The City of Heroes: Going Rogue website has updated with a sneak peak into new characters and factions in the upcoming expansion. The first is Marauder, a 7' 11" tall man with cybernetic arms, sunglasses, and an ominous smile. He resembles Cage from the Marvel universe or Jax from Mortal Combat. Also featured on the website is a fictionalized police transmission that you can listen in on that will show you the power of the new organized threat, The Syndicate.

Going along with the grittier, shades-of-gray tone of Going Rogue, Marauder is tasked by Emperor Cole to stop the Resistance, who may be more in the right than the Emperor's law would afford them. With the new Rogue and Vigilante alignments adding some new moral options to the expansion, it looks like right and wrong in City of Heroes won't be so black and white anymore.

City of Heroes is Going Rogue and if you pre-order the expansion, you will get two new power sets. Dual Pistols was revealed today and allows players to dual wield and use swappable ammo. The set will be available immediately from the NCSoft store.

The new City of Heroes expansion, Going Rogue, will offer players that pre-order the game a couple of new power sets. This new video shows of one of them.

Paragon Studios announced last week that City of Heroes Issue 17: Dark Mirror will launch in April and introduce a major graphics enhancement and new content to the game. Well, it looks like that was just the beginning. Paragon has unveiled the official Issue 17 overview page, and it contains a ton of details on the free update:

"From animated tails to Mission Architect improvements, to new badges, missions, emotes and more; Issue 17: Dark Mirror has a little something for everyone!"

You can read all the details from the overview page after the jump. If you haven't seen them yet, be sure to check out some before and after comparisons of the graphics enhancement in our screenshots gallery.

The new Dual Pistols power set has entered open beta, which means City of Heroes players can try it out in the Training Room before it goes live March 2 for users who pre-order the Going Rogue expansion. Information on how to join the test server can be found here for North American players and here for European players.

You can read the feedback and discussion on the power set in this thread on the official forums. You can read the full Training Room patch notes after the jump.

March 4 may be more than two weeks away, but former and current City of Heroes players will definitely want to mark the date on their calendars. The next Double XP and re-activation weekend kicks off that day at 8:59 a.m. PST and runs through March 7 at 11:59 p.m.

All participating players will earn double XP, Influence, and Infamy for their accomplishments in-game during the event. In addition, all inactive accounts in good standing will be re-activated free of charge for the entire double XP weekend.

As we've reported, players who pre-order the upcoming Going Rogue expansion beginning March 2 will get immediate early access to the Dual Pistols power set, which means players can take advantage of the ability during the double XP event.

Paragon Studios made a couple of exciting announcements today for City of Heroes fans. The team just revealed that Issue 17: Dark Mirror will launch this April and introduce a major graphics enhancement and new content to the game. The "Ultra Mode" setting will improve lighting, reflections, shadows and water effects. You can view some before and after comparisons in our screenshots gallery.

Issue 17 will also give players "a new and nefarious foe who will be able to match them blow for blow." Other features will include new badges, new missions, new emotes, Epic Archetypes at level 20, Mission Architect improvements, and enhancements to UI and game systems.

In addition, Paragon announced that players who pre-order the Going Rogue expansion beginning March 2 will get immediate early access to the Dual Pistols power set, and access to the Demon Summoning power set starting in April. The beta begins this spring, and Going Rogue is scheduled to launch in July.

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and Paragon Studios is helping City of Heroes players celebrate both in-game and out. We've already reported that the in-game Spring Fling event will be held from Feb. 9 to March 2, but Paragon also recently kicked off its Secret Admirer Contest in honor of the holiday.

Players are invited to create a digital or homemade Valentine the express their love and admiration for War Witch. Entries will be judged based on creativity, originality, visual appearance, and relevance to City of Heroes. The grand prize winner will receive a prize package worth $251 that includes a Logitech G35 Surround Sound Headset. Submissions must be received by Feb. 28.

Paragon Studios has made a couple of announcements that should interest City of Heroes players. The first is that the Spring Fling is returning from Feb. 9 to March 2 to help players celebrate Valentine's Day. You can earn unlockable costume pieces and badges and try out two temporary powers during the event. You can find out more details on the Spring Fling page.

The second announcement is that Dr. Aeon is currently hosting his second Mission Architect Contest. Submissions must be sent in by Feb. 24, so get to work now if you'd like the chance to win a permanent title on a character of your choice. Check out the official rules for more details.

Paragon Studios has announced that its free character server transfer service in City of Heroes has been extended until Feb. 28 at 11:59 p.m. PST. This has been done simply due to popular demand so players have the opportunity to "hop between servers to participate in in-game events, meet up with friends, or just explore and experience new communities."

You can complete up to six transfers a week per account, but they're not available between North American and European servers.You can read the rest of the restrictions after the jump.