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City of Heroes News - Getting Your Cape
Posted by Jon Wood on Dec 02, 2008 | 22 comments in our forums
MMORPG.com City of Heroes Correspondent Marjorie Rhoadhouse writes this handy guide for players looking for get their capes at level 20 in NCsoft's City of Heroes.
The Facts:
Must be Level 20+ - Need Empty Mission Slot – See City Rep in City Hall Once the Talk-to’s Are Complete, Door Mission is Relatively Quick Soloing is Possible Depending on AT and Reputation (Difficulty)
Some History:
Capes were introduced in Issue 2, in September of 2004. The Cape Mission establishes in-game lore as to why heroes are barred from wearing capes until they are Level 20, and to give each a chance to prove himself worthy of wearing that most wondrous earmark of the proverbial superhero.
Sssshh:
Nowhere in the game is the player informed of how and when to get a cape. Nor does the contact for the Cape Mission make herself available for the asking. Once a hero is Level 20, and if that hero has an empty mission slot and by chance happens to click on the City Rep, she’ll offer the mission.
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Read Getting Your Cape
Many Many thanks for the article. I wish I had known a bunch of this stuff years ago. Even so, much of it is still very helpful.
Victory Server:
Tiberion: Level 50 Defender
Brothur Bear: Level 50 Peace Bringer
And for those who don't know go see the same contact st level 30 as she will also start you off on your "Aura" mission.
Excellent guide for a poorly implemented feature that should have been in launch and available to characters of all levels. Something like this probably wasn't needed when they first came out, because everyone was talking about them, but hopefully this will be seen by newer players that have no idea how to get started on their cape.
As the story goes, Desirar, there was unforseen difficulty in applying the code for a free-flowing cape to all the many and varied costume combinations offered by CoH's character/costume creator. I believe the cape was present in Beta Testing but even in the best of situations, it clipped through the toon's torso as it blew round. Rather than present at launch an inferior example of that proverbial mark of superhero status, capes were yanked until they were perfected. The final solution was to build an entirely separate skelaton for the cape and attach it to the skeleton of the toon, which was then ready for release in the first expansion. However, lore was built into launch, explaining that to honor the loss of Hero1 and Omega Team, all heroes were hanging up their capes.
When the first expansion came out, a decree was issued that Paragon City's period of mourning was over and Heroes (level 20 and up) from far and wide crowded around City Hall to prove themselves worthy to the City Rep.
My toons were too young at the time, so I never got the memo, lol, but apparently there was some instruction on how to go about getting the cape AT THAT TIME. Unfortunately it was never integrated into the game.
My thanks to you and to the others who were first on the scene here, for your kind words about my article. I must say I'm very excited to be a part of this. This is my first showing here in an official capacity for MMORPG.com, and I am hoping for much feedback. =)
--- Marjorie Rhoadhouse
Foxy, don't feel alone! In trying to make a serious dent into my next article for this site, I turned the days housework and the care of my sick cat over to my daughter --- who swore me to an evening of Lord of the Rings Online before she would concede. Hence I too have not yet been able to explore Issue 13 on the live servers.
--Marjorie Rhoadhouse
Oh, I knew the lore. The lack of "unregistered heroes" or "completely mercenary villains" (was there even a lore explaining why villains didn't have capes at level 1?) is as bad as the lame story of Hero 1. Rather than turning a failure on the part of the developers into a "carrot" for leveling, they should have been given to characters of all levels with an apology that covered the front page of the game's website. At the very least, unlocking capes should be attached to an account - finish the mission on one character on any server, and all of your characters would have access.
I've been busy with other games and haven't rotated back to CoH in a while (darn Gamer ADD), how many new players pick up the game that need to know how to get their capes have there been? The only MMO that seems to get advertising outside of gaming magazines is WoW, so I wouldn't expect a large influx of players in any other game.
Aw comeon, the legend of Hero1 is not lame...just...under-developed! After all, prgrammers are not known for their writing skills! Now see if they hired someone like me to write their lore for them: Wheeeee!
Oh and also --- its probably just the way you worded it --- but just to clarify from my end: City of Villains didnt exist when Heroes was released. When Villains launched (as a stand-alone expansion pack in those days), there was no need to explain the missing capes. A villain got his cape by stealing a hero's, and if the heroes weren't wearing them, well then... (How smart was your Villain?)
I disagree about giving the cape to all toons on one account once you've completed the mission with one. It is supposed to be a test of mettle and worth, and there are too many archetypes and power combinations to make that a free ticket, not to mention interesting.
