What's New in Homecoming for Returning Players

Player Guide Notice

This article is a Player Guide. The Homecoming Wiki takes no responsibility for the content within.

Questions and concerns should be posed to the authors of the article using the article's talk page.

Assumptions

The reader is finding out about Homecoming: City of Heroes for the first time since the Live shutdown and want to get started quickly. Here's what to know.

This is a quick reference to years of patch notes concerning changes Homecoming made over the live game. For more details:

• The Complete Newcomer's Guide to City of Heroes: Logging In and Character Creation - a longer Newcomer guide is available here written by Robotech_Master. It is no longer updated.
• New Players Guide to City of Heroes - More recent newcomer guide. Written by TheMultiVitamin in January 2024.

Topics below "Starting Out" are collapsed by default to avoid overwhelming a reader.

Starting Out

Before you begin

All vestiges of Microtransactions (Paragon Market, Paragon Rewards) and Game Subscription Fees (Veteran Rewards Program) have been eliminated. Players do not need a form of payment to play at all. Old NCSoft Software Keys no longer function and do nothing to grant access to Homecoming.

• Create a forum account at Homecoming Servers first. A player needs to have an email address ready to check for a link before signing in.
  • Only one game account per Email Address for password recovery. For multiboxing or other players in your house, a different email address for each account is required.
  • Once the Forum Account is made, a player can control their game account here. Without a Game Account, the Client will not log in. (A forum name and password will not start City of Heroes.)
• There are System Requirements, however, most modern PC and Mac computers since 2018 with some form of on-board graphics can play the game even if it is not a "Gaming PC".
  • Use Mac or Linux? No problem. See Homecoming Launcher for more info specific to those Operating Systems.

Client

PLAYERS DO NOT NEED THE NCSOFT LAUNCHER OR PRIOR COH PATCHER.

Those are both hard-coded to connect to NCSoft's servers which are no longer available.

The Homecoming: City of Heroes Game Client is downloaded with the HC Launcher app, which can be obtained from the Getting Started guide on the Homecoming Forums.

All players start over in Homecoming with nothing. They can copy Architect, Costumes, and Power Customization files from a prior installation over if preferred.

Starting the Game

There are three choices from the Homecoming Launcher (in bold and numbered.) A player can optionally hide any of these choices by clicking the gear icon to open Settings and pick which launcher on the left they want to change and checking "Hide".

Live Service

#1: Homecoming - This is the main service. It contains five servers, or shards, to create a character on:

• Torchbearer
• Excelsior
• Everlasting (Unofficial RP Server)
• Indomitable (Unofficial PvP Server)
• Reunion (Official EU Server, located in Germany)

The top four shards are based in Canada on the North American Eastern Time Zone. Server "stress level" still works on login and shows when the server is closer to being full (three red dots). This information is also visible in the HC Launcher on the bottom panel. Weekly Server Maintenance is typically Tuesday Mornings in the AM. A server maintenance period can also happen anytime an Issue or Page release is imminent.

There is also a Diagnostic Client available for 64-bit installations which is hidden by default. More information can be found here.

Beta Service

#2: Staging (Shadow) - This Server holds the Staging Copy of the server. For Beta, Staging is the final test of the Beta Release before it goes live to all five Homecoming shards. Staging is also used to test 'quick release' changes to the Server which happen infrequently.

#3: Beta (Brainstorm) - This Server holds the Public Beta Test of the next Issue Release. (At the time of this writing, Issue 27.) Smaller releases, called Pages (Issue 27, Page 6) are also tested in Beta.

Advice here applies to Beta Shards with three key differences:

• Beta Shards can be wiped with no prior notice.
• While players can make a copy of their live service characters for play on Beta, no content on the Beta Shards you make or play will ever be transferred back to Live.
• To help test Quality of Life and Endgame changes, Beta servers may have "cheats" enabled optionally to boost characters, grant Influence or populate enhancements to slot on demand.

Further information about the Beta Shards can be found here.

Basic Play

Character Creation: Heroes or Villains

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(See Costumes below for Character Creator specific changes since Live.)

• There are only three choices that cannot be altered once set. Almost any other decision or selection can be changed after the character is created. (Most are free, some require in-game resources, a few have more requirements.) These choices are:
  • Archetype: Blaster, Tank, Corruptor, Mastermind, etc.,
  • Character Powerset Choices (Fire, Ice, Invulnerability, Willpower, Street Justice, Robots, Katana, Nature, etc.),
  • and Character Origin (only affects vendors and story content.)
• Each player has 1000 character creation slots per server.
• Character Renames are available for free at any time.
  • The name release policy has returned. See "Adjustments From Live" below for more info.
• Character Server Transfer can be done at any time, up to a maximum of 5 transfers per 3 days. Server Transfers only apply to the service the in-game client is accessing (Live to other Live Servers only, and Beta to other Beta Servers only.)
  • Copying character data from Live to Beta one-way is a different feature. This isn't a transfer, but a copy, and you can't ever copy a Beta character back to Live.
  • Only character data is kept: Base Salvage, Supergroup Base and Membership are left on the origin server.
  • If the only member left in a supergroup is transferred to another server it will be lost upon transfer out of the server (same as last player quitting an SG deletes the group.)
• Every new player gets one Global Chat Handle change.
  • The first character (or 'toon') name will become the default global handle unless already used (@BobWhite2 instead of @BobWhite).
  • Players only get one token on account creation. To ask for an additional one, see 'Support'.
• Archetype Changes have been focused primarily on adding more powersets and proliferating set choices across more archetypes. (Additions can be viewed in the Power Sets category.)
  • Sentinel Archetype: a Ranged attack Primary (often Single-Target) with Defensive Secondary powersets has been added to Homecoming as a 11th standard Archetype choice (non-Epic). Sentinels use an Inherent mechanic called Opportunity.
  • As in City of Heroes: Freedom, the eleven non-Epic archetypes (including Sentinels) can be used for any character in any setting: City of Heroes, City of Villains or City of Heroes: Going Rogue.

Experienced Players: Epic and Praetorian Characters

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It is recommended for first time players and returning players who have been gone a while to consider making a Hero or Villain character first before proceeding with these more difficult options.

Epic Archetypes for Heroes and Villains

Players can make an Epic Archetype character with no unlock requirements. Epic ATs have a fixed start in their respective side and have a permanent AT contact to reach for their initial missions. Their alignment can be altered as soon as they can visit Pocket D.

• Peacebringers (Kheldians) and Warshades (Reformed Nictus) appear in Hero Archetypes.
  • Important to note that both choices have no Powerset options, nor Ancillary or Patron Pools available.
  • As a result, there are more than nine power choices in the Primary and Secondary Powersets to customize within their Archetype. By selecting or skipping certain powers, you can make a Single Form, or a shapeshifting Dual-Form or Tri-Form character at your preference.
  • Regular Pool Powers such as Leadership and Combat still apply.
• Soldiers of Arachnos (Crab Spider or Bane Spider path) and Arachnos Widows (Fortunata or Night Widow path) appear in Villain Archetypes.
  • As during live, character gender does not determine the AT available (e.g. you can make male widows and female crab spiders.)
  • Unlike Hero Epic ATs, Ancillary and Patron Power Pools remain available.

Praetorian Characters

Praetorian Gameplay is also available by choosing "City of Heroes: Going Rogue", with contacts starting in a special Tutorial at Level 1.

• Completing all of the Praetorian arcs the first time through on or after Level 20 grants a final mission to head to Paragon City (continue your career as an newly arrived hero) or Rogue Isles (gain more wealth and power as a villain).
  • This choice is reversible by either doing Morality Tip Missions or visiting Null the Gull, but the Praetorian alignments for Loyalist and Resistance will end permanently and have no bearing on your further play.
  • New Contacts and further mission content in Praetoria past Level 25 will stop until you make the choice.
• All of the Level 1-25 Praetorian arcs are available in any (Aspect of) Pillar of Ice and Flame through Ouroboros, available to replay or repeat regardless of your current alignment. For Heroes and Villains, this is the only way to do any Praetorian arcs, as contacts in Nova Praetoria, Imperial City, Neutropolis and the Underground will not talk to Primal Earth characters who are not on Flashback.
• Additional Praetorian content is available in First Ward and Night Ward starting at Level 25, with both zones permitting Co-Op play.

Beginning Play: Everyone starts HC with nothing.

