New to the game, few questions

Hi,

I just bought the game off of steam during the sale, this will be the third time I've tried the game, I like the game but for some reason I just can't get to into it.

One thing is I never really see any other players, grated it is low level but I'd like to see some faces while leveling. So which server has a bigger population? I also like to PvP every once in a while, so would like to go to a server with some action.

I was thinking of being a hero this time, but which class is probably the best one for me? I hate dying, so I'm guessing tanker, but what selection is there beyond this? What kind of powers do I get?

Thanks in advance,
Zach

This game is heavily instanced so most of the players at any given time will be in missions... you don't often see people wandering around in the world.

PvP is mostly a dead issue for the playerbase, it wasn't ever very popular and the changes about a year ago pretty well killed off interest. The only server I've heard of that still PvP's is Freedom.

Population is shown by the ranking of the servers when you log in. The last server you logged into will be on top, then the least busy server down to the busiest server at the bottom. Freedom and Virtue are the two highest population and trade the top honors back and forth.

Type /search. This will initially show you all the characters in your zone. Then hit "enter" and it will show you all the characters in the game. (you can then select by level range, archetype, etc.) Greyed out names are on a team, blue are not.

I'm not saying you DO or DO NOT play in a ghost town, I'm saying this is how to find out who and how many so you can decide for yourself.

Ok, so how is grouping in this game, its not purely solo is it? I'm guessing there is a story line where I fight some of the biggest baddest villains in the game. And there are probably dungeons/lairs right?

The whole instanced thing doesn't really bother me. I just wanna know that I'm not alone out there. I played guild wars for the longest, and like DDO quite a bit.

And what about the archetypes?

EDIT:
Thanks Fulmens, I'll try this once I get done patching and log in.

It's definitely not "pure solo". In fact, there is quite a lot of content where you must be on a team and zero content where you must be solo. Having said that, most of the content CAN be done solo if you want to.

Yes, there are dungeons. They're called 'instanced missions' or commonly referred to as 'door missions' but the ones set on the 'Orenbega cave maps' sure look like dungeons to me.

You'll start meeting moderately big, moderately bad villains at relatively low levels. There are some archvillains you can run into by level 15. Unsurprisingly, the really nasty stuff shows up once you are higher level. By the time you get to the mid 30's, you can't swing a dead cat without smacking an 'AV' (archvillain).

There are also 'GMs' (giant monsters) that wander around in open zones. You need a team to fight those. Preferably more than a single team, for most of them.


And what about the archetypes.
Well, for heroes, I usually recommend people start with a scrapper. You do good damage so you can progress at a decent speed even if you are solo and you have decent defenses. For a villain, I would recommend a brute. Same reasons. The advantage of these two 'ATs' (archetypes) is that they are relatively simple to figure out. You don't have to control pets; you don't have to worry about positioning AoE effects; you don't have to worry about keeping your teammates alive - you just hit stuff. This gives you time to figure out the game mechanics so you can move on to more complex ATs.

3 quick things about the servers:

1) The colored dots indicate server load, not number of people online. A server with 3 bright red dots is close to imploding. However, the two are not completely unrelated. so servers like Freedom or Virtue, which usually show the highest server loads, are typically the most populated.

2) Many of the servers have unofficial roles. Freedom has recently become the unofficial PvP server, due to an already large playerbase being added to by a mass PvPer migration at the beginning of the year during a free server transfer period. Virtue is the unofficial RP server for obvious reasons. You'll do do well to find a server that best suits your playstyle and go with it.

3) Regardless of the server you decide to call home, you would do well to join that server's important global chat channels. Most mission teams, Task Forces, and raids are formed via the channels.

Nobody yet?

OK, every CoX player's best friend: ParagonWiki

EDIT: Darnit! Totally missed BBQ's mention.

LEGION OF VALOR - Be a part of the Legend!

Archetypes: City of Heroes doesn't require any sort of "perfect team" of given roles. City of Villains has characters who are even MORE of generalists. Here are my [very personal] opinions.
THE HEROES:
Tanker- 10+ times tougher than a "generic character" in sheer punching-bag ability to take abuse without any external buffs. In fact, if support has to heal someone, it's usually not the Tanker. On the mid to low side of damage output, and the really good damage powers often show up late in the game [level 28, 35, or 38]. They are pretty good at grabbing aggro just by doing what they'd do normally, but if you're a good tanker [as I am not] you can and should work it harder.

