit mesh so that the Outfit displays the correct hair color.
- Bucky’s legs no longer distort or experience clipping with Cap’s shield when using the ‘Passing the Mantle’ emote.
- Captain America’s shield now reseats on his arm properly when activating his intrinsic ability while vaulting.
Known Issues
- Faction Terminal Missions and Assignments will not be completable from 12 p.m. UTC to 5 p.m. local time. This will be fixed in an upcoming hotfix, Update 2.8.1, which launches on April 4.
