City of Heroes/Powers

There are hundreds of powers available in City of Heroes and City of Villains, grouped into sets of four to fourteen each. They are used in different ways to achieve different purposes-- for instance, a click-activated power that deals damage to enemies, or a persistent toggle that raises personal damage resistance.

= Inherent Powers =

Inherent Powers need not be selected by the player, and are granted automatically upon creation, or shortly after creation.

All player characters receive two basic powers upon creation, Brawl and Sprint. Upon reaching level 2, a third basic power is granted, Rest.

If created from an account with a City of Heroes pre-order code, or a City of Heroes DVD edition code, the player character also receives a prestige power upon creation. These powers are functionally identical to Sprint, but have different graphical appearances.

Player characters receive an additional inherent power depending on their archetype. Among the hero ATs, Blasters receive Defiance, Controllers receive Containment, Defenders receive Vigilance, Scrappers receive Criticals, and Tankers receive Gauntlet. Among the epic hero ATs, Peacebringers receive Cosmic Balance, and Warshades receive Dark Sustenance. Among the villain ATs, Brutes receive Fury, Corruptors receive Scourge, Dominators receive Domination, Masterminds receive Supremacy, and Stalkers receive Assassination.

Finally, a player character receives an inherent power depending on their origin. These powers disappear once the character reaches level 10, but are useful as additional attacks through the low levels.

= Primary and Secondary Sets =

These sets contain nine powers each, all related by concept and purpose. For instance, the Fire Blast set primarily contains fiery powers that attack from a range, while the Traps set primarily contains tools and gadgets that buff allies and debuff enemies.

Assault Sets
Assault sets combine ranged and melee attacks. Common to each set is a selection of fast-recharging ranged attacks, hard-hitting melee or short ranged attacks, a long ranged sniper attack, and a self buff of some sort.

Dominators select an Assault set as a secondary.


 * Energy Assault - Dominators
 * Fiery Assault - Dominators
 * Ice Assault - Dominators
 * Psionic Assault - Dominators
 * Thorny Assault - Dominators

Buff Sets
Buff sets contain the strongest buffs and debuffs in the game. There is a large variety of ways in which to enhance allies or weaken enemies-- for instance, a player can drop the accuracy of a group of enemies to near zero, or recover life points that have been lost by the team. Consequently, each set specializes in a different thing, and plays differently than the rest.

Defenders select a Buff set as a primary set. Controllers, Corruptors, and Masterminds select a Buff set as a secondary.


 * Cold Domination - Corruptors
 * Dark Miasma - Corruptors, Defenders, Masterminds
 * Empathy - Controllers, Defenders
 * Force Fields - Controllers, Defenders, Masterminds
 * Kinetics - Controllers, Corruptors, Defenders
 * Poison - Masterminds
 * Radiation Emission - Controllers, Corruptors, Defenders
 * Sonic Resonance - Controllers, Corruptors, Defenders
 * Storm Summoning - Controllers, Defenders
 * Thermal Radiation - Corruptors
 * Traps - Corruptors, Masterminds
 * Trick Arrows - Controllers, Defenders, Masterminds

Control Sets
Control sets contain the strongest status effect inflicting powers in the game. These sets can often immobilize, disorient, hold, or put to sleep entire groups of enemies at a time. Control sets usually also contain a single pet with limited AI.

Controllers and Dominators select a Control set as a primary set.


 * Earth Control - Controllers
 * Fire Control - Controllers, Dominators
 * Gravity Control - Controllers, Dominators
 * Ice Control - Controllers, Dominators
 * Illusion Control - Controllers, Dominators
 * Mind Control - Controllers, Dominators
 * Plant Control - Dominators

Defense Sets
Defense sets protect their users against personal harm. They generally raise the users' defense against taking damage, resistance to damage taken, and/or tolerance to status effects.

Tankers select a Defense set as a primary set. Brutes, Scrappers, and Stalkers select a Defense set as a secondary set.


