Powers System

Overview

Anything that happens between entities in City of Heroes outside of simple movement passes through the Powers system. All attacks that you can cast, all shields you can have, all buffs you can grant and your current statuses and other attributes are part of a general combat system, which is modified almost exclusively through the use of Powers. While the full capacity of the Powers system is beyond the scope of the article, the most pertinent information that players will need to know are documented here.

Powers

Powers are made available to entities by a variety of means, the most common of which is simple ownership of Powers. When you select a Power through your Power Sets or encounter a dev-defined enemy, Powers are granted to entities. Some Powers expire, while others are permanent.

Power Type

There are three general classes of Power types: Click, Toggle and Auto.

Click

Most Powers are Click Powers. The name comes from the usual casting method: you click on the Power's icon in the Powers tray. These Powers execute once and begin their recharge cycle once they finish activating.

Toggle

Toggle Powers are activated and kept on until they are explicitly deactivated or until there is insufficient Endurance to maintain them. Toggle Powers technically apply their effects at a periodic rate rather than apply any sort of consistent effect.

Certain actions have the ability to "detoggle" a Toggle Power. Generally, this will happen during when the caster is affected by a status effect and the Toggle Power in question affects enemies.

Auto

Auto Powers function the same way as Toggle Powers, but they generally don't cost any Endurance to run and cannot be deactivated.

Target Type

The target of a power is the entity which the power is directed towards. Note: Just because an entity is the target of a power, does not mean that it is always affected by that power.

Every power that activates must have a target. Sometimes this target is not always apparent, but its presence is fundamental to the powers system. Except where noted, if you are have an entity targeted that does not match the target type for the power you are attempting to activate, one of two things will happen:

1. If your target's target is an entity which does match the target type of your power, your power will instead target that entity. This is known as Auto-Assist.
2. You will receive an "Invalid Target" message and the power will not activate.

The following are the valid types of targets that a power can have:

Self

Also known as Caster, self-targeted powers automatically target the entity who uses them, and do not require explicit targeting in the UI (in fact, players cannot intentionally target themselves!).

Player

A power can be set to target only Players -- entities which are controlled by a human. There are many variations of this type of target. An example of a power which can only target other players is Mystic Fortune.

Teammate

Powers which target teammates may only be used on members of your own team, and cannot be cast on players who are not grouped with you (this includes other teams within leagues). Vengeance is a power which targets teammates, albeit dead ones. Until recently, Recall Friend could only target teammates. Pets are considered alive teammates (but not dead teammates!) for the purpose of targeting.

NPC

Powers can be set to only target NPCs, or non-player characters, also known as Critters (or in some rare cases Villains, though this is an artifact from before City of Villains). There are very few powers which have their target restricted this way. The resurrect powers used by a few enemies are set to target NPCs, so that confused enemies will not rez dead players.

Friend / Foe

The most basic target types are Friend and Foe. These go hand in hand, allowing powers to target either entities which are friendly to you (players, allied NPCs, pets) or entities which are hostile (enemy players and NPCs, occasionally teammates if confused). Most attack and buff powers use these target types or their variants.

Location

Some powers target a location. When activating a location-targeted power, a circle appears under the mouse cursor. Upon clicking a location that is in range, the target is locked in and the power activates.

Any

A few powers can target anything. Friends, enemies, it does not matter. The Snowball power from the winter event is an example of such a power.

Teleport

The teleport powers use a special target type. It is similar to Location, but more restrictive in the area that can be selected.

My Pet

Some powers, for example Mastermind Upgrades, can only be targeted on your pets.

My Owner

This is a special target type. It it used only by a few pets which have buffs that are supposed to be cast only on the entity who summoned them.

Leaguemate

Recently introduced, the Leaguemate target is similar to the Teammate target, except it extends to the entire league.

Variants

Most of the above target types have variants that allow them to be more restrictive. For example, many can be set to only target dead entities, living entities, or either of the above. Though these are technically distinct target types, they act as subsets of each other and are best thought of simply as attributes of a given target.

Effect Area

Spread Angle, Radius, Range

Effects

Attribute Aspect

Strength/Resistance/Relative/Max

Target Type

Self/Target