Monsters of the Otherworld

> *"This Halloween season, be careful where you step out. In this realm of horror, fiends are on the lookout, as they're creepy, they're enraged, and they're out for blood. They're the Monsters of the Otherworld!."*
>
>

> *"Get ready for one hell of a thrill ride in the most horrifying double feature of the year, with Endless March and Spooky Slashers. Starring: Killer monsters and even more dangerous monsters. For Honor's 'Monsters of the Otherworld.'"*
>
>

The harrowing of Halloween strikes back for the fourth time in For Honor, with ghouls and goblins spooking the warriors of the battlefield!

After the Feast, then came the Return, only for the Fangs to come again the year after. This year, For Honor brings the Heathmoor the Monsters of the Otherworld, with a new set of horrifying creatures to discover as your Hero jumps into the Otherworld portal. Together with the spooky skeletons of the previous years, meet the new trio of monsters: Frankenstein, Scarecrows and Treants, oh my! On top of that, this year's Halloween is a double feature of beloved previous events, Endless March and Spooky Slashers, as this event will last an extra week longer! Know this, that the Otherworld will close up yet again at the end of the event on November 12th. Do not miss your chance to trick-or-treat the event rewards of this year...!

## Overview

Starting October 22, 2020, Monsters of the Otherworld, For Honor’s limited-time Halloween event, is available to all players. The event features a the return of two monstrous event gamemodes, spooky Halloween-themed loot, soldiers dressed up as nightmarish monsters and even more ghastly goods.

Players can earn Halloween-themed loot (both old and new) through random drops at the end of all matches until the event ends. Loot takes the form of themed Battle Outfits, terrifying effects, and passionate pumpkin weapon visuals. Additionally, players can purchase the yikes-inducing executions from the previous year, where you would exorcise all sorts of monsters out of your foe, for any faction of your choice. You can be a Vampire slaying Wu Lin or a Spirit purifying Viking. The Monstrous Lad Illustrious set, featuring the Frankenstein, is available for all Heroes. There is also four unique event-exlusive Signatures that represents the four thematics of the Otherworld: the transforming Lycan werewolf, the Scarecrow's pumpkin on the head, the rising Zombie from the dead and the Vampire out of his coffin.

All event-themed loot can be unlocked for each Hero by purchasing their corresponding Otherworld item bundles until November 15, 2020. However, event exclusive items will not be available for individual purchase by the 12th.

### Endless March

> *"The dead have risen and they are looking to add you to their ranks! In this Dominion style mode skeletons are deadly foes who give massive points and capturing zones will only yield temporary points. Bash some bones and push the other team to break!"*
>
>

The first two weeks of the event features the return of Endless March, a modified dominion mode. Like regular Dominion, capturing zones will grant soft points that are lost if that zone is captured by the other team, while killing soldiers and enemy Heroes grant hard points that are kept. However, side zones now grant 200 soft points (as opposed to the standard 100) but do not provide hard points by staying on point. The midlane zone provides no points, as its main purpose is to facilitate the fight between the Soldiers, which will be the main source of hard points.

Soldiers in this gamemode are possessed by haunting powers as they are skeleton warriors, dealing high amounts of damage than their normal Dominion variants. This makes them a deadly force when in groups, chipping off large chunks of health if not properly managed. Killing Soldiers now provide 3 points instead of 1, making them a valuable resource for hard points.

Aside from the above, Dominion proceeds as usual, where if a team gains 1000 total points, the opposing team will enter breaking.

This event occurs on one of three maps, all modified to give into the spooky atmosphere of Halloween: Overwatch or Shard or River Fort.

### Spooky Slashers

> *"Capture zones to gain a special boost. Use the boost to slay demons for points. Reach 1000 points to break and kill the enemy."*
>
>

The last week of this event features the return of Spooky Slashers, which is meant to be an updated version of Endless March. The main difference is that the haunted soldiers have become demonic pikemen, dealing just as much damage as their spooky cousin, but now being much more resistant to damage. In order for Heroes to kill these Soldiers, they will have to enter a captured zone and receive a temporary boost. This boost will not only reduce the damage they take from the Soldiers, but also increase their damage to wipe the Soldiers in one or two blows. Heroes can also attain this boost by slaying an enemy Hero who has the boost.

