Many questions have been asked about specifics in regards to the different sources of Uniques, related crafting recipes, achievements and loot boxes. While I don't have concretes answers to some of those questions, here is a more detailed list of what is happening with each of those topics. As I have mentioned in some other posts, the Omega item system will not be launching with the Talent update, it will be coming about a month or so afterwards. The Talent update will include the massive hero updates and the new Talent system and updates to items to remove power points and compensate for that change with new attributes or other changes to the items. The Post Talent update will include removing Uniques from loot tables, achievements, removing many Unique related crafting recipes and more. More detail below!

Boxes

Any of the following loot boxes that players have at the time of the Post-Talent update will continue to drop uniques for as long as they keep the boxes. However, new versions of some of these will be added(I say some, since things like the Blue Box doesn't make sense to keep) to drop different rewards instead of uniques. We will not be replacing Uniques with Omega items in these boxes. For boxes that drop uniques for the hero being used at the time of use, these boxes may not work properly as we are not making uniques for new heroes going forward. I strongly suggest opening these items before the Post-Talent update.

• Coffer of Achievement

• Daily Bonus Quest Loot Box

• Danger Room Blue Box
• Danger Room Black Box
• Ghost Box
• Industry City Reward Box
• Marvel Heroes 1st Birthday Cake
• Marvel Heroes 2-Year Anniversary Cake
• Marvel Heroes 3-Year Anniversary Cake
• Midtown Madness Chest
• Mysterious Blue Omega Box
• Mystic Mayhem Coffer
• Shared Quest Reward Box

Vendors

Vendors that sell uniques as rewards (i.e. Event Vendors, Danger Room Rewards) will have those uniques removed from the vendor loot table with the Post-Talent update. We will add new items to each of these vendors over time to ensure that there are attractive items to purchase. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Cerebra Helmet Interface

• Howard the Duck's Big Freaking Gun

• Jocasta's Holographic Image Inducer
• Machine Man's Chainsaw Arm
• Portal's Darkhawk Armor
• Portal's Helmet
• Standard Issue X-Men Uniform

Crafting

Many changes will be coming to crafting in the upcoming months. The first will be the removal of many recipes that interact with uniques in some form in both the Talent update and Post-Talent update. We really want to reduce clutter recipes on the crafter so we can add new, more exciting ones.

The following recipes will be removed in the Talent update:

• 50k Credit Chest - Transforms three of the same Unique into a Credit Chest worth 50,000 credits.
• 200k Credit Chest - Transforms four of the same Unique into a Credit Chest worth 200,000 credits.
• 500k Credit Chest - Transforms five of the same Unique into a Credit Chest worth 500,000 credits.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. Med Kit - Transforms one simple element into a S.H.I.E.L.D. Med Kit. Critical Success: You create two of this item instead of one.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. Med Kits (6) - Transforms two primitive elements into 6 S.H.I.E.L.D. Med Kits. Critical Success: You create twice as many of this item.
• StarkTech Power Cube Socket - Adds StarkTech Power Cube Socket to a lower level Artifact.

We are removing the exchange recipes for credits during the talent update because we are planning on doing an event during the time between the Talent update and Post-Talent update where we increase the drop rate of all Uniques in a very significant manner. This is to help players gear up and prep for the difficulty slider as much as possible and also help players with any unique related achievements before they become retired in the Post-Talent update. More info on that will come soon. So, that being said - we want to achieve those goals without creating a huge influx of credits in to the economy, as we are working on ways to better balance the entire credit related economy going forward.

Medkits are becoming a standard power and will no longer be craftable, and with power points going away, we wont need a recipe to add sockets to artifacts anymore.