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• Everyone starts at zero INF and Level 1. There are some quick ways to gain INF:
  • Start collecting Levels and Items.
    • Begin with Matthew Habashy (Atlas Park), or Operative Kuzmin (Mercy Island) before Level 8. You can also start doing missions with Twinshot (Atlas Park), or Dr. Graves (Mercy Island) starting at Level 5. At the end of Story Arcs, a small amount of reward merits are granted up to eight an hour, depending on how long the arc is ‘expected to take’ on average when it was made (single mission arcs either grant 1 or none depending on difficulty).
      • You can use them at a Merit Vendor to purchase Enhancement Converters. These sell for 60-90K INF on the market each, which can generate quick money to build out Enhancements. (They sell 1 RM for three converters, or 10 RMs for 30.)
      • After a point, it’ll make more sense to hold on to Reward Merits earned until Level 47 to build Level 50 IOs and find other ways to fund your upgrades.
    • Purchase Inner Inspiration. Sell Large Inspirations when you receive them.
    • Learn how to craft & sell on the Market. Using Enhancement Converters, a common recipe can become a rare IO Set Enhancement that can sell for millions of INF. Craft and sell any Rare or PvP IO recipe you get. IOs sold are bought at any Level. (A Level 30 Luck of The Gambler bought by someone at Level 50 will receive the Level 50 IO. Selling IOs at lower levels is just as profitable as Level 50.)
    • If you use XP Boosters that eliminate INF drops, you will still get recipes, salvage (as soon as Level 10) and enhancement drops. Sell what you don’t need to replace your INF earnings.
    • Participate in Task Forces and Summer Blockbuster runs. The earn rate is 20 Merits per hour (again, depending on the average time players complete it.) Summer Blockbuster drops a special ATO Enhancement with every run that sells very well on the Auction House.
  • Feeling nostalgic? The Galaxy City Tutorial from COH: Freedom as well as the original tutorials of Outbreak and Breakout are also available.
    • Heroes: Optional Zones including The Hollows and Faultline are still available to help progression.
    • Flashback is available starting at Level 10. (Reminder: Mission Arcs without reward tables are not subject to Diminished Returns.)
    • Tip Missions start dropping during regular gameplay after Level 20 is reached. See Alignment & Tip Missions below for more info.
    • Radio/Newspaper Missions are still available, obtained the same way. Missions are in the same level range of a character and cannot be run in outleveled zones (as they are "beneath your notice".) Several missions will launch a Safeguard or Mayhem mission for badges, temp powers, and lots of combat. See Safeguard/Mayhem (Radio & Newspaper) below for more info.
  • Saving money to earn more:
    • Use the Prestige Enhancements in the early levels instead of spending on DO or SO enhancements from Level 1-10.
    • SOs cost more than DOs for a reason. They’re twice as effective. However, in the early levels, you pay a lot to use SOs for the ability to raise your stats a very small amount compared to buying them later from Level 15 to Level 30. So give DOs a shot first, they may not be as bad as expected when you’re just starting out. (Not missing is the goal, not pwnage. That's not going to happen for anyone at Level 9.)
    • Level 25+ IOs are equivalent to/better than Level 50 SOs. Invention Origin Enhancements cannot be upgraded using the Upgrade button, but once built and slotted, they do not expire like DOs and SOs do.
    • Triage is needed sometimes. If you found a Proc IO Recipe that if crafted and sold could net you several million for only a little expenditure, and you don't think you'll need the recipe/IO for quite a while, selling it wouldn't be a terrible idea if being able to click Upgrade in the Enhancements Window isn't really a problem for the next 15-20 levels. Take the money. You can buy it again later. (If Ultra Rare, with Reward Merits, so INF isn't really needed either.)
• Mission Difficulty can be adjusted one of two ways:
  • Using a Hero Corps agent as in the past.
  • Using the Quickchat Menu, a player can now set a character's Difficulty Level (from -2 up to +4) and Mob Size (from x1 up to x8) before starting a mission.
    • For missions partially completed and Task Force mode in any form: abandoning progress and restarting the Task Force, AE arc, or iTrial is needed for the new difficulty to take effect.
    • Otherwise, arc missions and standalone missions will load the new difficulty settings on the next new mission door to be opened.
• Teaming: Several choices.
  • The LFG panel in-game above the Chat Box works for Trials, Task Forces, and League play. Level limits still apply. (Hero Task Forces start at Level 8 instead of 15 now.)
  • Play in new player trials "Death from Below" (Heroes - Sewer Trial) or "Drowning in Blood" (Villains - Bloody Bay Trial). Rewards available from Level 1-22.
  • Team up with friends. Any player arc in the same alignment can be joined with friends at any time. (Team opportunities will be more plentiful "Blueside", same as Live.)

Mission Management: What now?

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Hasn't changed since live, but may need a reminder since it is dramatically different from most MMORPGs.

How do I give up or move on? Drop a Mission: Use the Contact tab in the UI, find the contact who gave you the mission, and speak to them (You can also visit them. If the contact doesn't "trust" you yet, you have to physically visit them to proceed.)

In the dialog, you'll see one or two options:

• Complete the mission -- this grants only once per character every three days. It marks a mission as successfully completed and grants the End Mission bonus for the player who owns it only. This will not appear on missions that 1) end a story arc (arc bonuses cannot be granted on auto-complete), 2) are timed missions (just let the clock run down - you won't get the end mission bonus, but your story arc will continue anyway), or 3) reward a badge on completion, such as one-shot missions in Flashback (see Negotiator, Spelunker, etc.) If the mission is otherwise eligible to auto-complete, but you already used your last attempt less than three days ago, the game will inform you when you can do it next, so you can consider other choices.
• Abandon the mission -- There is also an "Abandon" button in the Mission tab window, useful for resetting difficulty. This does NOT finish a mission, but drops it from your mission log. Unless the mission is timed, almost every mission offers abandonment as an option. This is useful (aka "a mission reset") when a map is too hard and you need to change your difficulty to a lower setting. Abandoning, changing difficulty and retaking the mission from a contact 'respawns' the mobs inside the door to try again (the respawn happens on the first door-entry after everyone has left the prior map.) This is also handy when a mission objective is not able to be found after a reasonable time searching, or if you have proof it spawned in a place that you cannot obtain it. A mission reset forces objectives like that to 'respawn' so you can try again without a Game Master ticket.

For Task Force Mode: your only option is to "End Task Force" in the Team Window and start the arc over again.

This applies to Flashback, Task Forces (Strike Forces are the same system), Signature Story Arcs, and other mission arcs that 'lock' your team down to only a single contact while in progress. These options used to work in Task Forces in the past, now only Abandon the Mission is present to respawn in case of a missing or unreachable objective. Attempting a mission reset in TF Mode does not work to lower difficulty. Task Force difficulty for the entire arc is set only upon launching TF Mode. People leaving the task force does not change the mob count or difficulty, attempting to reset difficulty won't work without starting TF mode over again. (Signature Task Force/Strike Force? The TF Mode starts at the highest level of the TF range regardless of team composition.)

What do I do? I think I missed something. The Missions Tab will have a list of missions you are playing. "Select Task" is for teams; it sends the mission and door location to your other teammate's maps. Press it when you're all ready to get playing before you set off for the door. As mentioned above, "Abandon" lets you quit or adjust a mission difficulty.

In each line of the Mission log, an active mission will have a "More" button in the bottom right. This will tell you the most recent mission summary given to you by your contact and a hint of what they're looking for.

• "Defeat all" in the Mission Log window but not in the Navigation window is the "hidden defeat all" kind of mission that players comment about with a groan.
• There's also the possibility you're in the wrong place. For a "Defeat X Minions" mission, if the mission text says "Arrest 15 Council soldiers in Eden", that could be why your defeat counter isn't going up.
• Look for roamers. Never assume enemies stand still in a "Defeat All" or "Defeat the Boss and his guards" type of mission.
• Offices and Caves. "Layer cake rooms" fool all of us. Check every nook and cranny. Percy Winkley may be in the smallest corner with a dagger in his back after all.
• If you are truly lost, look up the Contact name in Homecoming Wiki. Most missions are detailed here in the wiki; if the mission has any special requirements other than "defeat boss, click Exit", the Wiki will have it listed. Certain missions will not be detailed on here, such as repeatable missions; the text in the Mission tab is all you got to go on for those.

Overview of Additional Changes Since Live

Architect

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Reward Tickets can now directly buy some types of Enhancements, including Single and Dual Origin. Same drop chances for IO Recipes and Salvage still applies.

Alignment & Tip Missions

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Tip Missions are earned after Level 20. Once used, a Tip grants a new mission in your Mission Window. Once completed, your Alignment tab in the Compass will show how many Alignment Points have been earned. Once filled, further Tip Mission drops will only be for Alignment Missions.

Finishing the Alignment Mission will offer a change of Alignment for a player. See Mission Alignment for which Tips grant which Alignment Choices (based on your current alignment and Tip Location.) You can reject an alignment choice by picking the option that keeps your current alignment (a picture of the alignment icon will be behind the selection.)

By completing an Alignment mission, you will receive badges pertaining to the choice (granted the first time a condition is met and only once), and 40 Reward Merits. Tip Missions no longer have a cooldown and can be repeated as much as you like, however, completing an Alignment mission resets all Alignment Points to zero and clears unused Alignment Tip Missions.

Costumes

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All characters start with six slots from Level 1.

• Additional three slots are earned at levels 20, 30 and 40 by helping Icon/Facemaker contacts.
• The final slot is crafted with Halloween event salvage. Players can also unlock the extra slot on the opposite alignment through contacts.
• Maximum of 10 slots are permitted per character.
  • Players can save .costume files for archival.
  • Power Customizations are also able to be saved apart from Costume data with .pcust files using the same Save/Load buttons away from the Costume tab.

All Parts Unlocked

All the costume parts available to players are unlocked, including former Paragon Market purchases and participation-required parts. (No longer necessary to earn the Task Force Commander Badge to wear the Military Epaulet shoulder pieces, for example.)

• Capes are immediately available.
• Same goes for Auras.
• Certain NPC parts that were never available in-game have also been added.
• This isn't 'perfect', for example, Crab Spider Backpacks require the Arachnos Soldier VEAT to function.
• Costume and Aura powers granted in the Prismatic Aether store are generally NOT available in Icon/Facemaker. (See more than one aura chosen, or a "Mini" character? See Prismatic Aether below for more info.)

Costume Editors

Two costume editor modes:

• Basic Costume Editor is available at any Trainer contact. This includes 90% of the total choices available including Power Customization.
• Cosmetic Surgeon contacts, who include Pocket D in the Tiki Room, and at Echo Plaza (a special event Zone unique to Homecoming) allow access to body adjustment sliders and body type/gender changes.

Costume editing is free through Level 10 for both Basic Costume Editor and Cosmetic Surgeon visits. Edits after Level 10 cost a proportional amount of INF (the highest fees are at Level 50) varying in cost depending on the edits made. Cosmetic Surgeon use (Body Sliders/Gender changes) adds an INF cost on top of the rest of Costume edits.

• Free Costume Change tokens are earned for free every 10 levels and through Veteran Level progress. When a token is used the entire fee is waived, even when visiting a Cosmetic Surgeon contact.
• Day Job reward for Tailor Discount Coupons (25% off) can be earned by logging out from Icon or Facemaker after the Fashion Designer badge is earned.
• Icon or Facemaker contacts can be added to a Superbase for Basic Costume Editor access at any base location (Look for them in the NPC tab.)

Power Customization

Power Customization has been expanded including alternate animations (or even "Minimal FX" for a few) as well as the prior "Bright" or "Dark" color palette for powersets that support it. Animation changes (briefly utilized in City of Heroes Freedom) have been added for various travel powers, including a "Stance" option that changes your character's default walk, move, and sprint animation. These options are present in the rest of the Power Customization UI under Inherent powers.

Custom XP Rates

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Custom XP Boosts are available with three different rates to players --

• 25% XP Boost with 25% INF cut
• 50% XP Boost with 50% INF cut
• 100% XP Boost with 100% INF cut

To obtain this: visit a START Vendor and select "Temporary Powers", and "Custom XP Rates" on any character below Level 50.

XP Adjustment starts immediately and can be 'bought' for free for up to eight hours of play. INF cuts apply to defeats, not mission, arc, or TF mode end bonuses. (Concluding a mission still grants a INF reward, but also a 1x XP reward as well.)

• Salvage, Enhancement and Inspiration drops still occur normally, with or without Influence cuts. Unwanted items can be sold as "vendor trash" to offset the INF loss.
• Players can set this at any time they wish. Server-Wide Double XP events are rare (none occurred before January 4th, 2024) but XP Boosts WILL work on top of any Server-Wide bonus. (Example: 100% XP Gain from normal play +100% base XP boost from a Server Event makes Double XP. With the +100% XP Boost Temp Power purchased, a player can have 300% effective XP collection until the Boost runs out, or the server event ends.)
• This boost can be cancelled by right-clicking the XP Booster in the Powers Window and choosing "Delete Power". Right clicking the XP Boost in the main window (where the XP Bar and menu is) will not offer the delete option.
  • Only one rate can be active at a time. (If you bought 1 hour of 50% XP Boost, 100% is not available until you run out of, or cancel, the 50% XP Boost.)
  • XP Boosters from the P2W Vendor also stop taking effect once Level 50 is reached. The power will still run for the allotted time, but no longer grant a bonus. (Example: For 100% Bonus XP/No INF, it will stop INF gains until the boost is cancelled.) You can cancel the boost, or wait for it to expire.
• XP Boosters from Super Packs are not the same as these Temp Powers; different rules apply. Neither of these powers can be stacked with the other (using a Super Pack XP Booster cancels Custom XP Rates, and buying a P2W Custom XP Boost ends a Super Pack XP Booster that is still in effect.)
• XP Boosters are not perfect: certain XP rewards are immune to this boost including: end of mission/arc bonuses, task force bonuses, and reward table XP grants.

Day Jobs/Patrol XP

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Day Jobs

Same as live. Offline progression works as follows:

• Log off at a Day Job location when finished playing.
• When you return, progress towards a Day Job badge will be made. If you stay offline long enough, a Day Job badge will be completed.
• Subsequent returns to a Day Job will grant temp powers that last for a period of time, or free special salvage such as Tailor Discount Coupons.
• Receiving multiple Day Job badge combos grant Day Job accolades with greater rewards that can be earned by logging off at either location.

Patrol XP

Logging off of the game (at a Day Job location or not) starts charging a character’s Patrol XP. Patrol XP is a temp pool of bonus XP that grants 50% additional experience until the pool is gone. For best results, 24 hours offline will charge the maximum amount of Patrol XP (up to 100% of the total XP to earn the next level, if bubbles are already filled, additional Patrol XP will be present after level up to account for the remainder.)

• The pool will not apply to mission, arc, task force, or trial completion rewards at the end of the content. It will also ignore non-combat XP, such as collecting badges.
• Patrol XP will work in combination with Custom XP Rate boosts activated at the START Vendor.
• During Server Wide XP Events (such as January 2024’s Rikti Invasion event), both Patrol XP usage and earning is suspended while the server wide bonus is active. When the event concludes, Patrol XP works normally again.
• Logging in after the Anniversary of City of Heroes (April 20th) and throughout the month of May grants five charges of the Experienced temp power free per character logged in. Experienced can also be earned by opening Super Packs.
• Patrol XP does not boost Incarnate XP (it will not unlock Incarnate Slots any faster), but it will work for Veteran Level XP (150% earn rate while Patrol XP exists).

Debt

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Hasn't changed. Some reminders:

• It's not all bad. There's a few badges to be had with earning it.
• XP Debt is not issued until Level 10 is reached.
• Some rez powers offer debt protection if a character is subsequently defeated moments after coming back.
• Debt per defeat, and the Debt cap per level (no more than five defeats' worth) varies per level. Generally Debt cannot exceed 10-15% of your next level's XP remaining (no more than "1 or 2 bubbles" in the XP Gauge.)
• Zone Events (Rikti, Zombie, or Praetorian Invasions) and Raids (MSR, Hamidon) waive XP Debt in that zone only while the event is in effect. Permanent Zone Events (King's Row Paladin Construction, First Ward Seeds of Hamidon, GM fights such as Winter Lord or Adamastor, etc.) do not apply.
• Patrol XP nullifies debt.
  • By logging off of the game for a few hours, existing debt on a character can be eliminated.
  • Debt also consumes Patrol XP on player defeat. Playing when Patrol XP is present insulates from a couple of defeats worth of Debt Accrual.
  • If a character is defeated, instead of accruing debt, Patrol XP is consumed to cover the debt amount until it is exhausted, then the remainder of debt is normally received. If the debt isn't sufficient to exhaust Patrol XP, remaining Patrol XP will be displayed after the debt has been removed.
  • Charges of Experienced power (earned either through redeeming Super Packs bought in the Auction House, or a free 5-charge grant when logging in a character during April for Homecoming/City of Heroes' Anniversary Month) grant Patrol XP immediately. By using it on a character with Debt, the debt will be eliminated and what is left over remains as Patrol XP to insulate from further debt.

