The DCUO Ladder

What a player can do and cannot do in DC Universe Online is determined by his or her level and in the following to a huge part by his or her combat rating (CR).

The DCUO Ladder is an attempt to provide an overview.

The DCUO Ladder

Level	CR	Instances	Gear	Miscellaneous
3	n/a		New gear at safehouse vendors	Introductory races unlock
4	n/a	Exploration missions start
5	n/a	Legends PvP
6	n/a	Legends PvP: 5 vs 5		Invitation into The Vault Rookie races unlock Investigations are introduced
8	n/a	Legends PvP: 4 vs 4		Research and Development
9	n/a		New gear at safehouse vendors	Movement skill tree unlocks Invitation into the faction HQ (Watchtower or Hall of Doom)
10	n/a	Alert: Area 51 Arena PvP: Capture and Hold		Player's chosen role unlocks All Weapon Style skill trees unlock Iconic Powers unlock Lair System
12	n/a	World PvP missions start Legends PvP: 2 vs 2
13	n/a	Alert: Gorilla Island
14	n/a		New gear at safehouse vendors
15	n/a	Alert: H.I.V.E. Moon Base Arena PvP: Capture the Flag		Adept races unlock
19	n/a	Alert: Oolong Island	New gear at safehouse vendors
20	n/a	Arena PvP: King of the Hill Artifacts mission		Expert races unlock
22	n/a			Innate Iconic Powers unlock
23	n/a	Alert: Bludhaven
24	n/a		New gear at safehouse vendors
25	n/a			Master races unlock
28	n/a		New gear at safehouse vendors
30	n/a	Tier 1 Challenges Tier 1 Duos Tier 1 Alerts Bounties	New gear at safehouse and HQ vendors Tier 1 PvE Battle Suits
30	34	Alert: Smallville
30	40	Tier 2 Novice Raids	Tier 1.5 PvE Battle Suits
30	43	Tier 2 Challenges Tier 2 Duos Tier 2 Alerts Tier 2 Raids	Tier 2 PvE Battle Suits	Fight for the Light required mission level The Battle for Earth required mission level
30	50	Tier 3 Novice Raids
30	53	Tier 3 Challenges Tier 3 Duos Tier 3 Alerts Tier 3 Raids	SPARC weapons at Central City vendors Tier 2.5 PvE Battle Suits at Central City vendors Tier 3 PvE Battle Suits	Lightning Strikes required mission level Access to Central City
30	68		SPARC weapons Mk II at Central City vendors
30	70	Tier 4 Alerts (including the Batcave: Inner Sanctum alert, the highest combat rating free-to-play instance) Tier 4 Raids Hand of Fate Operations	Tier 4 PvE Battle Suits (highest level equipment a free player can obtain)	Hand of Fate required mission level Home Turf required mission level
30	80	Tier 5 Simulations		Origin Crisis required mission level
30	84	Tier 5 Duos Origin Crisis Operations	Tier 5 PvE Battle Suits	Sons of Trigon required mission level War of the Light Part I required mission level
30	85	War of the Light Part I 8 player Operation
30	86	Tier 5 Alerts Tier 5 Raids
30	99	Tier 6 Simulations		Amazon Fury Part I required mission level
30	100	Tier 6 Duos Tier 6 Alerts Tier 6 Raids Tier 6 Operations	Tier 6 PvE Battle Suits	Halls of Power Part I required mission level Gotham Under Siege
30	105	Tier 6.5 Duos
30	106	Tier 6.5 Alerts Tier 6.5 Operations	Tier 6.5 PvE Battle Suits	War of the Light Part II required mission level Amazon Fury Part II required mission level
30	107	War of the Light Part II 8 player Operation Amazon Fury Part II Raid
30	111	Tier 7 Duos Tier 7 Raid Tier 7 Operations	Tier 7 PvE Battle Suits	Halls of Power Part II required mission level Access to New Genesis
30	113	Tier 7.5 Duo Tier 7.5 Alert Tier 7.5 Operation	Tier 7.5 PvE Battle Suits Introduction of Elite gear (episode 16)	Episode 15 required mission level Episode 16 required mission level Episode 17 required mission level Affinity Generator Mods become available
30	131			Episode 18 required mission level
30	134			Episode 19 required mission level
30	138			Episode 20 required mission level
30	142			Episode 21 required mission level
30	146			Episode 22 required mission level
30	150			Episode 23 required mission level
30	154	Tier 8		Episode 24 required mission level
30	158			Episode 25 required mission level
30	162			Episode 26 required mission level
30	166		Introduction of artifact level gear	Amazon Fury Part III required mission level
30	186			Age of Justice required mission level
30	197			Riddled with Crime required mission level
30	207			Earth 3 episode required mission level

Notes

• Missions until level 30 often work with a recommended level, but can appear in the player's journal earlier. That means the assigned level is not really a requirement.
• The PvP Combat Rating is outside the scope of this ladder since it works pretty much independently from level and CR. Theoretically a player can reach the highest PvP CR - currently 101 - with level 30 and a CR of 30.