Missile Launch Mission

Overview

Missile Launch! is a mission that takes place in the Warburg PvP zone in City of Heroes and City of Villains.

If you successfully complete it, you will receive the One of three temporary powers: Chemical Burn, Biological Mutagens, or Nuclear Blast.

Description

Warburg has an underground missile plant that can launch nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The situation with Marshal Blitz and his Rogue Arachnos gives you the chance to get in and take control of one of these missiles. However, it won't be easy.

The launch key has been divided into three code fragments, each in the possession of a different scientist. Intel tells us these men are trapped in the production facility underneath Warburg. You'll have to find each scientist and guide him to the surface. (Click on the scientist to tell him to stay with you to to go away.) I'm sure he will give up his section of the launch code.

Once you have all three pieces, go back down and find the computer that launches the missile you want. The codes generate a launch key. If you can get that to the firing bunker on the surface, you can launch your payload. This gives you a temp power that you can use at any time in the game. You can only have one of these powers at a time, though.

The Step-by-Step

Important Notes

First of all, players need to realize that Warburg, the zone where the Missile Launch mission takes place, is a very dangerous place. It is a PvP zone, which means that you will be fighting not only the local denizens, but other heroes and villains as well. It is literally a free-for-all, and there are player killers (PK'ers) that hang out at vital areas to complete this mission.

Worse, many of these PK'ers are able to one-shot almost any character of any archetype. And yes, these PK'ers tend to team up and kill anyone that comes near their group, and they will taunt you in the global chat channel. If you have a thin skin, you would do well to avoid this zone, as you will never be able to complete this mission for arguing in the global chat channel with other people.

Soloing this mission is very difficult because the zone is all players versus all players, including heroes versus heroes and villains versus villains. In other words, if you are attempting to solo this mission, you will be effectively competing against every other player in the zone.

That being said, here is how one completes this mission in spite of the chaos that goes on in this zone.

Rescue a lab technician

Guarded Lab Technician

The first step to completing this mission is to rescue a lab technician from his or her guarding Arachnoids. The lab technicians are located in The WEB, a missile plant directly underneath the Warburg neighborhood marker. There are several entrances into this plant, and they are all connected by a sublevel. Note that you can only rescue one lab technician at a time.

After defeating the Arachnoids defending a lab technician, you must click on him or her and instruct the technician to follow you. After rescuing a lab technician, you must lead him or her to his base before rescuing another technician.

Lead the technician to his or her base

After rescuing a lab technician you must lead him or her to his or her research bunker. The bunker will be marked on your map with an orange dot labelled "Bunker." The bunkers are outside the underground plant in various locations around Warburg. The bunker is an Arachnos base-type door, and though it is usually guarded by Arachnos soldiers, it is not necessary to defeat the soldiers to rescue the lab technician. All that is required is to lead the technician to the door.

Note that if you are defeated while leading a lab technician to a bunker, the lab technician will stand in place for a minute, where he or she may be "stolen" by another hero or villain or until you are able to return to that location. You may also instruct a lab technician to stop following you by clicking on him or her.

Receiving the code parts

After you successfully lead a lab technician to his or her research bunker, you will receive a piece of a launch code. At this time, you must repeat the process of rescuing a lab technician and leading the technician to his or her bunker three times in all. The pieces of the launch code retrieved are issued in order and called Code 1, Code 2, and Code 3.

If you get defeated by another player while you have one or more parts of a launch code, that other player will get one part of your code. Likewise, if you defeat another player who has one or more parts of a launch code and you have fewer than three launch codes, you will obtain a part from that player.

Enter codes into launch computer

A Launch Computer

After retrieving the three codes, you will see the following message:

You have all the launch codes needed to launch the missile. There are three launch computers underground, each with a different payload. Use one of those to generate a launch key. Take that to the firing bunker to put your payload in orbit. Be fast, each launch key is only good for five minutes.

You must enter your launch codes into a launch computer. The launch computers are located in the sublevel of the missile plant, and are marked on the map as Biological Payload, Chemical Payload, and Nuclear Payload. The launch computer you use determines which temporary power you receive for firing the missile into orbit. If you use the Biological Payload computer, you will receive the Biological Mutagens temporary power. If you use the Chemical Payload computer, you will receive the Chemical Burn temporary power. If you use the Nuclear Payload computer, you will receive the Nuclear Blast temporary power.

Once you have the firing code, if you get defeated by another player, you will lose one of the launch codes and will be left with the remaining two codes, and you will have to acquire another code by rescuing a lab technician and re-enter the new complete set into a launch computer again.

Fire the missile into orbit

The Firing Console

Once you obtain the firing code from the launch computer, you have five minutes to enter it into the firing computer.

After getting your launch key by using a launch computer, you must use the firing computer to actually launch the missile. The firing computer is located just west (left) of the missile silo at coordinates (-529, 28, -81), which is due east of the Warburg neighborhood marker in the center of the map.

Be careful, because the launch computer is a popular camping spot for player killers (PK'ers), and it takes a few seconds to use the launch key, a few seconds during which you may be visible and vulnerable. If possible, you should use whatever means is at your disposal to boost your defense while entering the firing code.

Once the missile is launched, you will receive your temporary power. A hero or villain may have up one of each of the three types in his or her arsenal at any given time.

Geography

A Helpful Sign

The Web is a complex system of underground tunnels. At first, navigating these tunnels may prove difficult.

The complex is split up into three primary chambers. Each of these chambers is labelled with a number: one, two, and three. Within the tunnels, there are signs posted indicating which passages lead to or open into a chamber. There are also red Exit signs that indicate the shortest passage that leads out of the chamber.

Chamber one is the chemical launch computer, and the shortest exit passage out of the chamber is far east of the Warburg marker, almost into the water. Chamber two is the chamber that contains the nuclear launch computer, and the shortest exit passage out of the chamber is the western passage that comes out southwest of the Warburg marker. Chamber three is the chamber that contains the biological launch computer, and the shortest exit passage out of the chamber is the northwestern passage that comes out north of the Warburg marker.

The tunnels are all linked together. If one looks around for the signs, it will be much easier to get from chamber to chamber using the underground tunnels instead of the above-ground entrances. This may be very helpful when attempting to lead a scientist to his or her research bunker. Depending on a hero's or villain's strengths, it may be much safer to travel underground and to find an exit close to the research bunker than it is to travel aboveground.

Notes

• Unlike most hostages or rescue victims, lab technicians will follow a hero or villain even if he or she is invisible or otherwise stealthed, and enemies will not attack lab technicians.
• If you click on a lab technician that is following another player, the lab technician will tell you that he or she is following someone else, and you will not be able to get the lab technician to follow you unless you defeat the other player or the other player instructs the lab technician to stop following him or her.
• You may only have one of each type of temporary powers at a time. However, you may have all three of the three types of temporary powers (i.e. one each) simultaneously.
• If you possess one or more launch codes and are defeated by another player, you will lose one of your launch codes. If you are defeated by an NPC enemy, you will not lose a code.

External Links

• VidiotMaps game map of Warburg with passages and launch computers marked