Enhancement Upgrades (New to HC: Upgrade button for DO/SOs)

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There is now an Upgrade button on the bottom left of the Enhancement Slot editor screen: players can use this button to automatically upgrade DO/SO Enhancements. Confirm the INF price and click OK to bring all the slotted enhancements to the current level with one payment.

• Upgrade does not change slotted Enhancement types (i.e. DOs-to-SOs), which still need to be done by hand.
• Invention Origin, Archetype Origin, and Special Enhancements (Hami, Crystal, D-Sync, Overwhelming Force, Winter Pack, Prestige, etc.) are not affected by the Upgrade Button.
• Enhancement Combination still works, but no longer shows as +1 to +4 next to the Level value: the Combined Enhancement now shows the effective level on top after being combined, and combinations can occur all the way to Level 50. (Slotting limits still apply: you can only slot an non-IO enhancement within -/+2 levels of your current level.)
• As of Issue 27, Single and Dual Origin Enhancements are available starting at Level 1. Training Origin enhancements do not drop. Player Origin still applies.
• Certain SO enhancements that were available before Issue 27 to low level characters (Mr. Yin’s Shop, Tutorials) are now Talisman Enhancements, which behave the same as SOs except they are both Origin- and AT-neutral. This means any character can use them.
• Training Origin enhancements are no longer granted by contacts or available for sale by vendors.

Flashback

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Flashback has all major story arcs contained in the listing grouped by "Stature Level" (Generally every 5-10 levels of gameplay from Level 1-50.)

• Flashback is not available until Level 10 is reached.
• New Arcs added to the game from Homecoming staff is listed in the Flashback system. Any Arc ID number in the Flashback Menu (far right on each Arc Title line) starting from 24.01 to the current Issue (27 at the time of this writing) identifies content that was not available before Shutdown on the Public Servers.
• Arcs displayed are either Hero/Vigilante or Villain/Rogue arcs. Switching alignments changes the list, however arc progress is kept if you switch back.
• Not all arcs and contacts are present. Repeatable mission contacts do not appear in Flashback, for example, and some will stop offering repeating missions once you leave their Stature Level. (Completing "Officer Wincott vs. The Trolls" at Level 40 does not grant access to Meg Mason, who stops offering missions at Level 15.)
• Praetorian arcs are present from Level 1-25 for Primal Earth characters, and Primal Earth arcs available to Praetorians for the same part of the game through Flashback once the Stature Level has been passed for that content.
• Arcs that unlock content for Task Force Contacts, Trial Contacts, and access to certain zones (Midnighter's Club) can be completed in Flashback with the same reward.
  • Example: Finishing Buck Salinger's arc "Crossing Over" in Flashback means Katie Hannon will appear in the LFG tab as a Task Force contact in regular play.
  • The advantage to completing the content during regular play is that players who join on the final mission do not have to be present for the rest of the arc, simply joining the final mission is sufficient to unlock the new contact. In contrast, Flashback uses Task Force Mode, which means that everyone must be present at the very beginning of the arc to complete it.

Incarnate

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Incarnate XP

After turning Level 50 Incarnate XP is earned immediately on each mob defeat, beginning with Physical XP for the Alpha Slot.

• iTrial content is also able to fill these XP Bars in the Incarnate Window, or a player can simply continue playing any normal Level 46-50 content.
• Using "Disable XP" in the Options window doesn't stop Incarnate XP collection. As with the live game, if you do not wish to engage with Incarnate content and only want to remain at level 50, you can simply ignore it.
• XP Boosts have no effect on Incarnate XP rates (P2W XP Boosts, XP Boosts from Super Packs, Day Job rewards, etc.) including Patrol XP and the Experienced power.

Unlocking an Alpha Slot (and subsequent powers) can be done at any time through normal gameplay.

Incarnate Salvage Revamp

To simplify crafting, all recipes, slots and powers now have options to use Incarnate Thread and Empyrean Merits (EM).

• Players can still use Incarnate Shard and Astral Merits for the Alpha Slot only, or upgrade a number of Shards into Threads and/or convert AMs to Threads or EMs daily. Original crafting recipes for Alpha Slots all remain unchanged. Crafting past the Alpha Slot still requires Incarnate Threads, not Shards.
  • There is a daily 1:1 conversion that costs 1 mil INF, as well as a 2:1 conversion that's free to make unused Shards into Incarnate Threads.
• Notice of the Well and Favor of the Well can be converted to Incarnate Threads (40 and 100 respectively). They can still also be used in place of Uncommon and Rare Incarnate Salvage for the Alpha Slot Tier III and Tier IV Power Recipes. Notice of the Wells are still issued as a Weekly Strike Target reward, with Favor of the Wells able to be crafted from multiple Notice of The Well tokens and Incarnate Shards.
• Those same Alpha Slot recipes now have corresponding Incarnate Thread and EM-crafted salvage recipes in the same lists for Tier III and Tier IV crafting. It is possible to unlock all six Incarnate Slot powers without touching a single Incarnate Shard.
• Crafting a Transcendent Merit to mail to another character on the same user account 50 Empyrean Merits at a time is also available.
• Excess Threads and Merits can be spent with Luna in Ouroboros and Echo Plaza for Super Inspirations, including the Ultimate inspiration (3 minute +1 Level Boost, details here: Inspirations).

iTrials (Incarnate Trials) are still the best source for extra Empyrean Merits and Incarnate Salvage without crafting requirements. iTrials become the best source for Empyrean Merits and Incarnate Salvage after Veteran Level 100 is reached. (The 2nd best source for Threads and Incarnate Salvage is Dark Astoria.)

Mission Arcs

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New Mission Arcs for various Level groups and alignments have been added. Mission names and contact locations are in the Patch Notes, or accessible in-game by using the Flashback system.

A little known fact about CoH concerns Reward Merits. If a player does the same Task Force twice in 16 hours, the reward is halved to encourage them to go do different content. "Diminished Returns" doesn't apply to Mission Arcs. Even in Flashback, if the arc isn't a Signature Story Arc, you can repeat it for the same merit rewards.

(Other limits still apply; such as arcs that require a cooldown before awarding Incarnate Salvage such as Dark Astoria, or one-time offers such as Market Crash; you can get only one guaranteed Purple IO Recipe for free, subsequent runs are random.)

Ouroboros

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(See Flashback above for Ouroboros Pillar of Ice and Flame use.)

• It is now a Co-Op zone. Both Heroes and Villains enter the same zone for missions. Visiting the Pillar of Ice and Flame shows missions related to your Alignment. (Starting in Praetoria has no effect; "Primal Earth" characters can do Praetorian missions via Flashback at any time and vice-versa.)
• Echo Zone Teleporter has Echo Copies of revamped zones before major changes occured, including Faultline, Hollows, and Atlas Park. It also now has a copy of Galaxy City before the zone was removed to become the new Co-Op Tutorial. (See "Adjustments From Live" for more.)
• Level 1 Hero or Villain characters can visit Recluse's Victory to get an Ouroboros Portal. Once the badge is earned, they can leave in less than 25 seconds to ensure they are safe from PvP attack.

PvP (New to HC: Temporal Warrior Mode)

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Temporal Warrior Mode

Anyone can create an Instant Level 50 PvP Only character using Temporal Warrior Mode. It allows starting the game at Level 50 in Recluse's Victory ready for PvP Zone combat. Immediate access to Incarnate Slots, free-to-craft Incarnate Powers, and all Pool Powers are immediately available (Patron Powers require no Patron badges to unlock). There are some considerations to make before doing this:

• Temporal Warriors cannot access any PvE content or Zones, including:
  • Any Mission Arcs
  • PvE Raids
  • Task/Strike Forces
  • Trials
  • Co-Op Zone content
  • or Architect Entertainment.
• Temporal Warriors are confined to the four PvP Zones, Pocket D, Arena, and Supergroup Bases. (Pocket D and SG Bases are neutral ground without combat: vault storage, vendor access, and crafting access.)
• Enhancements are NOT free. Players are required to supply those from your PvE Characters, since PvP mobs are severely restricted in PvP Zones for farming. A player can build and store Enhancements in an SG Base for their Temporal Warrior to pick up.
• Character Origin is Primal Earth -- Temporal Warriors cannot be Praetorian, since after Level 25 Praetorians must choose Hero or Villain access to continue.
• Temporal Warrior names are not exempt from Name Release. All Temporal Warrior characters not used in 365 days are eligible to be renamed.

To use this mode, choose City of Heroes when creating a new character, then check "Temporal Warrior (PvP Only)" on the first screen of Character Creation.

