Greetings Commanders,

If you're looking to hire a samurai for freelance investigations, halt your search because a member of the new Heroes for Hire team is stopping by to unsheathe some knowledge. Stay sharp afterward, as we're also revealing details around new wardrobe options for your Roster, the lowdown on a milestone for your Support specialists, a returning Legend, and events to boost your Roster.

COLLEEN WING

Colleen Wing was born to a history professor father, and a mother whose ancestors were samurai and daimyōs. After her mother died unexpectedly, Colleen moved to Japan and lived for a time with her maternal grandfather. He taught her the ways of the samurai and she soon became extremely skilled and a deadly combatant. When Colleen returned to New York, she found herself caught in a gunfight between criminals and the NYPD, and was rescued by officer Mercedes Knight, or “Misty” for short. The two women found that they had complementary personalities, quickly became close friends, and eventually formed a detective agency together. Through her training as a samurai, Colleen became extremely proficient in martial arts, weapons, and stealth. She's also able to focus her chi to enhance her strength and accelerate her healing.

As a member of the new Heroes for Hire team, Colleen Wing is a Brawler with high Health, Focus, and Damage. She attacks often through her Passive ability and high rate of Counter Attack, while also applying plenty of Bleed to circumvent enemies that rely on high health or Barrier to survive. Pair Colleen Wing with Misty Knight and the rest of Heroes for Hire for maximum effect. Her attacks can't be dodged if Misty Knight is an ally, and Colleen Wing has a chance to gain a Bonus Attack at the end of every Heroes for Hire ally's turn.

Cut down enemies with Colleen Wing:

Traits: Hero, City, Skill, Brawler, Heroes for Hire

Basic - Katana Slash

  • Attack primary target for 330% damage + apply 2 Bleed.
  • On War Defense, when this character performs a Counterattack or Assist, apply 3 Bleed instead.
  • If Misty Knight is an ally, this attack cannot be dodged.

Special - Fearsome Strikes

  • Energy Cost: 4/4
  • Attack primary target for 400% damage + apply 4 Bleed.
  • This attack gains +30% Piercing for each Heroes for Hire ally.
  • Gain 3 Deflect
  • On War Defense, this attack targets the enemy with the highest damage instead of the primary target, ignoring Taunt and Stealth and gains +1,000% Extra Focus.
  • If Misty is an ally, this attack cannot be dodged.

Ultimate - Samurai Flash

  • Energy Cost: 3/3
  • Attack all enemies for 300% Piercing
  • If any target is a Protector, attack that target for 400% Piercing + apply 3 Bleed instead.
  • Apply Heal Block for 2 turns to all enemies.
  • Gain +1,000% Extra Focus for his attack.
  • If Misty Knight is an ally, this attack cannot be dodged.

Passive - Daiymo Lineage

  • On the end of any Heroes for Hire ally turn, 25% chance to attack the most injured non-summoned enemy for 200% damage and +30% Piercing for each Heroes for Hire ally, ignoring Taunt and Stealth + Gain Deflect.  On War Defense, this always attacks.
  • On Turn, gain Deflect + apply Assist Now to an ally Misty Knight
  • On enemy Death, if this character has 2 or more Heroes for Hire allies, apply Offense down to all enemies.
  • On Spawn, On War Defense, if this character has 3 or more Heroes for Hire allies, and if Health is full, and not Charged: gain 2 Charged.
  • At the end of any turn, if Charged, and below 50% Health, Lose 1 Charged, clear all negative effects, heal for 100% of this character's Max Health, gain Offense Up for 2 turns, 2 Deflect, and Deathproof.
  • If Charged, always Revive on Death and gain +10% Damage, +10% Damage Reduction, and +175% Resistance per Charged.
  • Gain +30% Piercing for self and Heroes for Hire allies.
  • While this character has Deflect, gain +100% chance to Counterattack and +20% Block Amount.