 * Dark Armor - Brutes, Scrappers, Stalkers
 * Energy Aura - Brutes, Stalkers
 * Fiery Aura - Brutes, Tankers
 * Ice Armor - Tankers
 * Invulnerability - Brutes, Scrappers, Tankers
 * Ninjitsu - Stalkers
 * Regeneration - Scrappers, Stalkers
 * Stone Armor - Brutes, Tankers
 * Super Reflexes - Scrappers, Stalkers

Melee Sets
Melee sets have a variety of melee or short range attacks to deal damage up close. They also usually contain some minor utility powers, such as a self buff, a ranged taunt or placate, or a low damage attack that inflicts a status effect.

Brutes, Scrappers, and Stalkers select a Melee set as a primary set. Tankers select a Melee set as a secondary set.


 * Battle Axe - Tankers
 * Broad Sword - Scrappers
 * Claws - Scrappers, Stalkers
 * Dark Melee - Brutes, Scrappers
 * Energy Melee - Brutes, Stalkers, Tankers
 * Fire Melee - Brutes, Tankers
 * Ice Melee - Tankers
 * Katana - Scrappers
 * Martial Arts - Scrappers, Stalkers
 * Ninja Blade - Stalkers
 * Spines - Scrappers, Stalkers
 * Stone Melee - Brutes, Tankers
 * Super Strength - Brutes, Tankers
 * War Mace - Tankers

Ranged Sets
Ranged sets have a variety of ranged attacks to deal damage from a distance. They also usually contain some minor utility powers, such as a self buff, a long range sniper attack, or a low damage attack that inflicts a status effect.

Blasters and Corruptors select a Ranged set as a primary set. Defenders select a Ranged set as a secondary set.


 * Archery - Blasters, Defenders
 * Assault Rifle - Blasters, Corruptors
 * Dark Blast - Corruptors, Defenders
 * Electric Blast - Blasters, Defenders
 * Energy Blast - Blasters, Corruptors, Defenders
 * Fire Blast - Blasters, Corruptors
 * Ice Blast - Blasters, Corruptors
 * Psychic Blast - Defenders
 * Radiation Blast - Corruptors, Defenders
 * Sonic Attack - Blasters, Corruptors, Defenders

Summon Sets
Summon sets allow Masterminds to summon up to six pets, with advanced control options. The sets also provide a selection of pet-only buffs, and three modest ranged attacks.

Masterminds select a Summon set as a primary set.


 * Mercenaries - Masterminds
 * Necromancy - Masterminds
 * Ninjas - Masterminds
 * Robotics - Masterminds

Support Sets
Support sets assist Blasters in their capacity as ranged fighters. These sets usually contain immobilizing, slowing, or knockback powers to maintain range advantage, self buffs, and powerful melee attacks to punish enemies that come too close.

Blasters select a Support sets as a secondary set.


 * Devices - Blasters
 * Electricity Manipulation - Blasters
 * Energy Manipulation - Blasters
 * Fire Manipulation - Blasters
 * Ice Manipulation - Blasters

= Epic Sets =

Epic ATs are limited to predetermined power sets, one primary and one secondary. These sets are larger than the standard primary and secondary sets to compensate for the inability to select different sets.

Peacebringers have the Luminous Blast set as a primary set, and the Luminous Aura set as a secondary set.

Warshades have the Umbral Blast set as a primary set, and the Umbral Aura set as a secondary set.

= Power Pools =

These are the power sets that all archetypes can access at level 6 and above. Powers in these pools tend to be weaker versions of powers found in primary and secondary sets, or are powers to aid in movement. Each player character can select from up to four power pools.


 * Concealment
 * Fighting
 * Fitness
 * Flight
 * Leadership
 * Leaping
 * Medicine
 * Presence
 * Speed
 * Teleportation

= Ancillary Pools = These are the power sets that are Archetype specific and are only available to the five non-epic hero archetypes at level 41 and above. Each hero can select from only one ancillary pool.


 * Blaster Ancillary Pools
 * Controller Ancillary Pools
 * Defender Ancillary Pools
 * Scrapper Ancillary Pools
 * Tanker Ancillary Pools