Just started

Hey everyone, I just started playing COH tonight. It seems like a pretty fun game but complex as well. I used to play a lot of WoW so I'm no stranger to MMORPGs but I was wondering if anyone might have some pointers, tips, general info or guides. If someone could point me in the right direction that would be great!

Check out ParagonWiki, which is a great resource for finding out just about anything. Depending your server you may also join a global channel where you can talk with other people who will be willing to answer any questions you may have.

The race is on!

First things first, welcome to City of Heroes, both the game and the forums. When in doubt, ask - as a quick glance around the forums will show you, the natives are friendly.

Second thing, forget everything you have learned - there's a lot of things in WoW, and MMOs in general you might take for granted, and the slant in CoH is generally far more toward "fun" than "time sink" {unless the second stems from the former, which is... frequent enough}.

As for the tips and guides, there's ParagonWiki {note: avoid the Wikia mirror - it's out of date, run by gold farmers and occasional malware ad} if you need a general info dump - all things gameplay-related are there, from numbers, contacts, archetype descriptions and so on.

If you're interested in knowing how different archetypes play {and how different powersets within the archetypes do}, swing by the archetype forums. There's plenty of experienced players around willing to share the knowledge.

And finally, there is the Mentor Project, if you're looking for someone to actively guide you while you're getting your feet wet.

Edit: Some more stuff I missed...

While there are various global channels for various purposes {such as the one for the Mentor project}, note that every server has its own Help channel - there should be a tab for it in your chat window by default. You can talk in it using the /hc command, so it's a good place to ask on-the-fly questions from other players.

A lot of the game is instanced - that means that empty streets can lend to the illusion of a server being deserted, while in reality, most of the players are in indoor missions. The /search command {or the Find Member button in your team window} will pop up the search window you can use to look for teams or teammates.

Tying to that, it's considered polite by most players to send a tell to a prospective teammate and wait for a reply before actually inviting them. To that end, if you're on a trial account {and thus cannot reply to tells}, try entering something along the lines of "Trial account, can't reply, just invite me" in the team comment window, to avoid the one-way communication problem.

On a general note, try everything. You have twelve character slots per server, which means there's plenty of alts to roll. Dying is, in true comic book fashion, a joke, so there's little to be afraid of save for the inconvenience of running from the hospital {and that's only if there's no rezzes of any kind on hand} back to the mission.

Gameplay-wise, there's no "holy trinity" of the tanker/DPS/healer - healing, while useful, is still only on par with the ridiculous variety {and strength} of buffs and debuffs available in various powersets. Thus, a team of any composition can handle most challenges as long as everyone is familiar with their strengths and weaknesses. It bears mentioning, however, that a team with more diversity still has more room for error, as the gaps are less pronounced.

There's also no need to rush to the level cap - the content is more or less evenly spread across all levels {though there's still a slight bulge in the Lv20sh range}, and with store-bought enhancements {i.e. gear} being pretty much sufficient, there's no need to grind for loot or money either. The Invention System allows for even more customization of enhancements, if you've got the spare cash to throw around.

Virtue and Freedom are the two most populated servers - Virtue is the unofficial "roleplayer central", with all the fun and occasional drama that entails, while Freedom has the reputation for a more hardcore "MMOs are srs bzns" crowd. Having spent very little time on Freedom, though, feel free to take the latter with a grain of salt.

Enjoy, and feel free to ask some more if you've got any more questions.

An open letter to NCsoft

Welcome! Just one small tidbit from me: Theres no need to rush to the level cap(50). Most of the fun of the game is about the journey, not the destination. Making multiple characters and trying out powers is encouraged. Have fun!

Thanks for the welcome, guys. I've formulated a few more specific questions:

1. How do raids work? Are PUGs formed similar to how they are in WoW? (sorry, lots of my questions will be me trying to figure out the game by using one I already know)
2. Is there a guild mechanic of any kind?
3. I have noticed Galaxy City is pretty much empty. Are places like Galaxy City just hubs for instances? Is there an instance database similar to Atlas for WoW where I can find maps and bosses?
4. How many people still play the game? It looks like a lot but are there any specific figures?
5. What kind of loot can you get? In WoW you can get items ranging from grey to orange, but there isn't armor or weapons in COH.