Gaining points has been slightly modified to prioritize on the Soldiers, as points will now not be gained from killing enemy Heroes anymore. As a trade-off, killing Soldiers offers 8 points instead of only 3.

Just like Endless March, Spooky Slasher is held on the haunted Halloween variants of Overwatch or Shard or River Fort.

## Other Changes

### Halloween Aesthetics

Accompanying the season of harrowing, the main menu and lobby have had their aesthetic changed. As haunted trees lurk, the full moon is visible in the night sky. The screen is partially purple as there is a film filter that makes it look like you are looking at an early 1900s film. Spooky music creeps in the background all in the while. However, compared to years before, spooky monsters will haunt the screen, from roaming Frankensteins, flying pumpkin ghouls, nightmarish treants and dancing skeletons.

The Shard, Overwatch and River Fort all now connect to the Otherworld. The sky iss bathed in purple light, as the clouds swirl above around the portal to the other realm. Scarecrows and candles lay around as purple flames denote the festivities of Halloween. Cackles and woos can be heard among the structures, as green ectoplasma drips from the bridges and walls above. The war map has also taken a turn for the spooky as scarecrows sit under the portal of the Otherworld.

### Soldiers

New monsters of the Otherworld are the guests this time. These are not the same bandits disguised as monsters that were seen from last year, but actual horrors to behold.

* There are the Frankenstein monsters who will club enemies with a dismembered limb.
* Scarecrow Ghouls will fly with a skeletal body and a scythe in hand.
* Treants will stomp around, slapping enemies with their branch-like arms.
* The skeletal warriors do make a return, but in their own variety. Each faction will have their own get-up, each with a "heart" that reflects their affiliation. They will appear in either the Event Game Modes or Breach.

## Unique Orders

During this event, unique Orders will be ongoing throughout, related to the spooky atmosphere of the event.

### Daily Orders

* Warrior ***(Daily Guaranteed Order)***
	+ **Double Yang Festival** - "On the ninth day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar, some soldiers would climb the highest mountain and drink chrysanthemum liquor to protect themselves."
	+ **Obon** - "It is believed that ghosts of the deceased visit the physical world during that special time of the year. The living ignite mukaebi, special bonfires, to help the spirits find their way home."
	+ **Inhuman Rhapsody** - "Is this the real bite? Is it just Fangtasy?"
	+ **Eric's Brews** - "The treasure hunter had become famous for his strange brews. People claimed they could cause incredible hallucinations."
	+ **Hello Win** - "You look as fangtastic as ever."
	+ **Strange Rituals** - "During Samhain, some warriors used molybdomancy and oomancy to predict their future."
	+ **Pain in Lane** - "As some bards used to sing: 'Pain in lane, it's in their ears, and in their eyes. Pain in lane, beneath the blue, barbarian skies... I kill and meanwhile back...'"
	+ **Squashing Pumpkins** - "There are rumors about a strange Jormungandr who has become obsessed with squashes."
	+ **Monstrous Trees** - "Strange trees have taken roots in the Myre. Children have seen them walk and fight like real warriors."
	+ **For Horror** - "A horribilis knight to remember."
	+ **Monstrous Creatures** - "A peculiar Warden has been seen collecting pieces of corpses from the battlefield."
	+ **Monstrous Scarecrows** - "A group of warriors who had overindulged began to see some straw mannequins walking menacingly toward them."
	+ **Hello Win Again** - "You are a fangtabulous warrior."
	+ **Gourd Keepers** - "Gourds have been cultivated since 8000 B.P."
		- *Complete 2 matches of any game mode.*

* Attacker:
	+ **Fancy Skeletons** - "Some elegant fellows may tip their hat to you on the battlefield."
	+ **Pumpkin** - "Pumpion, pupon, pompon melon. Pepon, Pessein."
	+ **Brought Me to Life** - "Be life the life among the dead."
		- *Capture 5 zones in any game mode.*

