Meet... Shadowhawk!

Okay... so I'm not good at original superhero names.  I just like this name.  Using the Nighthawk costume choices, I made... Shadowhawk!

When I found out the Night Avenger archetype, I was very excited.  This sounded like an interesting way to play the game.  And it is.

I was a bit leery about the Night Avenger because, at its core, it is a melee character.  And you know that as much fun it is to play melee characters, ranged characters just rule.  But, the Night Avenger gives melee a slightly better name.

Although not everyone likes archetypes, I do.  I figure I don't want to spend my time figuring out the best of the best powers.  I want to play the game.  Archetypes help you to do that with minimal decision-making.

In the early levels, the Night Avenger is strictly melee and not all that fun or powerful.  It changes a little when you get Smoke Bomb Lunge.  It's an impressive animation and you could conceivably use it for every opponent in the group you're up against.

That all changes when you get Ricochet Throw.  Man, this is POWERFUL!  Since I took the route of going ranged, I'm all in with ranged.  You start getting other powers and advantages that give you ranged bonuses, and soon enough you're one-shotting groups of threes or fours.

Surely, melee suffers but that's not your bread and butter.  It's just a way to attack at close range.  You're really a RANGED character.

Sneaking up on your opponent is much better and you can even be cloaked.  I get bonuses for using my boomerang while cloaked.  Awesome.

I also put in the zen to get one of those Nighthawk jets.

I got the Nighthawk Interceptor.

I always thought there should be a way to use vehicles in this game.  And now you can.  I was thinking  that you could use this as your travel power and get another non-flying travel power.  And the Interceptor has OFFENSIVE WEAPONS!  Although it is weird to use this in certain indoor fighting, it's still pretty cool.

Altogether, the Night Avenger upgrade is the best in recent months.  It has made me want to play the game again.

Champions Online: The Fist

I am really digging the new archetype The Fist.  I've been waiting for a really good Kung-Fu style power set.  Unarmed was okay but it seemed a little awkward for a martial arts set.

The great thing with the Fist archetype is that you start off with a great offensive weapon.  Vicious Strikes is your energy builder.  Those familiar with the Unarmed power set will recognize that.

The real bad boy is One Hundred Hands.  It is a melee power with AoE damage.  It works great in groups.  And you get this power at level 1.  It feels similar to Eye of the Storm but without the defensive bonus.  And it has a pretty awesome animation.  Very Bruce Lee-like.

With the Double XP Weekend this is the perfect time to start a new character and get him or her leveled up fast.

Before the weekend is over, I also want to try The Master archetype.  This nicely rounds out the non-sword martial arts powers.

Champions Online: The Impulse

My new favorite archetype lately is The Impulse.  This archetype uses the Force power set.  I never got to experiment with this when I was making custom characters so this was a learning experience for me.

I created a character called Miss USA since this was around the time of Independence Day and when the Captain America movie came out.

I like the tech look so I went with that for my initial costume.

I have to say I LOVE this archetype.  It does pretty well offensively and I chose the force field powers to have a great defense.  Here's what I love about this archetype: