Year 6: Lost Horizons Season 4

## Shattered Fates

> *"Fate is the one true enemy, a warrior that can't be fought or predicted. Yet in the libraries of Arabia, there is a sphere that tells the histories of tomorrow, hidden by a wise and beloved Sultana. Now it is mine. I have seen a prophecy, a secret for Horkos and us alone. Victory is in our grasp, and fate will be written by my hand."*
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> *"Heathmoor's destiny laid bare, drawn from a feather, dipped in blood."*
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> *"حانت ساعتك (hanat saeatuk)."*
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**Lost Horizon Season 4**, named "Shattered Fates," is the twenty-fourth season of the ongoing Faction War. The Black Priors have learnt of a relic that can predict the future, lying within the hands of the benevolent Sultana of Arabia. Commander Ravier, under the command of Vortiger, sought to find this treasure. But upon finding it, she went even further: she destroyed the relic, killed the Sultana and ravaged the Arabian kingdom, all so that she can monopolize the visions that she saw in store for Horkos.

## Overview

> The Black Priors are tasked with finding the Celestial Sphere and stealing its forbidden prophecies. Armed with this knowledge, they hope to conquer Heathmoor—and will spare none who know its secrets.
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Few know what happens in Arabia. Visitors have been long been forbidden. But with new sea routes opening Heathmoor to the secretive kingdom, the Sultana of Arabia finally opened the gates. First to enter was Commander Ravier, a top lieutenant of the Black Priors. She came as a diplomat. Yet while making overtures of friendship, Ravier's true orders were to find the Sultana's Celestial Sphere: a fabled relic said to foretell the future.

After much scheming, Ravier gained access to the relic. It showed her a flash of the future – a prophecy of Heathmoor’s fate. The secret would give the Black Priors just the advantage they needed to conquer their homeland. To ensure no one else might know the prophecy, the Black Priors shattered the Celestial Sphere. Then, for good measure, they burnt down Arabia's great libraries and put the Sultana to the sword. Commander Ravier was the one fate Arabia never saw coming.

## Features

### Frost Wind Nights

The Frost Wind season is once again upon us! From December 15th to January 5th, participate in For Honor's Y6S4 launch event, Frost Wind Nights, and claim exclusive stellar themed event content including Weapons, Effects, Ornaments, and Outfits. The Frost Wind season favorite game mode Ice Brawlers is also back and available only throughout the duration of the event. Don't miss your chance to condemn your enemies to an icy abyss..

### Hero Skins

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> When Mount Ignis erupted, fire and molten rock burned everything in its path. That day, Ravier suffered a wound that she was quick to hide behind a mask. Some believe that she was brutally disfigured. Others say that she had only but a small scar, and that her pride was the only thing truly wounded that day. But the real truth is far more sinister. Ravier put on a mask not to hide herself, but to reveal who she really was: walking death. Immutable, unreadable, and unstoppable. Thanks to her merciless nature and her particularly cruel antics, Ravier caught Vortiger’s attention, and he promoted her. As his second-in-command, Commander Ravier lead the Black Priors to many victories, and she left such a trail of disembodied victims and horror stories that she came to be known by another name: the Lady Misery.
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> After rumors of a powerful artifact hidden in Arabia reached Vortiger, he sent Commander Ravier to the distant kingdom, once out of reach and now finally open to them thanks to the opening of new travel routes. Posing as an emissary, Ravier met with the Sultana and effortlessly read the monarch’s dreams and aspirations. Through deception, Ravier gained her favor, and obtained access to the Celestial Sphere, a relic capable of foretelling the future. After she witnessed what future awaited Heathmoor, Ravier destroyed the relic and slayed the Sultana. For only she could hold the secrets of the future. Only she could know what would come next. And its name was misery.
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This fourth season offers a new Hero Skin to the next Hero: the Black Prior. What is offered is the visuals of Commander Ravier. Cruel and calculating, she is the hero who brings misery to all who stand in her way.

### Hero Update

Some changes will be coming to the live game at the start of the season, with Valkyrie and Tiandi receiving changes to their kit from the Testing Grounds and feedback. Additionally, some quality of life changes has been made to a number of Heroes and gameplay aspects.

* Valkyrie's kit now revolves even more around her Shield Tackle ability, enforcing a playstyle that has her attacking while defending and defending while attacking. Aside from that, she has received a few other changes to give a quality of life touch to her kit.
	+ Shield Tackle now accessible from a front dodge instead of a back dodge. No more Stamina costs while holding the Full Block, although Stamina is paused during it. Shield Tackle now can chain on-miss, and also has a dedicated Light follow-up on-hit.
	+ Shield Crush replaced by Shield Tackle.
	+ Sweep is slightly faster and should now not hit nearby Walls and multiple players. Even if it hits allies, it will not unbalance them.
	+ Sweep Follow-up now has better tracking so that it is always guaranteed after a successful Sweep.
	+ Miss recovery on a number of moves reduced. Some moves now have more forward momentum.
	+ Chain Top Light and Top Light Finisher are now standardized to 500ms, with damage adjusted accordingly. Side Light Finishers no longer inflict Stamina damage, stun or pause Stamina.
	+ Side Heavy trajectories improved.
	+ Sprint Attack now initiates Chains.
	+ Dodge Lights are now Enhanced. Side Dodge Lights have more movement.
	+ Shoulder Pin is slightly faster, has stacking Bleed, and has better input comfort.
* Tiandi did not need many changes to be viable, focusing on improvements to two elements of his kit: Dodge Specialist and Dragon Kick. These were improved by giving him more flexible Dodge Recovery Cancels and more viability to the Dragon Kick. Palm Strike has also received a touch-up.
	+ Now has Dodge Recovery Cancels after any attack, instead of only Openers.
	+ Dragon Kick can now be Hard Feinted. Now chains to a dedicated follow-up on-hit that has Tiandi leap forward with a downward strike.
	+ Palm Strike's input changed to be "Forward Dodge + GB" from "Back + GB." Palm Strike no longer chains into Top Dragon Dodge on Heavy input, instead chaining into Heavy Finishers.
	+ Dragon Kick and Palm Strike no longer deals Stamina damage nor cause Stamina pause.
	+ Top Dragon Dodge's damage reduced. Side Dragon Dodge now has better recovery values.
	+ Heavy finishers now have better trajecotires.
	+ Out-of-Lock Finishers are now performed from the Left instead of from Top.
* Executions have received improvements so that they are now less vulnerable.
	+ Executions no longer force the hero to enter the Out of Lock state on exit.
	+ Executions no longer force specific stance directions on exit.
	+ Shared executions can now enter the Locked state 100ms earlier when the execution is completed.
* Consoles now have access to a Field of View slider.
* Nvidia Ansel can now be used in Spectator mode in any supported Game Mode.
* The following is a list of bug fixes:
	+ Fixed an issue where Jiang Jun, Gladiator and Shaolin could not change Guard Stance during their Guardbreak start-up.
	+ Fixed an issue with Conqueror's Charged Heavy having flicker. Also fixed animation blending with their Flail Uppercut.
	+ Fixed Shaolin having different speeds for Heavy Finishers between in-lock and out-of-lock. Also fixed the Invigorate feat from being able to heal by cancelling Qi Stance with a dodge attack.
	+ Fixed animation snapping on Tiandi's Top Tiger Dodge when performed after a Side Opener.
	+ Fixed an issue that caused Warmonger's Preying claw to inflict Bleed damage through Black Prior's Bulwark Counter. Also fixed a transition error from Warmonger's Sprint Attack into chained attacks.
	+ Fixed an issue where Jormungandr would have off animations in certain circumstances, including Jotunn Farewell having incorrect animations when performed after a zone attack.
	+ Fixed an issue that disallowed Medjay from influencing movement direction for Out-of-Lock attacks.
	+ Fixed multiple cases of map collission that allowed players to push either themselves or others out of bounds.
	+ Fixed being able to lock onto allies through Paired Emotes and performing unavoidable attacks using this bug.
	+ Fixed an issue that caused Players that join a match in progress to be unable to see the available options after using the tilde key on keyboard or LB on controllers.
	+ And more...

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

### Testing Grounds

A new round of Testing Grounds arrives, and with it, it seeks to put Jormungandr into competitive shape. Due to the hard-to-balance and unhealthy nature of their "Stamina Bully" identity, the Devs seek to open up the Hero's options by removing the "Stamina" from it, and instead pushing a unique "displacement bully" role where they specialize in knocking around their opponents. Below is a general list of changes:

* Gameplan: Jormungandr's identity moves from "stamina bully" into more of a "displacement bully" by making them more of a Disruptor than aiming to send the opponent into exhaustion. As a result, Hamarr Slam is no more the core of their kit, as they have access to tools to help them push their opponent around.
	+ All Bashes now do not deal Stamina damage or inflict Stamina pause. Jormungandr's moves will also not knock down OoS opponents.
	+ Midchain Bash has been changed into a dedicated knock down move as Jormungandr pommels their target's knees.
	+ Heavy Finishers now knock back opponents farther away. Top Heavy Finisher now properly knocks opponents back.
	+ New Guardbreak follow-up that has Jormungandr knock around the enemy in a similar fashion to their Heavy Finishers.
* Flow: Jormungandr's flow is currently lacking on the Live version. The hero feels limited, has strict 2 hit chains, and very little in the way of flowing between different attacks. We're looking to improve the hero's flow, as it is an important part of group fighting; as we move more towards this type of meta, heroes need a good flow so they can defend themselves when outnumbered.
	+ New midchain Zone that can be performed after any attack except Hamarr Slam and itself, and is meant to allow Jormungandr to keep up their offense.
* Quality of Life: We're also addressing other parts of Jormungandr's kit to make the hero more efficient, less frustrating to fight against and to revamp some now obsolete parts of the hero.
	+ Light Openers now are swings than punches, with Light Finishers not being Undodgeable anymore.
	+ Due to changes in the kit, Hamarr Slam and Heavy Finishers deal less damage.
	+ Jotunn Surge input changed from back + GB to front dodge + GB, and now utilizes the old midchain Bash animation.
	+ Serpent Smite is now slightly faster, with its Hyper Armour moved earlier into the move.
	+ Jotunn Gift and Jotunn Grudge now inflict Health damage due to losing their Stamina damage. Jotunn Grudge's animation has been reworked.

If you would like to know more about the specific details of the Jormungandr Testing Grounds rework, see 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 occur twice per title update, which results in four Heroes receiving a Fest per season, resulting in sixteen Hero fests occurring per year.

The first Hero to receive this Fest this season will be Shaolin from January 5th to the 12th, followed by Gladiator the following week of the 19th to the 26th.

### 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 the starry night skies of Arabia, together with all its astronomical beauty and knowledge.
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The faraway kingdom of Arabia has prospered for centuries thanks to the relic known as the Celestial Sphere. Commander Ravier is sent to meet with the Sultana as an emissary, but the Black Prior slays the monarch and steals the relic’s secrets. Now, Ravier travels back to Heathmoor, bringing with her not just knowledge of the future, but weapons long ago forged in Arabia. These weapons, bearing imagery of the stars, will once again be wielded by those fighting to secure their fate.

Bring your customization to a whole new level with some Arabian night 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 use the Celestial Sphere to obliterate your foe into the unknown with Time Crush, and a special Signature where you showcase your cool contact juggling skills through Sphere Skills. 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.

### Other Changes

The Harbor is now set in Arabian lands, placing players in the setting where Ravier had ventured to. With the Arabian night showcasing a beautiful starry sky, what secrets are there to be found on this map...?

## Midseason Changes

On February 2nd is the midseason changes, offering not only the new Hero, but also new armor variations, a free event pass and more. As was the case, there will be two more Hero Fests and one last return of the Carousel of Horkos gamemode.

### New Hero: Afeera

With the Celestial Sphere destroyed and the Sultana dead, the Afeera have decided to not stand on the wayside anymore! Outcasts-turned-elites, the Afeera are both excellent warriors as they are scholars, wielding with sharp precision a mace and a shield. Putting such to work, their mission has changed. No longer will they simply watch the events of Heathmoor unfold. Now, they will help shape them.

She can be purchased for immediate access with monetary currency in the Afeera Hero Offer bundle, or purchased seperately with in-game currency two weeks later. Purchasing her through the bundle not only gives access to the Afeera, but also offers an exclusive elite outfit, an exclusive ornament, 3 Scavenger Crates and 7 days of Champion Status.

See more about the Afeera on their designated page here.

### Twilight of the Afeera

With their Sultana dead, the Afeera swears vengeance upon Ravier. No matter what the Black Prior had sawn, these deft warriors will make sure Ravier won't see that future realized.

Fight on the battlefield as the swift Afeera, securing exclusive rewards only available during this event, from February 2nd to 23rd.

### Seasonal Customization

> *The Celestial Sphere allowed the scholars of Arabia to glimpse events from the future. Now, Commander Ravier and her Black Priors have returned to Heathmoor with plunder from Arabia, including weapons and armors marked with curious constellations. While there is no proof of this, some warriors believe these items may hold the secrets to their personal futures, hidden there by the seers of Arabia.*
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With the launch of a title update comes a new set of armor variations. These new armor visuals offers a mystical look for each Hero, with colours of blue and gold offering amazing patterns that reminds one of an Arabian Night.

### Gameplay Changes

Below is a list of changes that will be implemented at the start of the midseason. Many of them address some quality of life fixes, while other look to enhance the experience of playing a Hero as the game moves forward in balance.

* Held Full Block Stances will now be standardized to not consume Stamina, as is the case with Heroes such as Conqueror during their recent rework. This includes the following:
	+ Holding the Stance no longer consumes Stamina nor does it pause Stamina Regeneration.
	+ Blocking in the Stance no longer consumes Stamina either.
	+ Blocking in the Stance will not build less Revenge than normal.
	+ Kyoshin's Kaze Stance has an enter cost, just like the other Heroes.
	+ Affected Heroes: Conqueror, Black Prior, Warlord, Valkyrie, and Kyoshin.
	+ Nobushi's Hidden Stance also receives part of the above treatment, as it no longer pauses Stamina Regeneration when held.
* Berserker can now cancel any attack recovery with a Dodge, instead of only on-miss. Their Close Combat trait still allows Berserker to initiate their Zone Attack only on-miss.
* Kensei's Chained Light attacks now cause Medium Hit reaction, from Light. Link timing from Chained Light to Finisher Light has been adjusted to ensure the opponent can dodge out of it.
* Black Prior's Light Finishers now cause Medium Hit reaction, from Light; their recoveries have been adjusted to maintain Frame Advantage rules. Tenebris Thrust can now cancel its recoveries into Bulwark Stance.
* Shaman's non-guaranteed Bleed stabs (Raven's Claw and Raven's Bile) now have uniform 400ms speed on all sides. Before, sides were 66ms slower.
* Kyoshin's Hakaze and Mujounokaze (Light and Zone from Kaze Stance) now cost 6 Stamina from 12.
* Warmonger's Beast of Prey now has Extended Dodge property.
* Gryphon's Helm Cleaver is now Enhanced.
* Nobushi can now perform Viper's Retreat and Hidden Stance 100ms after Stance Change (previously was locked behind an outdated 300ms window).
* Valkyrie's Shield Tackle no longer causes Stamina damage.
* During further hotfixes, a few more adjustments had been made to Afeera, particularly addressing their ability to Wallsplat infinite:
	+ Left Side Heavy Finishers, including the Red Omen variants, now have the following properties:
		- Recoveries to neutral and to Astro Flip have been increased to 1266ms and 900ms respectively. This is in comparison to 700ms and 200-300ms respectively for the other Finishers.
		- They now possess a specific chain to Neutral Lights, Neutral Heavies and Zone Attack to allow these attacks to land on a successful wallsplat. Chains to these are 600-700ms.
		- Movement has been added during the Finishers and their recoveries, moving the Afeera towards the left.
		- Pin duration increased slightly from 700ms to 833ms. Wallsplat window has been decreased to 100-300ms from 100-500ms.
	+ Reach on Afeera's attacks overall have been slightly increased, with Heavy Chain Finishers having increased forward movement. All side trajectories on attacks, including dodge attacks and zone attack, have also been adjusted to more consistently hit external targets.
	+ The Unique T4 Orbiting Shield has had its debuff buffed, doubling the debuff value from 20% to 40% and the debuff duration from 10 seconds to 20.
	+ Fixed a bug where feinting Afeera's Knockout Punch costed double.

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

### Hero Fest

The Hero Fest returns, offering a mini-event to a Hero for a week. 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 occur twice per title update, which results in four Heroes receiving a Fest per season, resulting in sixteen Hero fests occurring per year.

The next two Heroes to receive this Fest will be Kyoshin on February 23rd to March 2nd and Nuxia on March 9th to 16th.

### Other Changes

Below is a handful of other changes made that do not fit into the above categories:

* Added an option to disable all Voice Chat from players.
* Fixed a bug that caused Valkyrie's Spear Sweep to pin Heroes who are in an unpinnable state.
* Fixed an issue that caused Nobushi's Guardbreak after Heavy to lose tracking.
* Fixed an animation bug for Tiandi's feint from Dragon Kick.
* Fixed an issue that forced Aramusha to perform a backwalk Heavy when initiating a Heavy after a Back Throw.
* Fixed a bug that caused opponents affected by Zhanhu's Qilin's Ruse and Kyoshin's Mugen Houyou to become invulnerable.
* Fixed an issue where Warmonger's Corruption Blade would be consumed if it connects with Black Prior's Bulwark Counter without affecting the Black Prior.
* Fixed the scabbard placement for Kyoshin during a neutral dodge.
* Fixed an assortment of animation and clipping issues on Gladiator, Berserker and Nobushi.
* Fixed an issue where Horkos Masquerade weapons would be missing their unlock conditions.
* Fixed an issue that caused Champion Status XP to be missing from the end-of-match summary screen.
* TBA

## Gallery

### Video

For Honor- Year 6 Season 4 - Shattered Fates Launch Trailer

## Trivia

* The line spoken at the end of the Launch Trailer is in Arabic, and translates to "Your hour has come." Currently, it is assumed that while the trailer is narrated by Ravier, this line is spoken by the new Outlander hero who will be released during the Midseason.
* The main theme music of the season is sung in Farsi, with the music style being based off Persian folk music.
	+ The lyrics of the song is based off some lines from the mythical poetry book "Shahnameh" by famed Persian poet, Ferdowsi (full name: Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi). Ferdowsi is celebrated as one of the most influential figures in Persian literature.
	+ The singer for the theme is Habib Haji Mola Hoseini.