Champions Online: Free-To-Play & Archetypes

I haven't played Champions Online in a while but I just came back recently and I like the changes made so far.  It looks like Champions Online has switched to the Free-To-Play model which is fine by me since I have a lifetime subscription anyway.  But the thing I really like so far is the Archetypes.  Although so far I have been mixing and matching powers, I like the Archetypes because it is a specific framework and I don't really have to mull around thinking which power I should select next.  And the two Archetypes I have chosen so far work pretty well.

The first Archetype I used is the Inferno.  I find fire and ice powers to be extremely uninteresting since they are always used in every superhero game.  But, I decided to give it a go anyway.  I called my character Flamer.  After 10 levels I find he's a pretty good character.  He's all about damage-per-second and not really about defense so he's kind of soft.  But, I noticed he got much better after I got the slotted passive Fiery Form.  Up until now, I've been a really big fan of Regeneration and it does well for a long time.  But I do notice at the higher levels the ability to heal yourself doesn't matter as much.  That's why I like the Archetypes.  It's helping me to get out of my Regeneration rut.

The second Archetype I used is called The Soldier.  I really love the Munitions power set and my best character to date is based on that power set.  But I never thought of using Target Computer from the Power Armor power set with Munitions.  I'm loving that!  So, these Archetypes are not simply going down a particular power set but it shows you how combining powers from different power sets really makes for a great character.

I leave you with this great screenshot from one of the new missions in the game.  I love how President Barack Obama's campaign poster and slogan made it into Champions Online: