Year 6: Lost Horizons Season 3

## The Demon Dagger

> *"As a child, I was taught never to fear the dark. To face my enemies with gritted teeth and a steady grip on my blade. But now, my hands tremble. Something has awakened in the Myre: glowing eyes watching the night; shadows slither through the woods, and twisted cackles taunt us. Brave Samurai venture into the swamps... but what comes back, it isn't them! A deadly web has been woven, and there is no escape. My teachings were wrong! Only fools don't fear the dark."*
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**Lost Horizon Season 3**, named "the Demon Dagger," is the twenty-third season of the ongoing Faction War. The Cataclysm has cracked open an ancient cave, unleashing terrible spirits and powerful demons onto Heathmoor. Their presence now twist and turn those in the Myre into shadows of their former selves. The only thing that could save these souls is a mythical dagger that can seal away such demons... but at a terrible cost for its wielder. After her brother was stolen into the darkness, one Kensei by the name of Meiko chose to be the slayer of these Yokai.

## Overview

> Something has awakened in the Myre. A deadly web has been woven and there is no escape... Only fools don't fear the dark.
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Something has awakened in the Myre. For centuries, a cavern at the heart of the swamps was sealed off until a fissure split open. Ancient Samurai once knew the truth of the cave, but the echo of their warnings had faded across the ages to a whisper. It was a prison. Now demons, once banished to the bowels of the earth, have escaped. And after their long, unholy hibernation, the Yokai hunger.

Motoori noticed small signs first. The young Orochi was the first to warn of the villagers’ strange behavior. Honorable Nobushi babbled and cursed. Aramusha bent and twisted impossibly. At length, the eyes of the Samurai took on pale glows – the last mutation before their massacre on Temple Garden. By then the Yokai’s possession was complete. To save the survivors, Motoori told them of another fable: the Mamono Dagger, a mythical blade said to trap spirits of the Yokai. But the demon dagger bears a terrible cost... and none are worse cut than its wielder.

## Features

### Yokai Nightmare

For centuries, the Yokai slumbered in the depths of the earth. Now these demons of Japanese legend have escaped and been set loose upon Heathmoor. Nowhere is worse struck than Temple Garden -- haunted by spectral sights and portents of doom, where even possessed Samurai have set their swords against their own people. Will you break the spell of the Yokai?

From September 15th to October 6th, face the Myre's demonic invaders in Y6S3's launch event The Yokai Nightmare to earn event-specific weapons, a Battle Outfit, a Mood Effect, and more. Available only for the duration of the event.

### Hero Skins

The new Hero Skin will come during the midseason, and will be in reaction to the resurrected demons of this season.

### Hero Update

Some changes will be coming to the live game at the start of the season, with Peacekeeper and Nobushi receiving some sweeping changes to give versatility and effectiveness to their kit . Additionally, Heroes who lacked any form of Side Dodge attacks now have them, Stamina costs have been lowered here and there to give room to more offense, and more.

* Side Dodge attacks for Heroes who don't have them. These Heroes are Centurion, Black Prior, Warlord, Highlander and Jormundangr. All dodge attacks except Highlander's will use the Light input.
* Peacekeeper:
	+ Increase in input window for Dodge Recoveries and Dashing Thrust.
	+ Guardbreak Stabs now deal a total damage of 28, in line with most Guardbreak punishes.
	+ Throws have slightly less recovery, allow them to have a late Dodge Recovery window.
	+ Increased forward movements on all Chain Attacks.
	+ Updated trajectory on Zone Attack's first strike.
	+ Crossbow now deals partial bleed damage instead of only direct damage. 15 + 10b instead of 25 damage.
* Nobushi:
	+ Better trajectories on Side Heavy attacks.
	+ Side Cobra Strike are slightly faster and now have I-frames.
	+ Front Cobra Strike is slightly faster and has a more lenient input window.
	+ Recovery timings on a number of moves have been updated.
* Zone Attack cost changes look to reduce them so that they can be used more often.
	+ Zone Attacks now cost 30 for Warden, Warlord, Berserker, Kensei, Shugoki and Zhanhu.
	+ Zone Attacks now cost 20 for Nuxia, Gryphon and Kyoshin.
	+ Zone Attacks now cost 30 + 20 for Gladiator.
	+ Zone Attacks now cost 12 + 12 + 12 for Centurion and Highlander.
	+ Zone Attacks now cost 12 + 6 + 6 + 6 for Shaman.
	+ Other Heroes with high cost Zones may have changes in the future.
* General touch ups for a number of Heroes:
	+ Warden's chained Lights are now 500ms, down from 600ms.
	+ Warlord's Board & Blade now has better trajectory and forward movement.
	+ Berserker's health is now 130, from 120.
	+ Orochi's Side Heavy Finishers are now 700ms, down from 800ms.
	+ Hitokiri's Charge Heavy attacks now cost 12 Stamina, down from 25.
	+ Lawbringer has better forward movement and trajectories, along with more lenient Parry follow-up windows.
	+ Kensei's Top Heavy Finisher is now slightly faster, soft feints to Fast Guardbreak and has better forward movement.
	+ Centurion's Charged Heavy Opener has better forward movement, and Charged Punch is now faster and has better tracking.
	+ Gladiator's Sucker Punch costs less, and their Parry Riposte input window is more lenient.
	+ Shaman's Heavy Finishers have more forward movement, while the Left Finisher is now faster. Switching from one pounce stance to another now does not incur a Stamina penalty.
	+ Black Prior's Tenebris Thrust now has more forward movement, their sprint attack is slightly faster and Bulwark Slash has minimal GB vulnerability.
	+ Warmonger's Heavy Finishers now have Hyper Armor starting at 100ms, and Preying Claw now deals bleed damage (follow-ups deal less damage in return).
	+ Gryphon's Veteran's Lesson now has Hyper Armor starting at 100ms, and Mind Cleaver has modified recoveries.

