 The Paragon Wiki Archive documents the state of City of Heroes/Villains as it existed on December 1, 2012.
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Task Force
Overview
A Task Force is a large-scale story arc in City of Heroes. Task forces are equivalent to Strike Forces in City of Villains.
Task forces are similar to Story Arcs in that they are a set of missions that tell a story. Task forces are started by talking to a task force contact, which is typically a signature hero. Unlike story arcs, task force contacts cannot be outleveled. Task forces can be started at any time, provided a team meets the task force's requirements, and characters may run them more than once.
Restrictions
Each task force has a minimum level requirement and a minimum team size requirement that must be met before the task force can be started. Each task force also has a maximum level associated with it; team members who exceed the maximum automatically exemplar down.
While running a task force, none of the team's other missions are available to them, and normal contacts won't interact with the player. This means that most stores are unavailable; however, Arena stores, Pocket D, Wentworth's, and Ouroboros are still accessible to purchase (often much needed) inspirations. Once the task force has formed, you must continue to run the task force until you finish it or drop from it. Task force missions can be run over several play sessions; the game allows you to log out without dropping from the task force.
As of 2008-03-05 task forces will always spawn according to the number of members associated with the team, no matter if they are online or not. If 4 people start the Synapse Task Force, and one logs out, the groups will still spawn as if there were 4 people on the team. If the person instead quits the task force, then the spawns will scale for 3 people.
Task Forces by Level
Enemy mobs and bosses will spawn based on a 'signature' task force's maximum level (and the leader's notoriety setting) regardless of the team's composition. Therefore task forces are usually done by characters at (or above) the top of the level range.
A non-signature task force spawns according to the highest level person on the team. These include: Moonfire, Hess, Imperious and all four of the Shadow Shard task forces.
In the table below, signature Task Forces are in bold, while non-signature Task Forces are in italics.
| Task Force Name | Contact | Min Size |
Level Range | Merits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Rule of the Three | Positron | 3 | 10 to 15 | 55 | Considered one of the longest TFs in the game, and one of the hardest due to lack of powers. |
| The Fall of the Clockwork King | Synapse | 4 | 15 to 20 | 45 | |
| Clamor and Destruction | Sister Psyche | 5 | 20 to 25 | 40 | |
| The Kheldian War | Moonfire | 6 | 23 to 28 | 25 | Takes place in Striga Isle. |
| Citadel's Children | Citadel | 6 | 25 to 30 | 30 | |
| The MegaMech Cometh | Ernesto Hess | 6 | 25 to 30 | 15 | Takes place in Striga Isle. |
| Smoke and Mirrors | Twilight's Son | 1 | 25 to 34 | 4 | Takes place in Ouroboros. |
| A Tangled Plot | Katie Hannon | 6 | 30 to 34 | 7 | Takes place in Croatoa, considered the fastest TF within the game. |
| Following Countess Crey | Manticore | 7 | 30 to 35 | 25 | |
| The 5th Column Overthrow | Mender Lazarus | 1 | 30 to 39 | 6 | Takes place in Ouroboros. |
| Soul of the Woodsman | Numina | 4 | 35 to 40 | 27 | Large portion of TF is hunting for enemy groups in different zones. |
| Time's Arrow | Imperious | 6 | 35 to 50 | 25 | Takes place in Cimerora. A player leaving the zone will auto-quit from the TF.  
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| Explorers and Exploiters | Dr. Quaterfield | 8 | 40 to 44 | 90 | Majority of TF takes place in the Shadow Shard. Considered one of the Longest TFs in the game. |
| The Legend of Ruladak | Sara Moore | 8 | 40 to 50 | 50 | Majority of TF takes place in the Shadow Shard. |
| The Saga of Faathim | Justin Augustine | 8 | 44 to 50 | 35 | Majority of TF takes place in the Shadow Shard. |
| The Saga of Lanaru | Faathim the Kind | 8 | 44 to 50 | 55 | Majority of TF takes place in the Shadow Shard. |
| Statesman's Task Force | Statesman | 8 | 45 to 50 | 30 | Reward table choice includes random Synthetic Hamidon Enhancement, considered to be the hardest TF in the game. |
| The Lady Grey Task Force | The Lady Grey | 8 | 45 to 50 | 30 | Takes place in Rikti War Zone. A player leaving the zone will auto-quit from the TF.
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| Trading Places | Mender Silos | 1 | 46 to 50 | 7 | Takes place in Ouroboros. |
Task Forces no longer available:
| Phased Out TFs | Contact | Min Size |
Level Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Mind in Danger | Calvin Scott | n/a | 30 to 35 | Category:Historical |
Rewards
Hardcore Badges
Complete the hardest Task Force in the game without Temporary Powers (including Veteran Rewards) and without any deaths.
Completion of the Statesman Task Force with the above requirements will reward the team members with Master of Statesman's Task Force Badge.
Merit Rewards
As of Issue 13, rewards from Task Force consist of Merit Rewards, which can be turned in for recipes, enhancements, salvage, badges, and more.
Each Task Force has a different reward amount assigned to it, based on datamined time required to complete it.
Merit Rewards are subjected to diminishing returns for repeatedly completing the same Task Force in a 24 hour period. Completing multiple different Task Forces in the same 24 hour period will not subject each subsequent different Task Force to diminishing returns.
Changes
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This section contains information that no longer applies to the current version of City of Heroes Freedom. It is provided for historical purposes. |
Previous Rewards
Unlike Story Arcs, every team member received a completion reward at the end of a Task Force, not just the leader. Major Task Forces (i.e. not Ouroboros) offered the option for a Pool C Recipe drop, or the option to pick a standard Single Origin enhancement (out of Accuracy, Damage, Endurance, Recharge, and Range) instead.
The team leader Notoriety level setting affected enemy spawns according to specific criteria. It also affected the completion reward at the end, with a same-level rare recipe (if chosen) on Heroic, +1 level on Rugged, and +2 level on Invincible. This obviously did not apply if the character's true level was 49 (for the +2 level recipes) or 50 (for the +1 or +2 level recipes), as recipes above level 50 do not exist.
3 Hour Recipe Timer
After claiming a recipe reward from a Task Force, a player cannot receive another recipe from Task Forces for the next 3 hours. Players can still receive other rewards from it, or earn recipes from Trials. Or, you can wait out the timer, e.g. by leaving the reward window up while you play or logging out and logging in back later.