Other Changes

• Most temporary powers earned through PvE content, such as Day Job and P2W powers, are disabled in PvP zones and the arena. Each PvP zone (and Pocket D) has a vendor which will sell PvP versions of temporary powers such as Raptor Pack. Temporary powers can be re-enabled in the arena using the arena settings.
• Accolades earned through PvE content are similarly disabled, but PvP versions are available at PvP vendors.
• Non-Alpha Incarnate abilities are disabled in PvP zones and the arena, but can be re-enabled in the arena using the arena settings.
• Heal decay and PvP travel suppression has been removed from PvP zones.
• More arena customization options have been added.
• An entrance to Recluse's Victory has been added in Pocket D near the arena terminals.
• The Arachnos/Longbow fliers which previously only gave access to specific PvP zones are now linked, allowing for quick travel between PvP zones.
• All PvP zones are accessible to any character starting at level 1.

Pocket D

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• Players who spend an hour in Pocket D earn the Pocket D location for Long Range Teleporter.
• A new "Green Section" of the club containing an Architect Entertainment wing has been added in the Blueside of the club: head to where Vault Reserve used to be and continue walking back and to the left.
• The Ski Chalet/Slopes are now available 24/7. See Seasonal Events below.
• The Tiki Room is open to all players with no VIP Club badge needed. Inside, Trina is available upstairs for costume editing including body type/gender.
• Null The Gull's role has been expanded since live.
  • Like live, Null can alter your preferences for Group Powers such as Speed Boost, Group Fly, etc.
  • Null The Gull can also change your player's alignment without engaging with Tip Missions and Morality Mission completion.
  • They can also send you to a couple of Atlas Park maps for Halloween and Harvest Festival revamps. These maps are zone maps without enemies, without doors (no tailor, AE, or City Hall access) and without contacts. Mostly for Roleplaying use only. (A prior map of Talos Island with Bamboo Kat's was removed when Bamboo Kat's was permanently added to the Spanky's Boardwalk area.)
  • Null can also share their power with you. All you have to do is ask.

Power Pools

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• Power Pools (regular ones) now all unlock at Level 4, and include Specialized Pools formerly for sale on Paragon Market (Sorcery, Experimentation, Force of Will). All the powers unlock earlier but still require at least one picked to unlock the fourth and fifth tier starting in Level 14.
• Epic Power Pools also unlock at Level 35 with earlier level unlocks per power tier for subsequent powers.
• Patron Power Pools still require a Patron Arc to unlock starting at Level 35. However completing ANY Patron Arc unlocks all four pools. (Respecs and Builds allow different Patron Arc choices, Villains and Rogues are no longer required to make one Patron choice for their character.)

Prismatic & Monstrous Aether (New to HC: Prestige Costumes)

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Prismatic Aether & Prestige Costume Powers

Prismatic Aether is a new salvage reward added to let characters buy permanent Costume Powers.

• Example: While active, a Prestige Rikti Costume Power changes a character costume into a Rikti Gunman, without changing the player's Primary/Secondary Power Sets or Power Choices. When turned off, the player's character costume is restored.
• Costumes offered include both Standard (ignores gender/body type and applies the costume, ex: a Senechal will always result in a female Carnival of Shadows costume regardless of Male/Humongous characters using it) and Modal Costumes (uses the same Body Type/Gender as your player on certain costumes, such as Circle of Thorns and Outcast costumes.)
• Additional Aura choices are also possible using a Prestige Costume Power, such as an Ice Aura stacked on top of a existing Fire Aura, a "Mini" character power, or the "Unknown" Character skin from the Costume Creator (green fluid with bubbles). These options either ignore Costume Creator limits, or completely replace a costume with a special form. As with other Prestige Powers, turning them off restores the costume.
• As ultra rare salvage, Prismatic Aether has the same chance of dropping as a Purple IO Recipe on completion of any Level 50 mission (excluding AE play). It is also tradable, and can be purchased in the Market from selling players (price varies).
• You can also earn Prismatic Aether by running new Hard Mode content to collect it faster. (Completing a Hard Mode attempt on updated task forces such as ITF, Dr. Aeon SF, and other Task Forces in the future that respect Advanced Difficulty options.)
• Prismatic Aether can be redeemed at Vault Reserve locations throughout the game, including Pocket D, and at Fort Trident/The Crucible.

Monstrous Aether

Monstrous Aether is a lower-tier salvage used to make Prismatic Aether (3:1) at any BenevoLabs kiosk (usually in Vault Reserve sites). It can be obtained by defeating Giant Monsters in any Zone event, including U'Kon Gr'ai in a Mothership Raid. Unlike Prismatic Aether the drop rate is 100% on any Giant Monster defeat, but Monstrous Aether is character-bound and cannot be sold or traded until it is converted to Prismatic Aether.

Respec

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As stated back in 2020, a key goal in Homecoming is balance. Issue and page releases often come with power set adjustments. It is also common not to know a power set and pick an ability that doesn’t work as expected. A respec becomes necessary to reset a character’s abilities closer to one’s playstyle.

• Granted every 10 levels of play through Level 50.
• Craftable in Auction House with a special recipe (which can be also be earned as a rare drop as well).
• Earned in Respec Trials.
• Villains get one by unlocking a Patron Power Pool.
• Soldiers of Arachnos at Level 24 gain a Respec (Both Arachnos Soldiers and Arachnos Widows).
• Occasionally granted on a Issue release with major changes to AT Powers in the game.
• Same contacts to start a respec: Jack Wolfe/James Frost in Atlas Park (Heroes), Arbiter Lupin in Nerva or Arbiter Sawyer in Port Oakes (Villains), and John Snow in Studio 55 (Praetoria.). Typing "/respec" in any City Zone also triggers Respec mode. (Don't do this in an Instance or a Super Base. Known bug.)
• While the "Freespec" still exists, any Respec tally can be used when activating Respec mode or typing "/respec". (The Respec Recipe will only allow a Freespec to be recreated and cannot be crafted if a Freespec is currently on hand.)
• Adding powers and slots behaves differently during a respec. Powers are picked first, and slots are added afterwards. This means it's possible to 6-slot your level 49 power pick by using a respec.

See Adjustments From Live for an important change.

Roleplaying

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• Players can now 'paint' their character's name in purple and be in Roleplaying mode. Press "H" for help, and change the dropdown menu to "Roleplaying". (This mode is only to notify others and does not change any game functionality.)
• RP tools were added including chat range, dice rolls, and Distance to Target measurements.
• Walk Animations were added (along with prior Run Animations) to change how your character moves in Character Creator. (Female characters no longer have to move like Jessica Rabbit when Walk is enabled!)
• In combination with Supergroups & Bases changes, RP groups can use the new Base Editing changes along with Passcodes as a playground to create new settings as they desire.

Safeguard/Mayhem (Radio & Newspaper)

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• New unlockable Safeguard/Mayhem Mission contacts are now available.
  • Collect the Police Radio or Newspaper first.
  • In regular content or Safeguard/Mayhem missions that are played, defeat 25 different Signature Heroes or Villains (unlike Task Force Commander, this includes Rogue's Gallery, Rogue Island Villains, WISDOM, and Paragon Heroes.)
  • Visit Agent Hassell in Steel Canyon or Lord Schweinzer in Port Oakes. You can now start any Safeguard or Mayhem mission on demand, including ones you have outleveled. (Now earning Stouthearted/Stonehearted isn't so difficult anymore.)
• Radio/Newspaper contacts can now be changed. In the lower right hand side while talking to them, click "Dismiss This Contact". Your Radio/Newspaper mission count will reset and the next Safeguard/Mayhem mission that comes up will trigger another contact instead. (Practical use: changing your Detective contact to one on the outside zone map, instead of the interior PPD Office contact hidden behind several partitions.)

Seasonal Events

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• Valentine's Event (aka Spring Fling) - Usually February/March - Pocket D Missions with DJ Zero, Ganymede & Scratch, plus Love Note Tip Missions to deliver to contacts.
• Map Server - April 1st (usually through the adjacent weekend/server maintenance) - Fight the Map Server and corrupted entities. No awards other than a heavily boosted XP rate for each invasion.
• Anniversary - April 27th through May - Open Anniversary Time Capsules for fun temp powers, receive the annual badge, and get a Toy Bat for just participating.
• Independence Day - July 4th - Temporary Fireworks granted for dusk/evening festivities.
• Halloween - October - Play Trick or Treat on any zone's doors at your character's level. Fight the Zombie Apocalypse, and trade costume salvage for your 10th Costume Slot.
• Holiday - December - Fight the Winter Lords, open presents for Candy Canes, and earn Winter Event IOs for rare sets.
• New Year's - January 1st - Temporary Fireworks granted for Midnight countdowns across the world.

