Mission

Overview

A Mission is a task in which a player is assigned to complete from a Contact. By completing the mission, the player will be rewarded with experience and inf. Some missions also have other rewards, such as Enhancements, Badges, and/or Temporary Powers.

Prior to Issue 17, a character could only have three active missions. A mission had to be completed (normally, or by a GM, or by the "mission drop" feature) in order to gain another mission. Issue 17 raised the maximum active mission count to seven, and added an "abandon mission" feature that allows characters to drop a mission but not complete the mission (which is covered by the mission drop feature).

Sometimes, a series of missions will be grouped together to form a Story Arc. These will reveal a single plot-line in stages, as the player progresses through the mission. A player will gain experience and inf for the completion of Story Arc (i.e. completing all missions in the Story Arc). This is on top of, and generally more than, the regular XP and Influence/Infamy gained from completing the individual missions that make up the story arc. Completing a Story Arc will also grant you a Souvenir and some reward merits, based on the datamined average time to complete.

There are also special groups of missions in the game. These include Task/Strike Forces, Trials (including the Hamidon Raid). These must be attempted in teams (although the required team varies). There are generally substantial rewards associated with completing any of these. Examples include special Enhancements, rare Recipes, Power Respecifications, and Badges.

Mission Types

Most missions fall into a few main categories.

• Missions from regular contacts can be any of these.
• Missions from the Rogue Isle Protector or the Police Radio come in four types: Kidnap/Rescue missions, Defeat Boss missions, Find Object missions, and Heist missions. Completing a certain number of these will give players access to a Mayhem Mission or a Safeguard Mission (these missions are not discussed on this article).
• Task/Strike Forces and Trials often contain special/unique missions that do not fall into any of these categories. These are often the last mission in a TF/SF or Trial.

Kill All

These require you to kill absolutely every spawned enemy on the map to complete the mission.

Often, people run into the 'missing mobs' problem. That is, they believe they have explored and cleared out the entire map, but the mission does not complete. This means they must have missed a mob somewhere. Ways to find mission mobs include:

• Re-explore the map with all stealth powers (including superspeed, and any other travel powers slotted with stealth) off. Remaining mobs may spot you (even if you don't notice them)
• Enlarge and carefully examine the map. Borders/walls are always shown as a solid line on the map. If you have an entire side of a room unexplored, you may well have missed a turn completely.
• Make good use of the tab button. This button's default action is to target the enemy closest to you within sight. Even if you don't notice a mob, the tab button may still be able to pick it up.
• Maps often have common hiding spots for mobs.
  • In cave maps, make sure you have explored all levels of the cave. The in-game map is not very good at showing vertical height. So although it may look like you've explored the entire map, you may have missed a level
  • In indoor office maps, make sure you have explored any small off-shot rooms (e.g. small meeting rooms). These small rooms will often appear to be 'explored' on your in-game map once you walk past them (because they are so small). They can house mobs.
• Set any Mastermind pets to aggressive mode.

Kill Boss

What you need to do to complete a Kill Boss mission depends on what the mission objective says and where the mission is:

• If the mission objective is simply "kill x" (e.g. "take out ...."), all you need to do is kill this one named spawn. This generally involves an elite boss or AV.
• If the mission objective is "kill x and guards" and it is an indoor mission, you need to clear the entire room x is in. (see 'clearing' section below)
• If the mission objective is "kill x and guards" and it is an outdoor instanced mission, you need to defeat x and the mob that x is in.

The person you're needing to kill will usually say something when you first enter his area. So if a NPC speech bubble pops up on the screen as you walk through a map, you know you're near the 'boss area'.

Kidnap/Rescue

In general, CoH has rescue missions and CoV has kidnap missions. They work essentially in the same way.

