I am new, and I am stuck!

Welcome, and to add to all the advice, you can also ask for help ingame with the help chat channel. You type /hc myquestion here

You are in good hands with this community Zonk. Always willing to help.

Wow, thanks everyone for all the great responses. My primary power set consists of electrical powers, so I have an electric shield for defense and and electrical brawl, another power called lightning rod.

I definitely appreciate everyone's advice. I'm going to go back in there and give it a shot and hopefully report back with some good news. Then again, based on everyone's responses, I'm strongly considering starting over with another archetype, It's early still for me so I figure it's not a huge disappointment to do that!

Thanks a ton guys!

You don't need to start over with another archetype (aka "class") - it sounds like you picked either Tanker or Scrapper - those are both great starting-out archetypes.

However, if you start over, you may want to select another ORIGIN ("magic", "science", etc.) so that you get easier enemies to fight initially. Choosing SCIENCE is what is giving you most of the problems, so just switch that one up and see if it works.

(Although, as a SERIOUS altoholic, I recommend making multiples of each archetype, try out a BUNCH of different characters! This game rewards alts!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

First, I'd like to welcome you to the game! Enjoy your stay here! If you would like a tour of the game on the Freedom or Virtue servers, I'd be happy to help!

Second, here are some things you can do.

The important thing as others have pointed out is to take care of the human enemies quickly. They have some kind of leadership ability that makes the zombies around them smarter. If you defeat the human handlers, the zombies become deaf and dumb. not to say they won't stop attacking you, be they'll lose focus on what's going on, making them easy to outrun if things go south.

If you're still having trouble, go back and talk to the contact who gave you the mission. There should be a "Drop this mission" option. It allows you to auto-complete the mission, and gain rewards as if you had really completed it. You can only do this once every three days though, so don't waste it.

One thing that's important to note is that only your starter contact will give you missions based on Origin. If you find the contact repeatedly giving you Vahzilok missions, then do this. Stop getting missions from the contact, and defeat enemies around the zone until you reach level five. It shouldn't take more than thirty minutes of street-sweeping. After that, go to your map and look for a white circle with a blue letter-T inside. This is the Yellow Line, aka the Train station. Go to it and click the door to the train, a window should appear with a list of zones. Go to Kings Row and you will find a new contact in your list.

This contact will be a detective, and he will give you access to the Police Radio. In your contacts list, click the Radio to get a set of three random missions to choose from. After completing three of these missions, go back to the detective you talked to before and he will give you a mission to prevent a bank heist. Complete the mission, and you will get a temporary jet-pack power and a new contact to choose from. The jet-pack is very useful for getting around in the lower levels. When picking a new contact, make sure you read their descriptions, as they tell you what groups they primarily deal with and where they're located.

Also, I wouldn't suggest re-doing your current character, but maybe create some different characters and play around with the various power sets and Archetypes. Scrappers are excellent solo characters, so after you're done with the Vahzilok (they disappear around level 20) you should have an easier time with the more tame enemies. Find out which groups you're strong against and which you're not-so-strong against and tend towards contacts and missions with those enemies.

Sorry if my long writing bored you, but I hope this helps! Again, welcome to the game and feel free to ask any questions you have!

Like other said, the Vahzilok are one of the toughest groups you can run into at the starting levels. Collectively, they're something of a glass cannon - a large team can plow through them before they can start fighting back, but for a solo low-level character, they can be more of a headache than they're worth.

Also, as others mentioned, you can cheerfully set that particular mission by the wayside and gain a few level if you want to take a crack at it with odds more in your favor. At the low low levels, you have several options;

Sewer teams, often formed in the Atlas Park zone, are very popular - essentially, a team of low-level heroes going into the Sewer Network zone and simply tearing through whatever's in their way for a few levels. Most sewer runs will get you to at least Lv5 before people decide to break and train to gain new powers.

Street hunting, while not particularly efficient, are still a valid option if you prefer to solo, especially as you can pick and choose your battles.

