Day Jobs
Overview
- aka Offline Character Progression
- Taken from Issue 13 preview page
Scholar? Caregiver? City Official? Now when players log out of City of Heroes / Villains they’re just getting started! A character’s day job is determined by the actual in-game location from which he or she logs out. If players log out from a University their day job is considered to be a Scholar. If they log out from City Hall they're a City Official. The benefits are thematically appropriate to the location. For example, a City Official earns extra Influence, a Scholar is granted Salvage, a Caregiver is granted Health Regeneration Buffs, etc.
Once characters have accumulated the required amount of time for each Day Job, they are rewarded with the appropriate Day Job Badge and Title, increasing their “earnings” for that job. Multiple Badges can be combined to unlock Accolades and the ability to accumulate additional new rewards. Almost every location within Paragon City and the Rogue Isles has an associated Day Job, resulting in a wide selection of jobs and rewards!- Depending on where characters log out, they assume the role of the area as their day job. If they log out in a hospital, for example, they are working as doctors or nurses. When logging back in, characters receive certain bonuses and rewards according to their day jobs.
Designing Day Jobs
- by Game Designer Phil Zeleski
- Taken from the European City of Heroes website
Day Jobs, a new feature for City of Heroes, rewards players even when they aren't playing the game. It's called offline character progression and while other games have done this before, City of Heroes takes it to a whole new level. Simply put, Day Jobs reward players with additional powers and benefits when they log back in. This also gives characters greater depth by allowing them to flesh out their identities and back-stories. Our goal was to create a robust system that benefits players now as much as possible while also allowing the system to grow with future content updates.
Day Jobs and Badges
The Day Job system allows players to log out from a specific location (like a hospital or vault) and when they return to play, after an extended log out period, they will gain a temporary power or some other benefit. All of the benefits granted from Day Jobs, other than badges and accolades (see below) are temporary or have a certain number of uses before they expire. However, each time a character logs out from the same area, the corresponding benefits are replenished. Most rewards take 10 days of logged out time to reach the maximum benefit.
When characters are logged out from a designated location (consecutively or non-consecutively) for a total of 30 days they will earn a badge associated with the corresponding Day Job. This will result in additional benefits. Once a badge is earned, the rate at which characters accumulate benefits, and even the potency of them, increase!
Below is a list of most, but not all, of the Day Jobs available in Issue 13: Power and Responsibility:
Hero Day Jobs
| Day Job Name | Log Out Location | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| City Official | City Hall (Atlas Park) | Influence Bonus upon mission complete. |
| Law Enforcer | Police Stations | Experience Bonus upon mission complete. |
| Commuter | Train Stations | Travel speed bonus. |
| Shop Keeper | Store Lobbies | Enhancement drop upon mission complete. |
| Intern | Portal Corp Lobbies | Large Inspiration upon mission complete. |
| Care Giver | Hospital Lobbies | Out of combat regeneration bonus. |
| Professor | Inside Universities | Random tech salvage drop upon mission complete. |
| Midnighter | Inside the Midnighter Club | Random arcane salvage drop upon mission complete. |
| Banker | Inside a Vault | Influence bonus upon mission complete. |
| Clubber | Pocket D | Out of combat recovery bonus. |
| Fashion Designer | Tailor Lobbies | Coupons that will grant a discount at the tailor. |
| Mortician | Graveyards | XP Debt Protection. |
Villain Day Jobs
| Day Job Name | Log Out Location | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Demagogue | Arachnos Building (Marconeville, Port Oakes) | Influence Bonus upon mission complete. |
| Arachnos Agent | Arachnos Bases and Arachnos Controlled areas | Experience Bonus upon mission complete. |
| Pilot | Near Black Helicopters | Travel speed bonus. |
| Smuggler | Store Lobbies | Enhancement drop upon mission complete. |
| Crey Employee | Crey Industries Building in Nerva Archipelago | Large Inspiration upon mission complete. |
| Pain Specialist | Hospital Lobbies | Out of combat regeneration bonus. |
| Professor | Inside Universities | Random tech salvage drop upon mission complete. |
| Midnighter | Inside the Midnighter Club | Random arcane salvage drop upon mission complete. |
| Thief | Inside a Vault | Influence bonus upon mission complete. |
