Year 7: Swords of Injustice Season 1

## Heresy

> *"I joined the inquistion with a righteous heart, hoping to stop the fanatics and their twisted faith. Our mission was to purge the heresy. But I was misled. Only the guilty were meant to die. Only those old enough to reach the noose should ever swing from it. This war of faith is madness: a plague on Heathmoor. I will carve out the rot!"*
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> *The rise of injustice begins in blind faith. Who will you stand with?*
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> *"There are no saints here. Only butchers. False idols and empty promises! And your salvation..."*
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**Swords of Injustice Season 1**, named "Heresy," is the twenty-fifth season of the ongoing Faction War.

With plans set in motion, the Horkos establish an Inquisition to hunt for those who are unfaithful heretics. While at first she thought her goals aligned with the Inquisitors, Inquisitor Yinchen soon found out that they were no more savage than the ones they were slaying. Thus, she ventured off on her own, branded a traitor, so that she can take the relics away from all and everyone.

## Overview

The relics were supposed to unite Heathmoor. Instead, madmen began to rave about their legends as divine revelation. Soon every place of worship came to be occupied by the fanatical Servants of the Stake. Whispers spread of the dark deeds committed in the name of their twisted faith. In answer, the Relic Inquisition was formed. Their mission: purge all heresy.

Yinchen joined the Inquisition with a righteous heart. A Pirate, she had seen firsthand how civilizations fall to false idols. Executing Fanatics was the price for peace. But the Inquisition was not content to merely pluck weeds – and Yinchen found herself party to mass butcherings worse than anything the Servants had done.

Now Inquisitor Yinchen cries mutiny. To end the war of faith, she must fight not one army, but two.

## Features

### Heresy of the Relics

Join the fray as you secure the heretical idols from the past year. Again placing the Dominion gamemode on a non-Dominion map, your team needs to capture Zones that will offer a buff to the team who owns it. To which faiths will you ascribe yourself to?

Located in the Secluded Keep map, the cult has assembled the three Relics of the Chalice, the Bracelet and the Dagger. Holding their zone will respectively offer a shield buff, a vision buff and an attack buff. As a team, capture the points to assemble points, much like Dominion. There is no minion lane, thus no minions to help aide either side, so fight to the death around these Relics. Who will come in periodically though is Inquisitor Yinchen, who will pose as a neutral boss entity that will roam the map, primarily targeting the team with the most capture points.

The event will run from March 16th to April 6th.

### Hero Skins

This first season offers a new Hero Skin to the next Hero: the Pirate. What is offered is the visuals of Inquisitor Yinchen. Originally joining the Inquisition with good intentions, she finds out that they are no more heretical than the heretics. As such, she believes that the relics that spawned this whole catastrophe need to be removed.

### Hero Update

Some changes will be coming to the live game at the start of the season, with the dodge/dodge attack changes and the Jormungandr rework finally coming to live from the Testing Grounds. More changes will be made during the midseason.