COSTUMES

Make room in your S.T.R.I.K.E.-issued locker, because it's time to expand your wardrobe with new Costumes! Launching during the upcoming 5.3 Release, costumes equip a character with a new outfit for battle in your roster. The new outfits are a visual change and will not affect character performance.

You can purchase costumes using either Bits or Costume Credits. Bits are a short-term currency you can earn via limited-time opportunities, such as events, orbs, and offers. Bits will be automatically converted to Costume Credits for future use when an event or opportunity ends. And starting on May 3, 5:00PM (PDT), you can also purchase Costume Credits at any time via the Costume Credits Orb using Power Cores.

Using two currencies -- short and long term -- will make sure your participation in an event is never wasted. Not interested in costumes for a certain event? The Bits you earned will be converted to Costume Credits for future use. Please note that event pricing and the Costume Credit conversion rate are subject to change.

Be sure to spend your Bits and Costume Credits regularly, as there's a cap to the max number you can keep in your inventory. Bits will only be converted to Costume Credits up to the cap, and any excess Bits will be discarded.

Now, how do you get your hands on slick new threads? To unlock a costume, you can either head to the new Costumes Tab in the Store or go directly to your roster. The Costumes Store will display some of the available costumes, but not all the options. To view all the characters with costumes, filter your roster by "Costumes" and then go to the newly added Costume Select screen to purchase a costume. Select costumes will be event-exclusive and may have limited-time availability, so keep an eye out for these collector's items.

Captain Marvel and Elektra will sport the first costumes, so keep an eye out for their additions to the Store. We'll also have upcoming events and other opportunities, so look forward to a fresh look for your roster.

SUPPORT INCOMING!

Move over, Blasters and Brawlers, because it's your Support characters' time to shine in the upcoming event: Support Incoming! During this limited-time event, battle with Support characters in Blitz and Raids, or with any character in Arena to earn points toward daily milestones. Inject life into your roster with rewards that include Armory 15 Orb Fragments, Gear Credits, Superior Catalyst Parts, Advanced Gear Parts, and more. This event starts soon, so patch up your Support characters for this important mission.

SILVER PROMOTION CREDITS AVAILABILITY

In the near future, the Doom Raids will be graduating from the current First Strike (Beta) status. To help players better prepare for the challenge, we’ll be increasing the amount of Silver Promotion Credits available through regular gameplay by ~50 per month, mostly through the S.T.R.I.K.E. Pass and Monthly Login Calendars. We are targeting these changes sometime in May and will keep you informed as we get closer to them going live.

RETURNING LEGENDARY EVENT

On May 4th you'll have your next opportunity to recruit Black Bolt in his returning Legendary Event, "Unite the Kingdoms." To add this Inhuman Blaster to your roster, you'll need to assemble a 5-star team (minimum) of Asgardians. Be on the lookout for your chance to elevate your Asgardians with the upcoming 2x Bonus Event: 4 Asgard.

UPCOMING BLITZES

Hit hard while being able to take a punch with this week's Blitzes. Ben Grimm is up first on April 26 with the Clobberin’ Time Blitz, where you can rock enemies in the name of the Thing character shards. Then Blob rumbles into action next with the Massive Mutant Blitz. Earn Blob shards and make sure this Brotherhood Protector is truly an unmovable Mutant.

BONUS & FLASH EVENTS

Gifted Gathering

Heading your way to help prep for Magneto's Legendary Event is Gifted Gathering, where you can evolve your roster with 2x X-Men and Brotherhood character shard rewards in Campaign nodes. Filter your roster using the trait "X-Men" or "Brotherhood" to find all eligible characters.

Chaos Theory & Wakanda Nation

Back for your monthly chance to restock your Silver and Gold Promotion Credits is the Chaos Theory Event. On April 30, assemble your Wakandan team and lead them through Chaos Theory missions to earn Silver and Gold Promotion Credits. Prep your Wakandans for Chaos Theory with the Wakanda Nation Event on April 29, where Campaign nodes will reward double shards for Wakandans. Filter your roster using the trait Wakandan to find all eligible characters and their corresponding nodes.

Until next time…

Good luck, Commanders!