Strength vs Steel: Champions Online Introduces Steel Crusade Update

Pull out your spandex, after a noticeably lengthy period without a major content update, the superhero-filled cities of Champions Online are once again under a new form of peril, thanks to the deeds of one mechanical supervillain named Mechanon. Introduced in the Steel Crusade update, Mechanon has a penchant for causing the citizens of Champions Online to spontaneously combust, which isn't something that's particularly enjoyable, at least for the citizens.

To stop him players are being sent to space, where they'll need to destroy Mechanon and his nanovirus facility to curb an impending attack on the entire world. To help battle Mechanon, Cryptic recently introduced the new Reawakened Automaton archetype, which is only available to players who've reached level 40 on another character.

New powers with names like 'Rocket Punch', 'Gauntlet Chainsaw', and 'Orbital Cannon' will only be available to Automaton players, which means players looking to mix-and-match these new abilities using their freeform characters won't be able to do so, at least for now.

Overall, the Steel Crusade update strings players along a lengthy mission chain while serving up three new instances to tackle. Later on in the chain as players take the fight to Mechanon in space, they'll gain access to the new Gateway space station, which will serve as a new hub area for current and future missions also in space.