* Dodge/Dodge Attack changes:
	+ Side Dodge Heavy Attacks will now count as a Light attack when parried. Exceptions to this will be the feintable Dodge Heavies, which are Jiang Jun, Tiandi, and Warmonger.
	+ Most Side Dodge Attacks can now be delayed from 200-400ms into a dodge. Exception being for Jiang Jun, Warden, and Warmonger whose Dodge Attacks will be 300-500ms into the dodge; Tiandi's will be 100-300ms into the dodge for Tiger Dodge and 200-300ms for Dragon Dodge; Zhanhu's Side Dodge attacks were adjusted in a later patch to be a static 400ms due to their intended quick speed.
	+ Side Dodge Bashes will be now be 600ms minimum, and no longer chain on-miss as they become vulnerable to Guardbreaks.
	+ Heroes that are designated with either Reflex Guard or Superior Block Dodges will no longer have regular Block while dodging. Heroes will regain their defense 100ms after they are able to swap their Guard.
		- Heroes who had Normal Block Dodge had their Block Dodge removed. Heroes affected by this are Black Prior, Tiandi and Medjay.
	+ Superior Block windows standardized, as Kensei and Conqueror now has Superior Block windows on their Dodge from 100ms to 300ms.
	+ Heroes no longer lose Invulnerability while dodging into walls, Heroes and other object.
* Jormungandr Rework is coming live, pushing them from a Stamina Bully to a Displacement Bully:
	+ Stamina-based gameplay removed. Moves no longer Unbalance opponents who are Exhausted, nor will they deal Stamina damage. Jotunn Gift now deals direct damage.
	+ Venomous Sting: New move, Heavy during a guardbreak to push opponent in a direction of your choice. Can wallsplat.
	+ Ouroboros Might: New move, Zone after any attack except Venemous Sting, Hamarr Slam and another Ouroboros Might. Feintable attack that counts as an Opener and has Hyper Armor.
	+ Top Heavy Finisher now pushes opponent back, while Heavy Finishers overall push opponents farther back.
	+ Heavy attacks now deal less damage, in compensation of the higher frequency of wallsplats.
	+ Jotunn Farewell now has a new animation, and will always unbalance opponents. Slower but can be feinted.
	+ Hamarr Slam is no longer Uninterruptible, and has less damage.
	+ Jotunn Farewell's old animation has been repurposed for Jotunn Surge instead. Jotunn Surge now is a Front Dodge Guardbreak input, and no longer chains on-miss.
	+ New animations for Light openers, changing them to be swings instead of pokes. Their trajectory and momentum has also been improved.
	+ New animation for Jotunn Grudge, although it's properties are overall the same.
	+ Light Finishers no longer Undodgeable.
	+ Serpent Smite is slightly faster, with Uninterruptible Stance adjusted to still be 400ms before impact.
	+ Improved chain link timings for most Opener moves.
* Afeera bugfixes to rememdy further unintended behavior:
	+ Gravity's Pull (Unique T1) no longer guarantees Speeding Comet (Unique T3).
	+ Increased chain link after Oracle's Rush to no longer guarantee Khassaki Kick on hit or block.
	+ Increased chain link timing for most attacks to Khassaki Kick to let opponents to swap guards and still dodge the Kick.

For specific details on the changes made, see the patch notes for the season here (TBA).

### Testing Grounds

A new round of Testing Grounds arrives, and with it, it offer an update for Lawbringer and Nuxia.

* Lawbringer:
	+ Chains are now free to be any three-hit chain, meaning he can perform light after light.
	+ Heavy Openers can be followed up by a guaranteed Light follow-up. Guaranteed Light follow-ups now chain to Finishers.
	+ Mid-chain bash given a new animation. Slower and feintable.
	+ Long Arm changed so that it is not guardbreak vulnerable.
	+ Impale is now an Opener, but leads into a chain attack with reduced damage. No longer wallsplats if not fully held to a wall.
	+ Chain and Finisher Heavies now possess Uninterruptible Stance. Top Heavies, except for the Parry Riposte, does not stun anymore.
	+ Light Parry Riposte deals more damage. All Enhanced Lights are not Enhanced anymore.
	+ Zone Attack is now an Opener, but now has normal recoveries.
* Nuxia:
	+ Traps will now come out 100ms later to make them unreactable.
	+ More will be done to Nuxia's kit in future TGs depending on the success of the above change. If the Traps work, her kit will be reworked with Traps in mind. If not, the Traps will not be the focus of her rework.

### Hero Fest

The mini-events known as "Hero Fests" continue this season. Aside from giving a spotlight to the particular Hero by making them free-to-use for that week, they will be cheaper to purchase by 33%, have two Symbols and one Emblem sticker assigned to them that will be obtained upon log in, and finally a unique Execution for them.

Hero Fests will now occur three times per title update, up from two of last year. This means each season will offer six Heroes a fest per season, resulting in 24 Heroes receiving it a year.

The first three Heroes to receive this Fest this season will be Lawbringer on April 6th, Pirate on April 13th and Nobushi on April 20th.

