Tutorial walkthrough
Congratulations on creating your first hero!
To get you acquainted with City of Heroes, a brief tutorial zone will introduce many of the game’s key concepts, and also give you enough experience to access Security Level 2. If you’re confused, stuck or just wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into, our complete walkthrough will help you through.
Upon entering Outbreak, the tutorial zone, your hero finds themselves in a quarantined area of Paragon City. An outbreak caused by an experimental drug has resulted in the populace running riot, and your first task as a hero is to prevent the infection from spreading out of control.
After learning how to use the W, A, S and D keys to move, walk up to Officer Flint and click on him to talk to him. He has a mission for you; read what he has to say, then accept the mission and set off on your first steps towards saving the world.
A clue! Officer Flint has given you an item to deliver, which appears in your Clues tab. At the top of your screen you can click on the various menus to bring up a map, view your contacts, your current missions, check your clues and review your gained badges.
Go to the hospital and deliver the sample to Dr Miller. To find the hospital, follow the marker on your compass, and the yellow ‘heads-up’ triangular marker in the distance. The yellow star marker on your compass shows you where your current mission objective is, and the yellow floating triangle in the distance will help you find your destination. If you’re ever unsure of where you’re going, just turn around until you see the yellow triangle again.
After speaking to Dr Miller, he urges you to read the information terminal. Click on it to learn about what happens when you are defeated in combat, then return to Officer Flint. It’s amazing what modern technology can offer to heroes who fall at enemy hands!
Officer Flint has a new Contact for you, so let him introduce you, and go and talk to the new Contact, Officer Parks. Contacts are the people who give you missions, and you receive more missions by being introduced to new Contacts.
Officer Parks asks you to talk to some other people to find out some important information about combat: Professor Hoffman and Lt. MacReady. Professor Hoffman will tell you how to size up your enemies and determine their toughness, and the helpful Lt. MacReady will show you how to use your powers.
After talking to Lt. MacReady, you can practice your fighting skills against the deactivated drones, to get used to launching your powers. Click on the round power icons in the bottom-right of your screen to activate them, and fire away! Some powers make you run faster, or heal yourself, so try to establish what every power does before you have to use it in battle - right click any power and select Info to find out what it does.
Finally, a taste of real combat! Your next mission, from Officer Parks, is to go southwest and defeat some contaminated thugs. Use your compass to find the Hot Zone where the thugs are hanging out.
Keep track of your objective using the Mission Summary underneath your compass. Launch your offensive powers at the contaminated thugs to defeat them: this is an ideal time to experiment with your powers, since the thugs don’t do much damage. When you have defeated two crooks, return to Officer Parks.
Now that you’re combat-hardened, Officer Parks is ready to send you to Sergeant Hicks, who has another mission for you, as well as some Inspirations to temporarily boost your powers. This time, you have to defeat four thugs in the Hot Zone, so go to it!
Use the Inspirations while fighting to increase your attack power and restore lost health. The fight will be over in no time! Return to Sergeant Hicks, and he will tell you about Enhancements, which allow you to permanently improve your powers.
Once you have learnt about Enhancements by reading the Information Terminal, Sergeant Hicks will give you another Enhancement. Practice with these Enhancements by using them on your powers, and then visit your new Contact, Coyote.
Coyote has a special mission for you, inside an abandoned office. You need to locate the office and clear it out, then search the computer. Fortunately you won’t be doing this alone, as Flower Knight is already in there. Find the office using your map and compass and click on the door to enter the mission.
For this mission, you need to attack the thugs menacing Flower Knight, and then she will help you defeat the remaining enemies in the office. To search the computer, click on it - it will be glowing to indicate that you can interact with it. Once you’ve found the formula, your mission will be complete. Congratulations, you are now Level 2!
Now is the time for you to enter the rest of Paragon City, and find a trainer to train you for your new Security Level. You can choose either Atlas Park or Galaxy City to start in; either zone is suitable for new heroes.
Welcome to Paragon City! Visit Ms. Liberty or Back Alley Brawler to train up to Security Level 2, and then find your new Contact; they’ll be in the building right behind your trainer.
