Welcome to Millennium City, hero. You've been asked to test a virtual reality simulation of the Qularr alien invasion. Should you survive, Defender would like you to look into criminal activity in Westside...

And welcome to Champions Online. I intend this guide to fill in some gaps that aren't covered by official resources, representing an overall introduction to the game, addressing frequently asked questions as well as mistakes I often see new players making. The sheer stubborn longevity of this game, along with the number of changes over the years, has meant that a lot of information available online has become dated and misleading.

This guide is intended to help players up to about level 10-15, at which point they should have most of the basics of the game figured out. I may expand the scope of it in the future.

What's an archetype?
Archetypes are essentially classes, representing the abilities and stats you'll gain as you level up. While the powers you gain are mostly predetermined, you'll be given a choice between two at certain points. You can see the power progression when you initially select the archetype.

New accounts start out with access to a limited number of archetypes. Additional archetypes can be purchased with Zen (we'll discuss that later), and some can be earned with currency from the rotating events. Lifetime Subscription owners get access to all archetypes.
(Recommending archetypes is outside the scope of this guide, but in the long term I'm intending to do a full Archetypes Guide when I've played enough of them.)
To change a character's archetype (or change them to Freeform, if available) requires a Retrain token.

What's Freeform? What are the differences between archetype and Freeform?
Freeform characters are different from archetypes in that they can choose powers from the entire pool. This isn't without limits: Powers are tiered and higher tiered powers require the character to have a certain number from lower tiers first. Freeforms can choose which Specialization trees to take as well. Freeforms can take 14 powers in total while archetypes will have 12.
Freeform characters can only be created in a special Freeform slot. These can be purchased with Zen. Lifetime Subscription owners have the option of creating any character as a Freeform. (There have been limited time "free Freeform slot" offers a couple of times, years apart. While it could happen again, I wouldn't expect it soon.)
A Freeform character is not required for enjoyment of the game. Especially for new players, an archetype is a more straightforward and streamlined approach. While Freeform characters have a slight edge over archetypes, an archetype can easily outperform a poorly built Freeform.

Can I call my character anything?
Pretty much. Your unique identifier is your Arc handle, so for character names you're not prevented from using names others have used before.
Obviously obscenity and profanity are discouraged, as are the names of existing copyrighted characters (e.g. "Batman"). Attempting to use the name of an existing character may result in the name being forcibly changed. See below regarding character appearances.

Does my character have to be a superhero?
NPCs will address your character as if they're a hero (and a fairly well known, well regarded one at that). Of course there's some flexibility within this for villains in disguise, reluctant heroes, mercenaries for hire...

The character creator is amazing. Can I play as Spider-Man/Batman/Matter Eater Lad?
There's a difference between "can" and "should". The character creator has a lot of options, and in fact it's very good at recreating certain copyrighted characters. However, the intention is for players to create their own original character. Making an exact likeness of an existing, copyrighted character is against the EULA, and such characters can be forcibly reverted to the default appearance. Repeat offenders may even be banned. I'm not aware of how frequently this happens, but it's still not a good idea. Such characters are known as "clones" within the community and generally frowned upon.
There's some leeway, both in the moderation team and the community, for characters that can be viewed as homages rather than outright lookalikes.

Your first mission awaits, at the Ravenswood Academy.

I won't hold your hand too much here. The tutorial is pretty straightforward, without much opportunity to get lost or lose track of missions. It's been simplified several times over the years.

Should I play the tutorial? Are there any missable Perks or lore?
Aside from the tutorial introducing you to gameplay basics and easing you into the story, there are certain Perks (in-game achievements) that can be missed even on a successful completion. Some of these can subsequently be gained from the Qularr Invasion Simulation Alert, available during the anniversary event in September. One Perk remains unattainable on a character if not completed during the initial tutorial: Save the City. This is also required for the Lore Perk Aliens of Earth. Both of these have corresponding Steam achievements as well.
Perks and even Steam achievements are just for fun of course, but this can come to really bug some people over the years.
To complete Save the City:
Complete the mission "Citizens Distressed" from Chief Surhoff. This is part of the main storyline and hard to miss.
Complete the mission "Prescription Retention" from Clayton Griswold. He can be found just past Chief Surhoff when you reach the police barricade.
Find Foxbat, free him from the rubble, and complete his mission "Right off the Bat". He can be found near the abandoned ambulances, in the area of the "Citizens Distressed" mission.

