City Of Villains - Characters

[Detomah]

The heart of your alter ego!

Archetypes determine the nature of your powers, granting you access to a specific Primary Power Set. It is also the single most important choice you will make in your character creation. Each archetype has its own unique powers, abilities, and pros and cons; choose wisely, as this choice is permanent. Power Pools are powers that are accessible at Security Level 6, and ALL archetypes have access to them.

Character Types:

Brute
Hit Points: High
Damage: High
Role: Melee
Primary Powers: Melee
Secondary Powers: Defense

Brutes live to fight, and as a Brute, you revel in hand-to-hand combat. With strong offensive Power Sets to inflict pain and impressive defenses to take it, you're the best there is in a straight melee fight. Protracted battles only make you mad, and the madder you get, the more damaging your attacks become. You do lack ranged attacks, which could leave you vulnerable to hit-and-run tactics if you don't have allies to cover you.

Stalker
Hit Points: Low
Damage: High
Role: Melee
Primary Powers: Melee
Secondary Powers: Defense

The Stalker is a well-balanced offensive/defensive combination that serves as an ideal shock trooper that quickly deals massive amounts of damage. They aren't nearly as resilient as Brutes, but they are an excellent complement to them, as Stalkers can shred foes in little time due to their high DPS (damage per second) attacks. Stalkers are primarily melee-focused and do not deal in ranged attacks.

The Stalker is also fantastic as a solo player, as his balanced nature makes him capable of getting in and out quickly and effectively. The Stalker is also a very good beginner archetype. This archetype's first Secondary Power is the ability to hide. This allows them to strike from the shadows and greatly increases their ability to get an initial critical hit. It also allows them to sneak around enemies (of similar level range) undetected.

Mastermind
Hit Points: Low
Damage: Medium
Primary Powers: Summon Henchmen
Secondary Powers: Buff

The Mastermind is perhaps the most complex archetype to play, because much of his power originates from the various "pets"—called Henchmen—he can summon to his side, such as the living dead, a band of ninjas, or several mechanized monstrosities. This adds an extra layer of complexity, since you must simultaneously control your character and the minions he commands. This makes the Mastermind daunting, but it also makes it one of the more powerful archetypes in the game and makes it a one-man group.

The Mastermind archetype is played much differently than the others, which is primarily due to its ability to summon what are commonly known as “henchmen”. In the case of City of Villains, these henchmen come in one of four types:

Each type has its own strengths and weaknesses but, more importantly, is how these pets are controlled by the player. As you have to control both your character and the henchmen, you need to be aware of your surroundings at all times—a Mastermind without its henchmen is easy prey.

Dominator
Hit Points: Low
Damage: Medium
Role: Control
Primary Powers: Control
Secondary Powers: Assault

Wielding a vast array of devastating powers, Dominators are another fairly complex class. Their powers primarily consist of forcing a foe to bend to their will, whether it's forcing them to stay in one spot, rendering them unconscious, or other malicious attacks. Dominators are an interesting archetype in that they are fairly effective, solo, at lower levels. However, as they advance, you’ll find that they need to group more and more often due to the slightly more complimentary nature of their powers.

Corruptor
Hit Points: Low
Damage: High
Role: Ranged
Primary Powers: Ranged
Secondary Powers: Buff

The Corruptor is the primary ranged-attack class in the game. This means they get to stay at a distance and hurl various energy attacks at their unfortunate prey. They also have a wide range of buffs to enhance the abilities of teammates and, as such, are quite valued in groups. Corruptor’s aren’t the most physically imposing class, but they more than make up for it in raw damage output. Getting up close to enemies usually ends with the Corruptor taking a solid beating. Partnering with a good Brute, however, can work wonders for this archetype.

Character Origins
An Origin ultimately determines what types of enhancements your villain has access to. Origins do not impact your character's power levels or abilities. It just adds a bit of flavor to your character, since it determines what grants him the diabolical powers with which to wreak havoc upon an unsuspecting world.

