City of Heroes/Enhancements

Enhancements are added to existing powers, making them more powerful. There are several different types of enhancements, but only three real ranks to them (with a few exceptions, i.e. Hamidon enhancements). They come in Training (TO) (usable by any hero), Dual Origin (DO) (usable by heroes of two different origins, e.g. Science and Technology), and Single Origin (SO) (usable only by heroes of one specific origin).

Obtaining enhancements

There are four ways to obtain enhancements. First, it is possible to receive an enhancement from another player. High level players will often give away high level enhancements as they pass through low level zones on their way to a mission. Often these gifts are a reward for a well written bio or a well designed costume. Please don't beg; it only annoys people. You may also receive enhancements as a reward for completing a task force or a story arc. The enhancement will always match your origin, either as a DO or an SO, and you will be able to choose from a limited menu of enhancements. The third, and much more common, method of obtaining enhancements is by defeating villains. Every time you defeat a villain, or are on a team which does, there is a chance that you will receive an enhancement. The enhancement is usually the same level as the villain, give or take one level. You are less likely to receive enhancements from villains who are below your level, and more likely to receive them from villains who are higher than your level. Up through level 14, all enhancement drops will be Training Enhancements. Dual Origin (DO) enhancements begin to appear at level 15, and become more common at higher levels. SO enhancements start to drop around level 22. Even at level 50, you will still sometimes receive a Training Enhancement. Unfortunately, most dropped enhancements will not be useful except to sell for influence. The final method of getting enhancements is to buy them in the stores. Shopping is the only way to guarantee that you receive something you can use.

Villain enhancement drops

All villains will sometimes drop TO enhancements. On rare occasions, just about anybody could drop almost anything. Here are the standard drops for each villain group:

• Hellion and Skull: Training Enhancements only
• Clockwork: Tech/Natural DO
• Vahzilok: Mutant/Science DO
• Circle of Thorns: Natural/Magic DO, Magic SO
• Lost:
• Igneous:
• Tsoo: Mutant/Magic DO
• Troll:
• Outcast:
• Banished Pantheon: Magic/Natural DO

• Freakshow: Natural/Tech DO, Tech SO
• Warriors:
• Sky Raiders: Tech/Science DO
• Council: Mutant/Magic DO, Mutant SO
• Family:
• Rikti:
• Devouring Earth: Science/Mutant DO, Science SO
• Nemesis: Tech/Natural DO, Tech SO
• Malta:
• Carnival:

Buying enhancements

You can buy enhancements from your regular contacts, from stores, and from special contacts. At first, you'll probably be shopping with the Freedom Corps Field Trainers, found in Atlas Park, Galaxy City, and a single one in Skyway City. Another option is buying from contacts. The more missions you do for them, the more enhancements they will offer you. There are no stores in King's Row, or any of the Hazard Zones, like Perez Park and the Hollows. Steel Canyon, Skyway City, Talos, and Independence Port have stores where you can buy and sell enhancements. Each store deals with enhancements for one Origin. At higher levels, there are special contacts who will sell enhancements, one contact per origin. You must complete a mission in order to buy enhancements from one of these contacts. For the highest level heroes, there is one contact who sells enhancements for all origins. The easiest way to find the stores and special contacts is to check the maps on VidiotMaps.com.

Calculating enhancement bonuses

There are five known types of enhancements in City of Heroes: Training Enhancements (TO), Dual Origin Enhancements (DO), Single Origin Enhancements (SO), Trial Reward Enhancements (TR), and Hamidon Enhancements (HO).

Enhancements are broken down into two categories; range, cone range, defense and damage resist. Enhancements use the lower of the two numbers in the following table; all other enhancements use the higher number.

Training Enhancements:	8.25%/5%
Dual Origin Enhancements:	16.5%/10%
Single Origin Enhancements:	33%/20%
Trial Reward Enhancements:	25%/15% (affects multiple aspects of a power)
Hamidon Enhancements:	33%/20% (affects multiple aspects of a power)

Effect of level

The level of the enhancement does not directly affect the benefit that enhancement. However, the level of the enhancement relative to the level of the hero does. Enhancements at a higher level than the hero provide a 5% bonus per level difference; those at a lower level have a 10% reduction per level difference. To calculate the value of an enhancement, take its base strength (e.g., 33% for a single-origin damage enhancement), and multiply it by the level modifier (one of .7, .8, .9, 1, 1.05, 1.1, or 1.15).

To calculate the effect of multiple enhancements for a single power, calculate the modifying factor as follows:

$ModifyingFactor=1+\sum BaseEnhancementStrength\times LevelModifier$

For instance, if a level 32 hero has three single-origin damage enhancements (levels 31, 32 and 35) and one dual-origin damage enhancement (level 33) in one attack, the modifying factor will be:

$1+.3333\times .9+.3333\times 1+.3333\times 1.15+.1666\times 1.05=2.19$

To see how this affects the power, either multiply or divide the power's basic "value" by the modifying factor (depending on whether the "value" is being increased or decreased). For instance, the above-mentioned hero will be doing 2.19 times as much damage with that attack. Or, if those were endurance reduction enhancements instead, that attack would use this percent of the base endurance:

$1\div 2.19=46\%$

Note that accuracy enhancements are affected by level difference, but are additive to your base to-hit instead of being multiplied.

Hamidon enhancements

• Nucleolus: Damage + Accuracy
• Centriole: Damage + Range
• Peroxisome: Damage + 'Mez' Effect
• Endoplasm: Accuracy + 'Mez' Effect
• Golgi: Healing Rate + Endurance Cost Reduction
• Ribosome: Resistance + Endurance Cost Reduction
• Microfilament: Travel Speed + Endurace Cost Reduction
• Lysosome: To Hit Buff + Defense DeBuff + Accuracy
• Enzyme: To Hit DeBuff + Defense DeBuff + Endurance Cost Reduction
• Membrane: To Hit Buff + Defense Buff + Recharge Time Reduction
• Cytoskeleton: To Hit Buff + Defense Buff + Endurance Cost Reduction