Right now there are 13 different public City of Heroes servers available for people to play on being hosted by 9 different groups. Each group offers a slightly different experience with different rules and different content. Below you’ll see all the servers listed and what makes them stand out from the rest followed up with links and instructions on how to get onto each server. This will allow you to make an informed choice about which server you’d like to play on.
Homecoming
The Homecoming servers are by far the most populated of them all. When people are talking about the City of Heroes servers they’re typically talking about this group of five servers. Yes, Homecoming has five servers for you to pick from and 100,000 people are playing on them. The Homecoming servers are as follows:
Excelsior
Torchbearer
Everlasting (Unofficial RP Server)
Indomitable (PvP)
Reunion (EU)
They also have a beta server named Justin, but it isn’t recommended anyone play on a beta server full time as they are constantly being wiped.
Homecoming servers run what is being called Issue 25. That is to say that it is running everything you remember from sunset plus some additions that were made to the game after sunset. These changes were made to improve the quality of life for the game.
To get started on the Homecoming servers you will need to create an account on their forums.
After you’ve made an account on the forums you’ll need to create your game account which you can do by following this link.
At this point it’s time for you to download Tequila, this is the launcher that is used for Homecoming. Mac Users have their own launcher called Island Rum. Links to those can be found in the Dredd’s Guide to Loading City of Heroes which is on the Homecoming forums. I won’t link directly to them here because the links lead to .exe and .zip files and I wouldn’t want to cause a security concern. You can follow Dredd’s very easy to follow guide to get you the rest of the way.
Rebirth
Rebirth is a server based on what is being called Ouroboros’ Volume 2, Issue 1 code which is based on Issue 24. This means that the game is exactly as you remember it when it shut down, nothing new has been added. All former cash-shop exclusives are automatically granted but unlike on Homecoming, you will have to unlock some costume parts through play. They also don’t have double XP outside of special events, unlike the Homecoming server where you can get double XP at any time.
Rebirth can be found on their official website or on their Discord.
Just like with Homecoming, Rebirth runs off of Tequila though they also offer the option of CreamSoda. You can find links to both of these at the bottom of their official site.
Victory
The Victory server sets out to bring the people of the original Victory server home in one centralized location. Currently, there are 500 players on this server. There’s very little information on their website that explains what Issue the server is running or anything that might set them apart from the other servers. I will be reaching out to those in charge of Victory to find out more about it.
For now though what you need to know is that Victory can be found on their official site and just like the others it uses Tequila. Find the short guide on how to access Victory in their forums where it gives you the correct manifest for that server.
Pleiades
Pleiades is the server that was created by and for the City of Heroes Subreddit. It has 3,700 players and is quite similar to Reborn in that they are using Issue 24 not Issue 25.
The website for Pleiades is small to say the list. It offers a place to register your account and that’s about all. Though it does also say how many players are currently online.
Once you’ve made an account on their site you can download Tequila or Cream Soda, though not from the Pleiades site, you’ll have to use one of the other sites. Once you have it put in this manifest: http://www.cohreborn.com/manifest/pleiadesmanifest.xml
/COXG/
/COXG/ is the server that boasts no lag, no moderation, and few rules. They have previously been connected to 4chan by the public but these days they say that they have no connection to the controversial website. They have 3,200 accounts making them one of the larger servers outside of Homecoming. At the moment they operate with Issue 25 but they fully intend to revert back to Issue 24 at some point in the future.
To play on /COXG/ you will need to download Sweet Tea which you can get on their website, and make an account on the server’s official site.
Vigilance
Vigilance is a small French-language server being run by Titanscity.com. This small server has an estimated 50 or so players on it. At the moment they are working to translate City of Heroes into French as it only exists in English today.
It would appear that at this time there is no way to access the Vigilance server.
Asmodei
Asmodei is a small public server with a population of 58 accounts, little else is known about the server beyond that.
You can register for an account on Asmodei on their official site.
Unity
A small EU centered group with a 300 player cap. The server also features 4.5XP rates and random events. The server is running v2:i1 Ouroboros which was created by the Ouroboros Project.
To play on Unity you will need to download CreamSoda and register for an account on the official site.