Mission

Overview

A Mission is a task in which a player is assigned to complete from a Contact. By completing the mission, the player will be rewarded with experience and Influence/Infamy. Some missions also have other rewards, such as Enhancements, Badges, and/or Temporary Powers.

Sometimes, a series of missions will be grouped together to form a Story Arc. These will reveal a single plot-line in stages, as the player progresses through the mission. A player will gain experience and Influence/Infamy for the completion of Story Arc (i.e. completing all missions in the Story Arc). This is on top of, and generally more than, the regular XP and Influence/Infamy gained from completing the individual missions that make up the story arc. Completing a Story Arc will also grant you a Souvenir, and will sometimes allow you to choose an equal-level DO or SO Enhancement.

There are also special groups of missions in the game. These include Task/Strike Forces, Trials (including the Hamidon Raid). These must be attempted in teams (although the required team varies). There are generally substaintial rewards associated with completing any of these. Examples include special Enhancements, rare Recipes, Power Respecifications, and Badges.

Mission Types

Most missions fall into a few main categories.

• Missions from regular contacts can be any of these.
• Missions from the Rogue Isle Protector (called "Schemes") or the Police Radio come in four types: Kidnap/Rescue missions, Defeat Boss missions, Find Object missions, and Heist missions. Completing a certain number of these will give players access to a Mayhem Mission or a Safeguard Mission (these missions are not discussed on this article).
• Task/Strike Forces and Trials often contain special/unique missions that do not fall into any of these categories. These are often the last mission in a TF/SF or Trail.

Kill All

These require you to kill absolutely every spawned enemy on the map to complete the mission.

Often, people run into the 'missing mobs' problem. That is, they believe they have explored and cleared out the entire map, but the mission does not complete. This means they must have missed a mob somewhere. Ways to find mission mobs include:

• Re-explore the map with all stealth powers (including superspeed, and any other travel powers slotted with stealth) off. Remaining mobs may spot you (even if you don't notice them)
• Enlarge and carefully examine the map. Borders/walls are always shown as a solid line on the map. If you have an entire side of a room unexplored, you may well have missed a turn completely.
• Make good use of the tab button. This button's default action is to target the enemy closest to you within sight. Even if you don't notice a mob, the tab button may still be able to pick it up.
• Maps often have common hiding spots for mobs.
  • In cave maps, make sure you have explored all levels of the cave. The in-game map is not very good at showing vertical height. So although it may look like you've explored the entire map, you may have missed a level
  • In indoor office maps, make sure you have explored any small off-shot rooms (e.g. small meeting rooms). These small rooms will often appear to be 'explored' on your in-game map once you walk past them (because they are so small). They can house mobs.
• Set any Mastermind pets to aggressive mode.

Kill Boss

What you need to do to complete a Kill Boss mission depends on what the mission objective says and where the mission is:

• If the mission objective is simply "kill x" (e.g. "take out ...."), all you need to do is kill this one named spawn. This generally involves an elite boss or AV.
• If the mission objective is "kill x and guards" and it is an indoor mission, you need to clear the entire room x is in. (see 'clearing' section below)
• If the mission objective is "kill x and guards" and it is an outdoor instanced mission, you need to defeat x and the mob that x is in.

The person you're needing to kill will always say something when you first enter his area. So if a NPC speech bubble pops up on the screen as you walk through a map, you know you've entered the 'boss area'.

Kidnap/Rescue

In general, CoH has rescue missions and CoV has kidnap missions. They work essentially in the same way.

• If the target of the mission shows up with a red target reticle (instead of the blue one), then what you actually have to do is defeat him (it's a Kill Boss mission in disguise). All you need to do is kill this one boss. Often, you'll be dealing with an Elite boss or AV.
• If the target of the mission shows up with a blue target reticle, then you'll have to lead them somewhere. Rescuing/Kidnapping these NPCs will often trigger ambushes (see [Mission#Ambushes|ambush]] section below).
  • Sometimes, a yellow market will show up on your map when you rescue/kidnapp a civilian. This means you need to lead the person to the marker (instead of the mission exit)
  • NPCs not follow you if you have stealth on. This means you must turn off all stealth powers, and sometimes travel powers as well.

(Note: NPCs that are classified as 'pets' and help you fight in a mission will follow you even if you have stealth on.)

Tips for Completing Missions

'Clearing' a room

Some Defeat Boss missions and Find Object missions require the player to clear a room.

• the room includes all upstairs/downstairs areas (e.g. in a cave map, clearing a room can involve clearing all 5 floors of a multi-level cavern)
• the room will often include a corridors leading to and from the room
• if there is a corridor 'above' the room (e.g. in multi-level office maps), sometimes this will also count (even if the corridor is not actually connected to the room).
• small dead end rooms that come off the main room (e.g. small meeting rooms in office maps) will often count
• if you entered the room through a door, and the room doesn't lead anywhere else. You will have to clear everything behind the door.

Ambushes

Ambushes typically come in two types:

• Target-Location ambushes. Mobs from these ambushes will run to a specific location (e.g. the location where you set the ambush off, the location where the glowie was...etc) and stay at that location. They will not notice you if you are have sufficient stealth.
• Target-Player ambushes. Mobs from these ambushes will know where you are, and will chase after you (regardless of where you run off to). Stealth will not help you. The mobs are in effect 'locked' onto you.

When an ambush has been triggered, the ambush mob will 'say' something, resulting in a NPC speech bubble appearing on your screen. Seeing one of these speech bubbles after clicking a glowie or rescuing/kidnapping a NPC is a sure sign you have set off an ambush.

Missions with ambushes are commonly:

• Find Object missions. Clicking on a glowie can trigger an ambush. This is usually a Target-Location ambush, and is easy to avoid (just move away from where the glowie was). There is generally only one wave.
• Kidnap/Rescue missions. Kidnapping/rescuing a NPC can sometimes set off an ambush. This is usually a Target-Location ambush, but is difficult to avoid (since you often have to lead the NPC down the same path that the ambush is coming up from). The ambush from kidnapping/rescuing a NPC usually consists of a few waves. Sometimes, leading the NPC past a certain point on the map will set off another ambush wave.
• Missions that have something like a "Stop x to escape" line in their objective. Examples of this include Mayhem Missions and the villain cape mission. After setting off the trigger (by stealing the money, or clicking the glowie), three waves of ambushes will come at you. These are Target-Player ambushes, so there is no running away. The thing you're wanting to stop (e.g. the Hero for "Defeat Hero to Escape") will appear as part of the third wave.

Missions with ambigious objectives

Missions that require you to kidnap/rescue someone, click a glowie, or defeat a named boss will always say so on the mission objective. Therefore, if the mission objective is very ambigious (e.g. "deliver files to....", but no indication of needing to find a glowie), it is very likely to be a Defeat All mission.

Sometimes, a mission objective will appear after you start a mission.

Dropping missions

A mission can be dropped once every 7 days (in real time). To drop a mission, exit the mission and speak to the contact (calling the contact is fine). There will be an option to drop the mission.

When a mission is dropped, the player will still gain the mission-completion experience.

Missions that end story arcs, have timers, or grant badges cannot be dropped.

Some missions in the game are genuily bugged, and cannot be completed. The drop mission feature can be used to skip these missions (alternatively, players can simply send a /petition for GM help).