S.T.A.R.T.
Overview
The S.T.A.R.T. Vendor sells, for in-game currency, everything which players could spend real money on before the 2012 shutdown. It also offers access to some additional functionality. S.T.A.R.T. Vendors are located in the tutorials, in the starting zones (Atlas Park, Mercy Island, and Nova Praetoria), Pocket D, Grandville, Firebase Zulu, Fort Trident, The Crucible, and Echo Plaza. During the Winter Event, a S.T.A.R.T. vendor is located in the Winter Forest.
The S.T.A.R.T. Vendor in Pocket D, Echo Plaza, Fort Trident, and The Cruicible are accessible by characters on a Task Force or AE Mission.
Prestige Enhancements
These 5 enhancements are free, but unique. Until level 21, these are some of the best enhancements you can use.
Prestige Powers
Attacks
You can select which of the 5 Origin Powers to have. (You may need to first Revoke the one you have, below.)
You can also choose from a selection of melee and ranged prestige attacks. These are free if you have fewer than three total.
Buff Pets
You can buy pets that boost your Resistance and Damage or Defence and Recovery. One is free, but if you want more than one, it will cost a million inf.
Just for Fun
100,000 inf: the Flying Disc and Snowball powers.
Sprints
Free: grants all the prestige sprints. Note that it cannot be revoked.
Travel
1,000,000 inf: the Flying Carpet, Void Skiff, and Rocket Board flight powers. These provide reasonable speed, but are expensive and prevent you from using powers on other ingame entities while in use.
The Jump Pack and Steam Jump powers, which are identical apart from their appearance. One is free, but a second will cost you 100,000 inf. They let you jump as high as you like for 30 seconds, then cool down.
The Athletic Run, Beast Run and Ninja Run powers, which increase running speed considerably and jumping height somewhat. They are also identical other than their appearance, and the first one is free but the second costs 1,000,000 inf.
1,000,000 inf: the Coyote Travel Power and Panther Travel Power. These transform you into the relevant animal, turn off other powers, and boost your running speed considerably.
1,000,000 inf: Assemble the Team (free if you have the Paragon badge).
1,000,000 inf: Base Transporter
1,000,000 inf: Mission Transporter
10,000,000 inf: Team Transport Power
1,000,000 inf: Pocket D VIP Pass (free if you have spent 5 hours in Pocket D)
Utility
The Mystic Fortune, Inner Inspiration, and Secondary Mutation powers; the first is free, but the others cost 500,000 inf.
1,000,000 inf: Return to Battle or Renewal of Light. These self-rez powers are mutually exclusive. They are free if you have the The Unbroken Spirit badge.
10,000 inf: the Reveal power.
10,000,000 inf: the Portable Workbench (free if you have the Field Crafter badge).
100,000 inf: the Self Destruction power.
10,000 inf: the Shadowy Presence stealth power.
Vanity Pets
1,000,000 inf: each of the Vanity Pets, which are all non-combat.
Recipe & Inspiration Drops
For a small fee, you can no longer get drops of various categories of IO recipe - Common, Uncommon, Rare, or Very Rare and PVP. You can also re-enable these drops.
For small inf fees, you can disable inspiration drops by type (eg accuracy, damage, endurance) or size, or re-enable ones you have disabled. You can also enable dual and team inspirations.
It is important to note that disabling IO or Inspiration Reward drops does not 'cycle' to a lesser reward, or pick a different option behind the scenes. If a recipe drop would have given you a disabled recipe type, instead you get nothing. The same applies to Inspiration drops during combat. Example: with disabled inspirations turned on at the S.T.A.R.T. Vendor, using the Inner Inspiration prestige power would grant fewer inspirations if one of the disabled ones would have been rewarded. It is entirely possible to activate the power and receive nothing if enough inspirations are disabled, or the Inner Inspiration power would have granted three Inspirations of the same disabled type.
Revoke
You can remove various S.T.A.R.T. powers if you no longer require them. This is useful for swapping Origin Powers, or for those classes of power where one is free but a second one is expensive.