The following recipes will be removed from the game in the Post-Talent update:

• Random Unique Exchange - Transforms three of the same Unique into one Random Level 60 Unique that is usable by a random hero.
• Random Usable Unique - Transforms four of the same Unique into one Random Level 60 Unique that is usable by your current hero.
• Random Any Hero Unique - Transforms five of the same Unique into one Random Level 60 Unique that is usable by Any Hero.
• Relic Exchange (8) - Transforms two of the same Unique into a random stack of 8 relics.
• Relic Exchange (20) - Transforms three of the same Unique into a random stack of 20 relics.
• Relic Exchange (50) - Transforms four of the same Unique into a random stack of 50 relics.
• Small Box of Runes - Transforms three of the same Unique into small box of 5 runes.
• Large Box of Runes - Transforms five of the same Unique into a large box of 10 runes.
• Very Large Box of Runes - Transforms eight of the same Unique into a large box of 30 runes.
• Random Cosmic Affixes - Replace all the affixes on a cosmic item with new affixes.
• Cosmic Rarity Upgrade - Transforms an epic (purple) item into a cosmic item of the same slot and level.
• Random Unique Affixes - Does not change item level or affixes. It only rerolls numbers that have a random range.
• Rare Transformation I - Transforms a level 12 or less rare item into an epic item of the same slot and level.
• Rare Transformation II - Transforms a level 13 to 24 rare item into an epic item of the same slot and level.
• Rare Transformation III - Transforms a level 25 to 36 rare item into an epic item of the same slot and level.
• Rare Transformation IV - Transforms a level 37 to 48 rare item into an epic item of the same slot and level.
• Rare Transformation V - Transforms a level 49 or higher rare item into an epic item of the same slot and level.
• Unique Transformation I - Transforms a level 39 or less unique item into a level 40 version of the same unique.
• Unique Transformation II - Transforms a level 49 or less unique item into a level 50 version of the same unique.
• Unique Transformation III - Transforms a level 59 or less unique item into a level 60 version of the same unique.
• Epic Transformation I - Transforms a level 12 or less epic item usable by another hero into a new item usable by your current hero and binds it to you.
• Epic Transformation II - Transforms a level 13 to 24 epic item usable by another hero into a new item usable by your current hero and binds it to you.
• Epic Transformation III - Transforms a level 25 to 36 epic item usable by another hero into a new item usable by your current hero and binds it to you.
• Epic Transformation IV - Transforms a level 37 to 48 epic item usable by another hero into a new item usable by your current hero and binds it to you.
• Epic Transformation V - Transforms a level 49 to 60 epic item usable by another hero into a new item usable by your current hero and binds it to you.
• Unbind Unique Gear - Unbinds a Unique item from a hero but doesn't change the heroes that can use it.
• Unbind Unique Gear - Unbinds a Unique item from a hero but doesn't change the heroes that can use it.

We are making some significant changes to item progression both while leveling and at end game. We want each rarity to have a significant value and getting an upgrade to drop feels more special to players. Additionally, we understand that RIF/SIF aren't very attractive for players right now and really want to fix that.

The following list of recipes will be updated to work with Omega items in the Post-Talent update:

• Durability Challenge Bonus - Adds a Durability Challenge Bonus Affix to any Item Grade 63 or higher Unique or Cosmic item.
• Energy Challenge Bonus - Adds a Strength Challenge Bonus Affix to any Item Grade 63 or higher Unique or Cosmic item.
• Fighting Challenge Bonus - Adds a Fighting Challenge Bonus Affix to any Item Grade 63 or higher Unique or Cosmic item.
• Intelligence Challenge Bonus - Adds an Intelligence Challenge Bonus Affix to any Item Grade 63 or higher Unique or Cosmic item.
• Random Challenge Bonus - Adds a Random Challenge Bonus Affix to any Item Grade 63 or higher Unique or Cosmic item.
• Random Challenge Bonus (Unique Only) - Adds a random Challenge Bonus Affix to any Unique item.
• Speed Challenge Bonus - Adds a Speed Challenge Bonus Affix to any Item Grade 63 or higher Unique or Cosmic item.
• Strength Challenge Bonus - Adds a Strength Challenge Bonus Affix to any Item Grade 63 or higher Unique or Cosmic item.
• Unbind Item - Unbinds any Armor, Weapon, Team-Up item, Insignia or Artifact from your hero.