Scrapper- 6+ times tougher than a "generic character", but more and faster damage output than a Tanker. Has criticals, more common on tougher opponents. Scrappers get hit running into fights, get hit running out of fights, and believe they WILL get the crit they need. The mechanics of the game therefore support statements like "If you run, you don't go to Valhalla."

Blaster- this IS the "generic character" on toughness. There are active mitigation powers (single-target holds) but the main protection has to either come from teammates' buffs or from hitting things so hard they don't GET to shoot back. Blasters are delicate. But when I first got a Fire/Elec blaster going I posted something on here like "If there's any bigger damage-dealer in the game, I don't know it." I took out over 20 enemies (white to orange-con) in under 10 seconds once on Fulminator. They startled me and I may have overreacted.

Defenders- this is an essay on its own. Storm doesn't play like Empathy doesn't play like Force fields doesn't play like Rad doesn't play like Kinetics. Generally they're kind of mediocre solo, but generally they help the team as much or more than they help themselves. Want to double the team's damage? Want to make the entire team Tank-tough? Defenders can do that. The blasts are relatively weak, but many people make the situation worse than it has to be by not taking blasts or not slotting them for damage. Some Defenders are really bad solo, most are pretty good.

Controllers- I don't play controllers. But the general idea is that this is where your big mezzing lives, while being "close to as good" as a Defender. There is, of course, the problem that you can do only one thing at a time, so if you're Defending you're not Controlling and vice versa.

Kheldians (peacebringer and warshades)- I'm even less expert on Khelds than I am on Controllers.

THE VILLAINS: These sort of seem like they were designed around concepts that people tried to make work as "hybrids" heroside, or something that just didn't fit into heroside. Most of them didn't 'click' for me until level 20 or 22.

Brutes- Brutes are not tanks. Brutes are not scrappers. Brutes do not care if they live or die, except that their Fury bar goes to zero when they die. Mechanically, Fury means that the more you hit and get hit, the more damage you do- The madder hulk gets, something something. The fury bar adds a LOT to your total damage and if you sit around for a few seconds it drops distressingly fast. Brutes do not fight by the spawn, they fight by the entire instance. I have had actual spittle flecks come out of my mouth playing a Brute with some buffs. Brutes feel like "Let's Have A War " sounds.

Stalkers- Sneak up on people and kill them. Hard. You're the single target specialist. If every spawn has one guy in it that makes the rest of the spawn really tough, you turn that into "zero guys." Stalkers have a different rhythm than almost anything else in the game- they're moshing and you're knitting- but they can be very, very effective when things get tough. Soloing, it's kind of relaxing, and there's a creepy power trip in walking down the street knowing that everything you target lives only because you let it.

Corruptors- generalists. Kind of like backward Defenders- significantly more damage and significantly less buff- with "Scourge", an ability that hits people harder when they're low on hit points. Kicks 'em when they're down, does extra damage to the people that are extra hard to kill.

Masterminds- you have pets, lots of pets, and you can actually tell them what to do and they [probably] listen. I have about ten levels of mastermind, total, in this game, so you now know what I know.

Dominators- direct damage plus holds. No reliable hard defenses, so you're safe exactly as long as you can keep everyone stunned, held, confused, slept- doing anything but attacking. I've only played one to level 22, but it's a very "juggling your priorities" playstyle. Now serving number 31!

Night Widows and Spiders (epic villain AT's)- I don't know enough to discuss them.

Thank you everyone!

I started a Tanker on Freedom called Gold Ox. Anyone who can, please add me, as I may need some help!

Thinking of making a Scrapper now also.

And I will definitely check out the wiki. Thanks again everyone. See you on Freedom!

If you ever need a quick tour of the city, I'd be happy to assist you, since Freedom is also my main server of choice.

Fulmens got most of the AT's down, let me just finish the ones he didn't.

Controller - Their main role on a team is to make bad guys stop being bad. They have a wide variety of "Controlling" powers which can stun, confuse, hold, and even phase enemies out of existence for a time (Though I'd avoid phasing enemies on teams unless the team is dying). Their secondary deals with buffing or debuffing. Though not quite on par with the defender in support, they still do a pretty dang good job of it.