This only removes the power. It does NOT give a refund.
Temporary Powers
A variety of temporary attacks. Most of these are beneficial at low levels (or for RP needs for those inclined). Of particular note, the Envenomed Dagger power heavily debuffs regeneration, which is useful for Archvillain and Giant Monster fights.
Attacks
| Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Toy Bat | 100 charges for 100,000 inf | Granted for free during Mapserver Invasion (April Fool's Day) since 2022 |
| St. Louis Slammer | 30 charges for 5,000 inf | Melee attack +KB |
| Envenomed Dagger | 30 charges for 50,000 inf | Ranged attack -Regen -Def |
| Hand Grenades | 18 charges for 5,000 inf | Ranged AoE attack |
| Plasmatic Taser | 24 charges for 5,000 inf | Ranged AoE +Immob |
| Revolver | 30 charges for 5,000 inf | Ranged High Damage |
| Gabriel's Hammer | 30 charges for 5,000 inf | Melee High Damage |
| Smoke Flash | 10 charges for 500,000 inf | Melee -Acc |
| Stun Grenade | 20 charges for 50,000 inf | Ranged +Stun |
Buffs
Amplifiers
| Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Offense Amplifier | Variable Cost by Level | +15% Dam, +10% ToHit, +15% Rech 1 hr. |
| Defense Amplifier | Variable Cost by Level | +5% Def, +7% DamRes, +Mag4 StatProtect 1 hr. |
| Survival Amplifier | Variable Cost by Level | +15% Regen, +20% Recovery, +40% HP 1 hr. |
The Offense Amplifier, Defense Amplifier, and Survival Amplifier have level-dependent costs. This can be as low as 2000 inf per hour for Level 1-10 all the way to 2,500,000 inf per hour for Level 50.
The S.T.A.R.T. Vendor Amplifiers behave differently than the similarly named Character Item counterparts from Super Packs as these can be stacked for up to a maximum of eight hours of duration for each amplifier. (Example: For 48,000 inf, you can stack eight hours of Offense, Defense AND Survival Amplifier at Level 10. That same purchase at Level 50 would cost 60,000,000 inf for eight hours of all three amplifiers.)
Amplifiers can be purchased at any Level, including Level 50. They do not expire on defeat, and the time remaining will countdown only while logged in. (Example: buying an hour of Offense, Defense and Survival Amplifier for a character, then logging out 15 minutes later, a player would have 45 minutes left of the Amplifiers when the character returns online.)
Custom XP Rates
| Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 25% XP Booster | Lv. 1-49: Free Purchase Lv. 50 Not Available |
25% XP Boost, 25% INF Reduction for 1 Hour |
| 50% XP Booster | Lv. 1-49: Free Purchase Lv. 50 Not Available |
50% XP Boost, 50% INF Reduction for 1 Hour |
| Double XP Booster | Lv. 1-49: Free Purchase Lv. 50 Not Available |
100% XP Boost, 100% INF Reduction for 1 Hour |
If you are not level 50, you can select a custom XP rate. These options are offered at no cost, but reduces inf gain by a like amount and lasts for one hour per charge (for a maximum of eight hours) or until cancelled in the Powers window. Upon turning Level 50, the power does nothing until time expires (or until cancelled.)
Only one custom rate can be picked at a time. (Example: You cannot mix 50% XP/-50% INF with 25% XP/-25% INF. Upon choosing 50% XP/-50% INF, the other options are greyed out until the 50% XP/-50% INF rate is cancelled or expired.)
XP Boosters do not expire on defeat, and the timers only countdown while logged in. Buying eight Double XP Boosters on one character then logging out 2 minutes later means when that character returns they have seven hours and 58 minutes left of Double XP play remaining.
Custom XP Rates DO NOT affect the following:
- any completion bonus from Missions, Arcs, or Task Force/Strike Force play (which ignores XP multipliers and always grants inf, including Day Job boosts to such bonuses),
- drops from defeats, nor the drop rates of any salvage or recipes (players can sell their inventory gained from defeats to offset the lost inf),
- Windfall (with the understanding that if 100% XP/-100% INF is chosen, Windfall only affects drop rates),
- reward tables offered (if one is offered at the end of an arc, TF/SF or raid).