Science
The villain received his powers through direct scientific inquiry or was perhaps subjected to a bath in toxic waste, solar radiation, or the sting of a not-quite normal insect. In any event, the villain only needs to know that the wonders of science had some hand in granting him his greater-than-human abilities.

Mutant
Mutants were born with their powers and manifested them at some point in their early lives (usually at birth or at puberty); however, some do not show signs of their special abilities until later. For many, the awakening of special powers is what drives them to a life of crime. After all, you are special and must therefore take what you wish from those less worthy.

Magic
Perhaps you once explored the depths of an ancient pyramid and escaped with a

magical ankh that granted you abilities beyond the ken of mortal men. Or maybe you spent much of your time pouring over the arcane scrawling contained in mystical tomes and consequently gained some modicum of control over supernatural forces.

Technology
Your abilities derive from all the wondrous toys you've cobbled together or "borrowed" from a benefactor. Thanks to these gadgets, you can manage all sorts of illicit activity while thumbing your nose at those less ingenious or less handy with a lock pick.

Natural
Unlike the other Origins, you do not derive your abilities from any sort of cosmic ray, magical object, or other esoteric means. No, you came by your powers the good old fashioned way: through hard work and determination—hard work and determination that you take out of the hides (and wallets) of others

Power Sets And Starting Powers

At this point, the real fun starts as you select a Primary Power Set (the number of sets varies according to archetype) and your first power. After that, you choose a

Secondary Power Set and a second power, which complements your first power. A Power Set is a group of nine related powers. You begin with the powers at the list's top and gain additional powers as you progress through the game. Your level in the game determines which powers you have access to. Therefore, you won't have access to the more complex ones till much later in your adventures.

Initially, you get to choose from the top two powers in the primary set and the top power in the secondary set. The Primary Power Set is the basis for all the powers you wield throughout the course of the game; this is the second most important choice you make when creating an alter ego (you can't access the other Power Sets after you accept one here, so choose wisely).

One important note: The powers you begin with at earlier levels do not become

useless as your character grows. In fact, they grow in power with you, and, with the addition of enhancements, they'll be useful throughout the entire crime spree.

Gender And Build

The next sequence in character creation involves selecting one of three body types: Female, Male, and Huge. These have no bearing on your play style or powers but add another layer of intrigue to your alter ego's personality.

After you choose a body type, use the various Build sliders to adjust your character's level of height and musculature (or lack thereof) via the various body styles: Slim, Average, Athletic, or Heavy; these body styles serve as presets that you can work from. Again, this has no impact on how your alter ego plays, so go with what looks best to you.

Selecting a Costume

To coordinate your costume easily, use the Copy Current Colors button. This makes your entire costume conform to the two colors currently selected. If you want to color each piece of your outfit differently, make sure this option isn't selected.

Now just work your way down, styling the head (choose from a wide variety of
hairstyles, masks, helmets, glasses, and more), the upper body (torso,
gloves, and belt), and the lower body (trunk and boots). The Costume
Design screen allows you to rotate the figure by clicking on the
curved arrows; you can also zoom in on your hero's head and torso
for a closer look. You can further define the head's shape on this
screen. After selecting a head type, you can use the Shape selector
to adjust head's shape. Fine-tune your chosen shape by selecting
the Scales button in the left column. This further defines the
features of your character's head. You can modify each
component of the head by using the sliders here. The left slider
adjusts the component's width, the middle slider adjusts the
height, and the right slider adjusts the depth.

You’ll gain all new Costume options in the form of Capes at level
20 and Auras at level 30. To secure these newer accoutrements,
you’ll need to visit Kalinda, who is your very first contact when
arriving on Mercy Island.

Choosing a Name

This is the final step before you enter the City of Villains. Select a suitable moniker and include any additional details you'd like the world to know about you. You can also enter a unique battle cry for those moments when you're feeling especially villainous.