***** Archangel (Classic) *****

Brigby

   Archangel (Classic)
Heroes, X-Men
5 Star Rarity (Epic)

"One of the founding five X-Men, Warren Worthington had his mutant gift of wings taken from him in a vicious attack. Awash in despair and desperation, Warren accepted an offer to restore his wings from a terrible source... Apocalypse!

Reborn as Apocalypse's Archangel of Death, Warren eventually broke free from his new master, keeping his deadly metal wings and rejoining the side of good."

Max Health: 53,629
89/705/75/4/3x/82/626/584/354

(All abilities are listed at base level) 
Angle of Attack - 11  AP
Angel dives and swoops, picking off his foes before they can get a bead on him. Deal 351 damage and stun the target for 1 turn. (PASSIVE) At the start of turn, deal 351 damage to any Airborne enemies and stun them for 1 turn.

• (Level 2) Deal 1,024 damage and stun the target for 1 turn. (PASSIVE) At the start of turn, deal 614 damage to any Airborne enemies and stun them for 1 turn.
• (Level 3) Deal 1,667 damage and stun the target for 1 turn. (PASSIVE) At the start of turn, deal 1,170 damage to any Airborne enemies and stun them for 1 turn.
• (Level 4) Deal 1,667 damage and stun the target for 1 turn. (PASSIVE) At the start of turn, deal 1,755 damage to any Airborne enemies and stun them for 1 turn.
• (Level 5) Deal 1,667 damage and stun the target for 2 turns. (PASSIVE) At the start of turn, deal 1,755 damage to any Airborne enemies and stun them for 1 turn.
• MAX LEVEL:
• (Level 3) Deal 6,702 damage and stun the target for 1 turn. (PASSIVE) At the start of turn, deal 4,703 damage to any Airborne enemies and stun them for 1 turn.
• (Level 4) Deal 6,702 damage and stun the target for 1 turn. (PASSIVE) At the start of turn, deal 7,055 damage to any Airborne enemies and stun them for 1 turn.
• (Level 5) Deal 6,702 damage and stun the target for 2 turns. (PASSIVE) At the start of turn, deal 7,055 damage to any Airborne enemies and stun them for 2 turn.

Enemy Down - 10  AP
Angel lets loose a flurry of cosmic flame feathers, paralyzing his enemies. Deals 2,604 damage and destroys 2 AP in 2 random enemy AP pools.

• (Level 2) Deals 3,131 damage and destroys 2 AP in 2 random enemy AP pools.
• (Level 3) Deals 3,657 damage and destroys 2 AP in 2 random enemy AP pools.
• (Level 4) Deals 3,657 damage and destroys 3 AP in 2 random enemy AP pools.
• (Level 5) Deals 3,657 damage and destroys 4 AP in 2 random enemy AP pools.
• MAX LEVEL:
• (Level 3) Deals 14,701 damage and destroys 2 AP in 2 random enemy AP pools.
• (Level 4) Deals 14,701 damage and destroys 3 AP in 2 random enemy AP pools.
• (Level 5) Deals 14,701 damage and destroys 4 AP in 2 random enemy AP pools.

Aerial Superiority - 7  AP
Angel soars overhead, isolated from his team, where he can control the flow of battle. Creates a 4-turn Countdown tile of a chosen color which deals 2,633 damage. While an Aerial Superiority tile is on the board, neither team may gain AP in its color.

• (Level 2) Creates a 4-turn Countdown tile of a chosen color which deals 3,218 damage.
• (Level 3) Creates 2 4-turn Countdown tiles of a chosen color which deal 1,785 damage.
• (Level 4) While an Aerial Superiority tile is on the board, the enemy team may not gain AP in its color.
• (Level 5) Creates 2 5-turn Countdown tiles of a chosen color which deals 1,989 damage.
• MAX LEVEL:
• (Level 3) Creates 2 4-turn Countdown tiles of a chosen color which deal 7,174 damage.
• (Level 4) While an Aerial Superiority tile is on the board, the enemy team may not gain AP in its color.
• (Level 5) Creates 2 5-turn Countdown tiles of a chosen color which deals 7,998 damage.

Check out Archangel's Marvel.com article here: Archangel (Classic)

What do you think is Archangel''s best build? Vote down below!

wymtime

4/4/5

@Brigby
thanks for getting this info up.  Can you let us know when you will add his numbers at 450??

thanks

Rick_OShay

People seem to be forgetting the menace that is Nightcrawler.
This guy sends himself airborne to avoid your teams' AoE damage ability. Now, with Archangel on your team to compliment your AoE ally, he will stun and damage Nightcrawler for being so annoying

fork1977

Can confirm that Archangel aerial superiority stops all AP gain for the color, including passives like Carol Danvers, Prof X, gambit, etc

wymtime

4/4/5

fahq1977 said:

Can confirm that Archangel aerial superiority stops all AP gain for the color, including passives like Carol Danveta, Prof X, gambit, etc

Can you confirm if black at level 5 stops both teams from generating AP or just the AI??