1} I'm not familiar with WoW-style raids, so I'll be guessing about what you mean by your question. With much more interest in PvP than PvE, there aren't any major conflicts between redside {CoV} and blueside {CoH}, and none outside the actual PvP zones. There are two major events that involve more than one team - the Muthaship raid in the Rikti War Zone, and the Hamidon Raid in the Abyss/Hive. The former is a co-op endeavor where a whole lot of people fight their way across a downed Rikti spaceship - the primary reward there is a very rapid accumulation of Vanguard Merits which can be traded in for various goodies {most cosmetic, but plenty of practical uses too}, while the Hamidon raid grants a special enhancement to all involved.

2} There are Supergroups, which are basically the equivalent of guilds - you can join one at any level {provided you're invited} or form your own at Lv10 or above. Supergroups can also join each other into Coalitions for improved organization or base convenience.

3} As I mentioned in my earlier post, most of the action is indoors - while there are Giant Monsters and events spawning in various zones, those are mostly tackled for badge rewards. Your contacts basically act as the quest dispensers - you can talk to them and they'll give you a mission. Protip: if you get a mission in the butt end of nowhere, you can abandon the mission and retake it - most missions spawn in quasi-random locations, so you can save a lot on travel time.

4} Still plenty. Not sure about exact numbers.

5} See my first post - other than the wholly optional invention system, getting "gear" that will allow you to fight adequatly isn't a problem. There are three primary tiers of standard enhancements - Training {TOs} with... fairly small benefits which are available from levels 1 through 14, Dual-Origin {DOs} which have twice the effectiveness of TOs, which start at Lv15 through Lv24, and Single-Origin {SOs} which are twice as effective as DOs, which start at Lv25 and up. Keep in mind that you can slot an enhancement that's up to three levels above yours, so you can slot DOs at Lv12 and SOs at Lv22.

For added perspective, there are task force challenges that neutralize effects of all slotted enhancements, and they're still very much doable.

An open letter to NCsoft

This has been mentioned before, I think, but I'm going to emphasize that buffs and debuffs are much stronger than you're used to and much stronger than "healing." It is possible for a properly built and buffed character to be one HUNDRED TIMES tougher than an unprotected character. It is common for a character with no outside buffs to be ten or twenty times tougher than an unprotected character. It is common for one person on a team to make nearly everyone else on the team five times tougher with buffs. That's aside from things like "30% to 70% more damage on the hard targets" and "unlimited endurance".

In comparison, it is very very hard to heal someone for five times their HP every fight.

Also, when you get to level 14 you will be able to get a travel power IF you get a "prereq" power- so if you want Fly, you should get Hover or Air Superiority sometime between level 6 and 12. Each travel power has their advantages and disadvantages- Super Speed is fast, it FEELS fast, it has built in stealth and it looks cool- but you will sometimes have to go around three sides of a square to get up on top of something. Fly is relatively slow but entirely troublefree- and some people just love flying. Pick the one you think you'll like and realize that it will have a downside.

Welcome to a game where "fast travel" is 80 MPH.

Welcome aboard. I concur with fulmens that buffs/debuffs are going to be more powerful than you're used to in other games and healing less powerful. That doesn't mean healing is not useful....its cruicial sometimes in fact. But a ff or cold dom can increase group survivability more than an empath in most cases.

The holy trinity in CoX is someone to take the alpha strike from the enemy, someone to lock the mobs in place (immob or hold), and someone(s) to do massive AoEs. If you have a fully IO'ed level 50 toon sometimes that can all be one person.

Like others have said, this game's content is fairly evenly distributed so the path to 50 is as much fun as being 50. In fact other than for PvP, sub-50's might be more fun because there is stuff to do other than try to pop purple or PvP recipes.


Don't base the pbase on Galaxy City, its the lower used new zone for heroes and Atlas Park has alot more action. If you want to try a villian out, the action really gets started when you get to Cap au Diable.

Thanks guys! I read everything so don't feel bad if you wrote a lot :P All your answers really helped in my basic understanding of the game. I'll check out the Mentor channel and Paragon Wiki for any other questions.

welcome aboard! I've been both a casual WoW player (until a few months back) and a CoH player. The information the others have given so far has been spot-on, but I'd like to make a few additional remarks.

1. Raiding. As stated, currently there are 2 raids and the strike force/task force/ trials in game. The task forces are a bit like Dungeons in your former game, though some of these, like the Statesman Task Force really do feel like a raid at points, especially the ending strategies.

