INTRODUCTION
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This guide has been developed to assist players who are taking a free trial of City of Heroes / Villains (CoH/V) get the most out of the experience. It shouldn't be considered an absolute 'must do' list or something to follow absolutely, but to let trial players know about some things they might otherwise miss.
CoH/V FREE TRIAL
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You can access a free trial to CoH/V a number of different ways. MMORPG.com tends to have the CoH/V free trial up regularly, you can receive a 'buddy key' from a friend playing CoH/V to test it out and occasionally it will pop up elsewhere (please don't send me any requests for buddy keys; I'm all out). They're around.
Having got one, you should have already downloaded the game (following the instructions in the email) and be ready to start playing. This guide picks up from this point.
TRIAL RESTRICTIONS
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As of June 2008, trial accounts operate under the
following restrictions:
- Trial Accounts cannot email other players
- Trial Accounts may not level past 13
- Trial Accounts can only have 50 000 influence
- Trial Accounts can only speak in /local, /help or /team
- Trial Accounts cannot invite players to team
- Trial Accounts may join teams, but not invite other players
- Trial Accounts may not join SuperGroups.
These restrictions were put in place to stop real money transaction (RMT) spam being sent from external suppliers, who commonly used trial accounts. RMT spam - encouraging players to go to an external website and use real money to buy CoH/V in-game currency - is against the CoH/V terms of service, was having a negative impact on the playing experience of the player base and was against the terms of service (TOS) that CoH/V players are meant to abide by.
Despite these restrictions, you can still experience a lot within CoH/V and determine if you wish to subscribe (cost: $15 per month).
CHARACTER CREATION
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CoH/V is recognised across the massively multiplayer online genre as having the most customisable character creation system. Given the huge variety in options available, this guide will only provide a broad view of this system.
First off, you have to choose to create a new character and whether that character is going to be a Hero or a Villain. Heroes operate in Paragon City (on the 'blue side') and CoH tends to have a larger number of people playing it. Villains operate in the Rogue Isles (on the 'red side') and CoV has a smaller player base, but arguably a better structured play experience. If you can, try out both sides and see what you think during your trial.
Once you've picked a side, you will have to pick an archetype (AT) and an origin. The origin will have only a minor impact on play - you get a minor inherent power that varies by origin - but your AT determines what powers your character can select. Each side has five different ATs you can try out and they tend to play very differently, especially depending on the power sets you pick. As a rough guide, from most offensive power to least offensive power between levels 1 to 13, the ATs are:
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
HEROES VILLAINS
MOST OFFENSE / DAMAGE Blasters Stalkers
Scrappers Brutes
Defenders Masterminds
Controllers Corruptors
LEAST OFFENSE / DAMAGE Tankers Dominators
(BUT WITH OTHER
ABILITIES)
</pre><hr />
Please note that the above list shouldn't be perceived to say that Hero ATs offer equivalents to Villain ATs - the reality is that each side plays very differently. Villains are a lot more offensively powered than Heroes and are better at soloing. However, Heroes have more buffing / healing powers available to them and function better in teams. Defence can also come from a number of sources - Tankers can take a beating, while Dominators can lock down enemies and prevent them from attacking. What works for your play style might only come from a bit of trial and error in creating a few characters. There are a lot of AT guides in the Player Guides section of the CoH/V forums, so take a look there if you feel you need some more information about building a new character.
Also, please read the descriptions on the origins and the ATs to assist in your decisions. The "easiest" ATs to get a feel for how CoH/V plays are probably the Scrapper heroside and Brutes villainside - both are melee ATs with reasonable levels of defence - but it is up to you to determine how you'd like to play.
Having chosen an AT, you will next be asked to choose a primary and secondary power set. Again, please read over your options and feel free to go backwards to change your powersets / AT at any time.
Next is choosing your powersets. You'll be asked to choose a primary powerset and a secondary powerset. Hovering the mouse on the powers (aka mouse over) will give you some information about what each of the powers do. Once you select the powersets you want, you'll have a choice in selecting your first primary power set power but no choice in selecting your first secondary power set power.
Now you are given the option to customise your character's body. Use the sliders to make him or her shorter or taller and / or wider or thinner. Some default options (e.g. Athletic) exist to give you an idea of what combined effects look like.
Once you've chosen a body, you then get to pick out a costume. CoH/V has a huge number of options available for character customisation and if you go through every option just to take a look you can spend literally an hour (or more). If you don't want to be that patient, you can hit the Random button down the bottom of the screen and keep pressing it until you come across a costume you like.
One tip for making costume creation easier: turn off the "Copy Colors Across Costume" option by clicking on the green button when you are tweaking the costume - this will let you have greater control over the colours you manually assign to individual costume elements.
Once you're happy with your costume, the final step is to choose a name for your character. This may take a couple of goes to find a name that is available. You will be invited to go through the tutorial or skip it - if this is the first time playing CoH/V, you should take the tutorial (which won't take long to complete). If you choose to skip the tutorial heroside, it is recommended that you choose Galaxy City (GC) to start playing. This is because Atlas Park (AP) is often very crowded, so going to GC will give you a bit more breathing space initially to find your feet. Villainside you don't have a choice - if you skip the tutorial, you start out in Mercy Isle, but can select from two different contacts to start with.