Kheldians - Ahh, what can you say about kheldians? Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. They have a very large variety of powers, from Melee attacks, to buffs, some personal shields, ranged attack, you name it. Kheldians are special because of their shapeshifting ability. They have three forms, Human Form (Your primary form) Nova, and Dwarf forms. The Nova form has four extremely powerful blasts, has auto-fly, and increased damage, with the loss of hitpoints to compensate. The Dwarf form has impressive resistances on par with a tanker, but little damage to counter his toughness. He get three melee attacks, a taunt, teleport, and one special power depending on if you're a warshade or peacebringer.

While you can do well with just your human form, taking all the forms and learning to use them effectively can make you a huge benefit to teams.

Masterminds - The best way to describe a Mastermind is "A One-man army." A Mastermind has the ability to summon several henchmen to his side which can aid him in battle. Masterminds are very capable solo-players, since a fully loaded Mastermind and his henchmen can solo almost anything. Their secondary is support, but not as good as corruptors or controllers. That doesn't mean you should ignore your secondary, however, as is can still be a great help on teams.

Arachnos Soldiers - Arachnos soldiers are like Kheldians in that they can fit almost any role. Though in the early levels their powers seem to mimic other normal sets exactly, their true worth shines once you hit level 24. At level 24, Soldiers can "branch out" into two distinct career paths. The Arachnos Widow can either become a Fortunata or a Night Widow. The Fortunata is like a beefed up controller, with plenty of mezzing abilities and damage to boot, and some useful buffs. The Night Widow is like a mix between a Scrapper and a Stalker, being able to land critical hits when hidden, but having the defenses to keep a fight going.

For the Wolf Spider, their two choices are to become either a Crab Spider or a Bane Spider. The Crab spider is probably the closest thing to a "tank-mage" in this game. Formidable defenses and effective blasts and melee attacks make them an all-around character. The Bane Spider is hard to explain... it's kind of like a mix between a Scrapper, a Stalker, and a Blaster at the same time. They can camouflage themselves and land critical strikes, while also being able to take a beating and keep up prolonged battles. Plus, their mix of mezz abilities and blasts make them unpredictable in a fight.

I should probably mention that Kheldians and Arachnos Soldiers require you to get a hero (for kheldians) and a villain (for Soldiers) to level 20 before unlocking them.

And btw, welcome to the game. =D

My quicky advice for learning this game:

1. Pick Freedom Server so you get tons of people around.

2. Do the sewers so you can get out of Atlas Park once you're past 10. You can head to Kings Row under 10 also. But Atlas is a cesspool on Freedom.

3. Shouts of "Level 12 Kin/AR Defender LFT" isn't bad, but won't get good results 100% of the time. Often, you'll see some really horrible gameplay by at least one member of the team.

4. Server channels are well and good, but also go to the forum here for your server.

5. Eventually learn how to make money. Doing missions won't cut it if you want to excel.

6. Katana/WP scrapper is really hard to kill. The damage output is not that great compared to other scrappers of you're using Divine Avalance to boost your defense, but that's what it's there for. Blasters are also great if you understand aggro, which you would.

I discourage the lower population servers. They don't have any more good players as a percentage than the larger ones. In fact a massive migration happened in Dec when server transfers were free, so they dropped in population massively.

And don't be afraid to form teams. If you "LFT" you won't be heard by the teams in the missions. But if you shout "Radio Team LFM" you'll get bombarded by the people who've been shouting LFT.

Also, the find mentioned above, is a good advice.

It takes a while to figure out how this works, but the player classes are so diversified compared to other mmos you'll probably dig it once you see how things can work together. It's not tank/healer/damage here. and that's great.

@Postagulous

Thanks for the tips. I actually made another character that is dual blades/regneration. Like him a lot so far. Been playing him more than the Gold Ox.

Welcome to the game and the forums!

One bit of advice I like to offer all new players:

The only way to guarantee you're always on a fun team is to form one yourself...

Leading a team requires some minor effort on your part, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes, and can be very rewarding.

It's not hard at all to put a full, 8-member team together in less than 5 minutes without using annoying Blind Invites.

Here's how.

Welcome to the game...
Additionally, you'll find that you can make 12 characters per server... with 11 servers (12 if you count the test server, but that's another story).

So you can make 132 characters (or toons) without having to delete anything.

With all those character slots, feel free to try out different AT's and powersets.

Have fun!

Postagulous listed his "quicky advice," but there are a lot of other opinions on much of what he said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Postagulous My quicky advice for learning this game: 1. Pick Freedom Server so you get tons of people around.

Virtue is pretty close to being as populated as Freedom, probably has more experienced players and many of them like to Role-play. If you want to Role-Play your character, Virtue is the place to go.