• If the target of the mission shows up with a red target reticle (instead of the blue one), then what you actually have to do is defeat him (it's a Kill Boss mission in disguise). All you need to do is kill this one boss. Often, you'll be dealing with an Elite boss or AV.
• If the target of the mission shows up with a blue target reticle, then you'll have to lead them somewhere. Rescuing/Kidnapping these NPCs will often trigger ambushes (see ambush section below).
  • Sometimes, a yellow market will show up on your map when you rescue/kidnap a civilian. This means you need to lead the person to the marker (instead of the mission exit)
  • NPCs not follow you if you have stealth on. This means you must turn off all stealth powers, and sometimes travel powers as well.

(Note: NPCs that are classified as 'pets' and help you fight in a mission will follow you even if you have stealth on.)

Find Object

These are missions where the object is to click on some kind of object(s), nicknamed "glowies". Often, missions will have multiple objectives, with clicking on a glowie being one of them.

• If the mission objective is to get just one glowie, the player will to clear the room in most cases. (see 'clearing' section below)
  • missions like this from the Rogue Isle Protector and the Police Radio will always require the player to clear the room.
  • missions like this from regular contacts will sometimes finish as soon as you click the glowie.
• If the mission objective is to get multiple glowies, then the player needs only to click the glowies. Once all are clicked, the mission completes. Glowies in missions of this type often have ambushes associated with them (see ambush section below).
• If finding a glowie is only one part of the mission objective (e.g. "kill x and plant bombs"), you will only need to click the glowie. Glowies in these missions also often have associated ambushes.
• Some missions will have 'fake' glowies. So a mission with an objective to "steal data" may have lots of clikable computers scattered around on the map. But only one of them completes the objective. The others will generate a message in your system chat channel (e.g. "you found nothing of interest"). In these cases, you need only click on the glowie to complete the object. There is no need to clear the room.

A variation of this type of mission objective is where the player needs to destroy an object(s), instead of clicking on them. The objects then have red target reticles. The player needs only destroy the object in question, there is no need to clear the surrounding room (although such objects are almost always guarded by mobs). This can set off ambushes as well. Unlike glowies, objects that need to be destroyed (e.g. "destroy x generators") will not glow or make the glowie sound. However, they are picked up using the tab button.

Street Sweeping

These missions involve defeating a certain number of a certain enemy fraction.

• If, on the mission tab that lists your missions, a specific zone is specified (e.g. "defeat longbow in Nerva") - you must kill from that zone for it to count.
• Sometimes, the mission description will also specify an area (e.g. "defeat Scrapyarders in the pit") - you must kill from that area for it to count.
• Sometimes, no zone is specified. In which case you can kill from any zone.
• Enemies do not need to be in your level range, or from zones in your level range.
• Enemies from instanced mission maps of other missions only count for missions that do not specify a hunting ground.

The detailed mission description for these missions will generally advice the player on what zones/areas the mob type can be found in. Although this may not be a requirement, it can still be helpful when trying to find certain mob fractions.

Heist

These are missions given by regular contacts, the Rogue Isle Protector or the Police Radio that mimic the way Mayhem/Safeguard Missions work. These will take the player to an instanced mission map of a bank, and then operate very similarly to Mayhem/Safeguard missions (i.e. heroes will have to defeat waves of robbers. Villains will have to destroy a safe, steal money, then defeat waves of defenders.)

Tips for Completing Missions

'Clearing' a Room

Some Defeat Boss missions and Find Object missions require the player to clear a room.

• the room includes all upstairs/downstairs areas (e.g. in a cave map, clearing a room can involve clearing all 5 floors of a multi-level cavern)
• the room will often include a corridors leading to and from the room
• if there is a corridor 'above' the room (e.g. in multi-level office maps), sometimes this will also count (even if the corridor is not actually connected to the room).
• small dead end rooms that come off the main room (e.g. small meeting rooms in office maps) will often count
• if you entered the room through a door, and the room doesn't lead anywhere else. You will have to clear everything behind the door.

Ambushes

Ambushes typically come in two types:

• Target-Location ambushes. Mobs from these ambushes will run to a specific location (e.g. the location where you set the ambush off, the location where the glowie was...etc) and stay at that location. They will not notice you if you are have sufficient stealth.
• Target-Player ambushes. Mobs from these ambushes will know where you are, and will chase after you (regardless of where you run off to). Stealth will not help you. The mobs are in effect 'locked' onto you.

When an ambush has been triggered, the ambush mob will 'say' something, resulting in a NPC speech bubble appearing on your screen. Seeing one of these speech bubbles after clicking a glowie or rescuing/kidnapping a NPC is a sure sign you have set off an ambush.

Missions with ambushes are commonly:

• Find Object missions. Clicking on a glowie can trigger an ambush. This is usually a Target-Location ambush, and is easy to avoid (just move away from where the glowie was). There is generally only one wave.
• Kidnap/Rescue missions. Kidnapping/rescuing a NPC can sometimes set off an ambush. This is usually a Target-Location ambush, but is difficult to avoid (since you often have to lead the NPC down the same path that the ambush is coming up from). The ambush from kidnapping/rescuing a NPC usually consists of a few waves. Sometimes, leading the NPC past a certain point on the map will set off another ambush wave.
• Missions that have something like a "Stop x to escape" line in their objective. Examples of this include Mayhem Missions, Heist missions and the villain cape mission. After setting off the trigger (by stealing the money, or clicking the glowie), three waves of ambushes will come at you. These are Target-Player ambushes, so there is no running away. The thing you're wanting to stop (e.g. the Hero for "Defeat Hero to Escape") will appear as part of the third wave.

Finding Glowies

Most glowies will make a very distinctive echoing sound. Game volume can be adjusted to turn down the background music (hence making special effect sounds relatively louder) to make it easier to hear. The sound a glowie makes will be heard once you are within range - even if you are on another floor, or if the glowie is on the other side of a wall. This sound gets louder if you get closer.

Keybinds can also be used to help find glowies:

/bind <key> "face$$camturn"

• e.g. - /bind rshift "face$$camturn"
• When you press the key this is bounded to, your camera will rotate around so that you are facing the object you are currently targeting.
• This only rotates your camera. If the glowie is above or below eye level, you will still have to tilt the camera up or down.

/bind <key> "target_custom_next <name>"

• e.g. - /bind lshift "target_custom_next Bomb"
• When you press the key this is bounded to, if there are any objects with the specified name in your sight, it will be targeted.
• This will pick up glowies (which don't get picked up using the tab button). It will also pick up objects that you have to destroy (e.g. generators for a "destroy x generators" mission).
• often, you will need to find one glowie first to get the exact name of the object you're looking for before this keybind can be used.
• When this picks up a glowie, you can hit the Follow key (default is the "F" key) to head straight to the glowie. Or if you are worried about charging head first into an enemy mob, use the first keybind to center the camera onto the glowie.

Ambiguous Objectives

Missions that require you to kidnap/rescue someone, click a glowie, or defeat a named boss will always say so on the mission objective. Therefore, if the mission objective is very ambiguous (e.g. "deliver files to....", but no indication of needing to find a glowie), it is very likely to be a Defeat All mission.

Sometimes, a mission objective will appear after you start a mission.

Dropping Missions

A mission can be dropped once every 3 days (in real time). To drop a mission, exit the mission and speak to the contact (calling the contact is fine). There will be an option to drop the mission.

When a mission is dropped, the player will still gain the mission-completion experience, but will skip any experience that may have been obtained by defeating enemies within the mission.

Missions that end story arcs, have timers, or grant badges cannot be dropped. Some of them can be reset by selecting "abandon mission" or by logging out, but this will require restarting the mission from the beginning.

Some missions in the game are genuinely bugged, and cannot be completed. The drop mission feature can be used to skip these missions (alternatively, players can simply send a /petition for GM help).