PLAYING THE GAME
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Below is some recommended steps to get the best experience out of playing CoH/V. Getting from lvl 1 to 13 will probably only take you a few hours at most (approximately 6 at most, depending on if you team up and which AT / powerset combination you have chosen) so it shouldn't take too long to play through the following areas.
Level 1:
This is mostly likely the tutorial zone (if you've skipped it, read on from the next level range below). This is Breakout villainside and Outbreak heroside. Follow the instructions to run through the tutorial and learn the basics of playing CoH/V.
Starting off, you can customise the CoH/V user interface quite a bit if you want, so feel free to drag the windows around until you are comfortable.
At the top of the chat box is a tab marked "Team". Click on it. It will open up a box that shows your team search status and a teaming comment. Set your team search status to "Looking for any" and your teaming comment to "Trial player - please send invite; I won't be able to reply to outside of /local, /team or /help". This will let other players know you are a trial player and to just send team invites straight to you. If you don't want to team, set the team search status to "Not looking for any team", which will block any invites sent to you.
The help channel can be very useful. By typing "/h, <question>" you can ask other players a <question> if you get stuck.
- For heroes, if you arrest 100 Contaminated you get the Isolator badge. If you can get on a group of heroes doing this, arresting 100 Contaminated won't take that long.
- For villains, if you run up the stairs to the left of where you start up to the top of them and explore cell #15, you will receive the Jail Bird badge.
Badges that you find can be used as a title by clicking on the Badges tab on the Nav box at the top of the screen, then finding the badge you've received and clicking on it. In the later game, certain combinations of badges will give your character bonuses, but you won't be able to obtain these during the trial.
Finishing the tutorial gives heroes the choice of starting off in Atlas Park or Galaxy City - Galaxy City is recommended to the trialist because it is quieter so the unexperienced CoH/V trialist can have a bit more time to learn the game. For villains, you will be sent to Mercy Isle and given a choice of two contacts to select your initial contact. In both cases, you will end up near a Trainer. Click on the trainer and select the level up option to reach level 2 and get access to a new power.
Level 2 - 3:
You'll be direct to a contact who will give you missions - you can press the M key to bring up a map and your mission target should be marked on there. Click on that target to set it which will make heading towards it easier. Running a few missions for your contact will likely see you reach the next level fairly quickly. After a few missions you will be able to call your contact (so you don't have to run back to them to complete one mission or get another) which you can see by pressing the C key and showing the contacts you currently have. Once you have gained enough 'trust' with that contact, a 'Call' button will appear next to their name.
You might get invited onto a team while you are doing this. When / if you accept the invite, you will be able to talk to other members of your team in the /team channel. Teaming in CoH/V can be great fun and pretty much any combination of ATs / powersets will worth together. The major bit of advice regarding teaming is to listen to them and to wait for them - no-one likes players who ignore what the team wants or runs ahead and creates problems for the rest of the team (who might be injured, or resting). In general people are pretty friendly and if you say you are on a trial, they should (hopefully) be able to help you get the best out of the experience. It should be noted that the pick-up group (PUG) is a pretty transient thing and teams can split up very quickly. This isn't a bad thing - if a team breaks up, or you are unhappy with the team you are on, another team is usually only minutes away.
Don't forget to slot some enhancements into your powers. They aren't going to make a lot of difference right now, but it's a good habit to get into. You can buy enhancements from shops - for the early maps, these shops will be near the trainer in the zone, so just check the map.
- Heroside you can do your contact's missions in GC in order to get some idea of how your character plays solo, then go to AP.
- Villainside you should do your contact's missions in Mercy Isle to gain an understanding of how your character plays. Once you're satisfied with your solo play, look to join a team. As the missions progress within Mercy Isle, you'll be directed to go to Oakes Port.
Level 3 - 5:
You probably won't spend too much time in this level range, especially if you are on an effective and active team.
- Heroside, you should be in AP. Look for a sewer team invite, or head down to the sewer entrance (in the south of the map) and use /local to ask for an invite onto a sewer team. Once on a sewer team, you'll see the levels fly by as you take on the large groups of enemies in the sewers. Don't worry about leveling up at a trainer for each level gained - you can 'store' levels and level up several times at a trainer.
- You'll either be in Mercy Isle or Port Oakes. Depending on how you do your missions, by the time you are directed to Port Oakes, you will be near or past level 5.
Level 5:
At this level you will be able to get access to either Police Band (Heroside) or Newspaper (Villainside) missions.
- Heroside, head to Kings Row and you'll see a Detective added to your Detective tab under Contacts. Go visit them and they will give you a Police Band Radio, which appears at the top of your Contact list. Click on that radio to get a choice of three missions within the zone. These missions are one-off, but once you have done enough of them for your level range (3 in this case) you'll be told to visit your Detective (check under the Detective tab in your Contacts menu to find them). Talking to them will give you access to a Safeguard mission, where you are tasked with stopping a bank robbery.