How do I complete the Battle of the Ironclad open mission?
There are three phases: Defeat 30 Qularr. (This can be done by anyone in the area, you don't have to defeat all 30 yourself unless you're alone.) Collect cannon parts. (The large boxes scattered around the area.) Defend the cannon for 1 minute.
Assuming there are other players present and the objectives are completed, you only need minimal participation to get credit and complete the mission.

How do I "defend the cannon"?
Just be in the general area and wait out the timer. It doesn't hurt to take out more Qularr, though.

How do I fire the cannon?
This is a bit confusing and poorly conveyed. You don't fire the cannon until you complete the mission inside the Champions Building.

Anything else I might want to do while I'm in the tutorial?
Look out for a cat carrier - the anniversary event will make much less sense if you didn't do this part. And talk to Sapphire - she flies around near Mayor Biselle at the beginning, occasionally landing so you can talk to her. This makes the We Are the Champions Perk/achievement easier, since she's not a standard mission-giving NPC like the other Champions.


That's a pretty stern warning, should I enter the Champions Building?
As discussed above, if you've gotten Save the City, there are no other missable perks exclusive to the tutorial. Also, you can leave the Champions Building and come back! Use the SOCRATES button on the minimap. (I'll give more detail on this later.)

How do I get to the Powerhouse?
Glowing pad behind Headmistress Rowan.

So you've defeated the Qularr... In a simulation. Or maybe for real as well? The continuity gets a bit weird about that.
Defender has directed you to Kodiak in Westside, who needs your help with the New Purple Gang.

Where do I go?
Setting a mission as primary will show it on the map. There should also be a blue pointer on screen that shows you where to go. (This is covered in the tutorial, but people seem to forget sometimes.)
Out of the Powerhouse, you should be directed to Defender and from there to Kodiak, using the teleporter next to him.

This is really hard all of a sudden. I'm getting my butt kicked and can barely take out a few enemies at a time.
Okay, did you complete the mission "Video Star" in the Powerhouse? While the video tutorials are informative, I understand they're a bit tedious... However, completing it opens the subsequent mission "Gear Up" with the reward of a full set of primary gear, which will make you much stronger for the early missions. Remember to equip it as well.
The videos can be skipped by pressing space; it still counts for the mission.

No, it's not that... There are these groups of enemies that seem different and much stronger than what I'm used to...
Possibly these are enemies from one of the rotating events, e.g. Nighthawk or Nightmare Invasion. At low level it's best to just avoid them.

It's this mission "Talos Takedown". Can you even beat this guy?
Talos is the first major difficulty spike in the game. He's still pretty easy once you're familiar with the mechanics, but can be very daunting to new players. I'd recommend saving your consumables for this fight if you can.
There's a unique feature to this fight that makes it much easier than it initially seems: You only need to wear him down to 50% health, at which point he'll give up.
I'm going to quote a post by Bread-Tan on the Steam Discussions, who summarises the fight better than I could:

How 2 Solo Talos No Matter What
His damage is pretty much based on putting Ions on you and then triggering them with his other powers. The easy way to avoid this is to just.... Stand away from him if you have Negative Ions on you. That's it. That's all you have to do. Stand away and hold down block.
In particular, one of his AoEs has a relatively short reach so you can easily avoid it as he just stands there, t-posing as sparks fly everywhere and do absolutely nothing.

If all else fails, maybe ask around for somebody to help.

Purple Reign/Kevin Poe is hard too... Help?
Kevin Poe is a more straightforward boss, but difficult due to his powers (Darkness and Munitions) and the henchmen he has with him. I'd recommend luring out the henchmen and fighting them separately where possible. Otherwise Poe is just a "git gud" kind of fight. Be prepared to block a lot (remember what Defender taught you?).
Otherwise, most of the above advice still applies. Use your consumables and maybe ask for help if all else fails. The good news is that most of the game is relatively easy after facing these two!

So I'm doing this mission called Fatal Error...
Ah. This is one of the biggest traps for new players. This is really a mission for higher level players... It scales to level, but it's first offered at entirely too low a level. You're going to slog through tough enemies, to reach a boss you can barely dent, for rewards that aren't at all worth it. Groups of two+ players may be able to handle it, but it's still not worth the time. You'll want to do it sooner or later, because the Fatal Err0r arc opens up the daily mission for Cybermind, but when you're first starting out, stick to Westside.

But how do I exit out of a mission like this?
Use the SOCRATES button on the minimap - it's the third one down, on the left. Select "Leave Current Map".

I got sent to the Powerhouse, I have no missions and I don't know where to go next.
This seems to happen when somebody retrains a character or purchases the Lifetime Subscription while in the tutorial. (Weird as it sounds, I've heard of it happening a couple of times.) You don't get the initial missions, you don't get the set of primary gear, and you may be underleveled for the Westside content. You could pick things up by going to Kodiak and maybe spending some grinding enemies to gain XP. However, if you don't have a reason to keep that specific character, deleting and starting over may be an option.

I'm Level 10, what are these Alerts I can do now?
At Level 10 you can queue for Grab Alerts. These are instanced missions that give a one hour XP buff for completion.
In Alerts you're scaled up to level 30. Note that you don't get your full Superstats until level 15, so you'll be much weaker prior to that. It's generally advised to wait until 15 before you start doing Alerts.
There's certain unwritten protocol regarding Alerts, like there's a group of enemies in Museum Heist that usually gets skipped. You'll get used to it.
Later levels open up Burst (rewards modifications) and Smash (rewards a resource gain buff) Alerts.

What's the level cap?
Max level is 40.

What's the fastest way to level up?
Definitely run a Grab at least once an hour to keep the XP buff going. Otherwise the fastest method seems to be some mixture of completing missions and farming enemies in the open world.
Personally if I want to level a character quickly, I focus on running Grabs as much as possible, also completing missions where I know they'll be quick XP. This method takes about 20-24 hours to fully level a character to 40.

Should I sell gear I don't need? Where can I sell it?
Yes, gear doesn't have any other purpose, so if you're not going to use something you might as well sell it for resources.
You can sell gear and other unwanted inventory items to Karneeki the Great, standing just outside the Powerhouse and opposite Defender in the Renaissance Center. He also sells some consumables and inventory bags.
You'll also find "Collections Officers" near some mission-giving NPCs, serving the same purpose. There's one by Kodiak in Westside and another by Surhoff at the prison.
Non-bound items can be sold to other players at the Auction Exchange. Some things might sell for a higher price than you'd get from NPCs. There is a small percentage fee for each listing.

What are Resources?
Resources are essentially the in-game money you earn. Rather than using the standard MMO gold, silver, etc., in Champions Online you earn "resources" representing the goodwill and renown of your hero. These are tiered as Local, National and Global resources.
100 Local = 1 National
100 National = 1 Global
...This is, of course, basically a fancy way of representing copper, silver and gold.
Given that most transactions will involve Global resources, players will sometimes refer to them as "Globals" or "Gs". You might even catch people mistakenly saying things like "100 gold". This invites further confusion with Silver and Gold Champion Recognition... Which is something for later on.

What is Questionite?
Questionite is another in-game currency. You won't see much of it at low level, and as such it falls outside the current scope of this guide. It is worth discussing for reasons I'll get into below.
This guide by Kona Milano is a useful primer, although it's a bit outdated and missing some of the newer sources:
https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=580237304

What is Zen?
Zen is the premium currency used in the game's cash shop. You can buy Zen directly with a payment method, e.g. Steam Wallet. However, this isn't the only way of acquiring Zen.
In the Questionite Exchange, you can trade Questionite with other players for Zen. This means that you can earn just about anything in the game - archetypes, Freeform slots, costumes, vehicles, etc. - entirely through gameplay. Or through any combination of gameplay and money. (The reverse is also true: You can buy Questionite with Zen.)

I'm willing to spend some money (or Questionite). What are the best purchases in the Zen Store for new players?
The Premium Pack offers most of the former subscription features as a one-time purchase, and really is ridiculously good value. You get custom power tinting, character slots, inventory bag slots, resource cap increase, and a bunch of costumes and travel powers. (It's also free if you were ever a subscriber - claim it in the Bonus tab.)
Second choice has to be a Hideout, which gives you a shared bank all of your characters can access. If you're playing more than one character, this is an absolute must. (Note that Hideouts are also available for event currency during the anniversary in September.) Which Hideout you get is mostly down to aesthetic preference, although I like the Sanctums because it seems quickest to get to the bank from the entrance.

What's the Exclusive Vendor? What are Exclusive Costume Tokens?
From 2014-2018, there were monthly exclusive costume pieces (along with some emotes and devices) for subscribers. When this was retired, these items became available for Exclusive Costume Tokens. The Premium Pack gives 2 of these, and they're available as rewards from Defender's National Training Program and the official costume contests. Lifetime Subscription owners can claim all of these items for free.
The Exclusive Vendor is in Renaissance Center, between Club Caprice and the Mods & Fusion building.

What's a Form?
A Form is a toggle ability. Archetypes get a Form at level 14. Each Form grants stacks of a particular buff, with conditions to gain more stacks. E.g. Concentration is a ranged damage Form; it increases ranged damage and grants additional stacks when you hit enemies with ranged attacks.
Forms take a few seconds to charge up. Your Form will be pretty central to your build, and once you get one you should keep it toggled on whenever possible.

What's Supervillain Onslaught? What's an "OV" and "passive OV"?
Supervillain Onslaught is a kind of asymmetrical PvP system introduced in 2015. Players can transform into "Onslaught Supervillains" (usually shortened to OV, although it's really OS...) and gain Villain Tokens from defeating hero players as well as certain NPCs. The system is... widely regarded as a bit flawed and underdeveloped to say the least, and has been largely unrevised since its introduction. However, the rewards include some of the best endgame secondary gear.
The "passive OV" thing isn't really an intended part of the system, but is what you might call emergent gameplay. Players who are done with their Onslaught dailies will announce themselves as a "passive OV", usually at the Renaissance Center, and allow other players to attack them without retaliation. Aside from being generous, this helps to keep the Onslaught economy moving, since players require Guardian Tokens to become Onslaught Supervillains themselves. There is no obligation for Onslaught Supervillains to be passive, and as far as I'm aware, lying about being passive won't get you in any trouble.
At low level you shouldn't really be worrying about any of this, but you'll get a mission to talk to the Onslaught vendor at level 10, and you'll certainly see Onslaught Supervillains around the Renaissance Center.

What is the Renaissance Center?
The Renaissance Center is the main hub in Millennium City. It's where you first emerge after leaving the Powerhouse. It's where you'll find mission-giving NPCs like Defender and Ladyhawke, most of the useful vendors, and buildings with various purposes including the Bank and Auction Exchange.

Can I change my character's appearance?
You can change your appearance at a tailor. You can find them in various locations, including the Renaissance Center, standing under the canopy. There's a small cost in resources based on the number of changes made.
You can save different "costumes" to costume slots, allowing you to change between appearances, and Costume Transformations will add a special effect or emote when you change. It's possible to create a Billy Batson type of transformation where you radically change body type and even gender.

What is Club Caprice?
Club Caprice is the black/green building at the north-east corner of Renaissance Center. It's a nightclub for superheroes and is treated as the main hub for roleplaying.

What are events?
Champions Online hosts various rotating events, some tied to the calendar and some appearing throughout the year. These give event currencies which can be used to buy various rewards, including costume items, vehicles and archetypes. They run for at least a week, with the bigger events lasting 3-4.
Red Banner Ruin (Lunar New Year)
Foxbatcon (April Fool's Day)
Patriot's Celebration (July 4th and Canada Day)
Anniversary (September)
Bloodmoon (Halloween)
Winter (Winter Holidays)
Nighthawk (several times a year)
Circus Malvanum (several times a year)
High Noon (several times a year)
Nightmare Invasion (several times a year)

What is Defender's National Training Program?
A special event - which can run concurrent with other events like the anniversary - where the objective is to level a new character to 40. This usually runs 1-2 weeks. The character must be newly created while the training program is running. The rewards include costumes, emotes, unique titles and Exclusive Costume Tokens.
If it seems like you'll never reach max level, remember some of us have done it within a week - several times!

What's a costume contest?
A contest where the players with the best costume, chosen by judges, are awarded prizes. While most of these are player-run, there are official costume contests hosted by the game devs and staff. These are always in the Powerhouse Theater and usually on a Friday towards the end of the month, announced in the game's news section. There are exclusive rewards and it usually ends with a fight against a giant-sized player, with a rare opportunity to get Dev Tokens.

Can I get any free stuff?
You see that glowy person at the back of the Powerhouse, by the Greer & Harlick entrance? You can get a free aura from them.

Why can't I talk in Zone chat?
Newly created accounts may be blocked from using certain chat features. This is apparently resolved by verifying your email address. Information on this seems a bit conflicting and I'd appreciate any confirmation.

Is there a Champions Online wiki?
Unfortunately the longstanding Champions Wiki appears to have been abandoned by its owner, and the domain has expired. The content can still be accessed through the Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20190315120122/http://www.championswiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
That leaves the Fandom-hosted championsonline.fandom.com still standing. Its content is less comprehensive and mostly outdated, but perhaps with time it will grow.

Thank you to the Champions Online community, from whom I've probably absorbed most of this information by osmosis.