As always, the game is in extremely early development (Pre-Alpha), so consider everything that you're seeing as far from a permanent state.

ArtCraft's Minimum Viable Power Approach

Another important note before we dive into this is the Crowfall team's vision when it comes to the testing and development of this wild new take on combat in a destructive environment. I'll patch in their explanation (as they cut it pretty cleanly):

"We have been building each archetype with what we think would be a ‘minimum viable power’ kit for that archetype to be useful and fun in combat. This means that the current list isn’t final, and some of the powers might even jump to other archetypes (or be cut entirely!) as we continue development."

"This is just our first iteration of the combat user interface (UI). As such, we are leaving ourselves room on the powers tray for the player to eventually slot additional combat powers (i.e. the ones that the player will acquire via disciplines, advantages or class promotions). We also assume there will be another non-combat related power bar when we start building those systems. "

"In other words, don’t freak out about the interface!"

"This first round of powers have been selected for a dual purpose: We wanted to use them as a trial set to prove that we can do something within our powers tool and the PhysX portion of Unity. Each power often had a set of new (and different) components that would be useful not only in the construction of that particular power, but that would also open up a new area of design discovery. The goal is to build reusable elements that we can repurpose in other powers."

Archetype Render

Resources Overview

This Archetype is the second revealed so far to utilize Rage as a resource, which should operate similarly to the Legionnaire (and thus be familiar to many). Staples of the rage mechanics so far:

• Rage is gained from primary attacks.
• Rage starts at zero.
• Rage decays out of combat.
• Factor reduction of 10 (don't even begin to ask me about the science involved).

The Champion Archetype, however, also uses a brand new  resource that hasn't been detailed before: Hatred. Hatred is a resource pool that will fuel the class's Warrior powers, and works very similarly to Rage:

• Hatred is gained from all damage dealt and damage taken.
• Hatred starts at zero.
• Hatred Decays out of combat.

The Champion in a Nutshell

Rage powers the majority of this Archetype's abilities, with Hatred powering position 5 on the hotbar.

As Crowfall's first revealed full-melee DPS-type Archetype, the Champion is also equipped with a Reverse Chain Pull as it's right click power - allowing it to close distance on enemies and stay viable in a fight. Future plans hope to allow this ability to also help you vault on top of walls.

Finally the Champion's ability set is full of mostly short-combos to keep this Archetype nimble and versatile in the throes of combat; featuring a couple distance-closing abilities and some potent close-quarters damage.

Passive Powers are also described in detail in the official announcement post on Crowfall's website, which you should definitely go check out for a wealth of additional details.

Blog Excerpt

Finally I'll leave you with an excerpt from the designers on the thought process that is being used for this particular Archetype:

"The Champion is our first archetype to fill in the pure melee, physical DPS role. He is also the archetype we envision to have the slowest attacks (because those weapons are so damn big!) As a function of him being a pure DPS role, he will share the same lack of defense capability as the Confessor."

"Let’s talk size. The Champion is BIG. (That’s right, with a capital B-I-G). We have his standard size scaled in a bit taller than the Knight, but he feels even bigger because he is so muscular and broad. Top that off with his two-stage Ultimate Warrior power that can temporarily boost him to giant size! To compensate for this size increase, we have reduced his default movement speed by 1m per sec. This makes him feel large, powerful and very deliberate in purpose as he moves to smash an enemy."

"All those aspects combined put the Champion in an odd place. We want him to inspire fear, but also be slower and less defensive (to balance out his raw power). He also suffers from having to generally stay in melee range for most of his attacks. We have come up with a basic power kit that addresses all these and makes him a very important feature of any team."