New to the game.

I play WoW currently, but my friend that plays this asked me to try it, so i made a couple toons on his account and I love it. So I am starting with a trial and when that ends upgrading it. I was wondering what is the best/easiest class to first start out as? Any other help/tips would be appreciated thank you.

Probably a scrapper would be best. You can just activate your defenses/resistances and mash buttons and generally do fine killing everything at normal difficulty.

There isn't really a best class, nor even so much as classes here. There is so much variety that can be found by mixing the sets that imo if they were to be broken down into classes we'd have the game with the most classes on the market.

For ease of getting to know the game for the first time i'd suggest a Scrapper for hero side or Brute for villain side and choose a low maintenance secondary such as willpower, both have very good survivability and great damage. I went with Blaster as my first toon when the game originally came out on the EU and found that it really wasn't the ideal first choice, brilliant once you've learned about the game somewhat though.

That being said, the game has moved on somewhat since then and things are dare i say it, easier. So while i suggest you keep Scrapper and Brute in mind and look at the various combinations you can make with them, if they're not your type of playstyle then just pick an archetype and combination of sets that most suits you/you think you'll have fun with as you really can't go wrong, everything is either good or great in this game.

You may also want to check out the Mentor Project located at the Player Help section. A group for new, returning, and not-so-new players, that will answer your questions in-game, and give you tips and tricks, and the ends and outs of CoX.

As for what class to start out on... What type of play-stile do you like?




Edit: Since you're coming from WoW, you should realize that in CoX, there is no 'holy trinity'. No one AT (Archtype/class) is absolutely required for a teams success.

Scrapper/Brute are probably the easiest ATs to play since they combine good offense with strong defense. Tankers and Stalkers share powersets with Scrappers and Brutes but take a little more getting practice to use effectively (Tankers have stronger defense but weaker offense, Stalkers have slightly weaker defenses and weaker damage but can use stealth tactics for lots more damage).

Blasters and Dominators can also make decent starting characters if you're a more experienced gamer (which it sounds as if you are). They get good damage but unlike their melee counterparts rely on a more active defense style using controls and other powers to avoid damage.

Since you are coming from WoW I would recommend avoiding the other ATs (Defenders, Controllers, Corruptors and Masterminds) for your first character. These ATs all have a Buff/Debuff powerset as either their primary or secondary and buffs/debuffs work VERY differently here than they do in WoW so you'll probably find it beneficial to learn the differences in the game mechanics before you try making one.

Before picking a class think about what you might want to be as a hero or villain
then pick a class to fit that...

Like Deliverance_ said, there really isn't a "best" class they all are great if they fit into what your concept is, and if it fits your playing style

while making a toon you can see what they have for powers. That can help you better pick what type of class fits the concept you come up with...

The best advise I can give is; ask tons of question, either on this forum like you did or in game... this community for the most part rocks, and is full of very cool people that will be more than happy to guide you as well as help you go in the right direction...

Welcome to city of heroes/villains

Welcome to the game!
I would like to direct you to http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Main_Page
Oh yes , enjoy the journey!

Welcome to the city! Like many I would say a Scrapper/Brute for the damage and defense ease.

Not only does each AT have it's own boost but each Power set has it's own secondary effect. Example Fire powers have extra damage over time where Cold powers slow foes down. So we have many possibilities for play styles.

Once you get used to the game play try as many combos and types as you like. DO not rush to the end! The fun in the City of Heroes/Villains is the journey! Explore the many story arcs as you can. You can even TURN OFF gaining Exps when ever you like to not out level a contact.

If your into Roleplay try Virtue it's the unofficial RP server.

Now if you want your battles to last longer than 3 seconds, I would go with a Tank. It offsets damage per second with somewhat better defenses as well as more HPs. Problem is once you go Scrapper, Tanks aren't as "fun" to solo and that's pretty much the two melee classes on the heroes side. Tanks are great aggro magnets but on a team with a competent Defender, one with good team buffs/critter debufs, being an aggro magnet isn't really needed as much.

On the villain side, Brutes are the melee damage dealers. I find Corruptors also fun but they are a lot more fragile. Masterminds are the pet class and tend to use their pets as aggro magnets making them more like tanks.

I would actually suggest a different track than what people have suggested so far. I would advise you to roll a few different toons, and find which one seems to suit your playstyle best. Hero-side, I would suggest rolling a blaster, tanker and scrapper hero-side, or a brute, dominator, and corruptor villain-side. Each AT has its own balance of risk vs. damage, and one will likely have a draw for you that will keep you interested into the later levels. It has been my experience that gamers tend to fall into two categories: high risk/high reward (lots of dying but lots of fast-paced leveling), or slow and methodical (very safe but using a more "perfect" playstyle). It's the difference between a fire/fire blaster and a mind/force field controller.

If you are new, I would also recommend staying hero-side. Although the early hero-arcs have you travel more, the maps are much easier to navigate. I found Villains frustrating at first because it is not only in a darker color spectrum, but it also has a lot of obstacles in travel, especially in Mercy (fences, walls, dead-ends, etc.) That can be very frustrating at first. If you play villains, I would strongly suggest picking up the Natural Booster pack to get Ninja Run. It makes travel in Mercy a really beautiful thing, as if Mercy was designed to make ninja run look sexy.

One important thing to remember, no matter which archetype/powersets you choose:

Your character doesn't really come into its own until level 20-ish. That's when you'll really start getting the hang of your powers and notice that your powers are getting more powerful or more useful. Especially once you get SOs, or Single-Origin Enhancements, which are much more effective than that crap you get at the beginning.