### Crossplay Phase 2

* Crossplay Phase 2 finally is here, coming in two parts. The first part launches with the start of the season, migrating all P2P gamemodes to be on Servers, reactivate voice chat to be cross-platform, and adding a Block List. During the midseason, the ability to invite and friendlist people cross-platform!

### Testing Grounds

A new round of Testing Grounds arrives, and with it, it offers reworks for Tiandi and Valkyrie to refresh their kit, along with a small change to Counter Guardbreaking so that the act of Guardbreaking isn't too strong. Below is a general list of changes:

* Valkyrie's revamp focuses on making her chain Heavies and Sweep viable, on top of changes to Shield Tackle so that it functions as the core of Valkyrie's mix up game. Other quality of life changes included.
* Tiandi's revamp looks to expanding on his Dodge options to live up to his title as Dodge Specialist, along with improving his general Offense. Other quality of life changes included.
* Counter Guardbreaking now will have slightly lower recovery and pushback distance. This should allow for CGB to be frame plus instead of frame neutral, thus allowing for other forms of viable counter attacks outside Light attacking.

### 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 Warmonger from October 6th to 13th, followed by Tiandi the following week of the 13th to 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 the haunting monsters unleashed within the Myre, and the tools that would very much help warriors banish them back to their hellish realm.
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For centuries, the Yokai lay dormant in their cave. But after a chasm was formed in the seal of their cage, these malevolent demons are now free to haunt the swamps of the Myre once more. From the depths of their cavernous prison, weapons from the past are found. Bearing the markings of these vicious spirits, these weapons are ready to be wielded by only the bravest of warriors - those willing to face the Yokai and cast them back to their hellish realm.

Bring your customization to a whole new level with some Yokai horror 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 lock your opponent away with Card of Absolution, and a special Signature where you become the Dark Spectre. 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

Temple Garden has taken a turn for the worse as the Yokai has been unleashed on sacred ground. Demons trying to break out of cages as cobwebs build up on the hill. Are these signs that some greater evil will arrive in the midseason...?

TBA

## Midseason Changes

During the midseason change on October 20th, introducing a new Hero Skin for Kensei, a new Halloween Event, and Crossplay Phase 2 at launch. thereafter, there will be two more Hero Fests, a Testing Ground for dodge attacks, and the return of the Heralds of Chimera event.

### Hero Skins

> After the battle, flowers grow. Meiko was that flower, watered by blood, shaped by atrocities, but not defined by them. A humble Kensei dedicated to the protection of her people, Meiko was a beloved warrior, one of the few who took the time to enjoy the rare beauties of a harsh world. This was, more than likely, the reason why she was most often spotted with a smile on her face - even in the midst of battle. There was a spark in her eyes, one that could never be dimmed, no matter the circumstances. But Meiko's resilience was tested when the Yokai were freed from their prison.
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> After being dormant for generations, the monstrous demons were let loose upon the Myre. When Meiko's younger brother Motoori was taken, something changed in her. The spark took a darker shade, and the smile was put to rest. In order to face the Yokai, Meiko took the responsibility of wielding the Mamono Dagger. The blade was the only weapon capable of killing the Yokai - but wielding it came at a great cost. Every Yokai the dagger claimed was contained inside of it. The more it killed, the more powerful it became. And the more it threatened to consume its wielder. But Meiko had no choice. If she had any hope of saving her brother, she had to face these demons. Those both outside, and within.
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This third season offers a new Hero Skin to the next Hero on the list: the Kensei. What is offered is the visuals of Meiko the Yokai Slayer. Half-human, half-demon, she is the hero who will slay the demons that have been released.