2. Additional endgame material: The coming expansion, Going Rogue, will present a sneak peak of sorts for a new end-game system to be fully introduced in Issue 19 (issue=free expansion) which is intended to roll out later this year. That said, Shadowclone is right, the game at the moment focuses on the journey to level 50. So pace yourself and enjoy, rather than make the mistake others made racing to 50 and then wondering what to do.

3. Additional endgame material, part II: Once you are at 50, its not an end. First, there is the Mission Architect system: a "virtual" system where players design stories and missions to be played by other players. You can access it while you advance in the game. Some use this for leveling, some use it for increased challenged. Some just like to create for it. Its very flexible.

4. Oroboros: Also at some point after level 25, you'll be exposed to time travel and gain the Oroboros "secret". Amongst many other things, Oroboros allows you to "time travel" back to younger levels and do the storylines and missions you advanced beyond. (unlike your former game, which just grays a quest, our missions can become too "simple" for your powerful character, and therefore not offered unless you use the Oroboros system) This can be done at level 50 as well, and some, like the legendary "rescue the fortuneteller" mission grant badges.

5. Badges: even at 50 you'll still be collecting badges. Some players focus on this gaining names like "badgers". Its a bit like the achievement program in your former game, but some combinations of badges grant special rewards, like minor power effects (see "Atlas badge" in the paragon wiki) or consumable weapons like gas grenades, earned by combined Day Job badges.

6. Day Jobs: In other games, you log out at an inn or major city to earn a resting bonus. In our game, we've got Day Jobs. Similar to an inn, if you stay at a police station on the blue (hero) side, for example, you'll gain a bonus for a time to XP. But that is just a start. There are many, many locations to log out to get some special effect: city hall, hospitals, tailor/facemaker, stores, etc. For example: stay in the Wentworths consignment house or Black Market (our version of an auction house) to earn a special teleport to the consignment locations. And the beauty is that after you earn the badge for each location, they can be combined with other locations to earn additions temporary items (see the "gas grenade" comment earlier).

7. Travel: Speaking of the Wentworth's teleporter, let me comment on travel. You are familiar with long travel over great distances by flying creatures, either from flight points, or by your own mounts. Here, the hero earns or buys (temporary) his own travel powers (equivalent to mounts) or can take one of many other means of travel. Some of these include the elevated train systems in Paragon city, boat travel in the Rogue Islands, the Wentworth teleporter, Oroboros teleporter, Ritki War Zone portals, Pocket D teleporter/doors, etc. Many of these are earned as you increase in rank. It can be a bit tricky to learn them all at first, but once you grasp how they work, movement across the entire city or across the islands will be much, much faster than to what you are accustomed. Travel can even be used as a weapon. Earth tanks, for example, like to teleport into the midst of a pack of enemies as a opening move.

8. Mail. Recent developments allow us to mail a limited number of items to ourselves. You'll use your global name to do that (like @super_guy). Although fewer items than you may be accustomed to, there is a very nice feature in that you can access your mail from anywhere, removing the need for a mailbox. Some have used this to mail themselves spare inspirations, like the "rez" inspirations, to have handy if needed in combat.

Theres lots more to say, but I will conclude by seconding the motion by Quinch in his first post that you tie yourself to the Mentor Project. Its a great way to get up and running.

See you in the City!

Welcome to the game! There is so much to learn! Fortunately, you found the forums early, where you can learn a ton of stuff a lot of players never knew.

Use the Forums -- there are a lot of player-written guides that can provide a lot of help. Some are better than others. Some are out of date, since there have been a lot of changes in this game over time.

For the most part, this is a very friendly community. Ask questions in game or here, and you'll probably get helpful answers . . . however, a few questions are "hot buttons" that will bring out the snarky responses.

Be willing to try stuff out. My first character was a scrapper. Then I tried a Blaster, then a Tank, then a Defender. I thought I had found my favorite in Defender . . . until I finally tried a Controller. Now I have far more controllers than anything else.

Here's a quick suggested outline on how to play a Hero character for the first 22 levels: First, do the tutorial and READ EVERYTHING -- lots of good info there. Start in Atlas, and do your missions there until you get up to level 5. If you get any drops of Enhancements and Salvage, sell them. (You may want to use the yellow Accuracy ones, but the others generally are not worth slotting.) Run to the Hollows and click on Officer Wincott, but don't take any missions from him yet (you can if you want, but trust me on this). Then go back to Atlas, to the train to King's Row. When you arrive, you should have a Detective on your list of Contacts. Run to the Detective and click on him to get a scanner. Do three Scanner missions.

Then either get a team or go to a Field Analyst to drop your difficulty to -1 (to make this next mission easy) and do the Atlas Bank mission. Run straight to the bank and defeat the baddies. You will get a Temp Power that is a type of jet pack called a "Raptor Pack." You can do more stuff in the bank mission if you want, or you can exit. Talk to the detective again to get a new contact. (By now, you should be level 6-8.) Go back to the Field Analyst to bump your difficulty back to 0.

You can either do missions from contacts, go to the Hollows and do missions there, street sweep, do more missions from your scanner or do missions in the Mission Architect building (not recommended until later). You want to get up to level 11, and then do more scanner missions until the detective offers the King's Row Bank mission to you. This one gives you the "Zero-G Pack" that gives you a temp power with Super Jump. By now, you should be level 12. Travel to Steel Canyon or Skyway and buy Dual Origin Enhancements, mostly focusing on Accuracy and Endurance Reduction (EndRdx), but that can vary with the character and what you want.

Then you have a bunch of choices: Join a Positron Task Force (there are actually 2 parts, so it is more like two shorter task forces). Do more missions in the Hollows. Do missions from contacts -- if you get one that says something about rescuing a mystic, take that one, as it gives a badge needed for an accolade later. However, don't be upset if you miss it, as you can go back to get it later through the Piller of Fire and Ice (Flashback system), but don't worry about that now. You can do more scanner missions, you can kill (er, "arrest" because heroes don't kill) bad guys in the street -- Perez Park is good for that. Or you can do Mission Architect missions (still skip this for now).

Plan ahead as you choose your powers. To get a travel power by level 14, you have to take one of the pre-requisites by level 12. You also want to get Stamina from the Fitness Pool by level 20 (or maybe 22) on almost all characters. To do that, you have to take either Swift or Hurdle, then Health, before level 18.

At level 15, you can do more scanner missions to get the next bank mission. This one will give you a self-rez Temporary power. The you can use any of the above options except the Hollows, as you are getting too high for that. Instead, go to Faultline to do the fun stories there. It is located at the far south end of Skyway. If you take the train at the North end of Steel, it will drop you off right near the entrance. Pocket D also has a way into Faultline. You can also do a Synapse Task Force -- Synapse is located in Skyway, and you will be fighting a ton of Clockwork.

You may have been having a lot of trouble with your endurance. Getting to level 20 and getting Stamina will make it much better. At level 20, you can do more scanner missions to get the Bank mission -- that will give you a team teleport temporary power that is handy. You can to missions from contacts (there are some fun stories in the 20's), scanner missions, missions in Faultline or a new zone, Striga. Striga is a favorite zone with a good series of missions and some nice temporary powers get awarded. You can get there from Talos Island or Independence Port -- look on your map for the ferry to Striga.

A key is to get to level 22. That is when you can buy Single Origin Enhancements for all your powers, which will make your powers much better. When buying enhancements, put no more than three of the same type into any one power -- no more than three red Damage enhancements in an attack. Under a system called "Enhancement Diversification," more than three will give very, very little benefit.

There is more content than you can play on one character -- That's why it is fun to make more characters and try different things.

Welcome to the game and the forums, Icwest

I might not have seen it, but has anyone mentioned Mids Hero Designer?

It's a great offline tool for planning out your powers & enhancements.

I definitely wish someone had pointed me to it early on (hubby didn't tell me about it until I'd been playing for nearly 4 months - the butthead).


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Here's a bonus tip I like to give out when I'm talking to someone about game mechanics!

Q: Does it stack?
A: Yeah, so long as it's not a Target-Other power being used repeatedly by a single person on the same target.

You can't put a Deflection Shield on one person a bazillion times, but if you and three other people all use Deflection Shield? Yeah, it stacks.

If you have a lot of Recharge speed and cast Ice Armor's Energy Absorption several times? All that self-defense stacks.

The ONLY buff I can think of that doesn't work like that is Vengeance. It's crazy-strong enough that honestly, why would you want it to?

Lot of good information provided; Local Man, as usual, does an outstanding job in particular.

So let me just add this pointer, which apparently most of the CoH populace has learned the Hard Way:

There are two doors in the train station. The smaller one to the right is ALWAYS the EXIT. It is the big opening in the center of the station (with the huge map) that is the ENTRANCE. You can never board the train at the Exit... you will stand there clicking forever, but never get on.

Some of the smartest players I know stood at that Exit and cursed that train... including me.

Welcome to the game and good luck!