Each Seasonal Event has special content and unique rewards. (Dates above are generalized, tentative, may vary, and are not promised to occur: Homecoming may alter the schedule or cancel/replace any of these at any time.) During Halloween and Holiday events, Atlas Park transforms from a Fall-covered city block (with Atlas holding an enormous pumpkin) to a frosted wonderland complete with iced-over ponds and fountains.

In addition to these events, Homecoming has also launched Rikti and Nemesis Invasion events to invade zone maps throughout the year. Pay attention to Announcements in Forums and Discord for more information.

NO LONGER SEASONAL

• Ski Slopes in Pocket D are available 24/7.
• Summer Blockbuster is now a permanent event in the LFG Window, available at any time.

Shopping

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• Type "/ah" to open the Auction House on any Zone Map.
  • Doesn't work in missions, non-Hazard Zone trial maps, or any superbase. Auction House will not open on any non-Zone maps (all of these are also called Instanced maps.)
  • Certain items, such as Super Packs are only available in the Auction House.
  • Wentworths and Black Market locations all continue to work for the Auction House interface as well.
• The way recipes, enhancements, and salvage are handled by the market has changed.
  • Recipes for a given enhancement are treated as the same by the market, regardless of level. For example, if a player lists a level 50 Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Endurance recipe on the market, it will go into a "bucket" with every other Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Endurance that's listed for sale, regardless of level. If a different player wants to buy a level 30 Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Endurance, bidding on that recipe will pull from the same "bucket." This ensures supply for recipes is consistent regardless of level. Note that this "bucketing" does not apply to standard/generic IOs, only set IOs.
  • Crafted enhancements follow the same rules.
  • Salvage is similarly "bucketed" by rarity - all commons are pooled together, all uncommons are pooled together, and so on. Invention salvage is seeded on the market but the listing prices for the seeded items are typically much higher than the normal sale prices, so the seeded inventory only exists to ensure components are always available somehow.
• INF (Influence, Infamy or Information, depending on your alignment) works in almost all vendors for basic Inspiration and Enhancement access. Sold Inspirations, Enhancements, Recipes and Salvage given to a vendor is paid in INF. INF is also used at START Vendors to unlock badge rewards, Prestige Powers, prior Paragon Market offerings (Panther Travel Power) or Consumable Temp Power charges (such as Signature Summon.)
• Reward Merits are useable to purchase most items in Reward Merit Vendor booths or contacts.
• Hero/Villain Merit (now called Alignment Merit) rewards have been converted to only be tradable for Reward Merits. Prior Alignment Merit items can now be bought with Reward Merits.
  • Players can mail an Alignment Merit to another character they play on the same account. This effectively transfers 50 Reward Merits in a single email.
  • Tip Missions start dropping as a defeat reward at Level 20, and complete all 10 Alignment Missions and one Morality Mission in the same run for 40 Reward Merits instead of a Hero or Villain Merit. Players can also buy a single Tip Mission for 1 Reward Merit by using a Mission Computer in a Superbase, Fort Trident, or The Crucible.
• Vendors also now sell two classes of Origin Enhancements (Dual and Single Origin) starting at Level 1. Prices reflect the Enhancement type value, with Dual Origin costing less than Single Origin. Training Origin enhancements are no longer offered by any vendors or contacts in the game.
• Certain Salvage and Enhancements will be 'marked' to prevent trade, email, or sale on the Auction House.
  • Untradeable salvage cannot be traded, sold on the Market, or sold to a Vendor. These items are effectively locked to a character as they cannot be emailed to another character on the user account. Example: Incarnate Shards and Threads are untradeable, and can only be spent on the character that owns them.
  • Account Bound salvage cannot be traded, sold on the Market, or sold to a Vendor. They CAN be emailed to any other character or sent to the Global Chat Handle in an email only if the destination is the same user account. Example: Astral, Empyrean and Transcendent Merits CAN be emailed to another character on the same account in place of Incarnate Shards and Threads. The receiving character can then make the conversions to turn the merits into the components they need.

Signature Story Arcs

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Two Signature Story Arcs exist for play in Task Force mode:

• Who Will Die (Finished before Issue 22 was released.) Seven episodes.
• Pandora's Box (Incomplete at Shutdown, finished during Issue 25.) Five episodes.

Each chapter of the SSA plays as a single task force, with a reward table at the end. SSA arcs are on a weekly timer which applies for 162 hours per Arc (6 days 18 hours). Completing an Arc Chapter grants 5 Reward Merits and a reward table: 20 Reward Merits instead of 5, Random SO Enhancement, Astral Merit or 10 Incarnate Threads (must be Level 50). Subsequent completions remove options from the reward table until they're all gone, with Diminishing Returns on the remaining 5 merits per run until the weekly timer is up. Each chapter is designed to be completed in under an hour of playtime with a team of 4+ players, although players can solo if they wish.

Exception: the very first time a player completes a Signature Story Arc for a single character, the first Reward Table has no penalty. This only happens ONCE per character; all subsequent completion reward tables on that same character are on the weekly reset clock. A new character on the same account can also get the same free table on another 'first run'.

All SSA arcs also appear on Flashback. Completed SSAs are marked on that list in case any are missing.

Supergroups and Bases

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Critical Changes

Prestige currency has been disabled, along with base rent and base inactivity timers. All Base Items are now free of charge. (Running the Game in Supergroup Mode only alters costume colors and symbols.)

• Any player can start a superbase. To obtain one, visit a Super Group Registrar at Atlas Park City Hall or the Arachnos Building in Port Oakes. (Praetorians still need to choose an alignment after Level 20 first.)
• Power and Control Requirements have been mostly nullified. Base Editors still need to place a single Power and Control item anywhere they like to enable Teleporters, Med Telepads, and Shop equipment. One Power/Control Combo item (like the Mini Generator and Augury Table) powers as many devices as desired.
• Use "/altinvite Character Name" instead of multiboxing an invite. (Must be a toon on the same user account. Multiboxing alts on different accounts still have to enlist the first toon the old-fashioned way and promote them sufficiently before using Altinvite for that different account's own alts.)

Base Editor

• The Base Editor has been dramatically improved:
  • Stacking desks are no longer needed to build in 3D. Items can be raised vertically by holding SHIFT and raising/lowering with the mouse.
  • Attachment Mode for an object can be toggled between Floor Mode, Wall Mode, and Surface Mode. This means ANY object can become a wall attached object, and using Surface Attachment, any object can be stacked on a level surface without using the SHIFT key to raise it. Press the F5 key with an object selected to change the attachment mode.
  • Room Clipping Mode can be disabled to allow item, wall and floor overlap. Press F3 to disable Room Clipping. (Only affects objects you're currently editing, prior objects stay in place.)
  • Additional edit features have also been added: see the Base Builder's Cheat Sheet.
• NPCs have been added to the Base Editor. This includes shop contacts, so players can add Trainers for Leveling Up, Quartermasters for basic Enhancement purchases, Nurses for Inspirations, and Icon/Facemaker contacts for basic costume editing. (Instead of the Reward Merit Vendor, a kiosk table is available to place similar to an Invention Workbench.)
• New Telepad Points and Beacons have been added for Intra-Base Travel (Aleph, Beth, Gimel, etc. All ten points only work within the current base.) Players can return using other points and portals set up in Base Editor, or by using "/stuck" to return to the entry portal.
• Players with Base Edit rights can now build on top of the base: use F3 to disable Room Clipping. Ceiling types "Open Sky" and "Open Sky (Passthrough)" have also been added to facilitate this. Without using a Passthrough ceiling, Portals and Interior Telepad Points need to be placed to allow players to visit outside of the base walls.
• SGs can also move the Base Entry Portal to any place desired (The Entry Room still holds the Base Editor window "panel" to enter the Base Editor mode, or type "/editbase 1" in chat to start editing from anywhere.)

Visiting Friends & Rivals

• Want some Inspiration? Base Listings offer public bases you can visit with a Passcode. Visit a portal, choose "Enter a Passcode", and check them out. No membership, team joining or even knowing the owner required. (A passcode can also be set to permit visitors for your own base.)
• Oh, and they fixed Base Raids.

Note: Compared to Live, players may find a reduced need for a Supergroup to team on a regular basis. SGs that continue to perform similar to how they worked when the game was live still exist, and players who prefer to use pick-up groups do not need to join a Supergroup to have access to similar resources such as Zone Teleport and Crafting Stations: see Fort Trident and The Crucible.

