The Players' Guide to the Cities/Getting Started

Last updated for Issue 27 on 19 February 2024.

Overview

To enter City of Heroes or City of Villains, complete the following steps:

• Install the launcher and game to your hard drive.
• Double-click on the shortcut on your desktop or use the Windows Start menu to start the launcher.
• The launcher will then check for and automatically load any updates to the game. It then displays an arrow which can be clicked to launch the game.

(Not on Windows? See City of Heroes on Mac or City of Heroes on Linux.)

Log-in Screen

• On the main log-in screen, enter the account name and account password for your game account. Note that to play on Homecoming, you must first create a forum account, then a game account.

Server Selection Screen

• Select the server on which you wish to play. When selecting a server, check the colored bubbles next to the server name. The more bubbles, the higher the system load that the server is currently experiencing. If a server has too high a system load, you won’t be able to choose it.
• When you select your server, you may choose a character you’ve already created and begin play, or you may choose to create a new character. You may create several characters on any given server. You may also delete a previously created character that you no longer wish to play. Note that once a character is deleted, he or she is irretrievably gone.
• If selecting an existing character, click on "Enter Paragon City" or "Enter the Rogue Isles" to proceed.