Once a character reaches Level 50, Custom XP Rates disappear from a S.T.A.R.T. Vendor.
Note: These are different than the XP Booster Character Item offered in various Super Packs, which boosts XP by 25% for one hour only. Both are different than the Experienced Temp Power, which affects Patrol XP. Both the Character Item XP Booster and Experienced Temp Powers work normally after Level 50 to increase XP Gain for Veteran Levels instead.
Combat
| Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereal Shift | 500,000 inf / 50 charges | +Stealth 30 sec/5 min rech. |
| Kinetic Dampener | 500,000 inf / 30 minutes | +60% S/L Def +200% Energy Def 30 min/10 min rech. |
| Med Pack | 500,000 inf / 10 charges | Minor Heal 1 min rech. |
| Power Analyzer | 50,000 inf / 20 charges | Special (Shows Enemy Power Window) 1 min rech. |
| Recovery Serum | 50,000 inf / 5 charges | +Recovery 4 min/10 min rech. |
| Resuscitator | 500,000 inf / 10 charges | Ally Rez 10 min rech. |
Summon
| Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Backup Radio | 500,000 inf / 5 charges | Summons a PPD Hardsuit (Ranged/Melee offensive mix, but at -1 Player Level) for 2 minutes |
| Signature Summon | 10,000,000 inf / 5 charges | Signature Summons calls an "aspect" of a Freedom Phalanx or Arachnos Leader to aid in combat at the player's current level. Comes in Melee, Ranged, Support & Tank varieties for 2 minutes |
Unlike Prestige Powers, both Backup Radio and Signature Summons are Combat Pets who will participate in combat, use abilities, give and receive aggro, as well as take damage. You cannot pick which Signature Summon you get. (One use may spawn Statesman, a subsequent one may spawn Back Alley Brawler, for example.)
The summons are fully unattended. You do not have any control of a summon except for early dismissal.
Travel
Jetpacks (5,000 inf / 30 minutes for the ordinary one)
Other jetpacks available for 50,000 inf / 30 minutes for a selection of different skins with identical performance.
Note that only flight is offered in Temp Power form. Jetpacks do allow combat and abilities for characters without flight as a travel power which makes them indispensible for aerial combat such as Hamidon Raids or Shadow Shard zones.
For other travel power types such as Leaping and Teleports, see Prestige Powers (which are permanent once purchased, however "Only Affecting Self" is common across Prestige Travel abilities.) Also, starting with Issue 28, all characters at Level 2 are granted a LKT-1700 Rocket Pack to use for 2 hours free of charge.
Historical
This section contains information about changes that took place in Homecoming: City of Heroes/Villains. It is provided for historical purposes.
The S.T.A.R.T. Vendor was called the P2W Vendor (Pay-2-Win) or T4V Vendor (Transact 4 Victory) in Praetoria. This was an inside joke referring to the removed Paragon Market feature which used to sell many of its wares as micro-transactions, as well as the Paragon Rewards program which would lock several prestige powers and additional charges of temp powers that used to be available in-game as monthly subscription perks.
The vendors appeared in Issue 25 instead of both programs. As such, any links and references to Paragon Market and Paragon Rewards UI was removed altogether from the client. Longevity-based perks such as badges and tokens in Paragon Rewards became the basis for Veteran Levels while the rest of the prestige power unlocks were moved to these vendors instead.
- In Issue 25, the jetpack vendors were replaced with P2W Vendors in Grandville and Firebase Zulu.
- P2W/T4V Vendors lasted through Issue 27, Page 7. It was renamed S.T.A.R.T. to make its purpose more clear as part of the New Player Experience improvements initiative. The rename also simplified the contacts across city zones from CoH/CoV/Going Rogue (Easier for players to understand the S.T.A.R.T. Vendor in Atlas Park is no different than the one in Mercy Island nor in Nova Praetoria.)