I am interested in playing again, but without a freeform slot it seems more or less pointless. I would love to get back into this game again, but the price is just too high;(I would even start paying a monthly sub if it gave me access to freeform slots, the lifetime sub option is also just far too high.

From Champions Wiki

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• 1Overview

Overview

Frameworks

The categories powers fall into are called Frameworks. However, they are not 'classes' in the traditional sense. Players are not limited to one power Framework. Instead, frameworks use a tier system in which you must have a certain number of powers unlocked to access the next level of abilities. Energy builders count towards the number of powers that have been selected and count as 'free' when considering the number of powers you have available.

All characters must choose an Energy Builder, and the power selection is restricted by 'tiers.' In order to pick a power, you must meet the prerequisites for its tier, which is either a number of powers from that power framework or a number of non-energy-building powers from any set. As such, by level 14 any power in a set can be chosen if the player stays within that set, by level 23 any power in the game can be chosen by a player. The only exception are Ultimate powers which have a level requirement of 35.

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Tiers

• Tier 0 powers are freely available at character generation.
  
• Tier 1 powers require 1 power from that set, or 2 from any set.
  
• Tier 2 powers require 3 powers from that set, or 4 from any set.
  
• Tier 3 powers require 5 powers from that set, or 6 from any set.
  

Travel Powers do not count towards power requirements

Power Documentation Criteria

All values provided for powers listed in the Champions Online Wiki are derived from testing with the following conditions:

• Level 40
• Hybrid Role
• 5 stars
• No gear
• No talents
• No super stats (5 in every stat)
• No specializations.
• 0 Offense Value
• 0 Defense Value

Power Set Table

There are currently five power categories: Energy Projector, Gadeteering, Martial Arts, Mentalist, Brick, and Mystic. Within each category are Frameworks. Powers that share frameworks usually interact with each other in some way, however some powers syngerize across frameworks!

The following table is a list of all categories and the power frameworks within them.

See Also:
A complete list of all powers
A list of all Travel Powers