The easiest way to do a Safeguard mission is to head straight to the bank and defeat all the opponents you find there, including a strong named opponent. Once you've defeated them all (either before or after they manage to rob the bank - if they rob the bank they will try to escape with the cash, and you have to defeat them before they reach their getaway vehicle) you'll get a Mission Complete message, but you can explore the Safeguard mission zone to discover side missions that will reward you with extra time and with elements that can unlock other badges.
- Villainside, when you hit level 5 in Port Oakes you'll be able to find a Broker under the tab under Contacts. Go visit them and they will give you a Newspaper, which appears at the top of your Contact list. Click on that newspaper to get a choice of three missions within the zone. These missions are one-off, but once you have done enough of them for your level range (3 in this case) you'll be told to visit a (check under the Broker tab in your Contacts menu to find them). Talking to them will give you access to a Mayhem mission, where you are tasked with pulling off bank robbery and causing general chaos.
The easiest way to do a Mayhem mission is to head slowly to the bank, destroying the targetable items, opponents and ambushes that are on your way. When you start a Mayhem mission, you'll see you've been given 15 minutes to pull it off. Defeating / destroying things on your way will give you the reward of more time to pull off the robbery. When you enter the bank, you will have to fight through the guards to get to the vault, destroy the vault door, grab the cash and then fight your way out past a strong named opponent. Pulling this off will give you a Mission Complete message, but you can explore the rest of the Mayhem zone to discover side missions that will reward you with extra time and with elements that can unlock other badges.
For both heroes and villains, successfully completing the Safeguard / Mayhem mission will unlock a temporary power called Raptor Pack that gives you a jetpack (you can see the icon for this power appear in your powers menu). This power, when active, allows you to fly around and provides a taste of what the Flight travel power is like.
Level 6 - 10:
At this level range you should be either running solo missions or be part of a team. You can complete the Safeguard / Mayhem mission again if you complete the correct number of Police Band / Newspaper missions, but you won't get any extra temporary powers as a reward from it.
Level 10 - 13:
You're close to the level restrictions imposed by the trial at this point. However, there are still a few different things to take a look at.
After level 10 when you are defeated (i.e. reach zero health) you'll be given experience debt as a penalty. This debt will take 50% of your experience earned from that point until it is paid off. In reality, it isn't such a big deal - it can be usually worked off quickly if you keep the pace of the mission(s) up.
- Heroside, head to Steel Canyon which is where a University is located. Provided you have a mission slot free, you'll be able to go on a quick tutorial within the University that shows you how crafting works within CoH. A contact by the name of Admissions Officer Lenk will appear in your Contacts list - go and talk to him to start the tutorial.
You'll also have access to a new Detective and, after completing 3 Police Band missions, a new Safeguard mission (you won't be able to do the previous one any more). On completing this Safeguard mission, you'll receive the temporary power named Zero-G Pack, which when active gives you the Super Jump travel power. As before, clear the bank first to have a chance of being successful.
- Villainside, head to Cap Au Diable which is where a University is located. Provided you have a mission slot free, you'll be able to go on a quick tutorial within the University that shows you how crafting works within CoV. A contact by the name of Admissions Officer Lenk will appear in your Contacts list - go and talk to him to start the tutorial.
You'll also have access to a new Broker and, after completing 3 Newspaper missions, a new Mayhem mission (you won't be able to do the previous one any more). On completing this Mayhem mission, you'll receive the temporary power named Zero-G Pack, which when active gives you the Super Jump travel power. As before, go slowly towards the bank, causing mayhem as you go in order to build up your available time.
AFTER LEVEL 13
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Once you hit level 13, you'll be unable to do anything else with that character. Depending on how much time you have left in your trial, it could be an idea to try another character, or if you have only played heroside to try out things villainside (or vice versa).
If you have had fun during the trial, it is worth buying CoH/V to continue that experience. You can buy it online from the official
PlayNC store - buying the Good vs Evil pack provides the best value, since you get both sides of the game for US $29.99. Another option is looking at prices of the boxed copies of CoH, CoV or CoH/V at your local video game store or at online retailers - there have been reports of boxed copies being available for less than the $15 a month subscription fee.
If you do decide to buy the full version, when you log into your PlayNC account you need to UPGRADE your trial account - this will let you continue playing on with the characters you developed during the trial.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
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There is another guide for trial players that was set up by _Tog_ at
Tog's Hero U - you can see it on the board as well as the types of other information available on his site.
One of the best known sources of information on story arcs and other aspects of CoH/V is
Red Tomax's Guide to City of Heroes / Villains.
The
Paragon Wiki is a pretty up-to-date wiki that contains a lot of in-game and external information (like patch notes) related to CoH/V.
The
Titan Network offers a range of services, from badge tracking, online character build planner, in-game info and more.
For maps of the zones,
Vidiot Maps offers a full range of maps for both sides of CoH/V and for Mayhem / Safeguard missions. Also provided are lots of badge-related information.
There are lots of other sources of information out there - the CoH/V official forums can be very helpful, especially the
Player Guides forum if you want to read up on how certain powerset combinations / builds play in the later game.
THE END
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Good luck and have a good trial!