### Web of the Jorogumo

A living nightmare haunts the Myre! The horrifying creature known as the Jorogumo has nested in the Market Place, where the monstrous spider feasts on cocooned villagers and viciously preys on the few warriors brave enough to face it. All hope lies in Meiko, who wields the Mamono Dagger. Accompany the Yokai Slayer through the web-infested village and attempt to do the impossible: defeat Jorogumo.

Only from October 20th to November 10th, take part in this midseason launch Halloween event, Web of the Jorogumo. This thrilling PvE game mode is a spin on the Emperor's Escape gamemode from the Zhanhu's Gambit event, but on the web-infested Market Town map. Escort Meiko through the capture points so that you can face the mother of all Yokai, the Jorogumo, a final boss entity that is like nothing players have ever seen before. Due to the teamwork and communication that will be much needed in this gamemode, it will have you at the edge of your seat right up until the very end.

Claim exclusive event loot through our free event pass which includes a mood effect, a Battle Outfit and an ornament. Additionally, during the three-week event, you will be able to unlock rewards from past Halloween events! Lastly, we will have a bundle available for purchase for the duration of the event, which includes 2 outfits, 2 executions and a paired emote. If you complete the gamemode, you will also be rewarded with Ornaments only exclusive to that gamemode and nowhere else.

For more details on the event and gamemode, check out the dedicated Web of the Jorogumo article page.

### Seasonal customization

Generations ago, the Samurai fought the Yokai and trapped them in a cave. The feats of the past may now be myth, but the stories of old are resurrected when the Yokai return to haunt the living. Now, warriors must dust off ancient armors that have not been worn in centuries – armors they can only hope will help them achieve what their ancestors did: push the Yokai back into the dark.

### Crossplay Phase 2

Crossplay Phase 2 finally is here, coming in two parts. After the first part that helped migrate all P2P gamemodes to be on Servers, reactivated voice chat to be cross-platform, and added a Block List, the game can finally add what everyone has been waiting for: proper invitation and friendlist of people cross-platform! Wait no more as your buddies on console or PC can play with you, no matter which platform you all play on!

### Gameplay Changes

The following is a list of changes initiated 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.

* Dodge Attack I-frame and Tracking Break timings has been adjusted for a number of Heroes. "Tracking Break" refers to the timing when a dodge or dodge attack will prevent a non-Undodgeable attack from following them.
	+ The following Heroes now have some more I-frames on their Side Dodge attack: Zhanhu, Nuxia, Shaman, Shaolin and Medjay (Axe Mode).
	+ The following Heroes have seen adjustments to when their Side Dodge attack breaks tracking of incoming attacks: Peacekeeper, Nuxia and Zhanhu have increased windows, while Shaman has a slightly reduced window.
* Kensei has had follow-up changes that aid ones made at the start of the season:
	+ Top Heavy Opener, Chained Top Heavy and Side Heavy Finishers now are faster, with their damage reduced accordingly.
	+ ~~All Chained Attacks and Dodge Attacks now cause Medium hit reaction instead of Heavy hit reaction.~~ Later hotfixes reverted the changes, making all these moves have Heavy hit reaction instead of Medium hit reaction.
* Zhanhu has received adjustments to make his Finisher offense more potent:
	+ Link to Heavy Finishers adjusted so they cannot be interrupted by a Light.
	+ Heavy Finishers can now be soft feinted into a Guardbreak
	+ Side Dodge Heavy attack miss recovery lessened.
* Jiang Jun has received changes to make it more fair to face him in teamfights, but to also let him use his parry grab with teammates more.
	+ Damage Reduction removed on Dou Shi's Choke victim.
	+ Dou Shi's Swirl And Sifu Swirl are slower.
	+ Heavy Finishers have had their damage slightly reduced.
* Shinobi's main gank has been nerfed as it had the potential of being an infinite gank that gave too little revenge.
	+ Shadow Strike can no longer chain on miss, preventing even more the Parry Unlock Tech that was possible on the Hero.
	+ Sickle Rain and Sickle Rain Lights now feed more Revenge (twice as much or more).
* Black Prior's backstep Light has reduced distance, while their Zone Attack is now slightly faster.
* Jormungandr's Zone Attack now costs much less, while it and all side Heavy attacks have had their trajectory changes to match the weapon's visual.
* Berserker's Sprint Attack now has Uninterruptible Stance.
* Nuxia's Zone Attack now has less Guardbreak Vulnerability.
* Gladiator's Fuscina Ictus (Toe Stab) is faster when performed in chains.
* Pirate's Cavalier Dance now cannot be soft feinted into Guardbreak, and the chain link from Guaranteed Pistol Blast is slower.
* Testing Ground's Guardbreak Changes will be added:
	+ Counter Guardbreaking will now have less recovery, making the move frame positive for the one how Counter Guardbreaks instead of frame neutral.
	+ Backwards movement on Counter Guardbreaking is reduced. This should prevent easy disengages after performing a Counter Guardbreaks.
* Parry Counter input timing has been adjusted on a number of Heroes to be have a more forgiving window: Jiang Jun, Warmonger, Centurion and Warlord.

