The Shape of 1–50
Homecoming hands every character a free XP dial. The P2W vendor (now S.T.A.R.T.) offers Custom XP temp powers from Normal XP up to Double XP with zero influence — the single biggest leveling decision on the server, covered in its own section below.
The fundamentals are the original game’s, per Paragon Wiki: XP comes from defeating enemies and completing missions; when you earn enough, you gain a level, but new powers and enhancement slots only arrive when you visit a trainer. In a team, XP from a shared defeat is divided — by damage contribution between separate parties, and by level within a team, with a slight team bonus on top. The only XP penalty is debt: defeat accrues XP debt that halves your XP gains until worked off. Levels are also soft — the sidekick/exemplar system scales characters to a team leader’s level, so a level gap never locks you out of playing with friends; it only changes what your own powers are worth.
The Fast Start: Death From Below
The canonical first session on Homecoming is the Death From Below sewer trial. The wiki’s facts: it is open to heroes and villains at any level, takes a team of 4–8 queued through the LFG window’s Team-Up Teleporter, and exemplars you to level 2 on entry, rising section by section to a maximum of level 6 as your team clears each boss. A trainer stands at the start of every section precisely because, in the wiki’s words, it is “very common for a low level character to gain several levels from one run.”
The rewards match the purpose: experience point bonuses and Single Origin enhancements — real slotting power for a character who has earned almost no influence yet. Run it once or twice out of the tutorial and you start the ordinary game around level 8–10 with enhancements equipped, instead of scraping through the first contacts unslotted.
Homecoming’s XP Levers: Double XP & Patrol XP
The Custom XP temp powers from the P2W/S.T.A.R.T. vendor let you set your own rate — the wiki’s returning-player guide describes the range as from Normal XP and Normal Influence all the way to Double XP and No Influence, lasting up to eight hours of play, claimable at any time and cancellable by right-clicking the booster in the Powers window. There are no Double XP events on Homecoming because there is no need for them: the event is a menu option. The price is exact and worth understanding — at the top setting you earn double XP and zero influence, arriving at each level with nothing saved toward enhancements. Alts funded by a main (see the farming guide) take the double rate without thinking; a first character usually takes a middle setting or funds the gap on the market.
The second lever is Patrol XP: time logged off accrues a reserve that pays 50% bonus XP on defeats until consumed — the same mechanic that feeds the Experienced temp power’s charges. Patrol XP is why a rotated roster of alts levels faster per hour played than one character ground continuously.
The Middle Levels: Arcs, Radios & Task Forces
From the teens to 50, three content types carry the climb. Story arcs from contacts pay XP, mission bonuses and Reward Merits (and, per the farming guide, arcs never suffer diminishing returns, so they are never wasted XP). Radio missions (hero-side; newspaper missions for villains) are the solo filler — short, repeatable, always available in any zone of your level band. Task Forces are the team engine: the wiki’s returning-player guide states plainly that team play remains the fastest way to gain XP in mission arcs, and a Task Force is a full team running arc-length content back to back.
Difficulty settings are the fine control. Community guidance on the forums makes a leveling-specific point: while leveling, raise the team-size setting before the level setting — fighting even-level enemies in x8-sized spawns usually beats fighting +4 enemies in small spawns, because low-level characters lack the powers and enhancements to chew through +4 bosses quickly. Save +4/x8 for builds that are finished, or for the AE farms below.
AE Power-Leveling, Stated Plainly
The fastest raw XP on the server is being carried through Architect Entertainment farms: AE pays full XP for defeats (Homecoming wiki), so a level 50 farmer clearing dense +4/x8 custom maps generates team XP a low-level character simply soaks up by standing in the mission. This is the “PL” advertised in chat, and it works exactly as advertised — characters can go from creation to 50 in a small number of farm sessions.
The costs are the ones the farming guide lists, paid by the passenger: inside AE you earn Architect Tickets instead of normal drops and almost no badges, and you skip every story arc’s merit rewards on the way up. You arrive at 50 with levels but without the merits, recipes and market drops a played character accumulates — which is why the standard pattern is to power-level a farmer or an alt on an account that already has a funded main, and to play a first character at least partway honestly. The wiki also notes the developers have repeatedly adjusted AE rewards to curb exploits, so specific farm arcs come and go; the full-XP rule is the constant.
After 50: Incarnate Slots & Veteran Levels
At 50, two progression tracks open. The Incarnate system unlocks ability slots with Incarnate Experience (iXP), earned from defeats anywhere, from Incarnate Trials, and from Dark Astoria missions. The wiki’s iXP page gives the unlock order: Physical iXP unlocks the Alpha, Interface and Destiny slots; Psychic iXP unlocks Alpha, Judgement and Lore; once all five are open, Advanced Psychic iXP unlocks the sixth, Hybrid. The Alpha Slot itself now unlocks simply by defeating foes at level 50 — Mender Ramiel’s arc, the old unlock route, remains as the system’s story introduction. Threads convert directly at 1 thread = 50,000 iXP, so Incarnate progress never fully stalls between trials.
Alongside it, ordinary XP keeps counting as Veteran Levels. The wiki’s returning-player guide prices each Veteran Level at 5,608,000 XP and notes the rewards — Incarnate Threads and Empyrean Merits — run up to Veteran Level 99, with levels past that being bragging rights. Two quirks matter: XP boosters (vendor, Super Pack or temp power) do not accelerate Veteran Levels, but Patrol XP does — and disabling XP in the options pauses Veteran progress entirely for players who want to opt out of the rewards.
Buying Boosting & Accounts
There is no listed market to buy your way up: MMODude lists no sellers for Homecoming, by policy, on a free community server where the XP dial itself is free. A “power-leveling service” for this game means handing your account to a stranger to do what the Double XP setting and a DFB queue already do. The earning side of level 50 — funding the build you just unlocked — is in our influence and merits farming guide, and the server profile is on the City of Heroes: Homecoming page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fastest way to level in City of Heroes: Homecoming?
For a new character: Death From Below runs out of the tutorial (several levels per run, per the wiki), then team content — Task Forces — with the free Double XP setting on. In raw terms, being carried through AE farms is fastest of all, since AE pays full XP; it skips the merits and drops a played character earns.
What does Double XP cost on Homecoming?
Nothing — the Custom XP temp powers at the P2W (S.T.A.R.T.) vendor are free and last up to eight hours. The cost is inside the setting itself: at Double XP you earn no influence at all while it runs, so the character levels with an empty wallet unless another character funds it.
How do you unlock the Alpha Slot?
By defeating enemies at level 50, per the Homecoming wiki — the slot opens from ordinary level-50 play. Mender Ramiel’s story arc is the traditional introduction to the Incarnate system and is still worth running once, but it is no longer the unlock requirement.
What are Veteran Levels in City of Heroes?
A post-50 XP track: each Veteran Level takes 5,608,000 XP and pays Incarnate Threads and Empyrean Merits, with rewards running up to Veteran Level 99. XP boosters do not speed them up, but Patrol XP does — and turning XP off in the options pauses them.
Sources
Checked October 18, 2026. Game systems change with patches, so confirm numbers in game.