The following recipes are still being reviewed and we will discuss at a later date:

• Slot 1 Gear Upgrade I - Upgrade an Item Grade 63 Unique or Cosmic item to Item Grade 66.
• Slot 2 Gear Upgrade I - Upgrade an Item Grade 63 Unique or Cosmic item to Item Grade 66.
• Slot 3 Gear Upgrade I - Upgrade an Item Grade 63 Unique or Cosmic item to Item Grade 66.
• Slot 4 Gear Upgrade I - Upgrade an Item Grade 63 Unique or Cosmic item to Item Grade 66.
• Slot 5 Gear Upgrade I - Upgrade an Item Grade 63 Unique or Cosmic item to Item Grade 66.
• Slot 1 Gear Upgrade II - Upgrade an Item Grade 66 Unique or Cosmic item to Item Grade 69.
• Slot 2 Gear Upgrade II - Upgrade an Item Grade 66 Unique or Cosmic item to Item Grade 69.
• Slot 3 Gear Upgrade II - Upgrade an Item Grade 66 Unique or Cosmic item to Item Grade 69.
• Slot 4 Gear Upgrade II - Upgrade an Item Grade 66 Unique or Cosmic item to Item Grade 69.
• Slot 5 Gear Upgrade II - Upgrade an Item Grade 66 Unique or Cosmic item to Item Grade 69.
• Overseer's Mace - Craft Overseer's Mace, a Level 60 Slot 1 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Claws of the Sisters - Craft Claws of the Sisters, a Level 60 Slot 5 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Fire Giant's Sword - Craft an Fire Giant's Sword, a Level 60 Slot 1 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Lady Hellfire's Talon - Craft Lady Hellfire's Talon, a Level 60 Slot 1 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Lord Brimstone's Hide - Craft Lord Brimstone's Hide, a Level 60 Slot 2 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Bow of the Einherjar - Craft Bow of the Einherjar, a Level 60 Slot 1 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Fragment of Twilight - Craft Fragment of Twilight, a Level 60 Slot 1 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Essence of Jinn - Craft an Essence of Jinn, a Level 60 Slot 5 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Mzee's Hardened Shell - Craft a Mzee's Hardened Shell, a Level 60 Slot 2 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Mask of the Goat - Craft a Mask of the Goat, a Level 60 Slot 5 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Stark Sentinel Adaptive Reactor - Craft a Stark Sentinel Adaptive Reactor, a Level 60 Slot 3 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero
• Omega-Sentinel's Arm Gun - Craft a Omega Sentinel's Arm Gun, a Level 60 Slot 5 Unique Item that is usable by Any Hero.
• Unique Item Exchange - Transforms an Ultimate Upgrade token or extra Team-Up Token into a Unique Item that is usable by your current hero. This will be the same level as the hero that is using the recipe.

We want to make sure that players who have unlocked many of these recipes with Hero and Protector commendations don't feel that the effort was wasted. We have some ideas on how to do that, but we aren't ready to talk about them yet.

Achievements

The specifics are still being locked down on this, but as a broad generalization, any achievements that relate to uniques will be retired and moved to become X-traordinary Feats in the Post-Talents update. As this makes these achievements unable to be completed, we suggest players start working on any they want to complete as soon as possible! As mentioned above, we will be having an event that will assist players who want to complete these once the Talent update goes live. There will be some achievements that will be adjusted (such as "The Burning Crusade" achievement chain). We are putting together a list of all achievements to be retired and those to be adjusted, and will post it in the coming days. Just kidding, it is in the post below!

Point of clarification, this is only impacting Unique items for slot 1-5. All other unique items (rings, medallions, insignias, etc) are unaffected.

I hope this clarifies some of the changes. I'm sure there are some things I might have missed, so feel free to ask questions below.