| Clubber | Pocket D | Out of combat recovery bonus. |
| Fashion Designer | Tailor Lobbies | Coupons that will grant a discount at the tailor. |
| Mortician | Graveyards | XP Debt Protection. |
Accolades
An Accolade is obtained by earning two Day Job badges that work in conjunction with one another. In other words, earning multiple badges unlock Accolades. These Accolades will grant an even more enhanced set of powers and benefits. Additional ‘charges’ can also be earned for your Day Job Accolade powers by logging off from either of the areas associated with the two badges that unlocked the Accolade. Below is a list of some, but not all, of the Day Job Accolades available in Issue 13: Power and Responsibility:
Hero Day Job Accolades
| Day Job Accolade | Day Job #1 | Day Job #2 | Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Police Chief | Law Enforcer | City Official | Baton Power: Melee Minor DMG (Smashing) Foe Stun. |
| Security Chief | Law Enforcer | Banker | Tear Gas: Ranged AoE Foe Hold. |
| Scientist | Professor | Intern | Sleep Gas: Ranged AoE Foe Sleep. |
| Physician | Professor | Caregiver | Ally Resurrect |
| Alchemist | Caregiver | Midnighter | Ally Heal |
Villain Day Job Accolades
| Day Job Accolades | Day Job #1 | Day Job #2 | Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web Weaver | Arachnos Agent | Demagogue | Web Grenade: Ranged Foe Immobilize, -Rech, -Fly, -Speed |
| Black Ops | Arachnos Agent | Thief | Smoke Grenade: Ranged AoE Foe -Perception, -To Hit |
| Crey Scientist | Pain Specialist | Crey Employee | Sleep Gas: Ranged AoE Foe Sleep. |
| Physician | Professor | Pain Specialist | Ally Resurrect |
| Alchemist | Pain Specialist | Midnighter | Ally Heal |
Note: These are only some of the available Accolades. When players obtain Day Job badges, they unlock information about which Day Jobs to collect next in order to earn the associated Accolade(s).
On Patrol
In addition to all of the Day Jobs, every character is "On Patrol" after they log out of the game. When players log back into Paragon City or the Rogue Isles they will gain 1 bar of double experience (when defeating enemies) for every 24 hours they are logged out. A player can earn up to 10 bars of double experience this way. Double experience is shown as a blue portion of your experience bar. One thing to note is that if a player has any experience debt, the debt will be removed first before any double experience is applied.
If your character has a number of bars of double experience that exceeds the number of experience bars you need to level up, then this double experience will carry over to the next security/threat level.
Getting Started
When exploring both Paragon City and the Rogue Isles you will encounter several Day Job locations. You'll know you're in one when you see a power icon under your health bar that explains what Day Job you will work towards by logging off in that location.
Try visiting a hospital, where you will earn the Caregiver (Pain Specialist if you're a villain) Day Job. You'll notice a power icon that when moused over will state "Day Job: Caregiver." Logging out from this location will earn you credit toward the Caregiver Day Job badge. When you log back in you'll gain an out of combat regeneration bonus. Once you've logged out in the Hospital for a total of 30 days (consecutively or non-consecutively) or more you'll earn the Caregiver badge and will receive an even more powerful regeneration bonus when you log out at this location from here on out.
Once you have earned the Caregiver badge you will find a hint for how to earn the Physician accolade by first earning the Professor badge. To earn the Professor Day Job badge, you will need to log out from the University for 30 (consecutive or non-consecutive) days. After an extended log out period, the Professor Day Job will grant you a random piece of tech salvage upon mission completion. This bonus will take 10 days of log out time to earn 2 hours worth of this bonus. However, once you earn the Professor badge you only need to be logged out 8 days to earn the 2 hour benefit instead of 10.
Once you own both the Professor and Caregiver badges you will unlock the Physician Accolade. With this Accolade you will be able to earn ‘charges’ for a power that revives defeated allies by logging out from (and back in to) either a University or a Hospital. You will gain the Day Job benefits for both this Accolade and the Day Job benefit associated with the area. Nice benefits!
Parting Words
All in all, we're really excited about this new feature for our game. By balancing your time in and out of the game, you’ll get unique rewards that you wouldn’t otherwise attain. When you are ready to log back in and kick some villain or hero butt… we’ll be there waiting for you, and you’ll still be powerful enough to do just that. And with the addition of our Day Job themed costume pieces you can even dress appropriately!