As there are usually plenty of teams running around at any given time, you can always join an existing one. In the starting zones, it's pretty effective just to say you're looking for a team in the Broadcast channel {command is /b}. If you mention you're new to the game, odds are someone will go out of their way to help you get your feet on the ground as well.

Lastly, there's Architect Entertainment, though that presents the problem of finding a low-level arc you might enjoy*. The MA forum is a good place to ask for recommendations.

And finally, let me add my welcome to the City of Heroes as well as the forums. If you need help with anything, well, you're already in the right place.

*Shameless self-promotion: Check the link in the fourth picture in my signature

An open letter to NCsoft

One more thing I don't think people mentioned yet:

Don't worry about dying a lot when you're below level 10. 1) It's pretty much a given you will a few times, and 2) There is no experience debt until you hit level 10, so you'll level just as fast (minus the time it takes to go to the hospital and back, of course).

You've picked a good AT for a new player. Scrappers hit hard, and can take a bit of punishment, as long as you know their limitations, which will come with practice. Tanks take more damage, but the damage is low, so they can be a bit tedious at low levels. Blasters hit hard, but they die fast if you're not careful, and Defenders and Controllers are more about buffing/debuffing, with some damage mixed in depending on your powers.

Have fun, and don't be afraid to ask for help in broadcast.

Welcome to the game, and as others have said, don't be afraid to use your inspirations - they fall like raindrops in this game.

As for your power selection and origin selection, the other thing that hurts is that your low level melee powers have a secondary effect (according to the wiki) of being able to put your enemies to sleep, but Vahzilok zombies are immune to sleep and hold. So where you might hit another type of character and knock them out of the fight temporarily, you hit a zombie and they just hit you right back. Or puke on you.

Don't get discouraged - my first character was science origin too, so I know your pain. Problem was, my guy was a controller, so I had about 1/4 the damage and survivability, and yet I managed to have enough fun to still be here 2+ years later.

Since quite a bit was covered, a few things you may want to know:

1. "Emphasis on science" - Origin doesn't really do a lot in the game. Other than what you're seeing right now (choosing the starting group, and that's only heroside) and, later, what dual or single origin enhancements you can use (all origins have the same ones, they just have 'origins' of their own) it's mostly a flavor thing, and a holdover from very, very early in development.

So, if you're looking for a group, discussing your build or the like, concentrate more on "I'm a (primary/secondary) (archetype) at (level,)" more than "I'm x origin." (For instance, my first 50 was an Electric/Electric Blaster. Doesn't matter she was magic origin.)

2. You mention it's your first mission. Want to make things easier? Street sweep on the way - it doesn't take all that many enemies to make the next level - which will, of course, make what you're fighting easier to deal with. Just don't fight things that are red or purple (names) - indicating difficulty. They're higher level and, at low level (sometimes at high) will hurt.

3. Vahz are a pain.

4. Earlier someone said "slot for accuracy." I'd agree - but also slot for endurance reduction in your attacks. It'll help you keep from running out of steam early on.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Anyone with Lethal damage tends to shred the zombies pretty quick too.

And by the way, you don't have to fight the Vahz if you don't want to. Just join a team fighting something else, do radio missions, or whatever fighting other enemies until you level up to access some new things, like the Hollows or Faultline.

*comes in late to the party*

Hey, Zonk, welcome to the game and the forum!

Yep, them there Vahzilok zombies are nasty as all hell at low levels.

My first (and still main) character was an Energy/Energy Blaster of Science origin, so I know the pain you're in facing them. Everyone has given great advice on your options, and my personal suggestion is to street sweep on your way to the mission door. Basically, anything that's conning Green, Blue, White, Yellow or Orange is probably fair game for you (Red and Purple is pushing it), and the extra XP you'll earn will pay off - I started a scrapper myself, recently, street-swept to the first mission, and levelled up off the first target I defeated inside it. Made the rest of the mission a breeze.

Anyway, please let us know how things have gone since you started - we're generally a friendly bunch, and always willing to lend a hand or advice.