Thanks

fork1977

wymtime said:

fahq1977 said:

Can confirm that Archangel aerial superiority stops all AP gain for the color, including passives like Carol Danveta, Prof X, gambit, etc

Can you confirm if black at level 5 stops both teams from generating AP or just the AI??

Thanks

Just the AI

Rick_OShay

To make is easy for others reading this:

3* Angel: Black always blocks both teams from generating AP in chosen color (on matches, and active & passive abilities)

5* Archangel: Black at 5 covers only blocks enemy team from generating AP in chosen color (on matches, and active & passive abilities)

fight4thedream

5/4/4

Rick OShay said:

To make is easy for others reading this:

3* Angel: Black always blocks both teams from generating AP in chosen color (on matches, and active & passive abilities)

5* Archangel: Black at 5 covers only blocks enemy team from generating AP in chosen color (on matches, and active & passive abilities)

Actually with 5* Archangel you only need black at 4 covers to lock his block on only the enemy team. 

I personally think of Archangel as a support character, specifically for Gambit. It's one of the primary reasons I chose 5/4/4 as his best build. My experience has been that having the 2 turn stun is more valuable than having an extra turn on enemy AP blockage. 

Obviously with a Gambit & Archangel pairing, your top priority will be to get Red and Purple followed by black. With black, you have a lot greater control about which powers the enemy will be able to use. When fighting against a Gambit team, the key to using black is to keep an eye out on the enemy's purple AP count. If the enemy Gambit is close to using his purple power, it is better to wait for him to use it and then block his red. If not, block his purple and hopefully you can use your Gambit's purple soon, too.

Green and Blue are of secondary importance but with the randomness of Gambit's red AP collection you can often get enough AP to use them at least once if not twice depending on what kind of board you get. The blue is really helpful when dealing with Gambit/DD or Thor teams. After taking care of Gambit, whittle them down to 50% then stun them for 2 turns and you should hopefully have enough gas in the tank to finish them off before they become unstunned. 

Another thing to keep in mind with Arch's black is that the damage only occurs when the CDs resolve so having them out one less turn increases the likelihood of getting the bonus damage. And I say bonus because you are not using his black for the damage. Usually you will have one of them get matched away. If you are lucky you will get both to go off. 

But in the Age of Gambit, your primary focus with Arch is effective AP denial. Under most circumstances, Gambit or someone else should be your primary damage dealer. If you don't have Gambit, then it might be wiser to have black and green at 5 but it will still be a difficult fight. Of course, this advice is primarily for those fight at 5* tier in PvP. Not sure what to make of the 4* tier.

Edited to add: Kudos on the cover choice too! Classic!

Rick_OShay

I've been running Nova with Archangel since both have been boosted this week.  I was sure a developer stated that Rocket Man damage would Not take place once Archangel's passive side of his blue (Angle of Attack) grounds them, damages them, and stuns for 1 turn. 

Routinely though, I've been getting this Rocket Man damage after Archangel's passive damage and stun takes place on Airborne opponents.  

bigsmooth

5/4/4

Just noticed this today:

• Level 451 5* Archangel - for 11 blue AP, stun target for 2 turns and do 6,755 damage
  
• Level 144 2* Storm - for 11 blue AP, stun target for 4 turns and do 7,308 damage (3 x 2,436 AOE)

Archangel's blue comes with a mostly-useless passive, but, uh... yikes.

I do agree with most of @fight4thedream 's points above, though. Black is one of the few powers that can slow down Gambit, and any kind of stun (even though his is too expensive) is useful in the current meta. With a few damage tweaks and the ability to send someone airborne, I do think he could be pretty good.

Player1575

5/4/4

I know it doesn't make much of a difference in the age of Gambit, but does anyone else wonder why AA's black isn't fortified at 5 covers? It doesn't make any sense to me that his black isn't fortified when 4* land has Carol, C&D, and Mockingbird (and possibly others I don't remember) that get fortified countdowns.

Polares

3/5/5

Player1575 said:

I know it doesn't make much of a difference in the age of Gambit, but does anyone else wonder why AA's black isn't fortified at 5 covers? It doesn't make any sense to me that his black isn't fortified when 4* land has Carol, C&D, and Mockingbird (and possibly others I don't remember) that get fortified countdowns.

Because Devs dropped the ball considerably with him.

Then, about what you are asking, you are getting an extra countdown, so in a way, it is similar to making it fortified. I guess if you pair him with Hawkeye or GG, it is even better to have two different countdowns than just one, so I think that it is better in most cases to have two different countdowns that just one fortified (even though if you are specially unlucky, two countdowns can be matched in the same cascade and a fortified tiled is maybe a bit harder).

They really need to buff him ASAP, like next season, he is a joke as is. I have him cover maxed, and I dont want to waste 500k iso for a useless 5



I am surprised though to see people voting for 5/4/4 config. If you are bringing AA to a fight it is because of his black, and at 4 the chances of it lasting more than a turn is 0 (we all know it that it would be matched right away :P). His blue is really expensive, Strange or Hawkeye have much better blues. Green is decent, and as blue at 4 is the same than at 3, he is a clear 3/5/5 for me. Why 5/4/4? for an extra turn in the stun you are sacrificing an extra countdown and extra dmg in his black AND more AP destruction in green, I dont think an extra turn in the stun it is worth it (if blue was cheaper maybe, but not being his most expensive ability).