Task Forces, Trials, iTrials and Raids

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• Task Forces can be started as early as Level 8 for Heroes and Villains. (Praetorians do not have access to Task Forces until they leave Praetoria first.)
  • Trials still remain and may require an unlock by a contact before access (such as Karsis), no different than unlockable Task Forces (Katie Hannon, Ernesto Hess). Unlocks can be done using Flashback.
  • Certain trials and Task Forces offer a special reward or reward table (such as Titan Enhancements from the Eden Trial, or D-Sync Enhancements from Dr. Aeon).
• iTrials require a character to be Level 50. Prior restrictions on joining iTrials have been changed to a penalty (i.e.: Not unlocking and slotting Alpha for Behavioral Adjustment Facility means your Level 50 is now -4 levels and at Level 46) so Level/Incarnate Shift guidelines from Live are still a good idea to follow.
• Diminished Returns still apply for Task Forces and iTrials:
  • Each Task Force has an 18 hour time per character once completed, cutting the Merit Rewards by half on each repeat of the Task Force (granting at minimum 1 Merit Reward on completion.) After the timer is up, the next run of the task force is at full reward value. (For Task Forces with a special reward table, each completion removes a prior choice.)
  • Each iTrial has a 20 hour timer. Repeating an iTrial before the timer expires downgrades merits from Empyrean to Astral, and each subsequent run removes a reward table choice on completion.
• Homecoming offers three raids (requires forming a League of up to six teams to complete):
  • Mothership Raid, exclusively in Rikti War Zone (Co-Op zone). No reward table, but grants a few Reward Merits and a large amount of Vanguard Merits. Now open for any character from Level 1-50 (still need to be at least Level 35 to earn Vanguard Merits by joining Vanguard before the raid.) Vanguard Merits still have a unique reward shop in the RWZ base, or can be converted to Reward Merits at any Reward Merit Kiosk/Vendor. MSR no longer has a minimum level requirement, any character can join the raid.
  • Hamidon Raid, occurring in The Hive (Heroes only) and The Abyss (Co-Op zone.) Issues a Reward Table at the end of the raid for 4 Empyrean Merits, Hamidon Origin Enhancement, or 80 Reward Merits. 20 hour timer applies, subsequent defeats before the timer expires remove a reward table choice until none remain. Requires at least a Level 45 Character to enter either zone.
  • Labyrinth of Fog, occurring in a new zone accessible from a Midnighter's Club marble font (looks like a birdbath with a floating cube in it) in the "cave" portion of the map. Enemies are at least Level 54+1 but offer +25% XP (including boosts). Defeating the Minotaur offers a reward table of either 5 Prismatic Aether + 10 Monstrous Aether, or 3 Draughts of Fog (Level Shift/Dam. Resist Inspirations that are usable in the Labyrinth only). While entering the zone doesn't require forming a league (Minotaur can be fought with as little as an 8-member team) it is strongly advised to form one. Requires all players in Labyrinth zone to be at least Level 45.

Temp Powers / S.T.A.R.T.

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START Vendor

• Temp Powers can be picked immediately after zoning in to your starting area.
  • A character can visit the S.T.A.R.T. Vendor immediately upon entering Atlas Park, Mercy Isle, or Nova Praetoria to select their free Prestige Powers. Keep in mind most Powers only allow new players to pick from one of two similar ones for free. (An example is the choice between the Nemesis Staff and the Blackwand as a free choice for certain Player Origins.) There is no penalty in visiting the START Vendor and selecting free Prestige Powers later.
  • Non-free items at START (whether another Prestige Power choice or consumable Temp Power such as Backup Radio or Stun Grenade) cost INF.
  • Certain choices in the START Vendor will state in the description what badge is needed to claim a power for free. Spending INF grants the Power now instead of earning the badge. (Not all badges and accolade powers are able to be earned this way; search for the power in this Wiki for more info.)
  • START also carries Prestige Enhancements, which are the only enhancements to increase two stats and add a free proc to a power before Level 20. Most players use Double Origin or Single Origin Enhancements which are now available starting at Level 1.
  • In Temp Powers under Boosts, there are two groups. Amplifiers offer three choices: Offense (Damage/Acc), Defense(Def/Damage Res), and Survival(Regen/Recovery/MaxHP). Each boost different stats and last for one hour. They take effect immediately and can be bought for up to eight hours. Finally, Boosters cost INF. Players pay the least before Level 10 (approx 8K per hour), with increasing INF cost through Level 50 (approx. 500K. per hour). The second group of boosts are Custom XP Rates (see section above.)

Travel

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• Travel Powers can be picked starting at Level 4, and do not require an unlock.
  • Level 4 allows either tier of Travel Power. Skipping the first tier and opting for the full travel power that originally unlocked with the Tier 1 pick is now available. (Example: waiting until Level 14 for Super Jump isn't necessary, as it can be chosen as soon as Level 4. Combat Jumping can still be chosen as well in a later Trainer visit.)
• Monorails have been Merged. PTA Stations now serve a single line to all Blueside city zones.
• TUNNEL Portals also work for all players regardless of level. Tunnel destinations include locations not available by Monorail or Ferry. It is the primary method for Heroes and Villains to visit Praetoria (and vice versa.)
• Travel Changes:
  • Talos Island has reopened the Hazard Zone Gate to Dark Astoria. Level 50 required to enter. (Captain Nolan or Flashback system is still needed to begin the DA Arcs.)
  • Galaxy City gates have been permanently closed off, and the Hazard Zone gates have been wiped from the maps. Former gate locations have a NPC left behind to inform players.
  • Independence Port now has a Second Train Station at the lower half of the zone. Similar to Skyway City, players can hop from one train to the other in-zone without a map change.
• Long Range Teleporter got a facelift: instead of being in the Teleport Pool, it is now a Prestige Power earned with Exploration Badge collection. Here's how it works:
  • Collect all the Nav Badges in Atlas Park, Mercy Island, or Nova Praetoria (or any zone but Level 1, these are the closest.) Exact same ones to unlock SG Teleport Beacons in the past.
  • Long Range Teleport is now activated. Choices include "Your Superbase" destination (doesn't open a Base Portal for others), the zone just unlocked, and Echo Plaza to start with. To add more destinations, visit the zone and collect only ONE Navigation Badge. It now appears on the destination list.
  • Navigation Tip Missions can help to locate a badge in a zone when entering it the first time. (They won't advance Alignment Missions, and can be ignored or dropped: they're the only tip missions with the Badge Marker Icon.)
  • Long Range Teleport, similar to Ouroboros Portal, works once every 10 minutes.
• On that note, any Ouroboros Portal entered unlocks the portal for any character at Level 1. If no one is present to open one visiting Recluse's Victory (Hero or Villain) will grant the portal upon entry (with 25 seconds to exit before PvP is activated.) Before Level 10, Ouroboros zone allows some travel, a shop to sell at, and serves as a "Board Transit" origin for arcs that need a Train Station to begin (clicking "Go to Hospital" on defeat places a character at the Ouroboros citadel with a short trip back to the mission.)
• Base Portals have been moved closer in proximity to a Train Station, Tunnel Portal or Zone exit. They have also been added to Praetorian city zones.
• Smuggler's Subs work in shoreline zones for transporting Vigilante and Rogue players to Blueside/Co-Op Zones/Redside at any time.
• Null the Gull in Pocket D also allows a player to switch sides at any time without using the Alignment System/Tip Mission contacts.

Veteran Levels

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Filling the normal XP bar works after Level 50, but gains Veteran Levels instead of regular ones. Your Security/Threat Level still remains Level 50 as far as the game and combat are concerned (ignoring Level and Incarnate Shifts).

• Veteran Levels show up on your Player Info window and start at Veteran Level 1. Veteran Level badges are the same as the Loyalty Program from Paragon Rewards: instead of months of gameplay the badge acknowledges your Veteran Level, as well as granting free Costume Change Tokens and Respecs for several of them.
• The rewards also offer Incarnate Salvage in the form of Incarnate Threads & Empyrean Merits up to Vet. Level 99. (Levels from 100 onward offer no rewards.)
• Using "Disable XP" in the Options window does pause Veteran Level progress. (Want to opt out of Veteran Rewards including Threads, Empyrean Merits and Costume/Respec Tokens? Turn XP off once you hit Level 50.)
• XP Boosts generally do not increase Veteran Level XP earned: Using START Vendor XP Boosters, Super Pack XP Boosts and Temp Powers will not accelerate completion of Veteran Levels. Patrol XP DOES apply, however, including charges of the Experienced power. (Each Veteran Level requires 5,608,000 XP to be earned, with Patrol XP granting 50% additional with each defeat until the Patrol XP is consumed.)
• In addition, Special Salvage drops have a chance to be earned after a mob defeat once Level 50 is earned, such as Incarnate Shard (rare), Incarnate Thread (common), Enhancement Converter (uncommon), Enhancement Booster (rare), or Enhancement Catalyst (rare). (This cannot be disabled by turning off XP, however, Incarnate Salvage including Shards, Threads, Notices, and other component salvage in the Special tab do not count against Invention salvage storage limits.)