* Executioner:
	+ **Shipborne Skeletons** - "These adventurers will hook you on a strange feeling."
	+ **Scary Skeletons** - "Their shields and swords will break your bones."
	+ **Thriller Knight** - "A beast is about to strike."
	+ **Parallel Worlds** - "Some suspected the creatures who had invaded Heathmoor came from a different reality."
		- *Perform 3 executions in any game mode.*

* Slayer:
	+ **Chef Skeletons** - "These cooks seem to bear a fishy heart."
	+ **14 15 20 1 2 21 7** - "8 1 16 16 25 8 1 12 12 15 23 5 5 14"
	+ **Heathmoor Squashes** - "A great variety of squashes has been cultivated all across Heathmoor. The best cooks know how to prepare the finest delicacies with them."
	+ **Human Skeleton** - "A human skeleton has about 270 bones at birth. That number decreases by adulthood."
		- *Perform 10 takedowns in any game mode.*

* Adaptable Warrior:
	+ **Mellow Win** - "No lane, no gain."
	+ **H.D.** - "A true hero is never where we expect him to be."
		- *Complete 2 matches of any game mode with 2 different Heroes.*

### Miscellaneous Lore

Together with orders, there were some lore bits that were revealed in the tool tips. Some of these lore bits are taken from previous events while some would be incorporated in latter events, such as the second part of the Tales of Rebellion events.

* **Ilma's Past**: "No one had ever seen Ilma's face. No one even knew her real age."
* **Ilma's Rebellion**: "Ilma had to bend a few rules to help the Alliance. The Makers Guild did not approve of her actions."
* **Ilma's Discoveries**: "Draconite could be forged into strong, yet unstable weapons to break a Corrupted enemy's defenses."
* **Ilma's Revenge**: "The Order of Horkos tried to recruit Ilma many times, but she never yielded."
* **The Makers Guild**:
	+ "A secretive group of artisans had forged the best weapons for all factions over the past centuries."
	+ "One had to leave the battlefield forever to join the Guild and learn its secrets."
	+ "Members of the Guild were taught not to favor any faction or take any sides in the great wars."
* **The Guardians**: "Some rumorered that the Guardians of the Sacred Claviger were a secret branch of the Makers Guild."
* **Protectors of Nature**: "It was told that the Sylvans came to aid the survivors in the aftermath of the Great Cataclysm."
* **Nature's Vengeance**: "In some stories, the Sylvans were the ones who caused the Great Cataclysm as retaliation."
* **Time of Distrust**: "Spies and allies from the Order of Horkos often tried to infiltrate the Alliance."
* **Horkos Thieves**: "The Vikings of Horkos raided the rebels' stash to steal Ilma's weapons."
* **Corrupted Serpent**: "Some Jormungandr had another name for Draconite: 'Dreyri Orms' or 'snake's blood'."
* **The Order of Discord**: "While some Jormungandr joined the Horkos, others resisted and joined the Alliance instead."
* **Flowers of Doom**: "Draconite seemed to grow and thrive on any surface covered with human blood."
* **The Draconite**: "Pure Draconite is harmless. It oozes Corruption when altered by the Warmongers."
* **The Chimera Alliance**: "The Chimera Alliance was formed after the victory of the Samurai Rebellion against the Horkos."

* Known older lore bits:
	+ **Pure Draconite**: "Pure Draconite had a reddish hue and acted as an energy conductor."
	+ **Troubling Rumors**: "It was told that one could use Corrupted Draconite to control someone's mind."
	+ **The Bloodbind**: "There was an alchemical process meant to bind one's blood to a Draconite."
	+ **Corrupted Draconite**: "The Warmongers used Corrupted Draconite to empower their troops."
	+ **Ilma the Blacksmith**: "She was one of the best blacksmiths in the Makers Guild."
	+ **The Reborn**: "One had to bind their blood to the Sacred Stones of Horkos and be born again."

### Event Orders

**Monsters of the Otherworld's Order - October 22 - November 5**
*"Coming from another realm to terrify the world!"*

Be the faction with the most Takedowns performed in Endless March.

**Monsters of the Otherworld's Order - November 5 - November 12**
*"The monsters demand a feast!"*

Be the faction with the most Victories in Spooky Slashers.