I hate though that the only increment in the blue from 3 to 4 is in the passive you will never use in 5 land as there are 0 airbone chars in 5 land, really dumb. Another reason for him to be buffed.

BlackBoltRocks

5/4/4

5 Blue because sometimes, that extra one turn of stun can make all the difference.

4 Black because that's the minimum number of covers you need to only prevent the enemy team from gaining AP. The extra countdown turn and damage is a foregoable (is that even a word) bonus, because you're unlikely to ever see the damage unless the tile is/tiles are Fortified. Its main purpose is to deny the opponent from gaining AP in that colour. In fact, the extra turn decreases the likelihood of the countdown lasting all the way to 0.

Thus Green defaults to 4, which is an acceptable compromise between 3 and 5 covers. Denying an extra AP in two colours rarely makes a significant difference; denying 3AP is good enough, as that is effectively one more match the opponent has to make. Oh, and it could very well reduce AP from colours the enemy has no use for, making that effect utterly useless.

The only time I'd run 3/5/5 is if I bring along a better Blue user like Strange. 5/4/4 is the general consensus because that's Archangel's best standalone build and/or best build in the majority of situations.

Polares

3/5/5

BlackBoltRocks said:

5 Blue because sometimes, that extra one turn of stun can make all the difference.

4 Black because that's the minimum number of covers you need to only prevent the enemy team from gaining AP. The extra countdown turn and damage is a foregoable (is that even a word) bonus, because you're unlikely to ever see the damage unless the tile is/tiles are Fortified. Its main purpose is to deny the opponent from gaining AP in that colour. In fact, the extra turn decreases the likelihood of the countdown lasting all the way to 0.

Thus Green defaults to 4, which is an acceptable compromise between 3 and 5 covers. Denying an extra AP in two colours rarely makes a significant difference; denying 3AP is good enough, as that is effectively one more match the opponent has to make. Oh, and it could very well reduce AP from colours the enemy has no use for, making that effect utterly useless.

The only time I'd run 3/5/5 is if I bring along a better Blue user like Strange. 5/4/4 is the general consensus because that's Archangel's best standalone build and/or best build in the majority of situations.

I could understand green at 4, but for that extra turn stun in a power that costs 11 you are sacrificing an extra countdown tile in a power that costs 7 and it is the reason you brought this guy to the fight.

No one is really going to bring AA to any fight, if you have alternatives, but if you really have to, black is the power you will priorize. I even doubt I would try to match blue in the first place, green or black or whatever other colors your other chars have are much more important, so wasting 5 covers in a power you will most probably not fire until very late in the fight is for me a bad decision. 5/4/4 is a very bad build for AA, as anything that it is not x/x/5 is a bad build for AA.

Polares

3/5/5

OJSP said:

Black at 3 covers already makes 2 CD tiles. 

You see, now it all makes sense!

Now forgive me I am going to go and hide in a corner.

atomzed

5/3/5

Just champ AA, and i have been playing him with Gambit-Thor. 

While he is low tier, he has his own use. As the third wheel, he does fit in well with GamThor. Thor passive will generate cascades and keep black & blue tiles on the board, so AA has a high chance of getting that 7 black. The black makes him much more tactical to use, and i enjoy that level of decision making.

I definitely would take 5 blue, because a 2 turn stun is important. 

Quebbster

He's not completely useless in the Royal Family node. Running him with GladiaThor and Chavez I found it very useful to negate any Purple so Medusa couldn't steal the Shields Thor made. The stun was useful too.

Still too expensive Powers to use regularly.

CCW1208

AA is not strong 5*. He is not 5* meta. But I believe more and more players would like to use him Why???
I know AA is weaker compared to other 5*. But for most players like me, we can’t cant build the dream 5* team: gambit Bolt strange. Bolt and strange are in classic tokens. You must have very good luck to collect them. Or you need to collect lots of medusa covers.
so the truth is that AA can help new 5* players to fight in simulator due to his color ( blue and black). AA is also useful for many 4* player in pvp to counter vulture. We need to admit there is really few players in 5* land even it is much easier to champion 5 stars.

Basically, I used DD Thor AA or Gambit Thor AA. Both team can win battles in pvp easily. The enemy team can’t fire more than three power before they are defeated. 

Straycat

I just want to say, with Vulture in these PVE nodes recently, I am glad there is a counter. AA will always have a spot in my heart, even tho I am hoarding to avoid him now.

bigsmooth

5/4/4

Still crossing my fingers for a buff, although it's starting to look unlikely. I only have three champed 5* so I was forced to use him a lot in the last week (for Gambit PVP and SHIELD Sim). I know I mentioned this above, but I still think the most absurd thing about his build is the cost of his blue. It's really out of whack in the context of other stun powers in the game. If his blue was 6 or 7 AP like it probably should be, people might actually want to use him.

sinnerjfl

His black is really good vs goons...   that's it.