### Battle Pass

> Another battlepass is here. Through the hundred tiers, get access to the new collections of items that you'll be able to unlock as you progress through the free or premium pass. Battle Pass and season content will be themed around fanatic cults and the unruly idolization spreading through Heathmoor.
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Bring your customization to a whole new level with some heretical flair for your character's look through the 100 Tiers of rewards available for all heroes, all worth over a million Steel! For the premium tier, there is included a Unique Execution where you blast off your foe with a cannon with That's Cannon, and a special Signature showing your (rather poor) ability to get out of hairy situations through Escape Artist. As this pass is seasonal, progression through the Pass will reset at the end of the season.

#### Free & Premium Pass

The Season Pass has two ranks: the Free Pass and the Premium Pass. All players will have access to the Free Pass, earning rewards which include embossings, ornaments, an emblem outline, color swatches, paint patterns and more. Rewards are earned every few tiers.

The Premium Pass on the other hand offers the bulk of rewards, such as new signatures, new weapons, new executions, new effects, and more. Premium Pass owners will still receive rewards from the Free Pass. The Premium Pass also offers +10% Battle Points, the points necessary to progress through the Battle Pass tiers.

As both Pass' progression are shared, a player is able to upgrade to a Premium Pass and receive all rewards they would have gotten if they had purchased the Premium Pass from the start.

#### Notes

Take note that the purpose of the Battle Pass is to guarantee rewards for players, compared to how all rewards were based around random drops post-match or scavenger crates. The Battle Pass however will not replace any current system of cosmetics and loot gain, such as the above mentioned random drops, any event loot or the content of the week.

Content of the Battle Pass, even for the Premium Pass, will only be character customization items and consumables, preventing a pay-to-win model. All tiers are also visible to Free Pass owners, so there are no hidden rewards. However, the exclusive rewards in the Premium Pass may become unobtainable at the end of the season.

Progression through the tiers of either Passes can be hastened with Steel, skipping either 1, 5 or 20 tiers at once. The price for hastening progress is static through the tiers and between both ranks of Battle Passes.

## Midseason Changes

On April 28th is the midseason changes, offering new armor variations for the Samurai and Knights, a new armor line for Gladiator, a free event pass for the Death by Metal event, the Return of a Realistic gamemode and more. There will be three more Hero Fests and one last return of the Herald of Chimera gamemode on June 1st.

### Seasonal Customization

> *When the Servants of the Stake began to attack, the Inquisition was formed to eradicate these twisted Fanatics and destroy the relics. Warriors were chosen to become Inquisitors, and new weapons and armors were forged for them and their followers to wield in battle. With these items, the Inquisition’s will can be enforced, by any means necessary. The blood of the Fanatics will spill, and the might of the one true Horkos will rule above all.*
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With the midseason title update comes a new set of armor variations for the Knights and Samurai. These new armor visuals offers a bleak and heretical look for each Hero, cladding them in dark metals and gold that makes it unclear if one is the inquisition... or the fanatics.

On top of this, Gladiator has received two new armor sets to form their newest line of armor, mimicking the looks of a fisher, fitting to their use of the trident.

### Gameplay Changes

Below is a list of changes that will be implemented at the start of the midseason. These changes look at the top two Heroes, bumping them down so that they are not too powerful, along with offering minor tweaks to other heroes either for quality of life purposes or to enhance the experience of playing a Hero as the game moves forward in balance.