## Trivia

* Skeletons serve as the soldiers in the Event Game Modes (Endless March and Spooky Slashers) and as pikemen in Breach as well as archers in all game modes. Skeletons in the Event Game Modes will wear distinctive outfits to each faction:
	+ The Knight Skeleton comes in the form of a Top Hat wearing gentleman, having a nice mustache and white gloves. Their "heart" is in the shape of... a heart.
	+ The Samurai Skeleton are a Samurai chefs, having a *chonmage* hairstyle, a pair of *tanto* on their waist and *geta* sandels. Their "heart" is in the shape of a piece of sashimi.
	+ The Viking Skeleton are pirates, with the iconic bandanna on the head, an eyepatch, a full beard, a steel hook and pegleg. Their "heart" is in the shape of a coin.
	+ In Breach, the skeletons take on the form of a cowboy, wearing their cowboy hat, a bandanna around their neck and a sash over their chest to hold their bandolier. Unlike the other skeletons, they don't have a "heart" in their ribcage.
* Monsters will serve as soldiers in standard Dominion.
	+ The treants are the only monsters who don't wield weapons. The Frankenstein monster and Scarecrow ghoul wield a dismembered arm and scythe respectively.
	+ The Treants and Scarecrow ghouls have a special "corpses" when they die, becoming a pile of twigs or pumpkin pieces instead of the typical corpse.
* In Breach, skeletons push the battering ram but the drummer in the back can be either a monster or a skeleton.

### Orders

Some of the orders have some trivia related to them, be it related to Halloween or a song.

* Some of the daily event orders during the first two weeks of the event make a reference to cultural festivals celebrated around the end of the autumn, related to each faction. All of these festivals have some relevance spirits, with the event marking when the boundary between the living and the dead is closest.
	+ For the Vikings, Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. It is observed on November 1st, with celebrations beginning the night of October 31st. Feasts were had to invite the souls of the dead, while food and drink offerings were left outside to appease the gods and nature spirits to appease them so that the people could survive the winter.
		- As indicated by the order, molybdomancy and oomancy are forms of divination, respectively using molten metal and eggs.
	+ For the Samurai, Obon (お盆) is a Japanese Buddhist custom of honoring the spirits of one's ancestors. While it is expected to be a three-day event, Obon is celebrated during different parts of the late summer depending on the region in Japan, as early as July and as late as September. Traditional Obon is celebrated on the 15th day of the ninth month of the Lunar Calendar.
		- The *Mukaebi* (迎え火; lit. "greeting fire") is a bonfire meant to welcome spirits who arrive from the world of the dead. At the end of the festival, *Okuribi* (送り火; lit. "sending-off fire") are lit as either a bonfire or small lantern boats to send the spirits back safely to the otherworld.
	+ For the Wu Lin, the Double Yang Festival refers to the Double Ninth Festival (重陽節; *Chung Yeung Jié*), which also goes by the name of Double Yang Festival. The date is observed to be a dangerous date, so customs such as climbing high mountains and drinking chrysanthemum liquor are done to ward away danger. Some Chinese also visit graves on this day to pay their respects.
	+ Thus far, the Knights are the only faction without a daily event order that specifies a cultural festival.
* One of the orders has a string of numbers for its title and lore. When solved with a basic substitution cipher where numbers 1 through 26 represent the letters of the alphabet in order, the text comes out as "Not a bug" and "Happy Halloween."
* The Pumpkin order makes a reference to the different etymological names the name "Pumpkin" is based off of:
	+ Originally was called a "Pumpion" which is a modification of the below names.
	+ "Pupon" and "Pompon (melon)" are the French root names.
	+ "Pepon" and "Pessein" are the Greek root names.
* The Inhuman Rhapsody order is a reference to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queens and its opening line of "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"
* The Pain in Lane order with the bard singing is a reference to the chorus of Penny Lane by the Beatles.
* The Thriller Knight order is a reference to Thriller by Michael Jackson, specifically the lyrical lines of "Thriller night" and "From the beast about to strike."

## Videos

For Honor- Monsters of the Otherworld Event - Trailer - Ubisoft -NA-