For more details on the specifics of these gameplay changes, please look at the official patch notes here.

### Testing Grounds

Later in the season mid-November will be another Testing Ground, testing a slew of rebalances for Dodges and Dodge Attacks. What changes will be made are the following:

* Side Dodge Heavies now will count for a Light Parry punish, instead of a Heavy one.
* Side Dodge Bashes no longer chain on miss, along with always being punishable with a Guardbreak on-miss.
* All Side Dodge Attacks will now be standardized to have a minimum input window of 200 to 400ms into a Dodge, from either a static window or a smaller window.
* Heroes no longer keep their defense while dodging, except if they possess a Deflect or Superior/Normal Block Dodge.
* I-frames are no longer lost when losing speed while Dodging (such as when dodging into a wall or other entities).

Jormungandr has also been announced to be in the Testing Ground next Season with what is hinted at being a full relaunch.

### 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 X on November 10th to the 17th and X on November 24th to December 1st.

### Other Changes

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

* As a result of the Web of the Jorogumo event, Temple Garden has become even more haunted by the spider's influence. TBAed
* Enemy minions will appear as Kappa warriors, with turtle shell and cucumbers galore.
* Some previous global emotes and executions have been retrofitted to newer Heroes. These include the instrument emotes/executions and Horkos Crew signature.
* Fixed a bug that caused customization expressions to go missing on Heroes.
* Skip button at the Match End now functions properly, where it will more immediately skip screens or skill all of them with a button hold.
* Fixed a number of bugs for Heroes:
	+ Fixed Lawbringer's Side lights not have tracking while moving sideway.
	+ Fixed Jiang Jun's swirl attack animation skipping frames when performing while exiting Sifu's Poise.
	+ Fixed an issue that caused Centurion's Eagle's Talon animation to be offset when performed on a low health enemy.
	+ Fixed a few issues with Aramusha: slower OoS Top Light Attacks than intended; Right Dodge Heavy having more forward movement than Left Dodge Attack; an erroneous spinning animation when performing a Deadly Feint under certain circumstances.
	+ Fixed Hitokiri's axe having bad transitions between top and left guard.
	+ Fixed an issue that had Warmonger be pushed back if the opponent dies from the initial damage of Poisoning Wallsplat (when Vicious Impale pushes the opponent into a wall).
	+ Fixed bad camera transitions when killing an enemy with Jormungandr's Side Dodge Lights.
	+ Fixed head jittering when Kyoshin misses Aoarashi (in-chain Bash).
	+ Fixed an issue that caused Shaolin's Qi Stance Heavy to have increased damage and guarantee sweep in specific situations; also fixed Qi Sweep from unbalancing players that were not targeted by it.
	+ Fixed camera issues on Black Prior's Right Sided Dodge attack.
* Further fixes to holes in maps that caused players to fall through the ground, this time on Temple Garden Capture B.
* Fixed a number of customization issues:
	+ Fixed Kyoshin's Relentless Windstorm execution playing a sound effect while the sword is sheathed.
	+ Fixed Shugoki's Tachibana chest applying back customization to the front.
	+ Fixed Viking Reputation Outfits to be missing some content when comparing Heroes.
	+ Fixed a number of outfits having missing physics, gap in textures, and clipping of armor/cloth.
* Fixed a UI bug that caused an incorrect in-game notification when a friend request is sent on PC.

## Gallery

### Video

For Honor- Year 6 Season 3 - The Demon Dagger Launch Trailer - -UbiForward
## Trivia

* On the modified Temple Garden map, a glowing message appears on the gravestone that stands between the minion lane and Attacker's Spawn. It reads "蜘の子は みなちりぢりの 身すぎ哉" which translates roughly to "The Spider's Children, all scatter everywhere, off to their own life" or more simply "The spiderlings have all scattered."
	+ This poem is one of many variations of the "蜘蛛の子" (*kumo no ko*; lit. "spiderling") waka poem by a number of Japanese poets. This specific variation of the poem is composed by famed poet and lay Buddhist priest Kobayashi Issa. A 5-7-5 haiku style of the poem's translation is offered above as a result.