* Valkyrie has been outperforming most Heroes ever since her rework, thus has been given some balance changes to tune her down. The following changes, primarily her Shield Tackle ones, seek to maintain her unreactable offense while making them less safe than they are currently.
	+ Shield Tackle Strike now deals 18 damage, from 20.
	+ Shield Tackle now moves slightly less forward.
	+ Shield Tackle no longer chains on-miss.
	+ Chained Heavies and Heavy Finishers now deal slightly less damage.
	+ First strike of Zone Attack is now 600ms, up from 500ms.
	+ Adjusted Zone Attack's weapon trajectories to have less reach and fixed their start and end positions.
* Much like Valkyrie, Tiandi has also been highly performing ever since their rework. Changes to their kit focuses on making them less frustrating to fight against.
	+ Light Finishers and Top Tiger Dodge (Forward Dodge Light) now deals slightly less damage.
	+ Dragon Kick now has slightly more recovery on-miss.
	+ Dragon Kick Follow-up and Heavy Finishers deal less damage.
	+ The first hit of Zone Attack now causes a Medium hit reaction instead of a Heavy hit reaction.
	+ Opener Lights and Heavies, together with all Tiger and Dragon Dodge Attacks, now chain to Light and Heavy Finishers from 200ms to 300ms into their miss recovery. Before, in most instances, these attacks chained as early as 100ms into their miss recovery.
* The miss recovery for Heavy Finishers for Kensei, Shugoki and Shaman have been reduced to 700ms, from 1000ms or more depending on the Hero.
* Shugoki's Chain Heavy Finishers now possess early Hyper Armor, kicking in 100ms into the attack. This change does not affect the Charged Heavy from neutral.
* Centurion's Zone Attack now costs 9 Stamina per strike, down from 12, and have better trajectory.
* Weapon trajectory has been adjusted on Warmonger's Side Heavy Attacks and Gryphon Side Light and Heavy Attacks.

To see a more detailed overview of these changes, see the official patch notes here.

### Death by Metal

"Test Your Metal" makes a return after three years, in the form of "Death by Metal." The Inquisition has placed the Heretics in a "trial to the death" to please their captors. Some are forced to dress up as past legends, while others attempt to embody their very idol.

This event will last from April 27th until May 18th. For more information on the gamemode, check out the dedicated page for the mode here.

### Hero Fest

The mini-events known as "Hero Fests" continue this season. Aside from giving a spotlight to the particular Hero by making them free-to-use for that week, they will be cheaper to purchase by 33%, have two Symbols and one Emblem sticker assigned to them that will be obtained upon log in, and finally a unique Execution for them.

Hero Fests will now occur three times per title update, up from two of last year. This means each season will offer six Heroes a fest per season, resulting in 24 Heroes receiving it a year.

The second set of three Heroes to receive this Fest this season will be Berzerker, Orochi and Conqueror, on May 18th, May 25th and June 8th.

### Returning Playlist

Realistic Duels makes a return from May 18th to the 25th, offering the special pure black colour pallete.

### Heralds of Chimera

This gamemode makes it triumphant final return before officially retiring, much like the Carousel of Horkos last season. This event will span from June 1st until the 8th.

### Other Changes

Below is a list of bug fixes and changes made during this season:

* Fixed an issue that allowed Raider to perform a Chain Zone when Out of Stamina by unlocking.
* Fixed an issue that caused Nobushi dodges forward into Viper's Retreat to perfom a Light Attack in some situations.
* Fixed an issue that caused Aramusha's weapon trail visual effect to be out of sync with the attack animation when performing a Left Side Deadly Feint from a Right Side Heavy Finisher.
* Fixed an issue that caused Tiandi Palm Strike to switch Guard to Top after a whiff, along with causing guard swap duration to be longer than intended.
* Fixed an issue that caused Gryphon to be missing Top Bad Block animation.
* Fixed an issue that caused Nuxia "Glass Waltz" to dash erratically in the direction of the player's movement.
* Fixed an issue that caused Kyoshin executions sound effects to be sometimes missing in Breach VS AI.
* Fixed issues in regards to effects either not being applied correctly or not being obtainable on some Heroes.
* Fixed a number of armor sets not properly applying skin tone, patterns or material colours.
* Fixed physics on a number of armor sets.
* Fixed Warden's execution A Moment of Silence which was missing blood visual effects.

## Gallery

### Video

For Honor- Year 7 Season 1 - Heresy Launch Trailer

## Trivia

* During the Death by Metal event, a Warmonger by the name of Vela appeared as one of the NPCs fought. She had specifically replaced Syntribos among the four Warmongers who appeared during the Rise of The Warmongers event (Astrea, Syntribos, Smaragos, and Asbetos). A few theorized that she would be of importance later.
	+ With the start of the Vengeance season, the theories were proven right as Vela is showcased as the Warmonger who ventured to foreign lands, bringing back treasures as Conquistador Vela.