Although some City of Villains archetypes may resemble City of Heroes archetypes (i.e. brutes and tanks) at first glance, the archetypes from the two games are very different. If you are not sure which archetype to choose for this super villain MMORPG, here are a few basic things to remember for each of the five archetypes.  

Stalker

Strengths:

1. Invisibility as pictured  (the blue outlines his invisible head) above in the screenshot. The poor guy has no clue what is about to hit him as an assassin strike is on the way.  
2. Allows some fun combinations like Ninja Blade/Ninjutsu.
3. Best CoV archetype in PvP.
4. Has defense for a secondary. 

Weaknesses:

1. Being invisible can be a pain on some missions.
2. Not great against large crowds.
3. Would have been nice to have one small ranged attack to go better with some themes. 

MasterMind

Strengths:

1. Minions act like your own personal army.
2. Can buff your minions.
3. Range weapons fit the class well.   
4. Possibly the best PvE class.
5. Some secondary power sets allow you to heal yourself and your pets in combat.
6. A fun archetype to play. 

Weaknesses:

1. Possibly the worst in PvP due primarily to other players targeting the mastermind instead of the pets. Unlike NPCs, players know exactly who to attack first. Kill the mastermind and you no longer have to worry about his/her pets.
2. Too dependant on minions for offense.
3. Minions can attack mobs when you least want them to unless you keep a tight command on them.
4. No real defense.

Dominator

Strengths:

1. Has pets at higher levels.
2. Can dish out offense that is harder to defend than most like mind (screenshot) and gravity powers. 
3. Has some scrapper and blaster aspects.
4. The best archetype for controlling a mob.

Weaknesses:

1. Does not have control over pets the way that masterminds do. 
2. One of the harder archetypes to play.
3. Not a good damage dealer.

Corruptor

Strengths:

1. Special ability called Scourge allows for critical strikes when opponents' health are below 20%.
2. Ranged attack.
3. Can heal yourself.
4. Area of Effect (AoE) powers like the one shown in the screenshot. 

Weaknesses:

1. Do not have great damage.
2. Not great group healers.
3. Hard to solo with unless you pick the right primary and secondary power sets.

Brute

Strengths:

1. More offensive than tanks and can take more punishment than stalkers.
2. Fun just to smash things and watch them go flying (see screenshot).
3. Uses rage to increase attacking power.
4. Possibly the second best CoV archetypes in PvP.
5. One of the easier archetypes to play if you just want to smash things. 

Weaknesses:

1. Do not have a strong defense like a tank. 
2. Needs to keep fighting constantly to build up rage.
3. Can't hold mobs on a consistent basis since not a tank.