The Players' Guide to the Cities/Teams

While taking on the world alone can be fun, it can be even more fun to do it with friends (or at least "interests" in the case of villains.) This is where various types of teams come in.

Teams (or "team ups") are temporary alliances between characters. You'll find that some of your alliances will last longer than others, and teaming will usually make life easier on you. Two to eight heroes or villains may team up at one time. While teamed, all experience and inf from defeating enemies and completing missions is shared among all members of the team. (Higher-level characters get a roughly proportionally larger share.) When inspirations, enhancements, recipes, or salvage are found, the game distributes them to team members fairly (if you get something you can’t use, it’s always a good idea to check if it would be useful to another member of the team.)

Accept or Decline Invitations

You can invite another character to team up with you by clicking on them to target them, then right-clicking to bring up a menu of interactions, including "Invite to Team." If the character is not physically present, you can invite them by using the /invite command. You can also invite characters to team up by right-clicking on their names in your Friends or Super Group lists or from the Search Window. Inviting another character to team up automatically makes you the team leader. If another character invites you to team up, you will be shown a confirmation box from which you can accept or decline the offer. The character who issued the invitation will become the team leader.

Team Leaders

Team Leader

Each team has one leader. The first character to invite another into the team automatically becomes the leader, and from then on he or she is the only one who can invite new members into the team. The leader also has the authority to kick members off the team. The team leader has the job of selecting any missions the team will undertake. This is done from the leader's Mission Window. The leader can select any mission that is currently held by any team member. Other team members can view all available missions from the Mission Window as well, but only the leader use the window to set the selected mission. (However, if any character enters one of their own mission doors when no missions are currently selected, that it mission will automatically be selected as the team's active task.)

A leader may pass leadership of the team to another team member. This is often referred to as "passing the star." This is done by right clicking on the team member to be promoted and selecting "Make Leader" or by using the /makeleader command. A team leader may "pass the star" for a number of reasons. Sometimes, the old team leader may feel that the new team leader is better suited to lead the team. Sometimes the highest level character is chosen as team leader -- if the new team leader is higher level, the entire team will be elevated. In some cases, a team leader will "pass the star" so that another teammate can invite someone from that person's Friends List or Global Friends List -- normal courtesy would be to "pass the star back" to the original team leader.

Team Missions

Team missions may be selected by the team leader from among all the missions currently possessed by everyone on the team. This is the only time a character can enter another character's mission map. Team door missions are calibrated for difficulty based on the level and notoriety of the character who originally obtained the mission and the number of team members at the time the mission is first begun. Therefore, for a tougher mission select a mission held by a higher-level member of the team and try to gather as large a team as possible. For an easier mission, select a lower-level member's task and try to get by with as few team members as possible. Be aware that the size of the team directly affects the number of enemies in the mission, so a mission for a team of 6, 7 or 8 will have many, many times the number of enemies as one for 1 or 2, and their levels will be slightly higher, as well.

If you find that a mission is too easy or too difficult, you can reset it. If everyone on the team exits the mission, the team leader selects a new mission, and then selects the original mission again, the map will be reset. If the team size or mission owner's notoriety have been adjusted, the mission will adjust accordingly when the first team member enters the door. Also, if a team abandons a mission before completing it and logs off, the next time the mission is entered it will reset and recalibrate for the team at that time.

If multiple teammates all hold the same mission, completing the mission for one team member gives each member the option of having theirs complete as well.

Super Sidekicking

When you join a team, your combat level is automatically adjusted to fit the combat level of the character who owns the team's selected mission (or the current team leader if no mission is selected). If your trained level is lower than the mission owner's combat level, your combat level will be adjusted to 1 lower than the mission owner's. You will not gain any new powers as a result of this adjustment.

If your trained level is higher than the mission owner's, your combat level will be adjusted to match his. You will retain the ability to use only powers you trained up to five levels after your new combat level. So, for example, if you have trained to level 30 and the leader's combat level is 20, your combat level will be adjusted to 20 and you will be able to use all of the powers you trained up to level 24. You will not be able to use the powers you trained at levels 26, 28, and 30.

While your combat level is adjusted, you will still gain experience and can still level up. However, you may not be able to immediately use any new powers trained if your newly trained level is five or more higher than the mission's owner.

If the mission's owner gains enough experience to reach the next level, everyone's combat level on the team will automatically go up one level.

Task/Strike Forces

A task force or strike force is a team of powerful characters that comes together to undertake a long series of dangerous assignments, usually culminating in a battle with one or more Archvillains or Heroes. "Task Force" is used in Paragon City, while "Strike Force" is used in the Rogue Isles, but they are simply Hero and Villain versions of the same type of story-linked missions. Task and Strike Force missions require a great deal of commitment and are very risky, but the reward for success is proportionate to the risk.

Some task forces are organized by the Surviving Eight, eight prominent heroes who survived the Rikti War. Some strike forces are overseen by Lord Recluse and his lieutenants. Other task/strike forces are offered by several prominent figures throughout Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.

Each task/strike force requires a minimum size of team to undertake it. Each member of the team must also be at or above a minimum level specific to that task/strike force, as well. The NPC issuing the assignment will let you know if your team is sufficient to attempt the mission.

Each task/strike force also has a maximum level. If the team leader exceeds the max level, his level will automatically be adjusted to the max level following the normal super sidekicking level adjustment rules. All team members levels will be adjusted as if the leader were naturally at that level.

Once a task/strike force is accepted, teams cannot invite additional members. Anyone who drops out of a task/strike force team before completion cannot rejoin; however they can log out without quitting and rejoin it again later. You should not join with a task/strike force unless you are willing and able to commit to the time and risk involved.

A task/strike force is terminated if all members of the team quit, but not if all members log out without quitting. If a team does not have enough time to complete the task/strike force, the team can log out and resume the task/strike force later. When any character on a task/strike force logs back into the game, that character will still be on the task/strike force. However, the first character on the team to log in will be team leader.

Trials

Trials are similar to task/strike forces, but are usually confined to one area or zone. Trials may require a certain number of characters, and those characters must be within a specific level range, just like a task/strike force.

Trials tend to have unique rewards--things that are available nowhere else in the game. These can be anything from a unique type of enhancement to the ability to respec your character’s powers. Trial contacts are usually found in the mid- to upper-level zones.