City of Heroes - Gameplay

Gameplay

Players begin by using the game's extensive character creation system to first select an archetype, then primary and secondary power sets, then design a unique costume. In the final character creation screen, players can optionally write a backstory or description and battle cry for their hero, as well as choose a name. The name may be changed at a later time for a one-time charge, and the description and battle cry may be changed at any time. There is an automatic check to make sure the name is exclusive on that server.

Characters may begin in an isolated tutorial zone, or skip the tutorial and begin in an open low level zone. A character's level increases by earning experience points from defeating foes, completing missions, and exploring zones, then returning to a trainer. Benefits for rising in level include more health, more powers, more slots to allocate enhancements to powers, and larger inventories.

The primary setting of the game, Paragon City, is divided into different zones by giant energy "war walls." Especially dangerous zones called "hazard" or "trial" zones, which teem with large groups of enemies, are marked in red on the in-game map and are much more dangerous than normal zones. The villain's setting, the Rogue Isles, consists of islands connected by a network of ferries. A few zones are accessible to both heroes and villains; some are cooperative zones, while others are player versus player (PvP) zones.

Players initially move around the zones by slowly jogging or using a minor speed-increasing power such as "Sprint". As heroes grow in level and accumulate more powers, they may choose among four higher speed traveling powers: Teleportation, Super Speed, Super Jumping, and Flight.

As characters level-up, players may choose new powers from the character's primary and secondary power sets, as set during creation, or from shared power pools. The power pools contain the four travel powers and other generic, usually utilitarian, powers that fall under categories such as: Fitness, Concealment, and Leadership. In addition, as characters level up, they gain access to new costume features, including the ability to change between up to five costumes and unlockable costume parts such as capes and auras.

Missions are obtained through various channels. Missions are typically staged on private instances accessible only to the mission holder's team by entering a door in a zone, and may require defeating a boss, escorting NPCs, or finding a particular clue or item. The level of enemies, and number of enemies per spawn, are set according to the team size, level of the mission holder, and difficulty setting of the mission holder. Some story arcs will emerge during the missions, with mission sequences forming a larger story. Once outside of a mission, a player reappears at a door or location in a zone which is accessible to any player on the server.

For committed players, there are other types of activities are available—task forces for heroes, strike forces for villains, and trials. These activities forbid adding new members to the team once started, and so consist of a series of linked missions that must be run till completion by the same team. Certain trials reward players with an opportunity to respecify their characters by choosing a different complement of superpowers within their selected power sets, and reallocating enhancement slots. Two types of Raids are available to Heroes and Villains: Rikti Mothership (in a shared zone for both Hero and Villain participants), and Hamidon (separate Hero and Villain locations), which encourage teamwork across multiple teams of players.

Team play is a large part of City of Heroes. Players can form supergroups reminiscent of classic comic book groups such as the X-Men or Justice League of America. Also, a system called "Sidekicking/Lackeying" or "Exemplaring/Malefactoring" makes all players on the team either 1 level lower than the team leader or mission holder (if they are a lower level) or the same level (if they are a higher level). Exemplared/Malefactored characters still earn experience and have access to all powers up to 5 levels above their temporarily lower level. Characters may also make leveling pacts under which the characters receive experience points equally whether online or offline, maintaining the characters at the same level.

Other game features include auction houses and crafting inventions to make characters more powerful. The Architect release gives players the ability to construct custom mission arcs, with customized villains and layouts that can then be played by all other players. Going Rogue (an optional expansion pack) allows players to switch which side their character fights on using Tip Missions collected from defeated villains.

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