Back in February, I revived Working As Intended to run a flurry of City of Heroes articles on the heels of Homecoming’s formal license, specifically homing in on the spectacular player-designed portal hubs and mega bases in the game – and mods and popmenus to make the best use of them. The bases in particular caught my attention because they’re dramatically improved over the bases on live, and their accessibility for brand-new players means they’re basically a free construction sandbox sure to please creator types hungry for building platforms in MMOs that their fellow players can actually access and use for utility and entertainment.
In my last piece, I showcased 10 gorgeous player-made bases I’d toured and fallen in love with out of the hundreds I’ve poked through, and now I’m making good on my tease for 10 more. And once again, I’ll show you how to go see them yourself!
SALAMANCA-18770 (Everlasting, Designer: @Hobo Master)
I am not at all sure what the purpose of this base is other than to provide epic gothic atmosphere, and so it’s the perfect base to begin this list. I’m sure I’m biased here since the skybox and lanterns are straight outta Night Ward, one of my all-time favorite zones, but the creepy corners, loiterers clustered in dank alleys, and largely abandoned streets made me jumpy as I wandered around. In a good way!
PSHOPPING-13668 (Everlasting, Designer: @twentysix)
The Paragon Galleria was one of the first few builds I explored at the top of the year, and it was while wandering its maze of mall hallways, that I first realized I had to do an article to show people what City of Heroes is capable of. Each one of the shops is both a work of art and a dry joke, and I genuinely laughed out loud at some of the storefronts. I mean, come on. Beefcake Factory. Florist Clump.
GHOST-1471 (Everlasting, Designer: @Squidget)
Squidget’s pagoda resort is one of those breathtaking builds that’s so massive it’s hard to capture in a couple of pics. I highly advise bringing a character with flight so you can fly way far away from the build to see its multiple layers – including some I couldn’t figure out how to get to without flight – in all their glory. I like to imagine this is where the Tsoo bosses come for karaoke night. You gotta love the Japanese theme and especially the custom lanterns!
PIRATE-16369 (Everlasting, Designer: @CptCoggs)
The Hidden Isle is a true hidden gem of a base and really needs to be seen in person as my screenshots can’t possibly do it justice. It’s a cluster of buildings and hidey-holes strung along an archipelago of mini-islands and moored ships, which is clever all unto itself as that’s not a theme CoH often explores. But the insane amount of detail that went into each little vignette of shops and meeting areas and treasure pits truly impressed me. And don’t miss the nod to The Goonies-esque secret skull cave!
VICE-7008 (Everlasting, Designer: @Tempermental and @Irreverent, owned by @Catbird)
In my opinion, City of Heroes is frequently lacking in realistic, gritty zones between the airbrushed glimmer of Praetoria and Paragon and the true crime horror of the Rogue Isles. Vice City fills that gap, with the stunning Afterhours club as its centerpiece. But personally, I just adore the setting: glowing high-rises set against low-lying corner shops, grimy motels, and seedy docks.
GO-28888 (Everlasting, Designer: @Garbage Wizard)
In the comments of my last roundup, multiple City of Heroes fans suggested I tour this place next, given my expressed love for subway and train stations, and they were not wrong! Go is a stunning train hub a la Grand Central Station, with gobs of details, gently wafting snow, and yes, teleporters inside the train cars. Pretty and functional!
ELBAR-1404 (Everlasting, Designer: @FargothUr)
Snide’s Club for the Criminally Cool – yes, it’s really called that – caught my attention not because it’s particularly massive or detailed but because it absolutely committed to the bit. It consists of a small, run-down city street and a single dive bar bathed in creepy red lights and smothered in anarchist slogans. Poor Statesman.
SANCTUM-2764 (Everlasting, Designer: @Coyotedancer)
You ever been to Loegland in Eryn Lasgalen in Lord of the Rings Online? I’d bet my three-digit Everlasting SG base that the designer of Sanctum appreciates the floating elven pavilions on the Long Lake as much as I do: This whole build is an intricate array of greenery-bedecked bridges and canopies tucking away sleeping chambers and reading nooks, all on top of a gentle lake. It’s not particularly useful, but I don’t care.
STORMCAGE-3512 (Everlasting, Designer: @Zoe Clement)
Stormcage is a bonkers nightclub, one of multiple roleplay hotspots all tied together with branding and advertising. This place is right up my alley, with multiple hot tubs! But there are also plenty of secluded areas, bars, a hilarious pillow fort, a movie theater, and even a comedy club set up in homage to SNL’s old Jeopardy bit. This would be an amazing place for a sprawling party, and the lighting is phenomenal.
SIMULACRUM-6940 (Everlasting, Designer: @Veracor)
I can’t even pretend to understand this base; it’s spectacularly massive, with winding staircases that go up and up into endlessly weird and orreries and clocktowers and libraries. It stands more as an art piece than a structure in my mind, but really it’s both. It’s so big I’ve been back three times and missed parts; there’s apparently an underground labyrinth I’ve never seen. Guess I’ll be going back a fourth time!
RAINYCABIN-19103 (Everlasting, Designer: @Paragon Defender)
OK, so I’m cheating; this is actually #11 on a top-10 list, but I really want to include it! Rainy Cabin is a sister to Starry Cabin, which I toured last round and personally like better, but this one has some clever bits too. The mod glass house in the woods would be amazing in real life, and you absolutely need to turn your sound up to appreciate it. Pro tip: It was only on my return trip to this base for screenshots and filming that I realized it has a secret basement hot tub.
As I noted last time, any brand-new level 1 character can visit these bases in person to see much more than my screenshots. Just log into the appropriate Homecoming server, march up to a Base Portal anywhere in-game (there’s one next to City Hall in Atlas Park), and type /enterbasefrompasscode X where X is the passcode for each of these bases (like GO-28888 is the whole passcode), or just click on a Base Portal and manually type in the passcode in the prompt.
Even more conveniently, you can download and use my popmenu for all 11 of these bases; I’ve updated the previous download to include these 11 plus the 10 from the earlier article (the old one with the original 10 is still here). As detailed in the macros and popmenu guide, you’ll drop the .mnu file into Homecoming\data\texts\English\menus, then fire up the game and type into chat /macroimage BA_Super_Patriot BaseTour popmenu BreeBaseTour to create the macro you can use. Just remember, you’ll need to be on the right server, you can type /stuck to start over, and you can port into the next base from inside a base (so you don’t need to exit and come back).
Finally, it just so happens that while I was snapping pics for this article, I filmed my travels through these 11 bases and a few more that might make it into the next one, to generate footage for Chris and MJ to use on their weekly Backseat Streaming shows on OPTV on Twitch. So if you’re looking for a video skim-through of these locations and want to hear their reactions to my meanderings, then this video is for you!
Much love to the base designers who opened their creations to the public – and the devs who made it all possible!
Into the Super-Verse: What to pick for your Incarnate powers in City of Heroes
Into the Super-Verse: How to get started with Incarnates in City of Heroes
Into the Super-Verse: Tips for building your character in City of Heroes
Working As Intended: 10 more City of Heroes Homecoming base builds you need to see
Working As Intended: 10 City of Heroes Homecoming base builds you need to see
Working As Intended: A guide to City of Heroes Homecoming’s best player-crafted portal bases
Working As Intended: City of Heroes macros and popmenus for noobs
Working As Intended: Yes, you can make money as a newbie in City of Heroes
Into the Super-Verse: Gearing up as a newcomer to City of Heroes Homecoming
Working As Intended: How to mod City of Heroes Homecoming the easy way
The MMORPG genre might be “working as intended,” but it can be so much more. Join Massively Overpowered Editor-in-Chief Bree Royce in her Working As Intended column for editorials about and meanderings through MMO design, ancient history, and wishful thinking. Armchair not included.
