City of Heroes Veteran Rewards for Year Three, Four, and Five. Unlock Costume Pieces, Powers, Badges, and More

“Dedicated” is the badge awarded to those with 27 months of active playtime. Along with the badge, players receive the anime-style tech armor costume pieces and another costume change token.

30 months gets you the “Committed” badge. Players also unlock the ability to add the emblems of various in-game groups (Freedom Phalanx, Vanguard, etc…) to their costumes, a set of base trophies that tie into some of the major players in the CoH/CoV lore (Statesman, Ghost Widow, Black Scorpion, etc…), and a costume change token.

At 33 months, players receive the “Unswerving” badge, a choice of one additional prestige power (the “Blackwand” or “Nemesis Staff”), and a free respec for all characters on the account.

At the three-year mark, players receive the appropriately-named “Addicted” badge. Heroes will also receive a Longbow Chaser base decoration and villains get an Arachnos Flyer for their hideouts. Each character also gets to choose from five non combat pets: the Demon Pet, Clockwork Pet, Red Cap Pet, Rikti Monkey Pet, and Robot Pet.

After 39 months of paid time, characters gain the “Ardent” badge, the “boxing set” of costume pieces, and a costume change token for all characters on the account.

“Fervent” is the badge awarded to those with 42 months of paid City of Villains of City of Heroes game time. 42-month veterans will also receive the “Assemble the Team” teleport power. “Assemble the Team” is similar to the “Recall Friend” power, but affects the whole team and has a 30 minute cooldown.

At 45 months, the “Eternal” badge is awarded. Players will also receive another free respec token for all hero and villain characters on the account.

Players who complete 48 full months of City of Heroes game time receive the “Battle Hardened” badge along with their choice of one of eight bonus-granting pets: The Light Fairy, the Dark Fairy, the Blue Wisp, the Red Wisp, the Shield Oscillatory, the Power Oscillator, the Shield Drone, and the Power Drone.

At 51 months, players receive the “Tried and True” badge. Characters will also unlock the ability to equip each of the helmets previously available only to those who pre-ordered City of Villains (the Red Wolfspider Helm, Wolfspider Helm, Mu Mystic Helm, and the Crab Spider Helm).

After 54 months, players receive the “Allegiant” badge along with the ability to choose any one of the 12- or 33-month prestige powers (“Sands of Mu,” “Ghostslaying Axe,” “Blackwand,” or “Nemesis Staff”) not previously chosen.

Veterans with 57 months of playtime receive the “Abiding” badge as well as a permanent 50% discount on all tailor sessions, a fantastic perk for those who frequently feel the urge to tweak their character’s appearance.

“City Traveler” is the badge awarded to those dedicated players who amass five full years of City of Heroes/City of Villains playtime. Players who reach this impressive milestone are rewarded with an additional character slot, 5 reward merits, and the option to access the Flight, Superspeed, Teleport, and Superleap power pools at level six without being forced to take a previous power in the pool, granting travel powers far earlier than they are awarded to non-veterans.

The Veteran Rewards system is an awesome way to both inspire City of Heroes players to keep their accounts active and to enable veterans to show off their status with in-game character upgrades. I can only hope that other games decide to adopt similar systems. The Rewards system is yet another example of what makes City of Heroes/City of Villains a truly unique experience in the world of MMOs.