Champions Online Article and Media Round-up

It’s been awhile since we rounded up the recent flurry of activity surrounding Champions Online, so that’s where we’re headed next.

Starting on the official website, we have details on the electricity, fire, ice, force, gadgeteering, sorcery power sets, as well as some new screenshots and a new “melee” trailer. Then there’s a profile of the hero Celestar…

He became a superhero in the early 1960s, when, as a young physics grad student in Canada, named Lonnie Lawrence, he came face to face with the Land, greatest of all the spirits of the North. Sensing in him dormant mutant powers, the Spirit of the Land offered to awaken his powers if he would battle the ancient evil of Kigatilik.

Lonnie agreed without bothering to think twice. Of course he wanted to be a superhero and do great deeds! Of course he wanted to travel the world, saving lives. It was all much more exciting that studying for quals.

The Land woke in him the power of the Stars. His dormant energy powers flared into being all around him. He could emit bursts of cosmic rays, or teleport himself faster than light, and withstand almost any type of damage.

…a new state of the game article…

Heroes enter into the research and development in one of the three crafting schools by talking to a trainer. After this, they also now choose which of three specializations within that field they want to pursue. There are different items available to craft within each specialization, and even some of the items that are similar across specialization may have different visual effects that players can choose to display.

A hero can change specializations at any time. To change specializations within a school, simply talks to the trainer and choose to switch to the new specialization. Be forewarned that there is a cost, however. All accumulated skill points will be lost when switching to a different school OR a different specialization within the same school. The skill point cap will also be set back to 100 in both cases. And don’t worry, blueprints are not be lost as a result of changing schools or specializations. They can, however, become temporarily unusable if your skill points are too low. Also, you can only buy blueprints that are in your field of specialization.

…and pricing details:

Retail Pricing:
$49.99 USD, $54.99 CAN, €49.99 EUR, and £29.99 GBP

Regular Monthly Subscription:
$14.99 USD, $16.49 CAN, €12.99 EUR, and £8.99 GBP

We are also offering two exclusive subscription packages, available only until September 1st.

6-Month Discounted Subscriptions:
Price: $59.99 USD, $65.99 CAN, €44.99 EUR, and £35.99 GBP
‘¢ Saves $29.95 USD (33% off!) over regular monthly subscription!
‘¢ Retro Future costume set
‘¢ Access to the Star Trek Online Closed Beta, beginning later this year!

Lifetime Subscriptions:
Price: $199.99 USD, $219.99 CAN, €147.99 EUR, and £119.99 GBP
‘¢ Access to the Star Trek Online Closed Beta, beginning later this year!
‘¢ Exclusive Art Deco costume set, available only to lifetime subscribers
‘¢ Retro Future costume set
‘¢ Unique Mirror Universe outfit for Star Trek Online, available at the game’s release
‘¢ Exclusive in-game Foxbat action figure, available only to lifetime subscribers
‘¢ Eight additional character slots!

Then we move to the Associated Press for a preview:

Beyond battling hordes of smaller foes, “Champions” players will be tasked with taking down big villains such as Dr. Destroyer’s behemoth Destroid robots and Qwyjibo, a giant gorilla with flaming fists and fiery breath. Roper said the hairy beast organically spawns in the game’s Monster Island enclave and can only be taken down with a team of other superheroes.

Players who reach level 20 will learn their character has his or her very own archenemies. Roper said players can try to stop their adversary solo or invite other players to assist in throwing him in The Stronghold, a supervillain prison located in the game’s virtual desert. At level 25, they build their nemesis – just like their superhero – from scratch.

And wrap things up at VideoGamer with another preview:

As a Might hero, my two starting super powers were (Clobber) and (Beatdown). By targeting an enemy and clicking the tooltip for Clobber or tapping the associated hotkey, my character simply does the action, doing damage. But the main purpose of this first power is to generate energy. Energy is used for the more powerful, er, powers. In my case, this was Beatdown. It hits a single target with one strong punch, doing good damage.

This premise is the foundation of Champions Online’s simple but engaging combat system. You’ll be doing some powers to generate energy so that you can do others. Layered on top of this is an interesting charge system. Some powers, like the (Mighty Leap), require you to hold down the hotkey, triggering the filling up of a meter. It’s up to you when to release, sending your character leaping after an enemy and stunning them for a short time.