Hahaha, I do like your phrase, "Gamer ADD". I think there is a lot of that going around, although that's the first time I've heard the diagnosis! Touchette!
--Marjorie Rhoadhouse
I did notice that the transfer of my bulleting went screwy in the list of FACTS, and it now appears that I recommend, "See City Rep in City Hall Once TalkTo's are Complete," as the first step of the mission. (D'oh!)
The facts should be separated as follows:
Must be Level 20+ - Need Empty Mission Slot - See City Rep in City Hall - Once TalkTo's are Complete Door Mission is Reletively Quick - Soloing is Possible Depending on AT and Reputation (Difficulty)
See the difference?
Doesn't she say something about coming back to see her after you've reached security level 20? Same thing Kalinda does once you've finished her arc if you choose her as an initial contact?
To the above poster, capes weren't in at release due to technical limitations. Remember though that they added them in Issue 2, so it wasn't that long after release everyone got capes they been asking about. NCSoft really seems to listen to what their customers want and try to impliment what they can. Issue 13 is adding the Shield powersets that have been asked about for quite some time and the red-version of Empathy.
Doesn't she say something about coming back to see her after you've reached security level 20? Same thing Kalinda does once you've finished her arc if you choose her as an initial contact?
Hi Milton! You know, I don't think she says ANYHTING if you are not already Lev 20. Remember, this woman is not a standard contact for Heroes. She handles the Cape and Aura missions and is a go-between in one or two other story arc's, and that is it. I seem to remember time and again clicking on her in passing and getting nothing, and wondering what the heck she was there for. In researching this article, I approached her as a brand new Lev 20 with full mission slots, and that is when I confirmed that she insists on an empty mission slot, because she says something vague like, "You have much to do before we can talk again."
This is a pretty good article. I just got back into CoH right before I13. I was a player from Beta up until around Issue 5 when my computer became a paper-weight. Now that it's working again, I've been trying to re-learn the game. (And play CoV!) This was a good refresher. Thanks!
Villains initial contact tells them to come back when they are 20. I think the heroes have the city rep pop up as a contact once they level to 20 now. Not 100% sure on that as it's been a while since my heroes were under 20.
sounds right.
I tested the whole Cape Mission from start to finish on the test server during Open Beta for Issue 13, and no contact info was given at that time. It could be, however, now that Issue 13 is live and we are seeing so many contact notices flash up on our screen (which is terrific!) that once a toon trains up to 20, a similar notice is made evident.
If anyone does get a toon to 20 under these new circumstances, and notices a change, I'd sure appreciate a post here to make note of it.
i just realized you made this post.
isn't getting on the test server a bunch of "geek speak" and like... hard or something?
Enough flirting, you two!
if you call kalinda, she says:
There are more tests in your future, <character name> , but not until you get to Threat Level 20.
i'm going on the assumption that players aren't complete idiots and that a player would be like "hey i wonder what that is" and either ask someone or look it up.
but according to the op, getting on test is way hard, so i dunno.
edit: to the person who posted above me... i'm sorry, i'm not part of you guys' sg or your weird online flirting stuff. a correspondent NEEDS to give factual information and not crawfish and try to twist words by claiming to "choose concise terminology", when the terminology used is plain wrong and shows an ignorance of obvious game mechanics (especially to someone who's claimed to play for over four years).
*laughs* What Super Group? Wow, that's the first time someone assumed I was "in the loop", thank you, I'm flattered. Though, I haven't even almost associated with anyone from this site. I play mmos strictly for the content. So, I like to solo. [I was raised an only child.] The rest of your post was wasted on me, however, as was my attempt at humor and sarcasm wasted on you. I wasn't trying to debate you in any way, debate requires an opinion one way or the other. You perhaps may have mixed me up with one of the other posters in the thread. And that's okay. It happens online. I said you two were flirting because you were having an argument [or whatever you want to call it]. No need to get defensive with me, because it wont help your argument that you were having -- with completely other people, I might add.
*laughs* What Super Group? Wow, that's the first time someone assumed I was "in the loop", thank you, I'm flattered. Though, I haven't even almost associated with anyone from this site. I play mmos strictly for the content. So, I like to solo. [I was raised an only child.] The rest of your post was wasted on me, however, as was my attempt at humor and sarcasm wasted on you. I wasn't trying to debate you in any way, debate requires an opinion one way or the other. You perhaps may have mixed me up with one of the other posters in the thread. And that's okay. It happens online. I said you two were flirting because you were having an argument [or whatever you want to call it]. No need to get defensive with me, because it wont help your argument that you were having -- with completely other people, I might add.
lots of words for someone that doesn't care.
I like the way I write/type/speak.