And you don't necessarily want to stick to Freedom and Virtue. Freedom has more people . . . and more jerks. The other servers have active communities -- and if you want to find a group of people with whom you can team on a regular basis, you may be better on one of the other servers. Lower population means that you have a better chance of getting to team with the same people on a regular basis. And if you monitor the main channels for that server, you get to know many of the people there.

So there is a trade off -- if you want to find lots of Pick-up groups, stick with Freedom and/or Virtue. But if you want to join a community, then one of the other servers will be better.

Quote:

2. Do the sewers so you can get out of Atlas Park once you're past 10. You can head to Kings Row under 10 also. But Atlas is a cesspool on Freedom.

A new player should do the missions from his or her first contacts. You need to learn the basics of the game, not rush through those lower levels. Once you have been around for a while and taken 10 or more characters through those low levels, then maybe you can think about rushing through those levels by going to the sewers.

And by the way, if you get up to level 10 in the sewers, you will have missed out on one of the most handy temporary powers you can get. Instead, I recommend you do your early missions, get up to level 5, then go to King's Row. Go talk to your Detective to get the Police Scanner. Do 3 Scanner missions (you should be at level 6 or 7 by then) and then do the Atlas Bank mission. (The first time through, try to be on a team!). If you complete the mission properly, you get a flying pack (called a "Raptor Pack") that will allow you to get around much, much more easily.

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3. Shouts of "Level 12 Kin/AR Defender LFT" isn't bad, but won't get good results 100% of the time. Often, you'll see some really horrible gameplay by at least one member of the team. 4. Server channels are well and good, but also go to the forum here for your server.

This advice is kind of vague. Getting a team is sometimes too easy (you'll get an invite the moment you log in) and sometimes a little harder (you will call out in Broadcast looking for a team, but nobody seems to respond). There is a variety of ways to find teams. Get on the Global Channel for the server. Learn to set your "Looking for Team" flag. Best of all, learn how to make your own teams -- but make sure you tell your teammates that you are pretty new. Most people are very helpful, but on the high population servers, there seem to be a few more jerks than on other servers.

And one way to get teams if you know when you will be in game is to go to these forums, into the server-specific section, and announce that you are a new player who wants some help, and state when you'll be on. There is also the Mentor project.

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5. Eventually learn how to make money. Doing missions won't cut it if you want to excel.

Making Influence in the game is pretty easy if you know a few tricks. For example, once you are level 5 or 6, you can go to Wentworths or the Black Market and search for Recipes or Salvage where there are lots of them available for sale, and 0 bids. Put in a low bid, like 10 for salvage, or 100 for higher level recipes. Wait. Go back later, and if you are lucky, you will have bought a bunch of recipes for 100. You can go to any regular vendor and sell those recipes you bought for 100 to the vendor for a lot more, like 5,000. You can do that a bunch of times to earn all you need for the low levels.

Then read some of the guides in the Market forum for lots of tips on how to make lots of influence.

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6. Katana/WP scrapper is really hard to kill. The damage output is not that great compared to other scrappers of you're using Divine Avalance to boost your defense, but that's what it's there for. Blasters are also great if you understand aggro, which you would.

Make lots of characters. My first was a scrapper, then a blaster. Then a tank and then a Defender. I thought Defenders were my favorite . . . until I tried an Illusion/Radiation Controller. That Ill/Rad quickly became my favorite character and was my first to level 50. Now about half of my level 50 characters are Controllers.

Play around and see what you like. You won't get a good idea about most types of characters until they hit their 20's.

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I discourage the lower population servers. They don't have any more good players as a percentage than the larger ones. In fact a massive migration happened in Dec when server transfers were free, so they dropped in population massively.

I don't agree. I moved my one level 50 off of Freedom to another server. I mostly play on Guardian, Pinnacle and Infinity, but will log on to a character once in a while on Freedom if I am in the mood for a "PUG" if none of my usual buddies is logged on -- but to me, Freedom is usually a last resort.

Quote:

And don't be afraid to form teams. If you "LFT" you won't be heard by the teams in the missions. But if you shout "Radio Team LFM" you'll get bombarded by the people who've been shouting LFT. Also, the find mentioned above, is a good advice. It takes a while to figure out how this works, but the player classes are so diversified compared to other mmos you'll probably dig it once you see how things can work together. It's not tank/healer/damage here. and that's great.

I agree with the stuff above. It is usually better to build a team than to join one.