Enhancements in City of Heroes

The article is a brief introduction to Enhancements in the game of City of Heroes in hope it can be of help to some beginners.

Enhancement Effects

Enhancements provide a bonus to certain characteristics of powers, with a minimum of one and a maximum of six total enhancements per power. For most powers, training enhancements provide an 8.25% increase of effectiveness, Dual Origins give 16.5%, and Single Origins are a 33% bonus. For some enhancements, like defensive buffs, the bonuses are lower. Enhancements have a level associated with them and have a relative effectiveness. If the enhancement is three levels above you, it has a +3% bonus. Similarly, +2 levels mean +2% bonus as well as +1 equals +1%. Enhancements up to three levels below you have –1%, -2%, and –3% penalties associated with them.

Buying, Selling, and Trading

Enhancements are bought and sold through vendors located almost everywhere.There are differences in what different vendors will pay for certain enhancements. It is based on the enhancement origin. Training enhancements should be sold at the Field Trainers near the main trainer in Atlas Park, Galaxy City and Skyway City, since they sell for more here than in regular shops. They can also be sold in Hero Corps stores in Steel Canyon and elsewhere. After Dual Origin and Single Origin enhancements start to show up more often, you won’t be concerned with making a special trip to sell training enhancements. If you are looking to maximize your earning potential, learn the locations of the various origins‘shops and be a smart seller. Single Origin enhancements take this to the next level, since the costs are so much higher. You will be able to accumulate significant cash reserves if you sell SO enhancements at their native shops.

Combining Enhancements

Enhancements can be combined with like ones in the +/-2 level range. This will cause the higher level enhancement to have a plus sign next to its level, meaning it acts as one level higher. For example if you have a level 30 enhancement slotted and combine it with a level 32 enhancement of the same type, the slotted enhancement will become 32+, and it will act as level 33. They can have a maximum bonus of ++, equating to a 2 level bump. This is the reason you need to wait on buying the next tier of enhancement until they can combine. If you are level 32 and have level 30 enhancements, you will be able to use level 35s, but they won’t combine with the 30s because that would make them 35+ (acting as level 36) and out of the usable range for you. You can only have enhancements valued at +/-3 levels at most. By waiting on upgrading until you hit level 33, you can combine them all and allow them to be useful for an extra level. It becomes a great cost savings in the long run. Once you hit level 50, the highest level enhancements you can buy are 50, so the highest effective level you can achieve is 50++ (52.) Since you have the ability to use up to level 53 enhancements, you want to keep an eye out for level 51, 52, and 53 enhancements so you can potentially get the full +3% bonus.