A Beginners Guide to DC Universe Online
A Beginners Guide
Let me begin by saying this is not a walk-through and I will not be disclosing where hidden goodies are in the game. This article is meant to help people who have thought about downloading DC Universe Online (DCUO) but aren't sure what it's all about, or aren't sure where to begin.
DCUO is a free downloadable MMORPG for the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. I will caution you that if you haven't downloaded it yet and decide you want to play it can take quite a while for the first download. I believe on our PS4 with 200 mbps download capabilities it still took a few hours. Now, the game itself is free and comes with a couple character slots, and then if you want more you can purchase them. If you're just playing it yourself then what it comes with is plenty unless you want a lot of characters. We have 4 people on ours so we purchased the extra slots so now we have 7. They periodically come out with new powers that you can buy like the Green/Yellow Lantern powers, Earth powers and so on. There is also upgrades you can buy for your look like spiked wings, extra clothing options, etc... The game will also update periodically before you can load into it and as long as you open up the game and let it update even if you aren't going to play right then then it doesn't take long for that process.
Once you have it all downloaded and want to play you need to make a character. There are two different types of play you can choose from, Player vs Environment (PVE) or PLayer vs Player (PVP). PVE or, player versus environment, which means other characters can't just come up and beat you up like they can in PVP which is player versus player. Don't worry though if you choose one and decide you want to give the other one a shot all you have to do is go to your faction headquarters and find the phase shifter. There are two factions to choose from, you can choose heroes or villains, and a mentor. For the heroes you get Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman to choose from for mentors, and for villains you get The Joker, Lex Luther or Circe for mentors. There is also on screen instructions for what you get for each mentor. You can also choose your body type, personality type, what type of combat you have, and how you look. Once done with all of that then you get to pick your name. I recommend being creative so you have more of a chance of getting that name since there can't be more than one character with the same name. I have a little character who has Joker as her mentor named Miss Phit. If your name is accepted it will load you in to the starting area and you will then get instructions for the basic movements and combat in addition to starting with basic gear. Once you defeated your starting area you will be taken to one of the many safe-houses in the DC world and the real game play begins. From that moment you will receive various quests that you must complete.
When out questing you will pick up various things that you can use and equip. If you pick up a better piece of gear but don't like the way it looks don't worry. You can go into your menu and select the style tab and change your look into any of the discovered styles. The same can also be done with your weapon. Along the way you will also come across different colored halo-coins. Most quest areas which are highlighted on your mini map have at least one green, one blue, and a few random ones. If you're doing a sequence of quests that end with a boss you should have all but one when you reach the boss with the last one being there. Also, they have what is called escrow. If you have a basic account then you can have up to 1500 dollars before your money starts going into the escrow, a premium account which you have if you bought additional character slots can have up to 2000 dollars, and a legendary or paid account has no limit. You can't really access escrow without purchasing Escrow Withdrawals or upgrading to a legendary account. So plan your stops at vendors accordingly to avoid losing money to escrow. I repair my items first and then do the buy/sell thing. You can also buy things to store in your bank to resell late when you need money. You will lose some money since you don't sell back for nearly as much as you paid but at least you get it back and it isn't stuck in escrow.
Well, that's about all that can really be said. This was meant to show you the basic stuff or answer some questions that some people have. I would say that if you've thought about it but aren't sure go ahead and download it, give it a shot and decide. All you lose is a bit of time and the hassle of deleting it if you don't like it, and if you do then great have fun.