Veteran Levels are purely for rewards. A player's Veteran Level does not affect combat or game content in any way.

Zones

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Dark Astoria Changes - Since Issue 23

Dark Astoria remains an Incarnate only Co-Op Zone, with all the arcs and challenges from the Death Incarnate release. Taskmaster Gabriel has been removed, and completing the entire Dark Astoria arc from start to finish grants 2 Empyrean Merits once a week. (Flashback system repeats of any Dark Astoria arc also grants an Empyrean Merit as a reward table pick.)

Cimerora Changes - Since Issue 27

The Castellum Quarter is now open for Incarnate combat, with mobs in-zone at Level 54. In addition, Alexandra Sideris now offers repeatable Incarnate-level missions. To unlock her, complete the arc from Sister Valeria (standing right next to her on Oracle Island. Requires Level 50 and Alpha Slot unlocked.)

Other Additions to In-Game Zones

• Kallisti Wharf, incomplete during the Issue 24 Beta, has been finished as a Co-Op Zone. Work is still in progress on adding missions, mobs and events to the map.
  • A new Task Force called "Market Crash" is the only content in the zone that currently exists. For trying Market Crash the first time a single free random Purple IO recipe is awarded along with the Reward Merits at the end. (This only occurs once per character, subsequent completions only issue standard rewards.) The zone is also useful for Halloween Event Trick-or-Treating.
  • The zone used to be the gathering site for player events from Homecoming, and is often used for Server RP and Supergroups for the same reason. While a University landmark isn't present, two buildings contain Invention Tables (a University marker in the Christie Square neighborhood, and a unmarked destination in Old Slough), a hospital, and a Smuggler's Sub.
• Echo Plaza, a Co-Op Zone, was created during Issue 26 as a gathering place for Homecoming Public Events. There are no enemies, contacts, or mission doors, however, vendors and portals to Pocket D and your Superbase are present for event use.
• Winter Forest, a special RP zone in Pocket D made for the Holiday season.

• Additional touches have been made across the game in various zones. Brief examples:
  • Talos Island now has a Beach-side Tiki Restaurant.
  • King's Row has a hidden high-rise roof hangout.
  • Port Oakes now has Blackbeard's Pub now open for business.

Adjustments From Live

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(or a more positive way of saying "balance changes that took away features for a number of reasons".)

• Double Influence. Level 50 players who Disable XP no longer receive any boost to INF earned when teamed with other characters (other than the same INF earned in a team that was already offered being at Level 50). Windfall and the Day Job temp powers to boost INF still function.
• Mothership Raid Vanguard Merit awards. There was also a reduction of converting Vanguard Merits to Reward Merits from the amount of players repeating the Mothership Raid endlessly. (Instead of ten to one, it's 30 to 1 now.)
• Leveling Pacts are no longer available. The menu option appears on eligible characters, but the commands do not do anything.
• Double XP Weekends are no longer scheduled on Homecoming. This is due mostly to Custom XP Rewards being present in game (see above). On January 2024, Homecoming boosted XP on shards for the first time in an effort to level the incoming player population across less-populated shards, the last of which expired in November 2024. (Server-wide XP Boosts are exactly as they sound, and do not increase INF rewards.)
• Low-Level Trials DFB and DIB both offer rapid XP and Leveling up to Level 10, then decrease in Bonus XP starting from Level 11 until Bonus XP is no longer granted at Level 22 onward (where the temp powers end as well.)
• Name Release has returned in a new form; it is now fully automated-- a player who has a red marker on their name in Character Selection risk losing it if a new player guesses what their name is and wants to take it. If no one has taken it yet, or the name has a yellow marker and is in danger of being lost, simply logging the character in restarts the clock. (The character will be fine; the name will be "generi-cised" if this happens with a 1 or a 2 after it. You can rename the character to a new name, nothing else has changed.)
  • Characters from Level 1-5 have 30 days to log in to keep their name.
  • Characters from Level 6-49 have 365 days to log in to keep their name.
  • Level 50 characters can keep their name indefinitely. Exception: Temporal Warrior characters which all start at Level 50. They must log in at least once every 365 days to keep their name.
• Want to fight Adamastor? He is no longer able to be summoned in Talos Island, nor available in Dark Astoria. Players need to travel to Ouroboros, enter the Echo Zone teleporter for "Echo: Dark Astoria", and visit Moth Cemetary's highest altar. An in-zone "Summon Adamastor" button temp power will start the fight, with a 1-hour countdown to respawn.
• Former Inherent Teleport Powers to a single zone including the Pocket D VIP Pass and Consignment or Black Market Teleporter have been discontinued. (Existing consumable charges of a power before the change will continue to work, and the Pocket D badge now grants the Long Range Teleport destination instead.)
  • Inherent Powers to Teleport between zones are collated in the "Long Range Travel" power popmenu, added to the Powers window after collecting or buying a Transport Power (such as Long Range Teleporter, Ouroboros Portal, Supergroup Base Portal, Assemble The Team, etc.)
  • All of the Inherent Zone Teleport powers now have a cooldown of 10 minutes each and must be used out of combat.
• Supergroup Teleport beacons for Paragon City Echo zones have been removed from the game. The only access to an Echo zone is now through the Ouroboros zone.
  • The Echo Zone teleporter is located between medical reclamators at the back of the Ouroboros citadel opposite of the entry portal.
  • These beacons have been removed while new beacons for Praetoria have been added that were not present in the original game.
• Respec works differently from live: instead of selling unused Enhancements at a 'market value', any unused Enhancements that are not slotted are now deleted from a character inventory after the Respec is completed.
  • Players have access to all seven Enhancement trays on each character to save them for reuse, storage in a base or sale on AE (if applicable) after the Respec instead.
  • Unless the Respec attempt fails (attempting to respec in a base, etc.) all saved changes are final.
• Architect Entertainment was removed from Atlas Park and Mercy Island. To use Mission Editor and AE missions, players need to leave the starting zones of the game and head to another location. (Pocket D portals have been placed in both places to facilitate this.) AE is still present in most other city zones. Including Rikti War Zone, where it was simply moved underground.
  • Atlas Park, the Freedom Corps building replaced the AE Tower, with Fort Trident door moved from the lake cave to inside the building.
  • Mercy Island, in fitting with the local setting, the AE building is simply destroyed. The Crucible remains at the prior location.

Updated Tools (Build Planner, Mods)

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Resources from Titan Network (Mids Hero Planner, City Info Tracker, Paragon Wiki, etc.) are end-of-life after the NCSoft Shutdown, halted after Issue 23. It's best to consider the site as an archive.

For current tools and utilities, visit the following:

• Homecoming Wiki (You are here!) - Holds current information from Homecoming and Victory servers, updated from volunteers.
• Mids Reborn Hero Planner has support in creating Homecoming character builds for planning use during Respec. It requires .NET Framework to install. More Information: GitHub Website.
• City Mod Installer offers client modification support. Certain popular mods such as VidiotMaps, Better Icons, and Pocket D Yodel-Free are using only the City Mod Installer now for updates.
• Senticon Costume Extractor is a tool for players who still have Sentinel+ XML files of their former characters from 2012. The tool will not restore a Live character on Homecoming but it can output .costume files for use in the Client "costumes" folder to restore their appearance.
• City of Data has been restored by UberGuy.
• Badger is a badge tracking website for Badge Hunting in City of Heroes. The program is a web-app (no installation needed) and relies on game log files to collect data. (Clearing Browser Cache means the info is lost, and it doesn't transfer between browsers or computers without export.)

More can be found at the Tools, Utilities, & Downloads forum.

Support

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For player support, a volunteer GM staff for Homecoming answers requests for help in two ways:

• Forums, use the Support button. Click "New Request".
• In-Game, use the "/petition" command to open the GM Request panel. Fill out the form.

Before asking, check out the Support team FAQs on the forums first.