Select controller:Powers are active attacks or defenses that must be activated and cost Stamina to use. Every character has four Powers. Each Power is activated by pressing the Powers button (
) and a corresponding face button. A hero's first Power is mapped to 
; the second is mapped to 
; the third is mapped to 
; and, the fourth is mapped to 
. Every Power has 15 ranks; as a Power increases in rank, some enhancements are earned.
To increase a Power's rank, you must spend Power points. A hero earns 1 Power point each time her or she increases in level. There are also some bonus Power Pips on various maps that grant an additional Power point to the hero who collects it. All heroes begin with one rank in the first and second Power. The third Power is locked until 5th level. The fourth Power is locked until 10th level. Additional ranks in each Power are locked until the hero reaches a specific level. Since maximum level in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is 60, each hero can earn enough points to increase all four Powers to max (15th) rank.
Each hero defaults to having Autospend "On". Autospend allows the game's AI to assign Power points and Ability points to purchasing ranks every time they are available. The basic design of the AI is to keep every available Power and Ability balanced. If you wish to assign points yourself, you can turn Autospend "Off"; however, it will be turned back on if you ever remove the hero from your team. To re-assign points already spent by Autospend, press on the Powers/Abilities screen to remove points from one Power or Ability and then add them to another.